Date modified: 2024-08-13
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Terms and Conditions
Privacy Notice
Welcome to GEO.ca, a digital data platform made available through an ongoing collaboration of federal, provincial and territorial stakeholders, led by Natural Resources Canada. GEO.ca allows Canadians to discover, access, analyze and map Canada’s vast collection of open geospatial resources.
GEO.ca is committed to providing a website that respects the privacy of visitors. This privacy notice summarizes the privacy practices for GEO.ca’s online activities.
All personal information collected by GEO.ca is governed by the Privacy Act. This means that you will be informed of the purpose for which your personal information is being collected and how to exercise your right of access to that information.
Your Privacy and the Internet
The nature of the Internet is such that web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor’s Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, does not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the co-operation of an ISP for example, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, GEO.ca considers the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when a visitor requests a web page, such as the page or pages visited, and date and time of the visit.
Unless otherwise noted, GEO.ca does not automatically gather any specific information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. GEO.ca would obtain this type of information only if you supplied it to us, for example, by email. In such cases, how your personal information is handled will be provided in a Personal Information Collection Statement.
Where services are provided by organizations outside of the GEO.ca website, such as social media platforms or mobile applications, IP addresses may be recorded by the web server of the third-party service provider.
Communicating with GEO.ca
If you choose to send GEO.ca an email, your personal information is used by GEO.ca in order to respond to your inquiry. The information you provide will be shared only with another government institution if your inquiry relates to that institution. GEO.ca does not use the information to create individual profiles, nor does it disclose the information to anyone other than persons at the federal, provincial or territorial government who need to provide you with a response. Any disclosure of your personal information is in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Emails and other electronic methods used to communicate with GEO.ca are not secure unless it is specifically stated on a web page. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not send sensitive personal information, such as your Social Insurance Number or your date of birth, through non-secure electronic means.
Interacting with Us on Social Media
Content and Frequency
We use social media accounts as an enhanced method of sharing content and interacting with our stakeholders.
Because the servers of social media platforms are managed by a third party, social media content on GEO.ca is subject to downtime that may be out of our control. As such, we accept no responsibility for platforms becoming unresponsive or unavailable.
Links to Other Web Resources
GEO.ca may post or display links for websites, applications, services, social media accounts, or ads that are not under our control. These links are provided solely for the convenience of users. GEO.ca is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites or their content.
Following, Liking and Subscribing
Our decision to “follow,” “like,” “favourite,” “share” or “subscribe” to social media accounts does not imply an endorsement of that account, channel, page or site, and neither does sharing (reposting or linking to) content from another user or account.
Accessibility of Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms are third-party service providers and are not bound by the same standards for web accessibility that GEO.ca abides by.
If you have difficulty accessing content on our social media accounts, please contact us and we will try to solve the problem or provide you with the information in a different format.
Privacy
GEO.ca’s use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the Web. Social media accounts are public and are not hosted on our servers. Users who choose to interact with us via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications they use to access them.
Official Languages
Many social media platforms have multiple language options and provide instructions on how to set your preferences. GEO.CA respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that our information is available in both French and English and that both are of equal quality.
We reply to comments in the official language in which they are provided. If we think the response is a question of general public interest, we may respond in both official languages.
We may share links that direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and available only in the language(s) in which they are written. When content is available in only one language, we make an effort to provide similar content in the other official language, though this is sometimes not possible.
Improving Your GEO.ca Experience
Digital Markers (including cookies)
A digital marker is a resource created by the visitors’ browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for the web server to reference during the same or subsequent visit to the website. Examples of digital markers are “cookies” or HTML5 web storage. Some examples of what digital markers do are as follows:
- they allow a website to recognize a previous visit each time the visitor accesses the site;
- they track what information is viewed on a site, which helps website administrators ensure visitors find what they are looking for.
GEO.ca uses persistent digital markers on some portions of its website. During your online visit, your browser exchanges data with GEO.ca’s web server. The digital markers used do not allow GEO.ca to identify individuals. You may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies, if you so choose. However, it may affect your ability to interact with GEO.ca’s website.
Web Analytics
Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement, and reporting of data about web traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Information in digital markers may be used for the purpose of web analytics to remember your online interactions with GEO.ca’s website.
GEO.ca uses Adobe Analytics to improve its website. When your computer requests a GEO.ca web page, we collect the following types of information for web analytics:
- the originating IP address
- the date and time of the request
- the type of browser used
- the page(s) visited
The information collected by Adobe Analytics is disclosed to Adobe, an external third party service provider. Your IP address is anonymized prior to being stored on the service provider’s servers in order to help safeguard your privacy. The information collected is depersonalized by removing the final octet of your IP address before analysis of the data occurs.
Data collected for web analytics purposes goes outside of Canada to the United States of America and may be subject to the governing legislation of that country, such as the USA Patriot Act.
Information used for the purpose of web analytics is collected pursuant to the Financial Administration Act. Such data may be used for communications and information technology statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting. For more information on how your privacy is safeguarded in relation to web analytics, see the Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics.
Protecting the Security of the GEO.ca Website
GEO.ca employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the IP address of the computer that has contacted our website, 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 our site unless an attempt to damage the site has been detected.
This information is collected pursuant to section 161 of the Financial Administration Act. The information may be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities if suspected criminal activities are detected. Such information may be used for network security related statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting, and is included in Personal Information Bank PSU 939 — Security Incidents .
Inquiring About these Practices
Any questions, comments, concerns or complaints you may about the administration of the Privacy Act and privacy policies regarding GEO.ca’s web presence may be directed to GEO.ca.
If you are not satisfied with GEO.ca’s response to your privacy concern, you can call the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by telephone at 1-800-282-1376.
Using Files Located on Non-Government of Canada Servers
To improve the functionality of our website, 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. Where applicable, specific privacy statements covering these files are included in our Privacy Notice.
Providing Content in Canada’s Official Languages
The Official Languages Act, the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulations and the Treasury Board policy requirements establish when we use both English and French to provide services to or communicate with members of the public. When there is no obligation to provide information in both official languages, content may be available only in one official language only. Information provided by organizations not subject to the Official Languages Act is in the language(s) provided. Information provided in a language other than English or French is only for the convenience of our visitors.
Linking to Other Websites
Links to other websites not under the control of GEO.ca, including social media accounts, are provided solely for the convenience of our website visitors. We are not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the content of such websites. GEO.ca does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.
Visitors should also be aware that information offered by other sites to which this website links is not subject to the Privacy Act or the Official Languages Act and may not be accessible to persons with disabilities. The information offered may be available only in the language(s) used by the sites in question. With respect to privacy, visitors should research the privacy policies of these websites before providing personal information.
Ownership and Usage of Content Provided on This Site
Materials on this website were produced and/or compiled by GEO.ca and Natural Resources Canada for the purpose of providing Canadians with access to geospatial information offered by the Government of Canada and provincial and territorial organizations.
Use of open data available through GEO.ca is permitted, subject to and in accordance with the terms of the Open Government Licence – Canada, or a provincial or territorial Open Government Licence. A link to the specific terms of the licence is provided in the metadata of any information subject to an Open Government Licence.
All other material on GEO.ca not specified as being subject to an Open Government Licence may be used and reproduced only as follows:
Non-Commercial Reproduction
Permission to reproduce GEO.ca works, in part or in whole, and by any means, for personal or public non-commercial purposes, or for cost-recovery purposes, is not required, unless otherwise specified in the material you wish to reproduce.
A reproduction means making a copy of information in the manner that it is originally published—the reproduction must remain as is, and must not contain any alterations whatsoever.
The terms personal and public non-commercial purposes mean a distribution of the reproduced information either for your own purposes only, or for a distribution at large whereby no fees whatsoever will be charged.
The term cost-recovery means charging a fee for the purpose of recovering printing costs and other costs associated with the production of the reproduction.
- Exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials reproduced;
- Indicate both the complete title of the materials reproduced, as well as the author organization; and
- Indicate that the reproduction is a copy of an official work that is published by GEO.ca and that the reproduction has not been produced in affiliation with or with the endorsement of GEO.ca.
Unless otherwise specified, this authorization is also applicable to all published information regardless of its format.
Commercial Reproduction
Unless otherwise specified, you may not reproduce materials on this site, in whole or in part, for the purposes of commercial redistribution without prior written permission of GEO.ca.
Some of the content on this site may be subject to the copyright of another party. Where information has been produced or copyright is not held by Government of Canada, the materials are protected under the Copyright Act and international agreements. Details concerning copyright ownership are indicated on the relevant page(s).
To obtain permission to reproduce GEO.ca materials on this site for commercial purposes or to obtain additional information concerning copyright ownership and restrictions, please contact us.
Copyright
Information that we post is subject to the Copyright Act.
Our Commitment to Accessibility
GEO.ca is committed to achieving a high standard of accessibility as defined in the Standard on Web Accessibility and the Standard on Optimizing Websites and Applications for Mobile Devices. In the event of difficulty using our web pages, applications or device-based mobile applications, please contact us for assistance or to obtain alternative formats such as regular print, braille or another appropriate format.
Questions and Media Requests
For media inquiries, please contact GEO.ca.
