Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This policy provides details about the practices that protect the privacy of the personal information of individuals who deal with ABC Life Literacy Canada.

This document and the procedures it describes will be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary to ensure up-to-date practices. Please check the ABC Life Literacy Canada website (www.abclifeliteracy.ca) from time to time to make sure this information is up-to-date.

2. Collection, Use, and Retention of Personal Information

ABC Life Literacy Canada’s mandate is to collect, sort, and disseminate information about resources, services, events, and developments relating to adult literacy. We collect personal information to help us fulfill this mandate.

We collect personal information from individuals who have expressed an interest in adult literacy or who have registered for any of the classes or programs available on or through our website.  The personal information we collect from these individuals includes name, address, telephone number, and email address.  If you participate in a class or program, we will also collect responses you provide during the class or program. We also track your progress through our classes and programs, such as when you fill out a form. ABC Life Literacy Canada uses this information to distribute literacy-related information, to provide and administer our classes or programs, for troubleshooting and account recovery and to respond to requests and questions.

ABC Life Literacy Canada also collects information from adult literacy practitioners or organizations who partner with us.  This information may include first and last name, organization name, province/territory, telephone number and email address.  We use this information to manage our relationship with practitioners and organizations.  We publish the business contact information of adult literacy practitioners on our website, to help adult learners and volunteers locate literacy programs in their area.

ABC Life Literacy Canada is occasionally involved in work that involves the collection and use of information on the literacy-related attitudes, skills, awareness, and experiences and/or the demographics of the participants. If you participate in one of our optional surveys, we may request demographic information (such as: age range, gender identity, first language, ethnic identity, how long in Canada, highest level of education, employment status, period of time in current job) and information about your experiences with our programs, materials or other services.  We use this information to generate aggregate statistics or data, which we use to improve our programs and services.  We may publish or share the aggregate statistics or data with our current and prospective sponsors.

When we publish information, it is usually of a general nature, but if we would like to publish any identifying details such as your name and address, we will ask for your explicit permission first.

If you choose to make a donation, we will collect your name and contact information as well as your payment information (which may include banking information or payment card information, depending on the manner in which you choose to make your donation).  We will use this information to process your donation and issue a tax receipt where eligible.

You can visit our website without telling us who you are or revealing any identifying details about yourself. However, ABC Life Literacy Canada automatically collects information about your visit to our website. This information may include your IP address (from which your general location can be inferred), browser and device type, access times, the website from which you came, the regions from which you navigate the website and the pages you access (as applicable). We may also use cookies and similar tools to improve your experience on our website. Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website, in order to track use of the site and to improve your user experience. We also use cookies to enable us to promote our website to you on other websites you visit. Most computer and some mobile web browsers automatically accept cookies but, if you prefer, you can change your browser to prevent that or to notify you each time a cookie is set. Please note however that, by blocking or deleting cookies, you may not be able to take full advantage of our website.

ABC Life Literacy Canada collects, tracks, and analyzes website statistics using Google Analytics. Google utilizes the data collected to track and examine the use of the websites, to prepare reports on its activities and share them with other Google services. Google may use the data collected to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. For more information about Google’s privacy practices please read Google’s privacy policy here. For more information about changing advertising settings associated with your use of Google’s services please click here.

We also use the Facebook pixel to help determine what may lead you to our website by providing information on the websites you previously visited or advertisements you may have clicked on before coming to the website. For more information about Facebook’s privacy practices please read Facebook’s privacy policy here. For more information about changing advertising settings associated with your use of Facebook’s services click here.

3. Limits on Disclosure

We do not rent, sell, or trade mailing lists or other personal information.

ABC Life Literacy Canada may transfer personal information to third party service providers who perform certain functions on our behalf, such as mailing, communications, website hosting and developing, and data hosting and storage.  These service providers are only authorized to process personal information on our behalf.  Some of these service providers may be located outside of Canada, including in the United States.

From time to time, national literacy and literacy-related organizations ask for ABC Life Literacy Canada’s help in distributing information that may be of interest to the literacy community. In that case, ABC Life Literacy Canada administers the mail-out in order to protect your privacy. We do not provide access to our mailing list.

ABC Life Literacy Canada sends out emails and e-newsletters to individuals from who have signed up to our email mailing list.  We do not rent, sell or trade email mailing list data or the information that is submitted to us.

If you subscribe to our email mailing list, the information you submit to us is only available to staff managing this information for purposes of sending you emails, and to contracted service providers for purposes of providing services relating to our communications with you.  Each e-newsletter that is sent will include a link that will allow subscribers to opt-out from the newsletter list. Once you unsubscribe, all data supplied including statistics collected, is deleted.

If researchers ask ABC Life Literacy Canada to share information that was collected for a different purpose, we will ask the individuals involved to consent to their personal information being used for the new purpose.

4. Safeguards

ABC Life Literacy Canada maintains personal information on our servers or those of our service providers.  ABC Life Literacy Canada has implemented safeguards designed to protect the personal information in our custody or control.  We limit access to personal Information to those who have a “need to know” for the purposes described in this policy. However, please be aware that no information security measures can provide absolute security.

ABC Life Literacy Canada may provide links to websites owned and operated by third parties. The owners of these sites may deal with the collection, use and disclosure of personal information differently than we do, and may have their own privacy policies.

Any links provided to these websites are provided solely for your convenience. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of these third-party websites and direct any questions you may have to the owners of those websites before disclosing your personal information. ABC Life Literacy Canada will not be liable under any circumstances for any damages arising from these third-party websites.

5. Access and Rights

At any time, you may opt out altogether of having us collect, use, or disclose your personal information, subject to reasonable notice and applicable laws. If you want to do this, please contact ABC Life Literacy Canada. Remember, if you withdraw or refuse to provide consent, we may be unable to provide some information or services to you.

You have the right to ask if ABC Life Literacy Canada holds any personal information about you, to ensure that it’s accurate and to have access to it, as provided by law. You also have the right to know how we are using your information.

To protect your privacy, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access to, or making corrections to, your personal information.

You may also register a privacy-related complaint by contacting ABC Life Literacy Canada. We will investigate all complaints. If an objection is justified, we will take appropriate steps to repair the situation, including changing our policies and practices if necessary.

The law sometimes permits or requires that organizations collect, use, or disclose information about you without your consent, or withhold information in certain circumstances. ABC Life Literacy Canada will comply with the law.

6. Contact information

To access or correct your personal information, or for questions, concerns or complaints relating to ABC Life Literacy Canada’s privacy policy on the treatment of personal information, please contact:

ABC Life Literacy Canada
Mailing address: 19013-360A Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M5S 1X0
No couriers please.

Tel. (416) 218-0010
Toll-free: 1-800-303-1004
Email: accounting@abclifeliteracy.ca

If you have any inquiries, requests or complaints regarding this Privacy Statement, please send an e-mail to accounting@abclifeliteracy.ca.