Privacy Policy

Liability Disclaimer

All information contained on the County of Grey websites are provided for your convenience only. The County of Grey does not accept any responsibility for damages or expenses incurred as a result of reliance thereon. Every effort has been made to ensure the information contained within the County of Grey websites is correct and the County of Grey accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

Information on our websites is not intended to constitute advice nor is it to be used as a substitute for advice from a licensed professional.

The County of Grey reserves the right to discontinue, change or modify this site at any time without advanced warning. In the case of a difference between the version presented on the website and the version of content in the County's records, the County's records shall be deemed to be correct.

The County of Grey will not be liable for damages arising from, but in no way limited to, the transmission of confidential information over the Internet.

The County of Grey reserves the right to edit, delete, modify or change any material sent or posted to its websites in whole or in part at its sole discretion.

By using these websites you agree to use the information contained therein for personal non-commercial use only, and will not use data obtained from the websites for solicitations, commercial or otherwise; use any data obtained from the websites as part of a commercial product, service or content offering; sell or otherwise distribute any data obtained from the websites.

Copyright

Canadian copyright law protects these websites and the material and images appearing within it. Such website materials and images may not be copied, published, distributed, downloaded or otherwise stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or converted, in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Links to Third Party Sites

The sites to which links are provided on these websites are not under the control of the County of Grey. The County of Grey is not responsible for and makes no representations or warranties concerning the contents of any linked site or any link contained in the linked site. The County of Grey websites provide links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement, investigation or verification by the County of Grey of the linked site.

Thank you for visiting a County of Grey Web site and reviewing our online Privacy Statement in detail. Respecting your privacy and protecting your personal information in an online environment is a priority for us. The County of Grey's management of personal information is governed by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

This Privacy Statement explains our current practices regarding what information County departments may collect, use, and secure when you visit our Web sites. In addition, some departments may post further detailed statements related to their specific programs. Those statements supplement this Privacy Statement.

Our Privacy Statement covers the following topics:

   Scope
   What Kind of Information is Collected When You Visit Our Web Sites?
   What Happens When You Send Us Personal Information Online?
   How Do We Use Cookies?
   Security
   Can I use material from County Web sites?
   What Steps Can I Take to Protect My Online Activities?
   Why Personal Information is Collected
   Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
   Correcting/Changing Personal Information
   Contact Information
 

Scope of Privacy Statement

This policy covers the web sites that are owned and operated by the Corporation of the County of Grey. This includes but is not limited to:

www.grey.ca
gis.greycounty.ca
www.visitgrey.ca(link is external)
www.greyroots.com(link is external) 
maps.grey.ca
 

The site is coordinated and maintained by the Information Technology (IT) Department. Web content is produced by each department within the County and approved by the IT Department for conformance to guidelines. 

What Kind of Information is Collected When You Visit Our Web Sites?

When you browse or download information from County of Grey Web sites, our servers automatically collect limited amounts of standard information for traffic monitoring and statistical purposes. The information is analyzed for operational trends, performance, and for ways to improve our sites. The County cannot identify you from this information. We collect the following standard types of information:

   Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the computers being used to access our sites;
   The operating systems and the types and versions of browsers used to access our sites;
   The Internet Service Providers used by visitors to our sites;
   The dates and times users access our sites;
   The pages visited;
   The key words users enter into our search engine; and
   The names and sizes of files requested.

The County of Grey's computer systems use hardware and software to anonymously monitor unauthorized attempts to upload or change information at County Web sites, disrupt service, or otherwise cause damage. As a general practice, we make no attempt to link this information with the identity of individuals visiting our sites. If an attempt to damage our site has been detected, we can take further actions.
 

What Happens When You Send Us Personal Information Online?

You may choose to provide us with personal information such as your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and credit card number, if you wish to:

   Submit an e-mail, comment, question or request or subscribe for information online;
   Request a service, product, or fill out a registration or licence form online;
   Provide feedback, participate in consultations or surveys online; or,
   Conduct e-commerce transactions with a ministry or agency.

When you visit a County department's Web site, any personal information you provide will be used to respond to your message and/or provide you with the requested service or product. The collection of personal information by County departments is in accordance the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). The Act authorizes County departments to collect only the personal information that is necessary for the administration of a County program. At the time the information is collected, you will be informed of the specific purpose for which it is being collected.

How Do We Use Cookies?

Some County Web sites use cookies. A cookie is a small text file sent from a Web server and placed on your computer's hard drive. A cookie is generally used to enhance your browsing experience. You can choose to set your browser to detect and reject cookies, to accept cookies from all sites, or to prompt you whenever a site wants to send you a cookie. Check your browser's "Help" files to learn how to do this. If you choose to refuse cookies, you may not be able to access some of the interactive features on our Web sites.

Cookies used by the County of Grey, do not give us access to anything on your hard drive and cannot do anything to your computer. Cookies used by the County are encrypted for security purposes to make any information in the cookie unreadable to anyone except the County department with which you are dealing. County departments use two types of cookies: session cookies (temporary) or persistent cookies (longer-term continuing use).

Session cookies may be used to support on-line feedback/discussion, forms and registration and 'e-commerce/shopping cart' transactions. They are used only during your online session and expire when you close your browser. Without session cookies, moving around our Web sites could be much slower.

Persistent cookies are different from session cookies because they are stored on your computer's hard drive for some length of time. They are usually used if you want us to remember information about your Web preferences (e.g. large font) and passwords for automatic log-in purposes.

A place to start for further information on 'cookies' is at the Web site of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

Security

The County's security practices are continually evolving to ensure that the integrity and confidentiality of information and systems are maintained. The County uses up-to-date security safeguards to protect its networks and Web sites from misuse, alteration, copying, disclosure, destruction, monitoring or unauthorized sharing of information and damage. The County's safeguards include the use of security software and encryption protocols and involve physical, technical and procedural controls to protect information behind the County firewall.

Can I use material from County Web sites?

In order to ensure compliance with Canadian Copyright Laws, please contact the Department responsible for any material you wish to copy or use from County web pages. This includes but is not limited to any text, graphics, design elements, photos and movie clips. You may not use any of these elements without the express written permission of the County.

What Steps Can I Take to Protect My Online Activities?

Users are encouraged to learn about protecting their own computers to ensure that their online activities remain private. One place to start for tips on home network security is a Question and Answer sheet produced by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute; CERT Coordination Center(link is external).

Why Personal Information is Collected

The County collects and retains personal information for the following reasons:

   To process your requests for services, products or additional information
   To communicate with you regarding services that you have requested
   To meet legal and regulatory requirements

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

The County of Grey is the sole owner of the information collected on the site. The County does not use or retain personal information that you provide for any secondary purposes unless you have first been notified and your permission has been obtained. The County will not sell, rent, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any organization or individual outside the County unless you are first notified and your permission is received, except in the following circumstances. The County may disclose your personal information:

   To companies contracted to process your requests
   For law enforcement purposes
   For purposes of acting in emergency situations affecting the health or safety of an individual
   For the purpose for which the information was obtained
   As otherwise authorized or required by law

Correcting/Changing Personal Information

You have a right to access your personal information collected by the County of Grey.  You are entitled to request correction of your personal information if you believe it contains an error or omission.  You are entitled to require that a statement of disagreement be attached to the information reflecting any correction that was requested but not made.  You are entitled to require that any person or body to whom the personal information has been disclosed within the year before the time a correction is requested or a statement of disagreement is required be notified of the correction or statement of disagreement.

To make a request, please contact our Clerk by e-mail at clerks [at] grey.ca (clerks[at]grey[dot]ca).

Contact Information

Questions or comments regarding this policy, or the administration of the Municipal Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy Act at the County of Grey may be directed to the Clerk by e-mail to clerks [at] grey.ca (clerks[at]grey[dot]ca), by calling (519) 376-2205 or writing to:

clerks [at] grey.ca (595 9th Ave East,
Owen Sound, ON N4K 3E3)