FAMILY.CA PRIVACY POLICY

At FAMILY.ca, we understand and appreciate the concerns that parents and families may have with regard to information gathered about visitors to our website, or on any other website. This Privacy Policy describes our privacy practices and procedures. The FAMILY website gathers certain personal information from its visitors including name, age, street address and email address and uses that information solely for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.

1. Membership

FAMILY.ca is a site for kids. Therefore, there are certain rules that we are required to follow. One of the rules is that users under the age of 16 require parental consent when providing any personal information. It’s necessary for us to collect parents’ email addresses for those users under the age of 16. We send an email to the parents letting them know that their child has registered for membership with FAMILY.ca and request their consent.

Each membership application is reviewed before it’s enabled. If a visitor attempts to register an inappropriate username (e.g. one that contains the user’s real name or bad words) or if a visitor provides false information, that visitor’s membership application will be rejected.

FAMILY.ca members are also invited to send us content (such as jokes, photos and videos) for inclusion on the site. In order to include the content on our site, we require parental consent from our members. When we send an email to parents letting them know that their child has registered for membership, we also advise parents that their child will also be submitting content to the site and obtain their consent.

There are other important privacy measures we take such as never asking for more personal info than what we deem necessary - and storing any info we do collect in a secure database only accessible by the FAMILY.ca staff. We take extra steps to prevent members from disclosing their personal info on our site by monitoring the interactive features and actively enforcing our rules.

Any personal identifiable info collected from our members is for FAMILY.ca purposes only (e.g. Membership verification, contest fulfillment, e-birthday cards, etc.). We will never sell or give any of this information to third parties. Sometimes we may share aggregated info collected from our surveys, however specific Members are never identified.

2. Personal Information for Contests

A user can enter a FAMILY contest through our website FAMILY.ca. On the online entry form, we ask for personal information such as your name and address. This personal information is collected, used and/or disclosed solely for the purpose of awarding contest prizes, tracking compliance with the official rules and regulations and for internal feedback purposes.  Parental consent for entrants under 16 is verified prior to delivery of prizes.  FAMILY only uses and discloses a contest winner's name and photograph after receiving prior written consent from the winner (or their parent/guardian) and the appropriate release forms are fully completed by a parent/guardian and returned to FAMILY. As with FAMILY.ca Memberships, we may share aggregated information to third parties, but this information will never identify a Member specifically or include identifiable information. As with FAMILY.ca Memberships, we may share aggregated information to third parties, but this information will never identify a Member specifically or include identifiable information.

FAMILY sometimes uses a third party company (FAMILY’s contest fulfillment house) to draw winners names, contact winners and send prizing to you. The personal information collected by this company is solely for the purpose of the contest fulfillment, and this company is contractually obligated to maintain the private and/or confidential nature of the collected information.

All contest and stored information, including personal information, received from our visitors remains the exclusive property of FAMILY and is not sold or distributed. Contest entry names and information are seen only by FAMILY and FAMILY’s contest fulfillment house. Such information is stored in a secure location and only accessible for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it is collected, and it is destroyed, in a manner which ensures that the private and/or confidential nature of the information is preserved, typically within sixty (60) days after those purposes have been fulfilled.

3. Security

We protect your personal information using security systems including appropriate technological, physical and organizational security procedures. Information that you provide is stored in a secure database and is only accessible by those FAMILY.ca staff who need access to it. Each FAMILY employee signs a confidentiality agreement upon employment with the company, and is trained to carry out and implement FAMILY’s Privacy Policy.

4. Online Polls and Surveys

Occasionally FAMILY.ca visitors are invited to voluntarily answer polls or survey questions that may be used in conjunction with sponsors/business partners. Be assured that in these poll and survey situations, only non-identifiable, general information such as gender, age and postal code is collected. The information collected ensures that visitors remain anonymous.

5. General Website Traffic

FAMILY tracks the number of visits to our site. All information gathered in this way is generic, and we do not track any individual users from this, but only calculate how many visits have taken place and how visitors navigate our site.

6. Cookie Technology

Cookie technology is used on our site to maximize the site experience. For example, we use cookies to keep track of a user's time zone information which allows us to customize our schedule and give accurate show times. We also use cookies to keep track of a user's progress through a game we may have on our site. No personal information is gathered from these cookies.

7. Email Newsletters

With FAMILY.ca Membership, users will have the option to receive email Newsletters from FAMILY.ca. The Newsletter will be sent out periodically and provide program updates, information on special events, new contests, and FAMILY.ca host messages. This Newsletter can be cancelled at any time by following the simple steps outlined at the bottom of the Newsletter.or by contacting us as outlined at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.

8. Electronic Birthday Cards & Greetings

With FAMILY.ca Membership, users will automatically be sent an electronic birthday card to their email address on their birthday. We may also post a birthday greeting to a Member on Family.ca, but will only identify a Member by his or her username and will not use any identifiable personal information in the greeting.  Users can cancel the e-birthday card or online greeting by following the steps outlined on the e-birthday card or by contacting us as outlined at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.  

9. Text Messages

With FAMILY.ca Membership, users will have the option to receive text messages from FAMILY.ca on their mobile phone. Users signing up for this option will be asked to provide FAMILY with their mobile phone number. The text messages will be sent out periodically and provide program updates, information on special events, new contests, and FAMILY.ca host messages. Users can cancel this text messaging option at any time by following the instructions in the initial text message, by deleting their mobile phone number from their user profile on the site or by contacting us as outlined at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.

10. Online Safety Notes for Kids

The web is a great place to hang out, to find out stuff, and to share comments and ideas with people who are into the same kind of stuff you are. But the net isn't always a safe place - so we've put together some tips for you to read that will help you handle situations if they come up. First thing is don't give out personal information without asking your parents. Personal information can mean:

YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR PHONE NUMBER
YOUR MOM OR DAD'S NAME
THE NAME OF YOUR SCHOOL
YOUR TEACHER OR YOUR FRIEND'S NAMES

Secondly, if you run into something on the internet that makes you uncomfortable - whether it's on the web or it's sent to you - tell your mom or dad, or an adult you can talk to, and get them to deal with it. Never agree to meet anyone you have "met" online.

Never send your picture over the internet without checking with your parents or another adult. Don't answer mean messages, or rude ones, or messages asking for personal information. If you do get a message like that - tell your parents right away, so they can help you deal with it. Make sure you obey the rules that your parents have set out for you. Make up a cool nickname for when you join a chat or a game online. Never tell anyone your real name or your password. Get your parents to read the safety for parent's tips.

11. Online Safety Notes for Parents

The web is a great place for kids to hang out and learn about topics that are of interest to them. However, there are areas on the internet that are not appropriate for children.
The guidelines we have drawn up are a starting point for parents of children who surf. The most important thing is to be aware of what your children are doing online. This may mean surfing with your children, or talking to them about the Sites that they like or that they have recently discovered on the web.

Make surfing a family activity, particularly with young children. Set ground rules, so each person knows what is expected of them. For example, you could go through the safety tips together so everyone understands the whats and the whys.

There are software programs that allow parents to block certain websites from their kids. Some programs are more flexible than others, so you may want to shop around to find one that you're comfortable with.

12. Other Sites

Please keep in mind that this Privacy Policy applies to FAMILY.ca only. Occasionally, we may have links to other sites, including those of sponsors and partners. And although we do our best to ensure that these third parties share our views about privacy protection and safety, we don't have control over how they collect and use personal information from visitors. That's why it’s always a good idea to check out a site's privacy policy - even if you've linked to it from FAMILY.ca.

13. Accessing Your Personal Information

You have the right to access, verify and amend personal information that we collect about you. To keep your personal information current, you can amend inaccuracies and make corrections by contacting us as described at the end of this Privacy Policy.

We review this Privacy Policy regularly and will update it (and other sections of our website) whenever necessary. If there are ever changes made to the way we collect or use personal information, we will always inform our members.

Any questions, comments or requests concerning the FAMILY.ca Privacy Policy can be directed to:

By Mail:
M. O’Neail , Privacy Officer
Family Channel
BCE Place, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2T3

By Email :
privacy@family.ca

By Telephone :
1-800-565-6684