City of Greater Sudbury Website Privacy Policy
The City of Greater Sudbury (“City”, “our”, “we” or “us”) is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information you may provide when visiting the City’s website at www.greatersudbury.ca (“City’s Website”), including all of the sub-domains of the City’s Website, such as mybus.greatersudbury.ca or register.greatersudbury.ca. As part of this commitment, we want you to be fully aware of our information management practices, including what type of information is collected, how the information is used, and with whom the information is shared.
Scope
This Privacy Policy covers the information management practices of the City and not its corporations, local boards or community action networks.
Collection and Use of Personal Information
Direct Collection of Information
We collect information from you in your personal and professional capacity. The City does not consider information about a business, association or non-profit to be personal.
We collect information from you to provide municipal services, programs or regulation in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25 and numerous other statutes. The information that we collect from you is collected largely on a voluntary basis, for example to register for programs or services of the City or to participate in a public consultation process. We commonly collect personal information for the following purposes:
Public Consultation & Comment or Feedback Forms
We often ask the public to submit comments on input forms on the City’s Website or send emails or correspondence to us on proposals or changes to City activities, projects, services or regulatory activities (“City Projects”). We are collecting personal information which may include your name, address, contact information and your opinions about City Projects. This information is collected for the purpose of the City’s decision-making processes may be considered publicly by Council or a committee of Council and may be provided to the public, however, wherever possible efforts may be made to reduce the amount of personal information provided to the public.
Employment
We often advertise employment opportunities with the City on the City’s Website. To apply for the job or inquire about a job, you may provide personal information such as your name, contact information and employment-related information, including your resume, cover letter or application form. This information is used for the purpose of processing and responding to your application for employment or your employment inquiry.
Online Payment Systems
The City offers online payment transaction services which allows you to make payments online, and/or make purchases online. For example, you may purchase tickets to a concert at a City facility, you may pay a parking ticket or pay for a program when registering for a Leisure Services program on the City’s Website. To pay for something online, you are required to provide name, contact information, credit card information and often a user ID or password, in addition to other information associated with the payment that you are making online. This information is collected so that the City can process the transaction.
Registration or Participation in City Programs or Services
We collect information from you to register you or your family members for programs or services provided by the City in which you would like to participate. For example, you may register in the Child Care Registry or register your child online for a City summer camp. To register for a program or service on the City’s Website, you may provide your name, address, telephone number, email address, family members’ names, dates of birth, information about family members and credit card information, in addition to other information required for enrollment in a program or service. This information is collected for the purpose of registering you or your family member in a City program or service.
Contact Information for Elected Officials, City Officials or City Staff
The City may provide contact information for a person and you may email or telephone that person. When you contact that person, he or she may collect your personal information, including your name, address, phone number, email address and your inquiry, complaint or concern. This information is collected for the purpose of responding to your inquiry, complaint or concern and may be directed to another City staff person, official or elected official who may be able to respond to your inquiry, complaint or concern.
There are occasions when the City may collect personal information for other reasons. When we do, we commit to explaining what information is collected, the authority for the collection, the purpose for which it is collected and who can be contacted if you have questions about the collection of that information.
Indirect Collection of Information-Cookies & Web Analytics
You may visit the City’s Website without providing any of your personal information to us. However, we may automatically collect information related to your use of the City’s Website by using a browser tool called a “cookie”. A cookie is generated by the City’s server and sent to your computer and stored there. A cookie contains information about your website browsing session. This information is collected for the purpose of remembering your information as you travel to webpages in order to complete payment transactions or register for programs. For example, the cookie may contain information about the City programs or services for which you are registering or the items for which you are paying, like a shopping basket, in order for the website to process your registration or payment.
The City uses only “session cookies” which means that the information saved in the cookie is provided to the City only as long as you keep your Internet browser open (“session”). The City does not use persistent cookies which are stored on your computer and read by the server that sent the cookie every time that you visit the website on that server.
You may set your browser to refuse to accept cookies but doing so may affect your ability to view certain portions of the City’s Website or use certain applications on the City’s Website. The City does not combine the information gathered by its servers with other information to identify persons.
The City also uses web analytics software that records site visits, including your Internet Protocol (IP) address. This information is collected in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001 s.10(1) for the purpose of designing our website to better meet the needs of people visiting the City’s Website, including analyzing trends, administer the site and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. The IP address is not combined with other information to identify individuals personally.
From time to time we may report aggregated demographic information in the form of reports or statistics but this information is not linked to any information that can be used to identify a person.
Further Communications arising from Information
Provided You will not receive phone calls, correspondence or emails from the City as a result of visiting the City’s Website, unless you have indicated that you would like to be contacted by the City.
Disclosure of Your Information
Your personal information will be shared between City staff persons, officials and elected officials only where the information is necessary for the performance of their duties. For example, the City Clerk may forward your inquiry about a planning hearing to the Planning department for response.
The City will not disclose your information to a third party except where provided by this Privacy Policy or in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56 or other applicable law.
Disclosure to Service Providers: Certain personal information may be disclosed to third parties retained by the City to provide services to the City. For example, we may use service providers to process payments for registration for a Leisure Services program. We give the service providers the information that they need to perform their duties.
Disclosure for Legal or Law Enforcement Purpose: The City may provide your personal information in response to a search warrant, order, other legal inquiry or in response to an investigation by a law enforcement body’s investigation. The City may also disclose information for the purposes of making or defending a legal claim, responding to a complaint or as otherwise permitted by law.
Access to Your Information
You have the right to access and correct inaccuracies in your information in our custody and control, subject to certain exceptions. To contact the City to discuss making a correction, email the City Clerk’s Office at clerks@greatersudbury.ca
Retention of Information
The City will retain the information in accordance with the City’s Records Retention Bylaw and any policies flowing from that By-law.
Security of Information
The City maintains your information in secure data storage to protect it from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Because transfer of information over the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be secure the City does not guarantee, represent or warrant that personal information will be protected against loss, misuse, unauthorized use or alteration. Furthermore, the City does not accept any liability for information that you have submitted or for the use, misuse or unauthorized use of your information by you or any third party.
Links to Other Websites
The City’s website includes links to websites that do not belong to the City and over which the City has no control. These links are provided as a courtesy to you and the City has no responsibility or liability for the way that the third parties operate their websites, the content of the websites or how or if the organizations collect, use or disclose or otherwise manage your information. You may want to review that website’s privacy policy to decide whether you want to proceed with visiting that site.
Questions regarding this Policy & Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Policy, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at clerks@greatersudbury.ca or by telephone at 705-674-4455 ext. 4209 or ext. 4226
Changes to this Policy
The City reserves the right to modify this Privacy Statement from time to time. At such time, notification of such changes will be posted along with the latest version of this Policy.