Privacy Policy

THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION

Privacy Policy

The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is a network of Canadian NGOs dedicated to a united response in cases of humanitarian crises. The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION unite because they recognise the need for strong, decisive action. At present, HUMANITARIAN COALITION has FIVE members: CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Plan Canada and Save the Children Canada. These members share the same goal to help the most vulnerable and together they are even better equipped to do so. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is a fundraising and coordination body that directly supports the humanitarian activities of its members.  It does not operate humanitarian programs of its own.

By joining their efforts, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION strive to increase transparency and accountability to both the Canadian public and to those they assist around the world. Together, they will reduce administrative costs and ensure help gets to where it is needed faster than it was possible before.

A. Commitment to Privacy
At the HUMANITARIAN COALITION, we respect your right to privacy and we understand that donors, prospective donors, users of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION Web site and others who have contact with our organization offline need to be in control of their personal information. "Personal information" is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact an individual. The personal information that the HUMANITARIAN COALITION collects when engaged in fundraising and processing donations includes, but is not limited to: name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and credit card information. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION Privacy Statement describes the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s practices and policies for collecting, using and disclosing personal information in the course of raising and administering funds to support HUMANITARIAN COALITION projects. It may be updated from time to time to reflect developments in our practices, new technology or in the law. Updated versions will be made available in the same way as the privacy statement, including by posting on the Web site. Please check the Web site to see the current version of the privacy statement. Questions regarding this statement should be directed to the HUMANITARIAN COALITION by e-mailing info@humanitariancoalition.ca.

B. Accountability
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is responsible for all personal information under its custody or control. Maxime Michel, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s Office Manager, has been appointed as privacy officer for the HUMANITARIAN COALITION. The privacy officer may delegate day-to-day responsibility for administration of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s privacy policies to other employees but the privacy officer remains accountable for the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s handling of personal information.

C. Personal Information
You do not have to provide any personal information on our Web site unless you choose to do so.

We ask for personal information on our "Donate Online" page. We ask for the same information when you make a donation by mail or over the telephone. We use this information to process your donation and to write to you acknowledging receipt of your donation for tax purposes. In addition, your name and other information will be placed on our mailing list. Mailing lists are used for the following purposes:

• Mailings (by post or electronic) and/or phone calls to make a request for your support;
• Mailings (by post or electronic) and/or phone calls to invite supporters to special events;
• Mailings (by post or electronic) and/or phone calls to advise you of interesting ways to support the HUMANITARIAN COALITION;
• Electronic mailings to alert you to updated information and interesting features on our Web site. You have the option to remove yourself from the electronic mailing list by following the instructions at the bottom of any e-mail from the HUMANITARIAN COALITION.

Selected applications on our Web site allow visitors to subscribe to our e-bulletin by providing the HUMANITARIAN COALITION with their name and address. If you provide the HUMANITARIAN COALITION with your mailing address or telephone number, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION, in addition to sending you the e-bulletin, may also use this information to alert you to updated information and services.

If you do not want your personal information to go on our mailing list, you may ask us to remove it at any time by contacting the HUMANITARIAN COALITION at info@humanitariancoalition.ca or by mail at:

THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION
PO Box 7023
Ottawa, ON, K1L 5A0

D. Disclosure to Third Parties
We may make e-mail addresses, postal addresses and telephone numbers available to other reputable non-profit and commercial organizations to allow them to contact you with respect to donations or goods and services that we think may be of interest to you. If you do not want us to share this information, e-mail us at info@humanitariancoalition.ca listing your name, postal or e-mail address and telephone number, and let us know that you do not want us to share your personal information. When we employ other organizations to carry out functions on our behalf, they are required to use personal information only for the purpose of the functions they are providing and only in compliance with privacy laws.

E. Information from Other Sources
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION occasionally uses mailing lists received from other organizations. When we do so, we ask the organization to provide only names of individuals who have consented to the sharing of their information. If we are contacting you based on one of these lists, we will give you an opportunity to tell us whether you wish to receive further communications from the HUMANITARIAN COALITION and we will respect your wishes.

F. Information Collected from the Web Site

   1)   Credit Card Security
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is grateful for the donations we receive that help us to continue our valuable work. It is important to us that the information you give to us when making an online donation remains secure. Your credit card information is therefore secured by a reputable security company. The information is used only for that particular transaction and is not stored.

Note: To ensure your payment information is secure we use the Paypaq(tm) Payment Solutions Gateway. The Paypaq(tm) Payment Solutions Gateway processes your credit card information securely in real time using the latest available encryption technology. This means your payment information cannot be read as it travels over the Internet to your credit issuing institution. Look for the unbroken key or lock symbol on the bottom of the payment information page to ensure you are submitting your payment information on a secure form.
 
   2)    Domain Name
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s Web server automatically recognizes, but does not collect or use, your domain name (IP address). The HUMANITARIAN COALITION anonymously tracks your visit in order to compile statistical information about the use of our Web site. We do not collect individual information about you or your use of this site.
 
   3)    E-mail Addresses
Our Web site does not automatically recognize your e-mail address. We collect the e-mail addresses of those who communicate with us by e-mail and we ask for your e-mail address on our "Donate Online" page. If you communicate with us by e-mail, or give us your e-mail address, we will send you occasional e-mail updates. If you do not want to receive e-mail updates, you can follow the instructions at the bottom of any e-mail update you may receive. You may also email us at info@humanitariancoalition.ca.
 
   4)    E-mails to the HUMANITARIAN COALITION
We use e-mail links to allow you to contact us directly with questions or comments. This information is used to respond directly to your questions or comments. We may also use your comments to improve our site and programs. We may file the e-mails you send to follow up on your comments.
 
   5)    Links to Other Sites
Our site includes links to other Web sites whose privacy policies we don’t control. Once you leave our servers (you can check where you are by looking at the URL in the location bar on your browser), use of any information you provide is governed by the privacy policy of the operator of the site you are visiting. That policy may differ from ours. If you can’t find the privacy policy of any of these sites via a link from the site’s homepage, you should contact the site directly for more information. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites.

   6)   Third party vendors

Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to your website. Users may opt out of Google's use of cookies by visiting the Google advertising opt-out page.

E. Security and Retention of Information
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION will retain your information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in the HUMANITARIAN COALITION Privacy Statement. Subject to other legal requirements to retain information, this means that the HUMANITARIAN COALITION retains personal information only as long as our relationship with you is being maintained and cultivated or if necessary for statistical purposes. Information is retained in secure databases and filing cabinets.

The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is committed to protecting the security of your information in whatever formats it is held. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s employees, authorized volunteers and agents with access to personal information are required to respect the confidentiality of that information and implementing methods of protection that include:

• physical measures such as locked filing cabinets;
• organizational measures such as limiting access on a "need to know" basis;
• technological measures such as passwords, encryption and audits.

G. Access
Upon request, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION will inform an individual of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information. Requests may be made in writing at the address or e-mail listed below to the attention of our privacy officer. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION may charge a small administrative fee to cover the costs of providing access. Subject to applicable legislation, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION will make information available within 30 days of receiving a request. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION may seek to extend this time period, as permitted by law. There may be circumstances where the HUMANITARIAN COALITION cannot provide access to all the information requested. This includes information about third parties and information that cannot be disclosed for legal or security reasons.

The HUMANITARIAN COALITION will correct or amend any personal information that is shown to be inaccurate or incomplete.

H. Questions and Complaints
For further information about the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s information handling practices or to make a complaint, please contact us at info@humanitariancoalition.ca or by mail at:

THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION
PO Box 7023,
Ottawa, ON, K1L 5A0