Category: General Corporate
Application: All employees, volunteers and directors
Responsible Office: Communications and Marketing

Our Commitment

Let’s Talk Science is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of its customers, donors, employees, volunteers and other stakeholders. We value the trust of those we deal with, and the general public and recognize that maintaining this trust requires that we are transparent and accountable in how we treat the information that our stakeholders choose to share with us.

Defining Personal Information

Personal information is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact a specific individual. This information can include an individual’s opinions or beliefs, as well as facts about, or related to, the individual. Exceptions: business contact information and certain publicly available information, such as names, addresses and telephone numbers as published in telephone directories are not considered personal information.

How We Collect, Use and Disclose Information

During the course of our various projects and activities, including delivery and evaluation of programs, sales of our products and services and fundraising, we may gather and use personal information. We use this information to:

• communicate with our stakeholders
• offer our stakeholders related products and services that might be of interest
• facilitate the provision of our services by sharing information with our business partners and volunteers as necessary for program operations
• act as required or authorized by law

Anyone from whom we collect such information should expect that it will be carefully protected and that any use of or other dealing with this information is subject to consent.  We do not sell, barter or lease our customer, employee, volunteer or donor lists to anyone. Nor do we share information, outside of our business partners, with other organizations that would use it to contact our stakeholders about their own products or services.  

Let’s Talk Science may use aggregate or anonymous information which will not be linked to identified individuals for various other uses for itself and third parties. Let’s Talk Science may disclose personal information to another entity purchasing (including for due diligence purposes prior to purchase) the assets of Let’s Talk Science, provided that entity abides by this or similar privacy policy.

Privacy Practices

Personal information gathered by Let’s Talk Science is kept in confidence.  Our personnel, including Volunteer Coordinators, are authorized to access personal information based only on their need to deal with the information for the reason(s) for which it was obtained.  Safeguards are in place to ensure that the information is not disclosed or shared more widely than is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was gathered. We also take measures to ensure the integrity of this information is maintained and to prevent being lost or destroyed.

We have adopted Imagine Canada’s Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code which can be viewed on the Imagine Canada website. 

We collect, use and disclose personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in light of the circumstances.  We routinely offer individuals we deal with the opportunity to opt not to have their information shared for purposes beyond those for which it is explicitly collected.  Our stakeholders may withdraw their consent at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer, Vice President of Operations.

Website

We collect only the IP address of visitors at our site and we use cookies in a limited way (session cookies only) to better understand how our site is used, to make sure our information and dynamic content are served correctly, and to improve the performance of our site. We do not use cookies to retain personal information about our users, and we do not sell information about our traffic patterns. Aggregated site usage data may be provided to our sponsors.

In order to use some features of our websites, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration, a user is required to give their contact information (name and email address). This information is used to contact the user about the topics on our site for which they have expressed interest and for the user to receive their lost password. Let’s Talk Science is careful to ensure that the personal information (i.e. mailing address, position, technical skills etc.) that is collected is for purposes of program delivery. 

Online donations are handled through CanadaHelps.org, CHIMP.net and/or Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT which maintain industry-standard secure payment services for credit card transactions. Canada Helps, CHIMP and Blackbaud provide the personal information collected in the course of a donation to Let’s Talk Science.

We use password protocols and encryption software to protect personal and other information we receive through online registrations. Our software is routinely updated to maximize the protection of such information.

Whether over the internet or in the physical world, if a user wishes to join certain private or public groups, or engage in certain activities, Let’s Talk Science may require more information for identification, verification, security or other reasons.

Communication Preferences

Let’s Talk Science respects the communication preferences of our stakeholders. With the introduction of the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, our stakeholders will notice that, through each of our program areas, we are creating ways to seek and record their explicit consent for us to communicate with them about our programs and services. To stop receiving e-communications at any point, our stakeholders may simply scroll to the bottom of the correspondence and click the “unsubscribe” link. There they will also find our address should they wish to communicate with us about their preferences.

Updating of Privacy Policy

We annually review our privacy practices for our various activities and update our policy.  Our most up-to-date practices will be posted on our website. If such amendments affect how Let’s Talk Science uses or discloses personal information already held by Let’s Talk Science in a material way, Let’s Talk Science will obtain consent.

Contact Information

Questions, concerns or complaints relating to Let’s Talk Science privacy policy on the treatment of personal information should be e-mailed to the Privacy Officer, Cailin Clarke: cclarke@letstalkscience.ca.

Further information on privacy and rights in regard to personal information may be found on the website of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at privcom.gc.ca. 

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Date Adopted: March 4, 2004

Last Modification Date: January 27, 2022

Last Reviewed Date: January 27, 2022