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Privacy notice for Government of Canada institutions

The Government of Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are committed to providing websites that respect the privacy of visitors. This privacy notice summarizes the privacy practices for Fisheries and Oceans Canada's online activities.

All personal information collected by this institution is governed by the Privacy Act. This means that you will be informed of the purpose for which your personal information is being collected and how to exercise your right of access to that information.

Your privacy and the Internet

The nature of the Internet is such that web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor's Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, does not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the co-operation of an ISP for example, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, the Government of Canada considers the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when visitor requests a web page such as the page or pages visited, date and time of the visit.

Unless otherwise noted, Fisheries and Oceans Canada does not automatically gather any specific information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. Fisheries and Oceans Canada would obtain this type of information only if you supply it to us, for example, by email or by filling in a contact form. In such cases, how your personal information is handled will be provided in a Personal Information Collection Statement.

In cases where services are provided by organizations outside of the Government of Canada, such as social media platforms or mobile applications, IP addresses may be recorded by the web server of the third-party service provider.

Communicating with the Government of Canada

If you choose to send Fisheries and Oceans Canada an email or complete a feedback form online, your personal information is used by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in order to respond to your inquiry. The information you provide will only be shared with another government institution if your inquiry relates to that institution. Fisheries and Oceans Canada does not use the information to create individual profiles nor does it disclose the information to anyone other than to those in the federal government who need to provide you with a response. Any disclosure of your personal information is in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Emails and other electronic methods used to communicate with the Government of Canada are not secure unless it is specifically stated on a web page. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not send sensitive personal information, such as your Social Insurance Number or your date of birth, through non-secure electronic means.

Personal information from emails or completed feedback forms is collected pursuant to section 4 of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Act. Such information may be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes and is included in Standard Personal Information Bank Public Communications (PSU 914).

Third-party social media

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the web. Social media account(s) are public and are not hosted on Government of Canada servers. Users who choose to interact with us via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications you use to access them. Fisheries and Oceans Canada uses Twitter and YouTube.

Personal information that you provide to the Government of Canada via social media account(s) is collected under the authority of section 4 of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Act. This information is collected to capture conversations (e.g. questions and answers, comments, "likes", retweets) between you and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It may be used to respond to inquiries, or for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. Comments posted that violate Canadian law will be deleted and disclosed to law enforcement authorities. Comments that violate our rules of engagement will also be deleted. The personal information is included in Standard Personal Information Bank Outreach Activities (PSU 938).

Protecting the security of Government of Canada websites

Fisheries and Oceans Canada employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the IP address of the computer that has contacted our website, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless an attempt to damage the site has been detected.

This information is collected pursuant to section 161 of the Financial Administration Act. The information may be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities if suspected criminal activities are detected. Such information may be used for network security related statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting and is included in Standard Personal Information Bank Security Incidents (PSU 939).

Web analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement, and reporting of data about web traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Information in digital markers may be used for the purpose of web analytics to remember your online interactions with Fisheries and Oceans Canada's website.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada uses Google Analytics to improve its website. When your computer requests a Fisheries and Oceans Canada web page, our institution collects the following types of information for web analytics:

Fisheries and Oceans Canada uses Google Analytics and the information collected is disclosed to Google Inc., an external third party service provider. Your IP address is anonymized prior to being stored on the service provider's servers in order to help safeguard your privacy. The information collected is de-personalized by removing the last octet of the IP address before it is stored by the third-party service provider.

Data collected for web analytics purposes goes outside of Canada to the United States of America and may be subject to the governing legislation of that country, specifically the USA Patriot Act.

Information used for the purpose of web analytics is collected pursuant to section 4 of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Act. Such data may be used for communications and information technology statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting. For more information on how your privacy is safeguarded in relation to web analytics, see the Standard on Privacy and web Analytics.

Digital markers (including cookies)

A digital marker is a resource created by the visitors' browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for the web server to reference during the same or subsequent visit to the website. Examples of digital markers are "cookies" or HTML5 web storage. Digital markers:

Fisheries and Oceans Canada uses sessional and persistent digital markers on some portions of its website. During your on-line visit, your browser exchanges data with Fisheries and Oceans Canada's web server. The digital markers used do not allow Fisheries and Oceans Canada to identify individuals.

You may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies, if you so choose. However, it may affect your ability to interact with Fisheries and Oceans Canada's website.

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