Privacy Policy - Downtown Rideau

The Downtown Rideau BIA recognizes and respects that the security of your personal information is an important part of your experience on our Website, ottawatourism.ca. This Privacy Policy outlines the information which the Downtown Rideau BIA will collect from you on the Downtown Rideau BIA Website and how the Downtown Rideau BIA will use that information.

The following privacy policy has been developed to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). By visiting the Downtown Rideau BIAs Website you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy and agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this Privacy Policy.

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time by updating this posting. Please check this Privacy Policy periodically for changes. Your continued use of this site following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy will mean you accept those changes.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on June 26, 2023.

Definitions

“Personal information” means any information about an identifiable individual including but not limited to the individual’s name, mailing or email address, telephone number, age, gender, interests, opinions, suggestions, social media handles, and language preference.

Purposes

The Downtown Rideau BIA will collect, use and disclose personal information for the following purposes:

To advertise and market the Rideau area
To personalize our website
To conduct industry research and studies
To validate marketing strategies
To validate eligibility to enter one of the Downtown Rideau BIA contests
To contact winners of contests
To e-mail newsletters
To announce upcoming events and to send invitations

The majority of the time the Downtown Rideau BIA collects personal information directly from the individual about whom the information relates. If the Downtown Rideau BIA collects your personal information indirectly through a third party, rest assured that it will ensure that you have consented to this indirect collection before it retains your personal information in its files or on its databases. The Downtown Rideau BIA further commits to contacting you directly to confirm with you that you wish to receive communications from us.

Collection of personal information

The Downtown Rideau BIA offers visitors to its website opportunities to subscribe to its free electronic newsletter, participate in contests, special offers and surveys, as well as link to websites of the Downtown Rideau BIA partners and members that may also be offering information, contests and special offers. The Downtown Rideau BIA will limit its collection of your personal information to only that which is necessary to meet the purpose of the service or contest.

If you are under eighteen (18) years of age, your parent’s or guardian’s permission will be required before any information is provided to our website.

Collection of non-identifiable information

As it is typical of many websites, the Downtown Rideau BIAs Website automatically collects certain anonymous and non-identifiable information regarding its users, such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer, the IP address of your Internet Service Provider, Google cookie ID, the date and time you access the Website, the Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to the Website, the operating system and browser type you are using, the paid ad (and the location of the ad) that you saw before visiting the Website, the sections of the Website you visit, the Website pages read and images viewed, and any content you download.

This anonymous/non-personal information which is gathered may be used for research and analytical purposes and we also use this non-identifiable information for Website and system administration purposes and to improve the Website.

We may disclose the non-identifiable information to others and permanently archive it for future use.

The Downtown Rideau BIA also employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer that has contacted our website, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. The Downtown Rideau BIA makes no attempts to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our website unless an attempt to damage the Downtown Rideau BIAs website has been detected.

Information collected by “cookies”

The Downtown Rideau BIA website uses “cookies”, a technology that installs information on a website user’s computer to permit the Website to recognize future visits by that computer. Cookies enhance the convenience and use of the Website.

Cookies do not contain any personally identifying information. They cannot view or retrieve data from other cookies, nor can they capture files and data stored on your computer. You may reset your computer’s browser to accept or block cookies or allow your computer’s browser to show you when a cookie is being sent. If you choose not to accept cookies from the Downtown Rideau BIA or its partners or members, your experience at our site and other websites may be diminished and some features may not work as intended.

Advertisements displayed on our website may also contain cookies. Those advertisements may be provided by third party advertising companies, and we do not have any control over, or any responsibility or liability for, the cookies used in the advertisements or for the use and disclosure of information collected through advertisement cookies.

Safeguards to protect your personal information

The Downtown Rideau BIA will protect your personal information against loss or theft, as well as from unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. Ottawa Tourism will protect your personal information regardless of the format in which it is held.

The Downtown Rideau BIA will use appropriate security safeguards to provide necessary protection such as:

Physical measures (locked filing cabinets, restricting access to offices, alarm systems);
Technological tools (passwords, encryption, firewalls);
Organizational controls (security clearances, limiting access on a “need-to-know” basis, staff training, and confidentiality agreements);
Policy measures (IT policy, security policy).

The Downtown Rideau BIA will consider the following factors in selecting appropriate safeguards:

The sensitivity of the information;
The amount of information;
The extent of distribution;
The format of the information (electronic, paper, etc.); and
The type of storage.

Consent to this Agreement

By using the Downtown Rideau BIAs website and, in particular, by subscribing to our newsletter or participating in our online contests and surveys, you consent to the collection and use of the information as described above and for the purposes noted above. If an alternative purpose for your information is identified other than what is set out in this privacy policy or on our website where the information is collected, we will contact you to obtain your consent for the new purpose.

Any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or information handling practises may be submitted to admin@downtownrideau.com