Effective date of Privacy Policy: March 14, 2024
Groupe Bel Canada Inc., and its subsidiaries and affiliates (“Bel”), attach importance to protecting the accuracy, security and confidentiality of the personal information that you share with us and we strive to maintain your trust in this regard. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use and disclose your personal information when you visit the website www.bel-canada.ca (the “Site”) when you participate in our promotional activities such as entering a contest, subscribing to our newsletter mailing list or when you submit a request for information via the Site. This Privacy Policy covers only those activities that are subject to the applicable provisions of Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws. This Privacy Policy only applies for our Canada Site. Also, this Privacy Policy does not apply to non-Canadian residents or third-party websites accessible through our Site.
Please read this Privacy Policy before using the Site or disclosing personal information to Bel. By using the Site, you acknowledge and agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
Consent
BY SUBMITTING PERSONAL INFORMATION TO BEL OR ITS AGENTS, SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES, YOU AGREE THAT WE MAY COLLECT, USE AND DISCLOSE SUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, THE PRIVACY PREFERENCES YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO US AND AS PERMITTED OR REQUIRED BY LAW.
Subject to legal and contractual requirements, you may refuse or withdraw your consent to certain of the identified purposes at any time by contacting us as set forth below. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide you or continue to provide you with certain services or information that may be of value to you.
What is meant by the term “personal information” in this Privacy Policy? What personal information do we collect and why do we collect it?
“Personal information” is defined as information which relates to a natural person and that allows us to, directly or indirectly, identify you or could be used to identify you and is disclosed or collected via the Site. We collect certain personal information about our customers and other visitors using the Site or participating in our promotional activities by, for example, when they enter a contest, subscribing our newsletter mailing list, or submitting a request for information. This information mainly includes their name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, age, information on their consumer preferences or habits, and information on their use of the Site as well as other technical information. We may also collect information about products or services you like, reviews you submit, or where you shop. We might also collect information like your age or gender.
This information is especially used to organize contests and promotional activities, communicate with winners of contests, send newsletters, or answer questions asked of us. This information may also be used to improve the content of our Web site, for purposes of market research, to design, improve or market products, to provide information of interest to you or to understand and respond to your needs and preferences, including to contact and communicate with you and to conduct surveys, research and evaluations.
Please note that contests are also always subject to specific rules that are more fully described in the contest rules, which are available on this Site or another site.
How do you collect personal information?
Bel collects personal information directly from you when you use the Site. For example, you can provide your name, mailing address, email address or other details in order to receive information on various topics, sign up for Bel programs, contact customer service at Bel, take Bel surveys, participate in a sweepstakes, contest, promotion, or register, update, create or sign in to an account on our Site. To protect your personal information, you should not disclose information to Bel that is not specifically requested.
In addition, Bel may collect, via the Site, information about your visits to the Site without you having to disclose such information yourself. Various technological means, such as browser cookies and flash cookies, are used to collect non-personal information from you passively (“Automatic Data Collection Technologies”).
We use the following cookies on the Site:
When you visit the Site, your browser may automatically disclose to the Site certain non-personal information such as the URL of the site you just visited and the version of the browser that your computer uses. Cookies may enable us to retain certain information about your use of the Site, including the date of your most recent visit, pages you viewed, the time spent on each page, the device you use to navigate, your geographical area, your browser language, and files you downloaded. Cookies may allow us to customize our Site or a promotion to better suit your interests and preferences. As a result, they can facilitate navigation on the Site by helping us provide a better and more personalized service, customize the Site by taking user preferences into account, compile statistics, analyze trends, as well as administer and otherwise improve the Site. Certain components of the Site may not work properly without the use of Automatic Data Collection Technologies. Bel does not link the information obtained this way to your personal information.
Most Web browsers allow you to delete cookies from your computer’s hard drive, block them or receive a warning before they are installed. Please refer to your browser’s instructions to learn more about these features. If you refuse cookies, you will still have access to the Site, but it is possible that navigation will be affected and you may be unable to take advantage of certain services that require signing up and to access certain parts of our Site.
What choices do you have regarding how we collect and use your personal information?
You can always limit the amount and type of personal information we receive about you by choosing to not enter personal information in forms or data fields on the Site. However, certain online services offered by Bel are only available if you send the appropriate personal information. Other sections of the Site may require you to be on a subscription list to receive offers, promotions or other services likely to interest you.
You may also be asked to answer questions or check boxes in your preferences that will be used to inform the Site that you do not want tracking technologies such as cookies to “remember” your personal information, such as your user name or mailing address, during future visits.
Who will have access to my personal information?
Access to your personal information is restricted to a limited number of Bel employees, when required in the course of their employment functions. Bel employees are trained on the importance of privacy and how to handle and manage customer data properly and safely.
Unless otherwise provided for in this Privacy Policy, Bel will not disclose your personal information to third parties, unless you have directly consented to such disclosure. However, Bel may disclose your personal information, without your consent under the following limited circumstances: to service providers that help with our operations and we use to support our business. Third parties who may provide services on our behalf include our delivery service providers who ship and deliver your online orders, our marketing service providers (e.g. an advertising or promotion agency), and our data processing, document management and office service providers. We might also authorize our service providers to collect information on our behalf. Some service providers may be located outside of Canada. We might also share information with suppliers of our products and services to respond to your reviews and questions. Such third parties may only use your personal information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. If we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets to a related company or a third party, your personal information will remain subject to any pre-existing Privacy Policy unless you agree to the privacy policy of the company or third party that acquires your personal information. Bel takes the necessary measures, using contracts or other means, to ensure that these third party suppliers of goods or services handle your personal information only for the purpose of providing these goods or services to Bel, and that they offer a degree of privacy comparable to what Bel offers with regard to personal information in its possession.
In addition, it is a practice for Bel to request your consent, when required by law, if you sign up for a program that is administered jointly with another company that may require access to your personal information to administer the program. It is also a practice for Bel to require its subcontractors to keep your personal information confidential and only use it in the context of the activities carried out on behalf of Bel by its subcontractors.
In certain circumstances, personal information can be collected, used or disclosed without your consent. For instance, Bel may disclose personal information without your prior knowledge or consent:
We do not give your personal information to a promotional partner unless you have consented to the disclosure of your personal information to this partner.
Additionally, it is possible that personal information is stored in a jurisdiction other than Canada. In this case, it will be subject to the laws of that country, and these laws may not provide the same protections as the country where you live.
What are the security measures implemented by Bel?
We use appropriate physical, administrative and technological security measures to protect your information. In particular, we restrict access to your personal information to authorized employees in the course of their duties, and restrict access to our offices. All data is stored on servers with high security systems, protected against access by unauthorized persons and malicious use. However, the safety and security of your information also depends on you. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Site. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site. In addition, the Site may contain links to third-party websites that are not controlled by Bel. The Site that is subject to this Privacy Policy will display a warning each time you visit a site that is not under Bel’s control. Bel is not responsible for the content and policies of these sites. We recommend that you read the policies of these sites before using them.
Furthermore, all personal information that you post in public areas of the Site may be collected by third parties over whom Bel has no control. Bel is not liable for the use that third parties make of information posted by you or made public in any way whatsoever in public areas of the Site.
How does Bel protect the personal information of children and minors?
We are committed to protecting the privacy of children and we do not knowingly solicit personal information from children under the age of 18. If a child has already provided us with personal information, his or her parent or guardian may contact us for the purpose of deleting this information in one of the ways described below (under “How can I contact Bel?”), and Bel will work with you to correct the situation.
How can I access, correct or delete my personal information?
You can request access to your personal information held by Bel at any time. With your cooperation, Bel will keep your personal information accurate and up-to-date. You should advise Bel if you believe that your personal information is inaccurate. You have the right to ask for it to be corrected, deleted or updated. We may ask you to provide documentation to support your request for correction or updating.
You may request to delete, change or correct your personal information. In this case, you must inform Bel in one of the ways described below (under “How can I contact Bel?”). When requesting access to your personal information, we may request specific information from you to enable us to confirm your identity and right to access, as well as to search for and provide the personal information that we hold about you.
How long does Bel keep my personal information?
We retain your personal information only for as long as we reasonably need it to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law, whichever period is longer. We determine the criteria for retention based on the type of information collected.
Once the objectives have been achieved and your personal information is no longer needed, or if an individual asks us to delete it, we destroy it to ensure that it is protected against unauthorized access or disclosure.
How can I contact Bel?
If you have questions on the extent, use, modification or deletion of personal information you have provided to Bel, or if you wish to remove your name from future communications or a specific program, please contact our privacy officer at the following address:
Groupe Bel Canada Inc.
Attention: Privacy Officer
500 Place d’Armes, suite 2095
Montréal, Québec, H2Y 2W2
Or by email: [email protected]
In all your communications with Bel, please include the email address you used to sign up (if applicable), the address of the Site to which you have disclosed personal information about which you have questions or concerns, along with a detailed description of your request. If you wish to delete, change or correct your personal information, please indicate “Request to delete personal information” or “Request to change or correct personal information” in the subject line, depending on the case. Bel will respond to all reasonable requests in a timely manner.
Updating this Policy
Bel reserves the right to modify or supplement this Privacy Policy at any time. If Bel makes changes that require your consent to use, collect or disclose your personal information, we will not implement such changes until your consent has been obtained. Any update to this Privacy Policy will be issued to reflect these changes, and Bel will inform you of this by updating the effective date identified at the top of the page. Any new version will automatically come into effect as soon as it is published by Bel. Please check this date periodically.
Filing a complaint with regard to non-compliance with principles
If you have reason to believe we are not compliant with our Privacy Policy or privacy procedures, you may file a complaint by contacting our Privacy Officer at [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with our response to an information request or a complaint related to privacy, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in your province, if applicable.