Last Revised: 2020 April 07
The Citizen Lab respects your privacy and, as part of the University of Toronto, we comply with Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). This policy informs you about how we handle personal information collected through our website, citizenlab.ca. We may update this policy from time to time and will notify you by changing the Last Revised date at the top of this page.
As part of the University of Toronto, our collection of personal information is authorized by section 2(14) of The University of Toronto Act, 1971.
What personal information is collected through the Citizen Lab website and why?
The Citizen Lab only collects personal information when we have your consent or when it is necessary for our legitimate interest of disseminating our research and related work.
Our website allows you to voluntarily provide us with your email address in order to receive the Citizen Lab newsletter. The newsletter is powered by the third party service Mailchimp and when you sign up your email address is sent to Mailchimp. You can always unsubscribe from our mailing list by clicking on the unsubscribe link in a newsletter email. For more information about Mailchimp’s privacy practices, please consult their privacy policy.
Cookies and Technical Information
The Citizen Lab collects data that may be considered personal information in order to provide access to our website and relevant web content, and to monitor our website’s performance.
Our website’s web server technology logs your public IP address in association with web resources requested by your browser. The time and URL of each resource you request is logged and stored on our web server in a directory accessible only to system administrators.
Our website also uses cookies and other tracking technologies to collect statistics about visitors’ usage of the website through Google Analytics. Google Analytics anonymizes your IP address prior to processing. The use of Google Analytics does not allow us to identify individuals and we do not use Google Analytics for advertising related purposes. Google Analytics cookies on our site may expire at the end of your browsing session or a maximum of two years after access, depending on their function.
We embed YouTube videos on our website in “privacy enhanced mode.” These videos use cookies to retain user preferences but do not track viewing behaviour. More information on privacy enhanced mode is available here. Youtube cookies on our site may expire at the end of your browsing session or a maximum of one year after access, depending on their function.
By using our website you consent to the use of such cookies. If you do not wish to be tracked by YouTube or Google Analytics, consider installing an ad blocking web extension such as uBlock Origin or changing the settings in your internet browser. For more information about Google’s use of data, please read their privacy policy as well as Google Analytics’ support article about “Safeguarding your data”.
How long do we keep your information?
We keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary in connection with the purposes for which it was collected.
Where and how is your personal information stored?
We store your personal information in Canada and use appropriate safeguards to keep your data safe. If you choose to provide us with your email address, that data will be stored in the United States and will be safeguarded by security practices described on MailChimp’s Security page. Google Analytics and YouTube may also collect information that is considered personal information and will store this information in conformity with their privacy policy including complying with the EU-US and Swiss-US Privacy Shield Frameworks.
What rights do I have regarding my personal information?
Our handling of your personal information is governed by Ontario’s FIPPA through which you have enforceable rights. You have the right to access and correct your personal information. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
Depending on the applicable laws of your country or jurisdiction, you may also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, the right to the erasure of your personal information, the right to object to the processing of your personal information, the right to restrict our processing of your personal information, and the right to receive your personal information in a manner that facilitates the portability of your data.
We will comply with all requests that are legally required and assist with other requests as appropriate in the circumstances, including erasure of your personal information, objection to processing of your personal information, and requests to receive your personal information in a manner that facilitates the portability of your data.
Who do I contact if I have further questions?
If you have further questions about our privacy practices you can contact the Citizen Lab at [email protected].
For further information on FIPPA and the University of Toronto, you can contact the University of Toronto’s Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy Office:
Rafael Eskenazi, FIPP Director
University of Toronto
McMurrich Building, Rm 104
12 Queen’s Park Crescent W
Toronto, ON M5S 1A8
416 946-5835
[email protected]
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario can be contacted at:
2 Bloor Street East,
Suite 1400
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8
416-326-3333
1-800-387-0073
[email protected]
https://www.ipc.on.ca/