At the Trade Facilitation Office Canada (“TFO Canada”), we respect and support your right to privacy and to the protection of your personal information under Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and applicable provincial laws. Should you choose to provide personal information to us, we make every effort to ensure that your information is protected, it is noted that we have voluntarily elected to comply with certain privacy standards stemming from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR“) when dealing with the personal data of visitors to tfocanada.ca (the “website”) and that of the individuals who are or represent our potential or actual clients or partners.
This Privacy Policy describes the personal information that TFO Canada collects and otherwise obtains and how we use and disclose that personal information.
Personal information means information about an identified or identifiable individual. It does not include information about legal persons such as corporations, partnerships or associations.
Collection and Use of Personal Information
We may collect the following categories of information:
- Contact information (name, email, address, phone number, mailing address)
- Identifying information (including gender, in limited circumstances)
- Account/registration information (e.g., username and password)
- General location information (e.g. Province, City)
- Information provided by third parties
- Information about fraudulent or criminal activity related to your account
We collect certain information automatically when you use visit our website, such as information about the pages you look at, the actions you take, or the device you use to access our website. If you are a website visitor, we may log all or part of your IP address (the unique internet address of your computer) to collect general location information and information about which parts of our website you visit and how long you spend there.
We use Google Analytics to enhance how you interact with our website. Google Analytics provides web analytics services to track, monitor and report website traffic through collection of pseudonymous (i.e. de-identified) data about each visitor to our site. Information collected may include:
- IP address and general geolocation information
- Demographic data
- Language preferences
- Interests
- Browser type
- Operating system information
- Pages visited
- Traffic origin
Data collected by Google Analytics is stored by Google and shared with us in the form of aggregated reports that allow us to better understand how users interact with our website. Google Analytics may also share data with other Google services.
Google Analytics may use collected data to contextualize and personalize advertising. We also use Google Analytics remarketing functionalities and Google Ads, which use cookies stored on your device to display our ads when you visit other sites. You can opt-out of this kind of ad personalization by adjusting your preferences at https://adssettings.google.com/anonymous?hl=en.
You can opt-out of having your information tracked in Google Analytics by installing an opt-Out Browser Add-on. This add-on will prevent Google Analytics script from sending your user data to Google Analytics. For more information, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
You can learn more about Google privacy practices by visiting https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
Like many other commercial websites, this website may use a standard technology called a “cookie” to collect information about how you use the site so as to improve the functionality of our website and personalize your experience even if you are not registered (“logged-in”) as a visitor. We may also use cookies to tailor the marketing you see on apps and other websites, subject to obtaining your consent in case of use of cookies that are not strictly necessary for the operation of our website. You may also have the choice to opt-in to certain types of cookies, depending on your jurisdiction of residence. Where applicable, the legal basis for doing so under article 6 of the GDPR is: (i) in case of use of cookies that are not strictly necessary for the operation of our website, you gave us your consent to store cookies on your terminal equipment and collect information from your terminal equipment for the purposes of improving our services (functionality and analytics cookies) or for advertisement purposes; and (ii) in case of use of cookies that are strictly necessary for the operation of our website, it is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us in improving our services.
With your consent or where authorized by law, we may obtain the following categories of personal data from the following third party sources:
Categories of personal data |
Source |
| Role of the individual in the relevant organisation | Public registries of companies and businesses |
| Whether an individual is the subject of a sanction | Lists of sanctioned individuals published by the United Nations’ Organisation, States and their agencies |
If you are or represent our potential or actual clients or partners, including if you choose to register as a subscriber in order to use our free web-based services using the TFO Canada online registration process, or at other times when you submit personal information, the personal information you provide or that we otherwise obtain may be used by TFO Canada for the following purposes in accordance with the following legal bases under article 6 of the GDPR, or with your consent, where required under applicable law:
Purpose |
Legal basis under article 6 of the GDPR |
| to provide you with access to our subscriber-only website content and trade publications
to fulfill your request to receive periodic electronic newsletters and e-bulletins that may be of interest to you as a qualifying developing country exporter, to allow you to register an export offer for promotion to buyers who subscribe to our service or who visit our website as a Canadian importer (or from other countries), to suggest potential future sources of supply from qualifying developing country exporters. to personalize your experience on our website to keep you up to date on the latest news, events, current issues, announcements, special offers or other information we believe would interest our subscribers, either from us or from our business partners |
It is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us in fulfilling our mission to fostering sustainable trade partnerships between potential buyers and potential exporters from developing countries by disseminating information about such opportunities and promoting our services for assisting with the brokering of such partnerships or, only in case of electronic communications marketing services to individuals (not corporations) if any (and in that case provided that they are not similar to those already purchased by said individuals), you gave your consent to receiving electronic solicitation from us or on our behalf |
| to better understand your needs and provide you with better services (including contacting you through periodic user surveys that we conduct)
to collect market research information to generate statistical information |
It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests of gaining insight on our market and improving our services |
| to enter into a contract with you or your organisation | It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests of entering into a contract with your organisation or, if the contract is with you as an individual, it is necessary in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract. |
| to provide services to you or your organisation including by presenting you or it to buyers (if you are or represent an exporter), to exporters (if you are or represent a buyer) and/or to export credit or other agencies or organisations which may grant assistance, loans or subsidies to you or your organisation | It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests of performing our contract with your organisation or, if our contract is with you as an individual, it is necessary for the performance of the contract with you. |
| to answer to your access, rectification and other requests in relation to your personal data | It is necessary for complying with our legal obligations under the PIPEDA or, in case of rights available only under the GDPR, it is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests of abiding by our election to voluntarily comply with certain more stringent privacy standards stemming from the GDPR |
| to provide relevant information to organisations granting us or considering granting us loans or subsidies or with whom we may merge | It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests of financing our activities and undergoing any corporate reorganisation |
| to defend our rights in court or other legal proceeding | It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests of asserting our rights |
| to comply with any anti-money laundering laws, sanctions imposed by countries and similar rules and provide information that we are obliged to provide to authorities | It is necessary for complying with our legal obligations |
We collect and otherwise obtain personal information only for the purposes outlined above. We do not use or disclose personal information for any purpose other than those for which it was collected or otherwise obtained, except with your consent or (including as regards any compatible purposes such as research) as required or permitted by law. Your personal information will not be sold, traded or leased to other parties.
Retention and Security of Personal Information
Personal information is retained only as long as is necessary for the fulfilment of the purposes for which it was collected or otherwise obtained, or as required by law. Particularly:
- personal data processed for the purposes of entering into or performing a contract with you or your organisation will be retained as long as this contract is in force then archived for a period of time corresponding to the applicable limitation period (or, in case of litigation commenced before the end of the applicable limitation period, for so long as this dispute has not ended by way of a final judgement or settlement that is no longer subject to any appeal or other right of recourse);
- personal data contained in accounting documents such as invoices is archived for as long as we are required by law to archive such accounting documents;
- personal data processed for the purpose of sending you commercial communications or contacting you individually to provide you with information that may be of interest to you, will not be retained more than three (3) years after your consent or your subsequent last contact with us;
Personal data collected through cookies (which expire after no more than six (6) months except cookies strictly necessary for the operation of websites, which expire after no more than thirteen (13) months) is retained for maximum 25 months.
TFO Canada uses appropriate security safeguards to protect personal information. Safeguards include technical, physical, and organizational security measures. All TFO Canada employees are required to follow the privacy standards that have been established. In the course of daily operations, only those employees whose job responsibilities require them to access personal information will have access to that information.
Disclosure of Personal Information
We share your personal information with third parties where necessary to fulfil the purposes identified above, namely:
- to our service providers inasmuch as it is necessary for them to provide us the services we request from them in line with the above-mentioned purposes;
- to buyers (if you are or represent an exporter), to exporters (if you are or represent a buyer) and/or to export credit or other agencies or organisations which may grant assistance, loans or subsidies to you or your organisation, insofar as such communication is part of the services we provide to you or your organisation;
- to organisations granting us or considering granting us loans or subsidies or with whom we may merge;
- to law enforcement and other government agencies and authorities when we are required to do this or when necessary to assert our rights;
- to courts and parties to court proceedings inasmuch as it is necessary to assert our rights.
As a matter of due diligence, TFO Canada will use only processors providing sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures in such a manner that processing of your personal will meet the requirements of applicable regulations and ensure the protection of your privacy rights.
We make sure that any service provider or other organization to which we may send your personal data is established either in Canada, the European Economic Area or another country or territory that ensures, at least for the relevant sector, an adequate level of protection within the meaning of article 45 of the GDPR (such as organizations in Andorra, Argentina, Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and South Korea). Where it is not the case, unless one of the exemptions of article 49 of the GDPR avails, we implement safeguards we deem to be adequate in line with applicable privacy laws.
Data Transfers
your personal information may be transferred and stored outside of your region. While such information is outside of your region, it is subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is held, and may be subject to disclosure to the governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies of such other jurisdiction pursuant to local laws.
Your Rights
Subject to applicable law, you have the right to access and correct your personal information held by us. We will respond to your request within thirty (30) days following its reception. To guard against fraudulent access or correction requests, we may require sufficient information to allow us to confirm that the person making the request is authorized to do so before granting access or making corrections.Upon request in writing to the Privacy Officer and with a demonstration of all necessary identification, you will be given access to that information. TFO Canada relies on its subscribers to ensure that certain information, such as individual contact information, is current, complete, and accurate, and subscribers are encouraged to login to their account on the TFO Canada web site periodically to ensure their company profile, including contact information, is correct and up to date.
When data processing is based on consent, your consent can be withdrawn at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
As required or permitted by law, you may be entitled to additional rights, including: (i) the right to control the dissemination of your personal information; (ii) the right to receive computerized personal information collected from you in a structured, commonly used and technological format and to have this information transferred directly to another organization; (iii) the right to be informed of and submit observations regarding automated decision-making; and (iv) the right to request information about data processing.
We are also committed to providing you the other rights available under the GDPR including the right to request from the controller erasure of personal data or restriction of processing concerning the data subject or to object to processing as well as the right to data portability, subject to the conditions set out in the GDPR for the exercise of these rights. Finally, you have also a right to lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the region where you normally reside, where we are based or where an alleged infringement of data protection law has taken place.
Updates to this Privacy Policy
TFO Canada reserves the right to amend this policy at any time. You should check this Privacy Policy periodically. This policy was last amended in January 2024.
Contact Us
Should you wish to review or delete your subscriber information, exercise any right as data subject or have any concerns about the TFO Canada Privacy Policy and practices, please contact:
TFO Canada
Attention: Privacy Officer
E-mail: info@tfocanada.ca
130 Slater Street, Suite 400
Ottawa, ON
K1P 6E2
Canada
Tel: +1-613-233-3925