County of Elgin websites are covered by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Our privacy policy arises from that Act, other legislation, and fair information practices.
On our websites, we collect personal information about you only when you explicitly provide it. We protect the personal information given to us when you fill out a form. We have implemented a variety of security measures to ensure that your personal information is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed.
By “personal information” we mean any information about you as an identifiable individual including your name, an identifying number such as your driver’s licence number, your birth date, your email address, or your credit card information. (For other examples, see: Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, section 2(1))
We do not provide personal information gathered on the websites to third parties except with your express permission or as permitted by law. (For example, see: Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, section 31, 32, 33)
We may release or use your personal information provided on the websites for the purpose for which it was provided or for a compatible purpose. We may also do so if we are permitted under law, such as under a subpoena. This may include sharing information within the County of Elgin when it is necessary. (For example, see: Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, sections 31 & 32)
You are entitled to correct any personal information gathered through the websites that we hold about you. If you want to correct your personal information, there will be an appropriate contact listed for you to direct inquiries. If no contact is identified, then you should contact the webmaster of the relevant site. (For example, see: Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, section 36)
County of Elgin websites may use cookies or tracking devices during your visit to our website. Information gathered by these technologies will disappear once you leave the website unless there is notice to the contrary on the website.
Government web servers automatically collect some information about a visitor’s computer or other access device, such as its Internet protocol address or browser version, in their logs. This information is used in aggregate form for statistical purposes only.
The Corporation of the County of Elgin is committed to ensuring that its departments, offices, boards, and councilors adhere to the privacy protection provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in the operation of their websites.
The Corporation of the County of Elgin will demonstrate this commitment through the publication in clear language of a Website Privacy Policy Statement that will be made available on all County of Elgin websites.
DATA SUBJECT: The individual about whom information is collected.
PERSONAL INFORMATION: Personal information is defined in the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
a) information relating to the race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or marital or family status of the individual,
b) information relating to the education or the medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history of the individual or information relating to financial transactions in which the individual has been involved,
c) any identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to the individual,
d) the address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type of the individual,
e) the personal opinions or views of the individual except where they relate to another individual,
f) correspondence sent to an institution by the individual that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature, and replies to that correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence,
g) the views or opinions of another individual about the individual, and
h) the individual’s name where it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual; (“renseignements personnels”)
SERVER LOGS: Web server logs are lists of all requests made to the server, including some identifying information about the requestor such as Internet protocol address.
WEB SERVER: A computer that provides World Wide Web services on the Internet or on an intranet. It will have an Internet protocol address (e.g., 198.34.21.65) and usually a domain name (e.g., www.elgincounty.ca). It includes the hardware, operating system, web server software, communications protocols and the website content (web pages). It will have software that can manage and deliver documents and it may be able to operate additional software that can provide such functions as database searches or commercial transactions.
WEBSITE/PORTAL: A site (location) on the World Wide Web usually operated 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
The policy is designed to:
The Policy applies to all websites operated by the County of Elgin
The Department of Information Technology, the County of Elgin is responsible for monitoring the policy.