Privacy Policy
last modified: August 26, 2021
The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) is a not-for-profit organization incorporated under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act.
When you engage in the use of our “Services” i.e., contact us by email, through the website, complete your membership registration, apply to programs, or engage in a one-on-one personal or business relationship, you will be asked to provide an email address and/or other means of identification so that we can identify you. We may also ask for a referral or access code, for specific industries or service providers. In the case of membership registration, information regarding your organization will also be collected. In all cases, information is collected solely for the purposes of creating and maintaining a responsible business relationship, to meet legal and regulatory requirements, and to provide service excellence throughout the Canadian Food Innovation Network. Your use of our website and/or Services constitutes consent to the usage of your information in the manner described herein, as per our Terms of Use.
When does this privacy policy apply?
This Privacy Policy applies to personal information that we collect, use, store and otherwise process about you in connection with your use of the Services, and you and/or your organization’s confidential information collected by Canadian Food Innovation Network and its affiliates, collectively referred to in this Privacy Policy as “CFIN”, “we”, or “us”.
Data Definitions
Personal information is information about an individual that can be used to identify them or information about an identifiable individual.
Confidential Information includes data a legal entity may declare as confidential for business reasons.
The Personal and Confidential Information CFIN May Collect
CFIN is responsible for all personal information in its possession or custody, including information that has been transferred to it through any third party. CFIN requires personal information about you in order to manage our business, people, and provide our services to clients.
When you access any of CFIN’s Services, including but not limited to CFIN’s website (“cfin-rcia.ca”) we may collect information in the following ways:
1. Cookies and web beacons: like many websites, we may use a software technology called “cookies”. A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on your computer, and that your browser provides to the website each time you return. Cookies themselves do not contain any personally identifiable information. We use cookies to help us identify and track visitors to our Site, their usage of the website, and their website access preferences. If you do not wish to have cookies placed on your computer you should set your browsers to refuse cookies before using our websites. “Web beacons” are small pieces of code placed on a web page to monitor the behaviour and collect data about the visitors viewing a web page.
2. Email requests or online forms submitted by you which may include personal information like your name, email address and any other contact information you have provided. We recommend that you use your professional business contact information when interacting with the CFIN and others through our platform.
3. Personal interactions (i.e., you supply a CFIN representative with a business card) with CFIN members.
4. Registration information associated with the various CFIN sponsored platforms or portals, provided when registering for the Services or to access the platforms or portals.
5. Registration information associated with attendance at events, provided when registering to attend the event.
6. Information about employees or volunteers, provided by those individuals.
7. Membership registration information, where Members consent to the following additional data procedures:
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CFIN may share each Members business contact information with other Members.
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CFIN will use a collaborative and collegial approach to business, therefore the sharing of information and knowledge is promoted between Members.
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There may be instances where Members share intellectual property (IP) with the CFIN. The CFIN may share any and all Foreground IP as defined by CFIN’s IP Policy (available upon request) with all members without exception. Furthermore, CFIN will maintain an inventory of all IP and data generated through the Master Project Agreement (MPA), which inventory will be readily available to all members subject to the terms of the MPA.
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However, and unless specifically authorized in writing, Background IP as defined by CFIN’s IP Policy will not be shared or made available to Members. On the limited occasions where this may occur it will be pursuant to a MPA which will define the terms of dissemination. CFIN’s IP Policy is available for review upon request.
8. Other information pertaining to CFIN operations and Services, including, but not limited to:
a) processing proposals for programs or funding offered by CFIN, including information provided by proponents, reviewers, and others;
b) distributing CFIN newsletters and communications, or marketing materials.
How We Secure Your Personal and Confidential Information
We have taken steps to ensure that all information collected will remain secure and in its original form, i.e., free from any alteration. Access to all information (except publicly available information) is strictly controlled. We have put in place appropriate physical, technical, and administrative procedures in an effort to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access and to maintain data security.
Retention of Personal and Confidential Information
We retain personal and confidential information that we collect for as long as is necessary to fulfill identified legal or business purposes.
We do not share your personal data with third parties, except as provided below.
1. At your request or with your consent
2. When using third party websites, some information will be shared with or housed on third party websites i.e. when registering for events. These third party websites may have access to your personal information. CFIN strongly recommends that you review the privacy policy of any page that you are on or that is linked from CFIN’s website, as CFIN has no control over the privacy practices of third parties.
3. When using third party websites, some information will be shared with or housed on third party websites i.e. when registering for events. These third party websites may have access to your personal information. CFIN strongly recommends that you review the privacy policy of any page that you are on or that is linked from CFIN’s website, as CFIN has no control over the privacy practices of third parties.
4. Disclosure to other third parties. In certain circumstances, we may share and/or are obliged to share your personal information with third parties for the purposes described above and/or in accordance with applicable law, including if we, in good faith, believe doing so is required or appropriate to comply with law enforcement or national security requests and legal process, such as a court order or subpoena; protect your, our or others’ rights, property, or safety; enforce our policies or contracts; collect amounts owed to us; assist with an investigation or prosecution of suspected or actual illegal activity or as otherwise allowed under applicable law.
These third parties include, but are not limited to:
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Government of Canada, as necessary to comply with funding arrangements
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administrative authorities (tax or social security authorities)
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financial institutions
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insurance companies
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police, public prosecutors, regulators
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external advisors
We may also disclose your personal information in connection with a corporate re-organization, a merger or amalgamation with another entity, a sale of all or a substantial portion of our assets, including any due diligence exercise carried out in relation to the same, provided that the information disclosed continues to be used for the purposes permitted by this Privacy Policy by the entity acquiring the information.
Consent
An individual may decline to consent, or revoke their consent, to the collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information for all, or any purposes. However, if he/she does so in respect of the personal information required for the processing of a project proposal, or assessing or updating credit worthiness of a proponent, the assessment of their proposal may be terminated. There may be instances where we are not able to comply with a request to withdraw consent.
An individual may opt not to have their personal information used for the purpose of receiving communications about CFIN programs and Services or regular CFIN communications. Individuals who wish to decline or revoke their consent for their personal information to be used for such communication purposes will be provided with a method to opt out.
Your Rights to Your Information
You may request (i) access to specific personal information collected about you, (ii) to know the categories of information we have collected, (iii) to know the categories of sources from which your information is collected, (iv) to know how we use your information, (v) to know to whom it has been disclosed, and (vi) that we delete your information, subject to limited exceptions prescribed by law.
Requests must be made in writing and we must be able to verify your identity before we are able to release your personal information to you. Providing you with your personal information more than twice in a 12-month period is at our discretion.
We may not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights permitted by law, including your right to request your personal information as described above. Note that some Services may no longer be available to you if you request that your personal information be modified or deleted.
We make reasonable efforts to ensure personal information is accurate and complete. You may make a request to update, correct, or delete your personal information at any time through the Edit Member Profile function or by contacting us at the email address in the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy. You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the personal information that you submit to us.
Changes to this policy
We may need to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to how we collect your personal information, or how we use or disclose it, we will post or provide appropriate notice in accordance with applicable law.
In order to ensure fairness of the processing, we encourage you to review the content of this Privacy Policy regularly.
Contact us
The CFIN Privacy Officer is responsible for CFIN’s compliance with applicable privacy legislation.
For further information, to exercise your rights, to challenge CFIN’s compliance or if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact the Privacy Officer.
If a complaint is made and found to be justified, through compliance review, CFIN will take appropriate measures, including amending its policies and practices if necessary.
CFIN’s Privacy Officer can be contacted at:
Address:
Privacy Officer, Canadian Food Innovation Network
381 Elmira Rd N, Unit 1 Guelph ON N1K 1H3
Email Address: info@cfin-rcia.ca