WEBSITE PRIVACY NOTICE
Website Privacy Notice
Last Revised: May 29, 2020
The First Nations Tax Commission (the “Commission”) owns and operates firstnationsresourcecharge.ca, rrpn.ca, fntc.ca, fng.ca and ilti.ca (collectively, the “Commission Sites”), and is committed to protecting your privacy.
The Commission collects, uses and discloses personal information in accordance with the First Nations Fiscal Management Act and the Privacy Act (the “Act”). “Personal information” is generally defined as information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact or locate an individual, such as name, telephone number or email address.
This Privacy Notice sets out the types of personal information the Commission collects from you when you use the Commission Sites, the purpose for which the Commission collects your personal information, and how to exercise your right of access to that personal information.
Notwithstanding this Privacy Notice, the Commission may sometimes act in reliance on exemptions or other permitted conduct, including collecting, using and disclosing personal information as permitted or required by applicable law.
The Commission may modify this Privacy Notice from time to time. The Commission will notify you of such changes by updating this Privacy Notice, along with the “last revised” date. The Commission encourages you to periodically check the Commission Sites to ensure you are aware of such changes.
Your Privacy and the Internet
What Personal Information Do We Collect Automatically?
The nature of the Internet is such that web servers automatically collect data about you when you visit a website, including your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers to all devices used to access the Internet. While you cannot be identified using your IP address on its own, you may be identified when your IP address is combined with other data collected when you use the Commission Sites, such as the date and time of your visit. For this reason, the Commission considers IP addresses to be personal information.
For more details on personal information that is automatically collected to improve the Commission Sites, see below under “Improving Your Experience on the Commission Sites”.
What Personal Information Do We Collect Directly?
Unless otherwise noted, the Commission does not automatically gather any specific personal information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. The Commission only obtains this type of personal information directly from you, including when you:
- include personal information in your communications with the Commission. In such cases, your personal information will only be used to respond to your enquiry; or
- include personal information in a form when submitting content for publication on the Commission Sites. In such cases, your personal information is only collected for purposes that are directly related to providing you with certain services on the Commission Sites and your use of those services. You will be asked to consent to the collection of this personal information at the time it is collected;
The Commission will only use and disclose your personal information for the purposes for which the information was initially collected, for other purposes to which you consent, and otherwise in accordance with the Act. For example, personal information included in communications with the Commission may be shared with individuals within the Commission tasked with responding to your enquiry or another government institution, if your inquiry relates to that institution. The Commission does not use or retain specific personal information to create individual profiles.
You can chose not to provide your personal information when communicating with the Commission or submitting content for publication on a Commission Site; however the Commission may be unable to provide you with certain services unless certain information is provided and you have consented to the use of that information as required by the Commission for the provision of such services.
What Personal Information Do We Collect from Third Parties?
The Commission may collect personal information about you from a third party where that information is contained in content submitted to the Commission for publication on the Commission Sites. In such cases, the third party submitting content that contains your personal information is responsible for obtaining your consent for such disclosure.
What Information Do Third Party Service Providers Obtain?
The Commission Sites may contain links to third party service providers and websites, including social media platforms, that may collect your personal information, including your IP address. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third party service providers, and suggest you review the privacy policies of those websites prior to use.
Securing Your Personal Information?
The Commission takes steps to protect your personal information against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure. However, there are security risks in transmitting information over the Internet. The Commission encourages you to assess these risks when deciding what information to share with the Commission, and recommends that you do not send sensitive personal information, such as your date of birth, through non-secure electronic means.
Improving Your Experience on the Commission Sites
What Are Digital Markers and How Do We Use Them?
A “digital marker” is a mechanism used to remember your online interaction with a website. These mechanisms are created by your browser and may record your online interaction during a single session or over several sessions. Among other things, digital markers, such as “cookies” and “HTML5” allow websites to recognize a previous visit each time you accesses the site and track what information you view on a website.
The Commission uses sessional digital markers on some portions of the Commission Sites. When using the Commission Sites, your browser exchanges data with the Commission’s server. These digital markers help website administrators determine how you are interacting with the Commissions Sites and ensure that you find the information you are looking for. They do not allow the Commission to identify you.
You can adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies; however, this may affect your ability to interact with the Commission Sites.
What Are Web Analytics and How Do We Use Them?
“Web analytics” refers to the collection, analysis, measurement, and reporting of data about website traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing your experience. Information collected using digital markers may be used for the purpose of web analytics to remember your online interactions with the Commission Sites.
When you access a Commission Site, we automatically collect the following types of information for web analytics purposes:
- your IP address;
- the date and time that you access the Commission Site;
- the type of browser used to access the Commission Site; and
- the page(s) you visited.
The Commission uses an internal web analytics software called SmarterStats to process information collected on fntc.ca. It retains this information for a maximum period of 18 months, after which the information is disposed of in accordance with the Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics. The information collected on fntc.ca is not disclosed externally to any third party service providers.
The Commission uses an external web analytics software called Google Analytics® to process information collected on ilti.ca and fng.ca, and discloses this information externally to Google Inc. for this purpose. In order to safeguard your privacy, information processed externally, such as your IP address, is de-personalized by using the IP anonymization feature in Google Analytics prior to being stored.
Data collected using Google Analytics for web analytics purposes goes outside of Canada to the United States. This means that your personal information may be subject to the US legislation, including the Patriot Act and the laws of the State of California.
Information collected and processed for web analytics may be used for communications and information technology, statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting, and more broadly, to improve the Commission Sites. For more information on how your privacy is safeguarded in relation to web analytics, see the Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics.
Using Files Located on Non-Commission Servers
To improve the functionality of the Commission Sites, certain files (such as open source libraries, images, and scripts) may be delivered automatically to your browser via a trusted third-party server or Content Delivery Network. The delivery of these files is intended to provide a seamless user experience by speeding response times and avoiding the need for each visitor to download these files.
Protecting the Security of Commission Sites
The Commission may employ software programs to monitor network traffic and identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage to the Commission Sites. Such software receives and records the IP address of the computer used to access Commission Sites, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting the Commission Sites unless the Commission detects an attempt to damage the Commission Sites.
Enquiries
If you have any questions, comments, concerns or complaints about how the Commission administers the Act or handles your personal information, please contact the Commission’s Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator at the details below:
Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
First Nations Tax Commission
321 – 345 Chief Alex Thomas Way
Kamloops, BC V2H 1H1
Email: atip@fntc.ca
Telephone: 1-250-828-9855
If you are not satisfied with the Commission’s response to your privacy concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada by telephone at 1-800-282-1376.
If you would like to make any other enquiries about this Privacy Notice, please contact our Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator at the details above.