GREENER STEPS SUSTAINABLE LIVING INC.
Privacy Policy
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Your Privacy Is Protected
2. Our Privacy Principles
3. Identifying Purposes and Obtaining Your Consent
4. Limiting the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Your Information
5. Keeping Your Information Accurate and Providing Access to Your Information
6. Protecting Your Information
7. Addressing Your Concerns
8. Important Terms Used in this Policy
Your Privacy Is Protected
At Greener Steps Sustainable Living Inc. ("Greener Steps"), an important part of our commitment to you is respect for your right to privacy. This policy will help you better understand how Greener Steps protects, collects, uses and discloses your personal information and your right to access your information.
Our Privacy Principles
Greener Steps respects the following principles when collecting, using, disclosing and protecting your personal information.
1. Identifying Purposes and Obtaining Your Consent. We identify the purposes for collecting personal information at or before the time it is collected. We obtain your consent before collecting, using or disclosing personal information, except where permitted or required by law.
2. Limiting the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Your Information. We limit the personal information we collect to what is necessary for the purposes we have identified. We collect information only by fair and lawful means. We do not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent, or where permitted or required by law. We retain personal information only as long as necessary for these purposes.
3. Keeping Your Information Accurate and Providing Access to Your Information. We take care to keep personal information as accurate, complete and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used. Upon request, we will provide you with access to your personal information. You can ask how your information is used or disclosed, can ensure it is accurate and complete, and can update it if necessary.
4. Protecting Your Information. We safeguard the privacy of personal information through security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
5. Addressing Your Concerns. We are responsible for personal information under our control. There are designated individuals within Greener Steps who are accountable for compliance with these privacy principles. We will make available to you from time to time information about our policies and practices related to managing your personal information. We have steps you can follow if you have questions or concerns about your privacy.
Identifying Purposes and Obtaining Your Consent
We collect and use personal information about you throughout our relationship so we can:
- establish your identity
- understand your needs and eligibility for products and services
- recommend particular products and services to meet your needs
- provide ongoing service
If we need your information for any other purpose, we will identify that purpose. We obtain most of your personal information directly from you and through the products and services you use on our website. We may monitor and record telephone calls between you and our representatives to ensure service quality and security and to confirm our discussions with you.
There are many ways we may obtain your consent. We may obtain your express consent in writing, through electronic means, or verbally. Alternatively, your consent may be implied through an action you've taken or when you continue to use a product or service after we've notified you of a change.
Examples of express consent include where you may sign an application that states "I agree to …", or you may be asked to electronically acknowledge that you will be bound by legal terms or agree to certain statements. Clicking "I Agree" is your electronic consent.
Examples of implied consent include situations such as where you are using one of our services and we inform you of revised conditions relating to that service, we then conclude that you agree to those conditions if you choose to continue using the service.
You can choose not to receive direct marketing. From time to time, we may offer you products and services - including special promotions - that we believe will be of interest to you through direct mail, telephone, e-mail or other means. This consent is optional and you can decide to withdraw it at any time. If you withdraw your consent to receive direct marketing, this will not limit the information provided to you through discussions with a Greener Steps representative or information we may send you that is permitted or required by law or related to your existing products or services.
We will not share your information with program partners. We may contact you on their behalf when we want to share with you information about their products or services.
To withdraw or change your consent, please contact Greener Steps's Customer Care Centre.
Limiting the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Your Information
We limit the personal information we collect. While we collect various types of personal information from you and other sources, we limit the information to what is necessary for the purposes we've identified. In most cases you will decide on the amount of personal information that you want to share with us beyond your actual Email address.
We do not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent, or as described below. We retain personal information only as long as necessary for these purposes.
There are exceptions where we may collect, use or disclose information without consent:
1. If we use an outside supplier to do work for us. At times we may use outside suppliers to do work for us involving some of your information. We select suppliers carefully and insist they have privacy and security standards that meet Greener Steps's strict requirements. We may share your information with these operators on a confidential basis to process transactions, provide customer service, promote the service and for other reasonable purposes.
2. If we are permitted or required by law. We may be compelled to release information by a court or other legal or regulatory authority. If so, our policy is to release information only to the extent that we are required to do so.
3. We may share information for business transactions. From time to time, we may sell parts of our business, sell or securitize assets, or merge or amalgamate parts of our business with other parties. Since client and account information will normally be a part of the transaction, we may disclose this information to other parties in the transaction, as part of due diligence and on completion of the transaction. We require that the other parties keep this information confidential and limit its use to the purposes of the transaction.
The length of time we keep your information will vary depending on the product or service and the nature of the personal information. We have retention standards that meet customer service, legal and regulatory needs. For these reasons, we may keep your information beyond the end of your relationship with us.
When your information is no longer required, we will securely destroy it or delete personally identifiable information.
Keeping Your Information Accurate and Providing Access to Your Information
We take care to keep the information in our records as accurate, complete and up to date as necessary for the purposes for which it is used. However, we also rely on you to tell us when your personal information changes.
It is important to ensure your personal information at Greener Steps is accurate and complete. This allows us to continue to offer the highest quality. If you tell us that we have information about you that is obsolete or incorrect, we will update our records with the proper information.
To update your address and other personal information, contact Greener Steps's Customer Care Centre.
Most of your personal information is available to you through your online account profiles. If you require other information, please request this by contacting Greener Steps's Customer Care Centre. We will ask that you put your access request in writing (usually, by completing a form) and that you provide us with details to help us understand your request and conduct our search for your information. We will need you to verify your identity before searching for or providing you with access to your information. We will respond to your access request within 30 days upon receiving all necessary information, or advise you in writing if we require additional time.
If you have a sensory disability you may request your information to be made available in an alternative format. If we already have that format, we will provide it. Otherwise we will convert the information into the requested format if it is reasonable and necessary under legislation to enable access.
If we are unable to provide access or disclose information to you, we will explain why, subject to any legal or regulatory restrictions.
Protecting Your Information
We limit access to your personal information and store it securely. Depending on the nature of the information, it may be stored in various secure computer systems, or the record storage facilities of Greener Steps or our outside suppliers.
In addition to the physical and electronic security devices we use to protect your information, we have security standards to protect our computer systems and your information from unauthorized use or access.
Employees who have access to your information are made aware of how to keep it confidential. We use contracts and other measures with our outside suppliers to maintain the confidentiality and security of your personal information and to prevent it from being used for any unauthorized purpose. Access to your personal information is only given to those who require it to provide our products or services, or where permitted or required by law.
How you can protect your privacy. Never disclose your current PIN, passwords or answers to online personal verification questions to anyone, or you could be liable for losses. No Greener Steps employee or agent will ever ask you verbally or through e-mail for this information. Make sure that Greener Steps has your most up-to-date address or contact information will help protect your personal information from being misdirected. To protect your privacy online, you should clear your browser's cache after each session, use a firewall, and use up to date software to protect your computer from viruses and spyware.
Addressing Your Concerns
If you have any questions about our policies and practices related to managing you personal information that have not been answered in this policy, please let us know so that we may provide further information.
Contact the Greener Steps Customer Care Centre
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Be sure to include your name and contact information where you prefer to be reached, the nature of your question or concern, and details relevant to the matter and with whom you have already discussed the issue.
Important Terms Used in This Policy
When reading this policy you should be aware of the meanings we give to the following terms.
When we refer to "personal information" or "information" it means information about an identifiable individual or that could reasonably be expected to identify a particular individual. This includes details such as your age, place of birth and marital status. Personal information does not include most of the information that appears on a business card.
We hope this policy provides you with the information you need to understand our privacy practices.