Privacy Policy

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This document was last updated in January, 2021.

Focus on Nature  (the “FON”, “we” or “us”) is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by our visitors, donors, sponsors, members and educators (collectively, “Partners”).  As such, we comply with the requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Ontario) and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada). Focus on Nature employs reasonable administrative and technical measures to ensure the security of all of the personal information that we collect and our credit card processing system is Payment Card Industry compliant.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

Focus on Nature is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy sets forth our current privacy practices with regard to the information we collect when you interact with our website.

By accessing www.FocusOnNatureOnline.com, you acknowledge and fully understand Focus on Nature’s  Privacy Policy and freely consent to the information collection and use practices described in this Privacy Policy.

VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER SURVEYS

We may periodically conduct both business and individual surveys. We encourage our customers to participate in these surveys because they provide us with important information that helps us to improve the types of Products and Services we offer and how we provide them to you. Your personal information and responses will remain strictly confidential, even if the survey is conducted by a third party. Participation in our partner surveys is voluntary.

We may take the information we receive from individuals responding to our Customer Surveys and combine (or aggregate) it with the responses of other customers we may have, to create broader, generic responses to the survey questions (such as gender, age, residence, hobbies, education, employment, industry sector, or other demographic information). We then use the aggregated information to improve the quality of our Services to you, and to develop new Services and products. This aggregated, non-personally identifying information may be shared with third parties.

PARTICIPATING MERCHANT POLICIES

Related services and offerings with links from this website, including vendor sites, have their own Privacy Policies that can be viewed by clicking on the corresponding links within each respective website. Online merchants and others who participate in the Focus on Nature’s services are encouraged to participate in industry privacy initiatives and to take a responsible attitude towards consumer privacy. However, since we do not have direct control over the policies or practices of participating merchants and other third parties, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or contents of those sites. We recommend and encourage that you always review the privacy policies of merchants and other third parties before you provide any personal information or complete any transaction with such parties.

WHAT WE COLLECT

Personal information is collected when a Partner supplies it to us voluntarily; for example, by purchasing a program, registering for a program, making a donation, engaging with us on social media, entering a contest or subscribing to our e-newsletter.

The following are examples of the personal information that we collect in respect of our Partners:

  • contact information (including salutation, name, home and business address, phone number and email address)
  • member information (including school, grade, and first name)
  • payment information (such as credit card number, expiry date and 3-digit CVV)
  • website visit history and program participation
  • value of any donation, sponsorship, grant or payment

To better understand our website visitors and to improve the visitor experience on our website, the Focus on Nature website collects data using third-party services (including Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel); no personal information is collected through these tools that would allow Focus on Nature to identify individuals. 

We also collect information about email open rates and click-through rates to determine whether Focus on Nature’s electronic communications are effective.

When you visit our site, we may store some data on your computer in the form of a “cookie”. A “cookie” is a small piece of text that a website places in the cookie file of your browser that allows our site to recognize your personal computer the next time you visit. Cookies by themselves do not tell us your email address or otherwise identify you personally. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Your Web browser can be set to accept or reject cookies. Please note that disabling or deactivating cookies may result in a reduced availability of the functionality of our site or parts of our site may no longer function correctly.

Focus on Nature may use third parties to collect data from our website anonymously for marketing purposes (for example, advertisements). Users of our website will not be personally identified through this data and Focus on Nature does not see any data or contact information on an individual level. These third parties may include, but are not be limited to, Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest. You may tailor your privacy settings to limit the collection of personal information.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use personal information to:

  • communicate with our Partners about our programs, events, offers, fundraising projects and other special initiatives
  • communicate with visitors about their experience with Focus on Nature
  • contact Partners in connection with fundraising and marketing efforts
  • deliver requested information about our programs and events

A Partner may opt out of receiving communications from us by contacting us via our “Contact Us” form.

HOW WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

In some circumstances, Focus on Nature uses third party vendors for services that would not be practical or cost-effective for us to perform ourselves. Some of the services that Focus on Nature retains a third vendor to perform include but are not limited to:

  • credit card processing
  • website maintenance

In all cases, the third party vendor is contractually bound to comply with the Focus on Nature’s privacy policy and all applicable privacy laws and to maintain the confidentiality of all personal information that Focus on Nature provides to it. The contracts with third party vendors also require them to take reasonable precautions to protect the personal information under its control and to destroy such personal information upon completion of their services to Focus on Nature. Personal information sent between Focus on Nature and third party vendors is transferred using secured file transfer protocols.

Focus on Nature does not sell or rent personal information to any organization.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Focus on Nature retains personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected and to comply with applicable laws. When personal information is no longer (i) necessary or relevant for the identified purposes, (ii) required to be retained by applicable laws, or (iii) required to enable Focus on Nature to deliver program, Focus on Nature will take steps to have such personal information deleted, destroyed, erased, aggregated or made anonymous. Focus on Nature uses reasonable business practices to ensure that we have appropriate practices relating to information security and policies with respect to records retention and destruction with respect to all personal information under our control.

ACCURACY AND ACCESS

Focus on Nature takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information that it maintains about Partners is accurate, complete, and up to date. If a Partner becomes aware that any personal information under our control about him or her is not correct, please contact us via our “Contact Us” form.

Partners are entitled to a copy of the personal information that Focus on Nature has under our control about them; if you would like a copy of such information, please contact us. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. In addition, your right to access or correct your personal information is subject to certain legal restrictions.

CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18

Children should use the Focus on Nature Online website only with the approval of a parent, guardian or educator. Focus on Nature Online does not knowingly collect any information that will render a child personally identifiable.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

Focus on Nature has the discretion to occasionally update this Privacy Policy. When we do, we will also revise the “updated” date at the top of this Privacy page. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed about how we are helping to protect the personal information we collect. Your continued use of the service constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Policy and any updates.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions regarding our Privacy Policy, its implementation, or the practices described herein, you may contact us at online(at)focusonnature.ca. 

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