TNS Canadian Facts Panel - Privacy Policy

TNS Canadian Facts is committed to keeping personal information accurate, confidential, secure and private. This privacy policy applies to TNS Canadian Facts, TNS Interactive Canada (www.mysurvey.ca and www.my2cents.ca) and Canadian Family Opinion.

Based on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), this policy describes how TNS Canadian Facts adheres to the ten principles of privacy set out in the PIPEDA. A copy of the PIPEDA is available at the federal Privacy Commissioner's Web site, www.privcom.gc.ca.

Definition Of Terms Used In This Privacy Policy

"Canadian Family Opinion (CFO) Panel" means a panel of Canadian households recruited by TNS Canadian Facts whose members have agreed to participate in telephone, mail or Internet Survey Research from time to time.

"Interviewer" means an employee of TNS Canadian Facts who contacts a member of the public for the purpose of conducting Survey Research.

"Personal Information" means information that individually or in combination could identify a specific individual. Examples include first and last name, home postal address or personal email address, but does not include the name, title or business address or office telephone number of an employee of an organization.

"Privacy Officer" means the person at TNS Canadian Facts who is responsible for ensuring the protection of individuals' personal information. The Privacy Officer may be contacted via e-mail at privacyofficer@tns–cf.com or by mail at 1075 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2X5.

"Respondent" means a member of the public who is contacted by TNS Canadian Facts for the purpose of conducting Survey Research.

"Survey Research" means telephone surveys, mail surveys, Internet surveys, door to door surveys, ad hoc panels, continuous panels, mall intercepts, business-to-business surveys, qualitative surveys, one-on-one executive interviews, media rating services, employee surveys, and all other types of survey research.

"TNS Group" means companies whose ultimate parent is, or the majority of whose share capital is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by, Taylor Nelson Sofres plc. For the avoidance of doubt, TNS Canadian Facts, TNS Interactive Canada (www.mysurvey.ca and www.my2cents.ca) and Canadian Family Opinion are bound by this policy and are part of the TNS Group. The TNS Group is the second largest market information group in the world, with offices in over 70 countries.

"TNS Interactive Canada Panel" means a panel of Canadian Internet users recruited by TNS Canadian Facts who have agreed to participate in Internet-based Survey Research from time to time.

The Ten Principles Of Privacy

1. Accountability

An organization is responsible for personal information under its control and shall designate an individual or individuals who are accountable for the organization's compliance with the following principles.

TNS Canadian Facts has designated the office of the Privacy Officer to be responsible for overall personal information protection, as well as TNS Canadian Facts' compliance with the PIPEDA.

In addition, TNS Canadian Facts' client service personnel are able to respond to most inquiries about the protection of personal information.

2. Identifying Purposes

The purposes for which personal information is collected shall be identified by the organization at or before the time the information is collected.

When TNS Canadian Facts' interviewers contact respondents by telephone or in-person, they identify themselves and state the purpose of their contact. They say that TNS Canadian Facts is conducting survey research and would like the respondent or other household member to participate in a survey.

When TNS Canadian Facts sends written invitations and/or questionnaires to respondents, the invitation/questionnaire clearly identifies us as TNS Canadian Facts and explains the purpose of our contact, which is that TNS Canadian Facts is conducting survey research and would like the respondent to participate in a survey.

In every case, TNS Canadian Facts advises respondents that their responses are used strictly for research purposes.

TNS Canadian Facts may provide information from any survey, in aggregate form, to clients who sponsor that survey or to other third parties, such as journalists. Since this information is in aggregate form, it is impossible for clients or other third parties to identify an individual's specific personal information.

3. Consent

The knowledge and consent of the individual are required for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information, except when inappropriate.

Participation in survey research is entirely voluntary. Consent is obtained when a respondent agrees to participate in survey research. When this happens, and the method of data collection is by telephone or in-person, an TNS Canadian Facts interviewer then conducts an interview with the respondent. When the method of data collection is by mail, computer or via the Internet, the respondent completes a questionnaire himself/herself.

Your survey responses may be collected, stored or processed by TNS Group companies or non-affiliated service providers, both within and outside Canada. They are contractually bound to keep any information they collect and disclose to us or we collect and disclose to them confidential and must protect it with security standards that are broadly equivalent to our own.

Generally, personal information collected is not disclosed to other parties. In rare circumstances, however, a client conducting a survey research project may want to contact respondents directly. In these cases, TNS Canadian Facts does not disclose a respondent's personal information to another party unless it has first clearly explained to the respondent the purpose of such disclosure and has obtained the respondent's express or written consent.

An individual may refuse to answer certain questions, discontinue participation in a study, or withdraw consent at any time. A member of TNS Canadian Facts' Canadian Family Opinion (CFO) panel or its TNS Interactive Canada panel may, at any time, rescind his/her membership.

4. Limiting Collection

The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the organization. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.

TNS Canadian Facts limits the amount and type of personal information it collects. We collect only the amount and type of information needed for the purposes identified to the individual.

TNS Canadian Facts collects personal information about an individual primarily from that individual or a member of that individual's household. Except as permitted by law, TNS Canadian Facts will only collect personal information from external sources, such as client organizations, if individuals have consented to such collection.

5. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention

Personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by the law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for fulfillment of those purposes.

TNS Canadian Facts uses or discloses personal information only for the reasons it was collected, unless an individual gives consent to use or disclose it for another reason.

Under certain exceptional circumstances, TNS Canadian Facts may have a legal duty or right to disclose personal information without the individual's knowledge or consent. An example of such disclosure would include subpoenas and other court or government orders.

TNS Canadian Facts keeps personal information only as long as necessary for the identified purposes. Personal information that is no longer needed for its identified purposes or for legal requirements is destroyed, erased or made anonymous.

6. Accuracy

Personal information shall be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

TNS Canadian Facts makes reasonable efforts to keep personal information in its possession or control, which is used on an ongoing basis, accurate, complete, current and relevant, based on the most recent information available to TNS Canadian Facts.

TNS Canadian Facts relies on individuals, such as panel members, to keep certain personal information relating to them accurate, complete and current.

TNS Canadian Facts updates personal information only if it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

7. Safeguards

Personal information shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

TNS Canadian Facts safeguards personal information in its possession or control from loss or theft and from unauthorized access, disclosure, duplication, use or modification.

The safeguards TNS Canadian Facts employs vary depending on the sensitivity, amount, distribution, format and storage of the personal information. Some information is stored electronically. Recent paper records containing individuals' personal information are stored onsite at TNS Canadian Facts' offices. Older records containing individuals' personal information may be stored at an offsite storage facility. TNS Canadian Facts gives the highest level of protection to the most sensitive personal information.

TNS Canadian Facts safeguards personal information in its possession or control through security measures, such as:

TNS Canadian Facts informs employees about its policies and procedures regarding confidentiality, security and privacy, and emphasizes the importance of complying with them.

TNS Canadian Facts may transfer personal information to third parties for processing, such as payroll, data processing services, or for other goods and services. TNS Canadian Facts requires these third parties to safeguard all personal information in a way that is consistent with TNS Canadian Facts' measures and/or as regulated by law.

TNS Canadian Facts uses care when disposing of or destroying personal information in order to prevent unauthorized access to the information.

8. Openness

An organization shall make readily available to individuals specific information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.

TNS Canadian Facts is open about its procedures used to manage personal information. Individuals have access to information about these procedures through this Privacy Policy, by contacting client service personnel or by contacting the Privacy Officer.

If we make a material change to this policy or our privacy practices, we will post a prominent notice on this site for 30 calendar days prior to the implementation of the material change and describe how individuals may exercise any applicable choice. Following the implementation of the material change, we will record at the introduction of this policy when the policy was last revised.

9. Individual Access

Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall be given access to that information. An individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.

When an individual makes a written request to the Privacy Officer, TNS Canadian Facts will advise the individual what personal information TNS Canadian Facts has in its possession or control about the individual, what it is being used for, and to whom it has been disclosed.

When an individual requests it, TNS Canadian Facts will give an individual access to personal information about them which is in the possession or control of TNS Canadian Facts. In certain situations, however, TNS Canadian Facts may not be able to give individuals access to all of their personal information. This may occur when: