The Heart of Georgian Bay is committed to respecting your privacy and protecting your personal information. This Privacy Statement explains the current information management practices on our website.
On this page:
- Our commitment
- Cookies
- Web analytics
- Privacy statement details
- Privacy statement topics
- Security
We are committed to protecting your privacy whether you are browsing for information or conducting business through electronic channels. The handling of all personal information by the Heart of Georgian Bay is governed by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. When you visit our website, we will not collect personal information.
Cookies are generally used to make it more convenient for users to move around our websites. If you choose, they may be used to ‘remember’ your password and make it easier and faster to log-in to certain sites. These types of cookies need to be stored on your computer’s hard drive.
In order to serve you better, we use web analytics services including Google Analytics and Webtrends to help analyse the use of our websites. These tools use cookies to collect and generate information about your visits to our sites (including your IP address) that is transmitted to their servers in an anonymous form for processing. We study patterns of website activity so we can improve the experience of visitors to our sites.
The use of these tools does not allow us or our analytics service providers to identify individuals.
You can opt-out of analytics activity by setting your browser to notify you when a cookie is sent and block analytics cookies if desired. Please consult your browser’s Help Menu for instructions. Visiting our website with analytics cookies disabled will have no significant impact on your browsing experience.
Google currently offers a free Google Analytics opt-out tool for Internet Explorer (versions 7 and 8), Google Chrome (4.x and higher), and Mozilla Firefox (3.5 and higher).
Thank you for visiting the Heart of Georgian Bay website and reviewing our online Privacy Statement in detail. Respecting your privacy and protecting your personal information in an online environment is a priority for us. These statements supplement this Privacy Statement.
What kind of information is collected when you visit our websites?
When you browse or download information from our website, our servers automatically collect limited amounts of standard information for traffic monitoring and statistical purposes. The information is analyzed for operational trends, performance, and for ways to improve our sites. We cannot identify you from this information.
We collect the following standard types of information:
- Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the computers being used to access our sites
- operating systems and the types and versions of browsers used to access our sites
- Internet Service Providers used by visitors to our sites
- dates and times users access our sites
- pages visited
- keywords users enter into our search engine
- names and sizes of files requested
Our website collects the above noted information to provide visitors with access to information and services available on our websites. Our computer systems use hardware and software to anonymously monitor unauthorized attempts to upload or change information at our website, disrupt service, or otherwise cause damage. As a general practice, we make no attempt to link this information with the identity of individuals visiting our sites. If an attempt to damage our site has been detected, we can take further actions.
What happens when you send us personal information online?
You may choose to provide us with personal information such as your name, address, phone number, e-mail address if you wish to:
- submit an e-mail, comment, question or request or subscribe for information online
- provide feedback, participate in consultations or surveys online
When you visit our website, any personal information you provide will be used to respond to your message and/or provide you with the requested service or product. At the time the information is collected, you will be informed of the specific purpose for which it is being collected.
How do we use cookies?
Some websites use cookies. A cookie is a small text file sent from a Web server and placed on your computer’s hard drive. A cookie is generally used to enhance your browsing experience. You can choose to set your browser to detect and reject cookies, to accept cookies from all sites, or to prompt you whenever a site wants to send you a cookie. Check your browser’s “Help” files to learn how to do this. If you choose to refuse cookies, you may not be able to access some of the interactive features on our websites.
Cookies used by the Heart of Georgian Bay, do not give us access to anything on your hard drive and cannot do anything to your computer
- session cookies may be used to support on-line feedback/discussion, forms and registration and ‘e-commerce/shopping cart’ transactions – they are used only during your online session and expire when you close your browser. Without session cookies, moving around our Web sites could be much slower
- persistent cookies are different from session cookies because they are stored on your computer’s hard drive for some length of time – they are usually used if you want us to remember information about your Web preferences (e.g. large font) and passwords for automatic log-in purposes
- at this time, the Heart of Georgian Bay does not process e-commerce activities through the website.
What steps can I take to protect my online activities?
Users are encouraged to learn about protecting their own computers to ensure that their online activities remain private. One place to start for tips on home network security is a Question and Answer sheet produced by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute – CERT Coordination Center.