Privacy policy

PRIVACY POLICY

We are serious about protecting your identity and the personal information you share with us. Please read through our privacy policy. It applies to the personal information we collect in store, as well as through our website at https://canadianpond.ca. At Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd, we respect our customers. We understand your concerns about privacy, so we have posted this privacy policy to inform you what personal information we collect, how we use it, what choices you have regarding our use of your personal information, and how you may access your personal information.
In this document, “Website” refers to all our online properties and their domains.

1. Use of Personal Information

   “Personal Information” means any information, including sensitive Data, that is about an identified or identifiable individual, received or derived by Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd and recorded in any form. Personal Information remains personal, even if it is otherwise public. Personal Information does not include information that was modified or sanitized so that it can no longer be used to directly or indirectly identify an individual (anonymous personal information).
   You can browse in our stores or on our Website without giving us any personal information. However, with your consent or if a law requires us or allows us to, we may collect, use, store, and transfer the following kinds of personal information about you:

   • Aggregated information
   • Contact information
   • Employment information
   • Financial information
   • Identity information
   • Marketing and communications information
   • Purchase history
   • Security footage
   • Technical information

   If we happen to collect, use, store, or transfer your personal information, we would only do so for one of the following purposes:

   (A) To enable you to make a purchase, return a purchase, or exchange an item or to support you in your projects
   You do not have to provide us with any personal information when you purchase products and services for cash at one of our stores. If you use a debit or credit card for any of your purchases, we collect your debit or credit card-related information and signature (in-store only) for the purposes of processing and administering your payment. For purchases made on our Website, or by phone we also collect your billing and shipping address, telephone number, email address, and gift message (if provided) in order to deliver the products you ordered. We may also collect optional information as required for your project.

   When you return or exchange previously purchased merchandise, you may be asked to give your name, address, and phone number. We collect this information to administer our loss prevention program, including to help detect and prevent fraud. For merchandise returns where a customer receives a refund on a debit or credit card, we will collect and use debit and credit-related information to process and administer the refund transaction.
   Type of personal information collected: contact, financial, and identity information

   (B) To support our marketing/advertising efforts
   When you sign up to receive our newsletter, or other promotional communications via mail or email, we may collect personal information like your first and last name, email and/or mailing address (depending on the method of delivery), and interests in order to provide you with the service you requested.

   We will contact you only if you want us to. You are free to choose at any time not to receive our promotional communications by clicking the “Unsubscribe” button that appears at the bottom of our emails or by contacting us as set out in the “Unsubscribe” section below.

   When you enter a contest, participate in a promotion, or respond to one of our surveys, we may collect your name, address, phone number, and email address. We use this information to administer your participation in the contest or promotion and, for surveys, to understand our customers and enhance our product and service offerings, promotions, and events. At the time you are entering the contest, promotion, or survey, we may ask your permission to send you future marketing information from Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd or its marketing partners. To withdraw your consent for such communications, please contact us as set out in the “Unsubscribe” section below.
   Type of personal information collected: contact, identity, and marketing and communications information

   (C) To register on our Websites
   Some of the features available on our Website may require you to register. When you register, we collect your first and last name, email address to provide and otherwise administer the service you requested. At the time you register online, we may ask your permission to send you future marketing information from Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd or its marketing partners. To withdraw your consent for such communications, contact us as set out in the “Unsubscribe” section below.

   The “Send to a Friend” and similar features on our Website allow you to send emails to others. This feature requires you to submit your name and email address, as well as the recipient’s name and email address. We do not use the information submitted in these circumstances for any other purpose without your consent or the consent of the email recipient.
   Type of personal information collected: contact and identity information

   (D) To respond to your requests, and to communicate information with you at your request
   When you submit a comment or question to customer service via email or by phone, or when you visit the customer service desk at our store, we may collect personal information like your name, email or mailing address, and/or a phone number in order to respond to your comment or question. We also collect various types of information that you provide in order to allow us to answer your question.
   Type of personal information collected: contact, identity, and marketing and communications information

   (E) To improve the performance of level of service and the content of our Website
   We may collect information about you and your use of our Website via technical means, such as cookies, webpage counters, and other analytics tools. This may include your IP address, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this Website. We use this as necessary to administer and improve our Website and its content, to ensure it operates effectively and securely, and to develop our business and inform our marketing strategy. We may also create aggregate statistical data from that information (for instance, overall numbers of website visitors) that is not personal information about you.

   We, or other advertisers, may also use this information to serve advertisements to you. Where those adverts are targeted, this may involve using Website information and information we (or our advertisers working on our behalf) have obtained from other entities. This won’t include information like your name or contact details. Where our adverts are displayed to you using your information, said information is used as necessary for our legitimate interests in marketing to you.
   Type of personal information collected: aggregated, contact, identity, marketing and communications, and technical information; purchase history

   (F) To recruit employees
   We may advertise employment opportunities on our Website. In connection with a job application or related inquiry, you may provide us with certain personal information about yourself (such as that contained in a resume, cover letter, or similar materials). We use this information to process and respond to your application for employment or related inquiry.
   Type of personal information collected: contact, employment, and identity information

   (G) To prevent or detect crime, protect our business and Website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting, and data hosting)
   We may process your personal information, including your purchase history, financial information, CCTV footage, and any police report, in order to investigate any suspected crime in relation to any of our assets.

   This includes the rendering of decisions based exclusively on the automated processing of your personal information in the context of payment by credit card. To help prevent crime and minimize losses to our business, we use services provided by third parties (e.g., Global Payments and Shopify) to automatically notify us or block any transaction that is suspected of being fraudulent.
   Type of personal information collected: contact, financial, identity, and technical information; purchase history and security footage.

2. Collecting Personal Information

   We use different methods to collect Personal Information from and about you, including through:
   (A) Direct interactions
   You may give us your identity and contact information by filling in contact forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email, or otherwise.

   (B) Indirect interactions
   We may receive some personal information about you from third parties to whom you have previously provided that information in accordance with their respective privacy policies (e.g., from Facebook and Google Adwords for marketing purposes, from a background check provider for recruitment purposes, from our payment processor for fraud prevention).

   (C) Automated technologies or interactions
   As you interact with our Website, we will automatically collect technical Personal Information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. We collect this Personal Information by using cookies, pixels, server logs, and other similar technologies. We may also receive technical Personal Information about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies.

3. Disclosing Personal Information

   Except as otherwise set out herein, we will not disclose, trade, rent, sell, or otherwise transfer personal information about our customers to any external recipient without consent.
   (A) Service providers and advertising cookies
   We may transfer your personal information to service providers who provide services on our behalf, i.e., who process payments, host our Website, send emails or other communications on our behalf, run our contests and promotions, or analyze our advertising effectiveness.

   Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd uses remarketing tracking cookies, including Google Ads, the Facebook, and Bing and Pinterest pixel. This means we will continue to show ads to you across the Internet, specifically on the Google Content Network (GCN), Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and affiliate partners. As always, we respect your privacy and do not collect any identifiable information through the use of Google’s or any other remarketing system. The service providers, including Google, whose services we use, will place cookies on web browsers in order to serve ads based on past visits to our Website.

   These service providers are subject to a nondisclosure agreement and to other legal restrictions that govern their use of information we provide them, and they are not authorized to use or disclose personal information for any purpose other than to provide services on our behalf or as otherwise required by applicable law.

   (B) Disclosure in business transactions
   Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd may be involved in the sale or transfer of some or all of its business (including transfers made as part of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings). As part of that sale or transfer, Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd may disclose your Personal Information to the acquiring organization, but will require the acquiring organization to agree to protect the privacy of your Personal Information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy.

   (C) Law enforcement and legal disclosure
   Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd may disclose your Personal Information to a government institution that has asserted its lawful authority to obtain the information, or where Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd has reasonable grounds to believe the information could be useful in the investigation of unlawful activity, or to comply with a subpoena or warrant or an order made by a court, person, or body with jurisdiction to compel the production of information, or to comply with court rules regarding the production of records and information, or to Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd’ legal counsel.

   If you would prefer for us NOT to share your information as described above in sections 3(A), 3(B) or 3(C), simply notify us (see section 12 – Contact Us below).

4. Cross-Jurisdictional Transfers

   Your personal information is stored in secured locations and on servers controlled by Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd or its service providers, located either at our offices or at the offices of our service providers in Canada.

5. Website Information

   We collect the Internet Protocol address of all visitors to our Website as well as related information such as the Internet browser and computer operating system you are using, time spent visiting the Website, usage patterns within the Website, and the domain name of the website from which you linked to our site. We collect this information to help us understand and improve your experience on our Website.

6. Cookies and Web Beacons

   Our Website uses a technology called “cookies.” A cookie is a tiny element of data that our Website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your hard drive so we can recognize you when you return. We use cookies on the pages on our Website where you are prompted to log in or that are customizable. If you have registered with our Website, these cookies help us identify you and may be necessary to provide you with products or services you request. Cookies may also provide us or our service providers with information that we will use to personalize our Website in accordance with your preferences. You may set your web browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. However, if you decide not to accept cookies from our Website, you may not be able to take advantage of all its features. Our Website may also use a technology called “tracer tags” or “web beacons.” This technology allows us to understand which pages you visit on our Website. We use these tracer tags to help us optimize and tailor our Website for you and other future visitors to our Website.
   If you prefer not to be recognized when you visit our Website, you can always connect using an incognito browser window. You can also remove traces of your visit by clearing your browser history.

7. Your Rights

   Subject to certain exemptions, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information we collect about you:
   (A) Your right of access
   Upon your written request, subject to certain exceptions, Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd will inform you of the existence, use, and disclosure of your personal information and will provide you with a copy of that personal information within the timescales provided for by law. You have a right to access and rectify the information held about you. Please send any access requests to us using the contact information below.

   We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month (30 days). Occasionally, it could take us longer than one month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In these cases, we will notify you and keep you updated. If you require additional copies, we may need to charge a reasonable fee.

   (B) Your right to rectification
   If the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you are entitled to have it rectified. If you are entitled to rectification and if we’ve shared your personal information with others, we will let them know about the rectification where possible and where this would not involve disproportionate effort. Upon request, where possible and lawful to do so, we will also tell you who we have shared your personal information with, so that you can contact them directly.

   (C) Your right to be delisted
   You have the right to control the dissemination of your personal information. As such, you may request that we de-index (i.e., delist from search results) any hyperlinks associated with your name and that provide access to your Personal Information if the underlying dissemination of your Personal Information contravenes the law or a court order, or if it otherwise causes serious injury to your reputation or privacy. This also includes your right to re-index (i.e., list in search results) any hyperlinks associated with your name where doing so can prevent the perpetuation of a serious injury to your reputation or privacy.

   You can contact us for assistance in changing, updating, or deleting personal information previously provided to Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd. Please note that we will process your request in a reasonable amount of time.

   (D) Your rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling
   You have the right to know if we use your Personal Information to render a decision based exclusively on automated processing of such information. Upon request, you also have the right to know the categories of Personal Information used to make the decision, the reasons, and the principal factors that led to that decision. You have the right to correct the information used to make the decision if you notice any inaccuracy. Lastly, you can submit observations in support to a request to review any automated decision reached using your Personal Information.

   (E) Your right to request information about data processing
   You may contact us to request information about our data processing activities, namely what Personal Information was collected from you and how it is being processed by Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd. You may ask us to clarify the categories of persons that have access to your Personal Information at Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd and the applicable retention period for that information.

   (F) Your right to withdraw consent, deactivate your account, or unsubscribe
   If we rely on your consent (or explicit consent) as our legal basis for processing your Personal Information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

   If you want to deactivate your account, please submit a request electronically (info@canadianpond.ca) or contact us at 1 450 243-0976.

   If you do not want to continue to receive emails from Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd, please follow the steps outlined below. Please note that every time we send you an email, we will give you the option to unsubscribe from our email list, so you’ll be able to stop receiving our emails at any time. You may also contact us as set out under “Section 12 – Contact Us” below. Please allow 10 business days for your request to take effect. We appreciate your patience and understanding in giving us time to carry out your request.

   To Unsubscribe from our communications:
   • Inside the newsletter, click on the “Unsubscribe” button, located at the bottom.

   (G) Your right to lodge a complaint with a privacy regulator
   You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the relevant privacy regulator. In Canada, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the relevant provincial privacy commissioner for your province of residence. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the relevant privacy regulator, so please contact us first.

   (H) Scope of the Right to Data Portability and Its Exclusions

   You have the right to request the portability of your personal data that you have provided to our company. This means you can obtain a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format (such as Excel or Word).

   The right to data portability only applies to personal data that is computerized and provided directly by the data subject.

   In other words, this right does not apply to the following types of personal data:

   • Personal data collected or stored in paper format.
   • Data created or inferred (e.g., a user profile created from a business intelligence algorithm).

   Our Privacy Officer will respond in writing within the timeframe required by law, which is 30 days from the date of receipt of the request concerning the right to data portability.

8. Personal Information Security

   We realize that our customers trust us to protect their personal information, and we take that task seriously. We have implemented measures to safeguard the personal information in our custody and control, including only providing access to personal information to employees and authorized service providers who require such information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of personal information in our custody and control.
   In order to provide you with an increased level of security, online access to certain personal information may be protected with a password you select. We strongly recommend that you do not disclose your password to anyone. Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd will never ask you for your password in any unsolicited communication.

   Notwithstanding the foregoing, you should be aware that, unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be secure. As a result, Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd does not represent, warrant, or guarantee that personal information will be protected against loss, misuse, or alteration and does not accept any liability for personal information submitted by you, nor for your or third parties’ use or misuse of personal information.

   Below are some recommendations to help ensure that your online shopping is safe.

   • If you use a public computer, always close your session when you are done.
   • Do not disclose your passwords. Remember that somebody who knows your password can access your account.
   • When you create a password, use at least eight characters – a combination of letters and numbers is the best. Don’t use dictionary words, your name, your email address, or any other personal information that can be easily obtained. We also recommend that you change your password often.
   • Use a different password for your different accounts online.
   • Beware of unsolicited emails and unsolicited phone calls.

   In addition, Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd will never contact you to ask you information about your credit card number or bank account. You should only send such information to Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd when you conduct a transaction, either by contacting Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd directly or by modifying your account online. If you receive a suspect email with a link to update the information on your account, do not click on this link. Go directly into your account at www.Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd.ca. If a stranger contacts you, sends you an unsolicited email or asks you to confirm or give your password or personal or banking information, ignore the request and contact us immediately.

   For security reasons and to prevent fraud, Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd will accept orders paid by credit card through this Website only if the billing name and address match the name and address on the buyer’s credit card. If the information does not match, your order will be refused, even if the transaction was pre-authorized by your bank. In that case, the amount of the order will be available for use only when the credit is back in your account. This can take three to five business days.

9. Processing of Personal Information of Persons in the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or the EU

   Canadian Pond.ca Products Ltd. complies with the provisions of the GDPR, where applicable. Section 9 of the Policy applies exclusively to the processing of personal information in connection with the EEA and the EU, to the extent that such processing takes place while the data subjects are in the EU or EEA and where the processing activities are related to the offer of goods or services or the monitoring of the behaviour of these persons, insofar as it is conduct taking place within the EEA or the EU. In the event of a conflict between this Section 9 and the rest of the Policy, the provisions of this Section shall take precedence, only when the processing takes place while the data subjects are in the EU or EEA and where the processing activities are related to the offer of goods or services or the monitoring of the behaviour of those persons, to the extent that it is conduct taking place within the EEA or the EU.

10. Using Social Media and Social Networks

    We encourage you to review your privacy options and settings on the social media platforms and networks you use to understand what choices you have about sharing information from those platforms and networks with us. If necessary, you can update your preferences to reflect your usage.

11. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

    We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes to our personal information practices. We will post the revised Privacy Policy on our Website. We will treat your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy in place at the time such information is collected, or as you otherwise consent. If any changes are made to this Privacy Policy, we will post a copy of the Privacy Policy as amended on our Website as soon as practicable following that update.

12. Contact Us

    You may contact us at any time using the contact information below in the following cases: if you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy; if you wish to exercise one of your rights in relation to your personal information; if you have a complaint about how we handle your personal information.
    Privacy Officer

    Mario Paris, Président
    info@canadianpond.ca
    570, ch. De Knowlton
    Lac-Brome, Québec

    Last updated : September 4, 2024