Suddenly Single Survival Guide Personal Information Protection Policy
Suddenly Single Survival Guide (“SSSG“) operates suddenlysinglesurvivalguide.com and may operate other websites. This policy applies to Suddenly Single Survival Guide and, if any, its subsidiaries. The policy also applies to any person providing services on our behalf.
It is SSSG’s policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect while operating our websites. SSSG is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by our readers, subscribers, and/or customers. We manage your personal information in accordance with Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act and other applicable laws. This policy outlines the principles and practices we follow in protecting your personal information.
A copy of this policy is provided to any reader on request.
What is personal information?
Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This includes an individual’s name, home address and phone number, age, sex, marital or family status, an identifying number, financial information, educational history, etc.
What personal information do we collect?
We collect only the personal information that we need for the purposes of providing services to our clients, including personal information needed to:
- process a subscription
- open and manage an account
- deliver requested products and services
- enrol a client in a program
- follow up with clients to determine satisfaction with products and services
- notify clients of upcoming events of interest
- meet regulatory requirements
We normally collect client information directly from our clients. We may collect your information from other persons with your consent or as authorized by law.
We inform our clients, before or at the time of collecting personal information, of the purposes for which we are collecting the information. However, we don’t provide this notification when a client volunteers information for an obvious purpose (for example, using a credit card or other payment service for an online purchase when the information will be used only to process the payment).
Like most website operators, SSSG collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. SSSG’s purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how SSSG’s visitors use its website. From time to time, SSSG may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate, e.g., by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.
SSSG also collects potentially personally-identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for logged in users and for users leaving comments on suddenlysinglesurvivalguide.com blogs/sites. SSSG only discloses logged in user and commenter IP addresses under the same circumstances that it uses and discloses personally-identifying information as described below, except that commenter IP addresses and email addresses are visible and disclosed to the administrators of the blog/site where the comment was left.
Use of Service Providers outside Canada
It is possible that SSSG may use third party service providers. In that event, any third party service providers we choose to use (in the U.S.A. or other countries) may collect, use or disclose your personal information for the following purposes:
- open and manage an account
- deliver requested products and services
- enrol a client in a program [specify program]
- guarantee a travel or hotel reservation
- process a magazine subscription
- send out association membership information
- provide warranties for products and services
- follow up with clients to determine satisfaction with products and services
- notify clients of upcoming events of interest
- administer our loyalty program
- grant credit
- any other reason allowed by law
Consent
We ask for consent to collect, use or disclose clients personal information, except in specific circumstances where collection, use or disclosure without consent is authorized or required by law. We may assume your consent in cases where you volunteer information for an obvious purpose (such as making a purchase on our website).
In cases where we collected personal information before January 1, 2004, we assume your consent to our use and, where applicable, disclosure for the purpose for which the information was collected.
We ask for your express consent for some purposes and may not be able to provide certain services if you are unwilling to provide consent to the collection, use or disclosure of certain personal information. Where express consent is needed, we will normally ask clients to provide their consent orally (in person, by telephone), in writing (by signing a consent form, by checking a box on a form, or electronically (by clicking a button).
In cases that do not involve sensitive personal information, we may rely on “opt-out” consent. For example, we may disclose your contact information to other organizations that we believe may be of interest to you, unless you request that we do not disclose your information. You can do this by contacting us at [email protected].
A client may withdraw consent to the use and disclosure of personal information at any time, unless the personal information is necessary for us to fulfil our legal obligations. We will respect your decision, but we may not be able to provide you with certain products and services if we do not have the necessary personal information.
We may collect, use or disclose client personal information without consent only as authorized by law. For example, we may not request consent when the collection, use or disclosure is reasonable for an investigation or legal proceeding, to collect a debt owed to our organization, in an emergency that threatens life, health or safety, or when the personal information is from a public telephone directory.
How do we use and disclose personal information?
We use and disclose client personal information only for the purposes for which the information was collected, except as authorized by law. For example, we may use client contact information to deliver goods. The law also allows us to use that contact information for the purpose of collecting a debt owed to our organization, should that be necessary.
If we wish to use or disclose your personal information for any new business purpose, we will ask for your consent.
Aggregated Statistics
SSSG may collect statistics about the behaviour of visitors to its websites. SSSG may display this information publicly or provide it to others. However, SSSG does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as previously described.
How do we safeguard personal information?
We make every reasonable effort to ensure that client information is accurate and complete. We rely on our clients to notify us if there is a change to their personal information that may affect their relationship with our organization. If you are aware of an error in our information about you, please let us know and we will correct it on request wherever possible.
In some cases we may ask for a written request for correction.
We protect client personal information in a manner appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. We make every reasonable effort to prevent any loss, misuse, disclosure or modification of personal information, as well as any unauthorized access to personal information.
We will notify the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, without delay, of a security breach affecting personal information if it creates a real risk of significant harm to individuals.
We retain client personal information only as long as is reasonable to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected or for legal or business purposes.
We render client personal information non-identifying, or destroy records containing personal information once the information is no longer needed.
We use appropriate security measures when destroying client personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records.
Cookies
A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. SSSG uses cookies to help SSSG identify and track visitors, their usage of SSSG website, and their website access preferences. SSSG visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using SSSG’s websites, with the drawback that certain features of SSSG’s websites may not function properly without the aid of cookies.
Business Transfers
If SSSG, or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, or in the unlikely event that SSSG goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of SSSG may continue to use your personal information as set forth in this policy.
Ads
Ads appearing on any of our websites may be delivered to users by advertising partners, who may set cookies. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement to compile information about you or others who use your computer. This information allows ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you. This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by SSSG and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.
Privacy Policy Changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, SSSG may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and in SSSG’s sole discretion. SSSG encourages visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its Privacy Policy. If you have a suddenlysinglesurvivalguide.com account, you might also receive an alert informing you of these changes. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such change.
You may contact SSSG regarding this Privacy Policy at [email protected]