Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Introduction

The Site is hosted by Bang the Table Canada  Ltd. (“Bang the Table”, “us”, “we”, “our”) ) on behalf of City of Ottawa (“City”).

Bang the Table and the City take your privacy as a user (“user”, “you”, “your”) of this Site very seriously.  This Privacy Policy applies to the behaviour and treatment of your information by us and the City.

This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms of Use (TOU), which outlines the terms and conditions you agree to when accessing and using the Site and the service. All capitalized terms used in this Privacy Policy and not otherwise defined herein have the meaning ascribed such terms in the TOU (imbed link TOU).

Consent

By using this Site, the service, or voluntarily providing personal information while using any feature of the Site or service, you consent to Bang the Table and the City collecting, using and disclosing your personal information as regulated by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“MFIPPA”), the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada) (“PIPEDA”), and other legislation as applicable in Canada and the Province of Ontario, as amended. You can find more information about your privacy rights on the websites of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (www.ipc.on.ca(External link)) and Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (www.priv.gc.ca).

When you voluntarily provide us with personal information you consent to our collecting it and using it pursuant to this Privacy Policy.

If you decide to withdraw your consent to allow us to collect, use, disclose your personal information that we consider reasonable to fulfill the needs of our relationship and/or your use of the Site and the service, we may not be able to continue to provide you with the service offered through the Site.

By using the Site and services and/or providing us with Personal Information you agree that you are at least the age of majority in Ontario or if you are under 18 years old you agree  that you have the consent of your parent/legal guardian.  This Site and the services are not intended for children under the age of 13.  If you are under the age of 13 years of age, then please do not use the Site or service.

By using our Site, you consent to this Privacy Policy.

What information do we collect?

Basic Identifying Information

We collect information from you when you register to use this Site. This information includes but is not limited to your:

  • Screen Name
  • Email Address
  • Demographic Information: You may choose that you do not prefer to answer demographic questions. Additional information may also be collected during individual engagement opportunities to enhance the value of the engagement responses.

User-Generated Information

We collect information that you put on the Site after you have signed up including but not limited to:

  • Comments in forums
  • Votes on other comments in forums
  • Responses to surveys and quick polls

User-Behaviour Information

We collect information about your behaviour on the site including but not limited to:

  • Documents downloaded from the library
  • Videos viewed
  • Pages views

Note that you can browse the Site anonymously without signing up.

Why do we collect this information?

To Collect and Collate your Feedback to Inform Decision-Making

We collect this information for our public consultation program to help inform decision-making. The information is used by the City for analysis and interpretation. Your comments may at any time and without restriction, be edited, copied, compiled, used, distributed, translated, published and repackaged by the City in any forum or medium (e.g. council reports, webcast, published on websites etc.). Your comments may be irrevocable once you publish them. The City may also use all the information about yourself or other matters and information derived or generated from Site in any medium, including without limitation the right to search the information consistent with this Privacy Policy.

To Send You Periodic Emails

The email address you provide for registering on the Site may be used by  Bang the Table and the City to send you emails providing you with information about consultations which you have participated, information and updates pertaining to the City and topics you have already shown an interest in through past engagement opportunities and/or new engagement opportunities, and information about third-party websites in which you might be interested in based on your past Site activities and when you subscribe to a specific topic

Your consent to receive these emails does not affect your ability to unsubscribe from receiving future emails by  activating the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email.

To Protect the Integrity of the Discussion

By monitoring the information that you provide we are able to protect the integrity of the discussion from other users who may attempt to unduly influence the outcomes of the consultation process.

To Improve the Website & Software

The principal use of your information by Bang the Table is to help improve the Site and the Software that underpins it. We are continually striving to improve your experience based on your feedback.

We may create statistical, aggregated data relating to our users and the service for analytical purposes. Aggregated data includes data derived from personal information or other information and/or obtained by us from other sources in aggregated, anonymous form and does not identify any individual (“Aggregate Data”). Subject to applicable law and regulations, we may use Aggregate Information to understand our users and to develop, improve and/or market our services. We may provide Aggregate Information to third parties.

We may de-identify or anonymize your personal information so that you are not individually identified and provide that information to our partners and/or affiliated organization. We may also combine your de-identified information with that of other users to create aggregate de-identified data that may be disclosed to third party who may use such information to understand how often and in what ways people use our service, so that we can provide you with an optimal online experience.  For example, we may use information gathered to create a composite profile of all users of the Site to understand user and community needs and to design appropriate services. However, we never disclose Aggregate Information to a partner in a manner that would identify you personally, as an individual.

Who has access to this information?

When you register for a user account you provide three types of information:

  • Publicly available information;
  • Information available to Bang the Table and the City; and
  • Information available to Bang the Table only.

Publicly Available Information:

Publicly available information is limited to your screen name and any comments you leave under that name in the forums or other tools on the Site.

Note: We strongly recommend use of an anonymous screen name. However, if you choose to identify yourself through your screen name or otherwise then your name will be publicly visible. Based on the nature of your comments and/or information provided to the Site, your identity may be apparent to others users. Your screen name may be edited by you at any time through the edit profile function on the Site.

Individual survey responses, voting patterns and quick poll responses will not immediately be made available publicly on the Site, however, feedback (including overall results of polls and surveys, and in some instances, unidentifiable and randomly chosen quotes or comments from surveys) may be published in publicly available reports at the end of the consultation period.

Please also keep in mind, however, that under MFIPPA formal submissions uploaded to this Site may be made available for public viewing by the City at its own volition or at the request of a member of the public.

Information available to Bang the Table and the City includes:

  • Publicly available information;
  • All information from the Registration form;
  • Comments;
  • Survey, Quick Poll, and comment voting responses;
  • General site activity such as document downloads.

Information Available to Bang the Table only:

Information which is available only to Bang the Table is restricted to your IP address for Site security purposes, as well as information about how you use our product collected by cookie technology, web beacons and other similar devices on this Site from time to time to enhance functionality and navigation for our users.  Information tracked through these mechanisms include, but is not limited to: (i) your computer’s internet protocol (“IP”) address; (ii) web browser type and operating system; (iii) dates and times of visits; and (iv) referring website addresses.   If you wish to disable cookies, refer to your browser help menu to learn how to disable cookies.   If you disable cookies, you may be unable to access some features on this Site.  Bang the Table may also use graphic tags, internet tags and similar web beacon type functions that allow us to count the number of Users who visit a page or access particular cookies.   Finally, Bang the Table may include web beacons embedded in an HTML formatted e-mail messages that we send to determine which emails messages were opened. Cookies and web beacons do not collect or contain your personal information.

Does Bang the Table disclose any information to third parties other than to the City?

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our Site, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our Site TOU and policies, or protect our or other’s rights, property or safety.

Third Party Links

Occasionally, the City may include links to third-party sites that are independently owned and operated by other entities which are not associated or affiliated with the City.  You understand and agree that the Site’s Privacy Policy is applicable only while using this Site.  When you click on third-party links on our Site, the links may direct you away from our Site.  These third-party linked sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites.  If you decide to access third party linked sites you do so at your own risk.

Terms of Use

Please also visit our TOU section establishing the use, disclaimers, and limitations of liability governing the use of our Site.

Access and update to Personal Information

We support your right to access your personal information that we have collected.  To make a request for access to your personal information that we have on file, please contact us at the contact information as set out below.   Please note that your right to complete access cannot be guaranteed due to certain legal restrictions to your right to access.  For example, you will not have access to files that contain personal information about other users or our confidential information.  If you are denied access, we will notify you of the reason and any recourse available to you.

We will keep your personal information as complete, accurate and up to date as necessary.  To amend or update your personal information to ensure its completeness and accuracy, please contact us at the contact information set out below.   If there is a discrepancy or disagreement about the accuracy of your personal information this will be noted on your file. Notwithstanding anything in this Privacy Policy, if your personal information is provided as part of your comment, then it may not be possible to retract it if it is re-published.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to update, change or replace any part of this Privacy Policy without further notice or liability.   If we do this, we will post the changes to this Privacy Policy on the Site and will indicate at the bottom of this Privacy Policy the date this Privacy Policy was last revised.   It is your responsibility to check our Site periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to our Site or the Service following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes acceptance of those changes. Notwithstanding the above, we will not change the use of your personal information unless you consent to such change in use.

Who do I contact for more information?

Bang the Table may be contacted in relation to Privacy Policy issues by email at "myprivacy@bangthetable.com"(External link) or addressed to Bang the Table Canada Ltd. 3rd Floor, 1090 Homer Street, Vancouver, Canada V6B 2W9.

Personal information is collected for the City of Ottawa by Bang the Table Pty Ltd. pursuant to the City Council Approved City of Ottawa Public Engagement Strategy and is used for the purposes of providing you access to the engagement tools within the website and receiving your feedback on specific campaigns or issues. You may choose that you do not prefer to answer demographic questions. Questions regarding about collection of this information can be directed to the Public Engagement & Diversity Specialist, 110 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1, 613-807-5358, publicengagement@ottawa.ca.