Policies >> Privacy

Privacy Policy for the Dialogue on Foreign Policy Web site

Introduction

This Privacy Policy details the collection, use, disclosure and retention of the Personal Information submitted by participants on the site.

The Foreign Policy Dialogue Web site and its organizers value personal privacy. As part of creating a fair, open and democratic environment for the exchange of ideas and opinions, citizens may opt to express their opinions anonymously or publicly.

1.Use

Site organizers seek to balance the protection of the privacy of the information collected for this electronic consultation with the need to analyze this information in order to supply a final report.

Researchers and analysts may examine the information that you provide, and use it for purposes of analysis and reporting on this electronic consultation. All researchers and analysts are trained and qualified and have read and agreed to abide by the TriCouncil policy governing research and human subjects in Canada.

The information received on this Web site will be shared with the Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development (at the Department of Foreign Affairs). This information is stored in databases owned by the byDesign eLab, which is responsible for safeguarding it. The information will be analyzed by members of the McLuhan Global Research Network and affiliates of the Knowledge Media Design Institute at the University of Toronto.

2. Collection

All participants who submit information to the electronic consultation Web site must do so in accordance with the Civil Rules. If you choose to register to participate in this electronic consultation, the site organizers, led by the byDesign eLab and the eCommons/Agora project, require that you supply your name, province of residence or origin and whether or not you are a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant. This information will not be made public.

2.1 Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Personally Identifiable Information is collected through forms that users are requested to fill in before participating in any on-line consultation. Users have the right to post messages under their real name or under a pseudonym. While no attempt to verify identity will be made on behalf of the site administrators and any PII submitted to the site is done so by choice, contributing on false pretenses will undermine the analysis of this consultation as well as the research into it.

2.2 Safeguards on Data Collection

The designers of this site have taken numerous steps to ensure that your personal information will not be used for any purposes inconsistent with the research and analysis component of this consultation.

All data submitted through on-line messages will be viewed and moderated behind a firewall. The databases that hold the information are secured by encryption technologies.

Access to your personal information is restricted to verified and approved project members only. All project members have signed confidentiality agreements. Logs detailing access to this information will be kept to ensure security and accountability.

3. Disclosure

Personal information (including your e-mail address) will not be displayed on the Web site. Only a self-chosen username will appear with your message. It is your option to provide a name or organizational affiliation when you compose your message, and the organizers take no responsibility for the accuracy of this information.

All partners on this project have signed confidentiality agreements and have sworn to respect the privacy of any information posted to this Web site. This is to ensure respect for the integrity of your information, and to provide a strong degree of protection for any personal information that is submitted. None of the information that you make available to this Dialogue will be sold or provided to third-party commercial companies. No disclosure will be made of your e-mail address or any other private information that you provide when you choose to register to participate on this Web site.

3.1 Contact from Adminstrators

Moderators may, from time to time and in response to a message you have written, contact you via e-mail. This is for the purposes of moderating the electronic consultation. If you request a new password, you will receive it at the e-mail address that you have supplied.

4. Retention

Records will be retained indefinitely for research purposes only. All research is bound by the TriCouncil Guidelines. Some records will be anonymized, and some will retain PII. As any messages posted to the site become a part of the public record, an accurate, comprehensive, secure archiving process will also be used for records retention.

4.1 Use of Cookies

The electronic consultation site uses session cookies in order to gather session-specific information for the purposes of analysis, and delivering and administering technical services to the site and its participants. Session cookies are not tracking devices, and do not identify a participant's identity. Session cookies are used in order to gauge traffic patterns and to permit insight into how the site is being used.

5. Governing Law

The Laws of Canada will apply to this Web site.

For further information, or to raise a concern regarding the safeguarding of your information, please contact admin@foreign-policy-dialogue.ca