Privacy Policy

Privacy Statement

Effective Date: October 9, 2018

Protecting Your Privacy

We at WS (“WS”, “we” or “us”), respect your concerns about privacy. This Privacy Statement applies to WS and explains how we collect, use and disclose personal information in Canada, and the choices available to you regarding our use of the information. We also describe the measures we take to safeguard the information and tell you how to contact us about our privacy practices.

Generally speaking, “personal information” is information about an identifiable individual, subject to more particular definitions or interpretations under applicable law. This privacy statement does not apply to personal information about employees, contractors or other temporary or permanent staff, consultants, volunteers or other individuals assigned to WS, or to any information which is not personal information as defined in or interpreted under applicable law. It does not apply to any other site, product or services of our affiliates.

WS offers and provides marketing, advertising and communications services and information to a wide range of clients. As part of the services we provide, we are sometimes asked or do sometimes come into possession of personal information about our clients and their customers. This policy sets forth our general guidelines in dealing with such “personal information.”

Compliance with the Law

WS will comply with all applicable laws in the regions within Canada in which it operates.

The Information We Collect and How We Use It

Information in relation to clients, their customers and others, generated in the course of providing our services

The kinds of personal information we may collect and use in relation to clients and their customers will depend upon the information and services requested. However, subject to applicable law, it may include:

  • name, address, e-mail address, contact details, financial, credit, billing and account information, and other incidental information relating to the services we provide;
  • information material to the services we provide for you and your business operations;
  • information about you contained in communications within WS and between us and you, whether online or offline; and,
  • information we may collect with your consent or as permitted or required by law.

We use this information to:

  • offer and provide services to you;
  • send you newsletters and/or industry updates;
  • deal with third parties on your behalf or in furtherance of providing services to you;
  • communicate with you regarding the services you request and to respond to your requests and inquiries;
  • operate, evaluate and improve our business (including developing new services; managing our communications; determining the effectiveness of our advertising; learning about our visitors, analyzing our services and website; and facilitating the functionality of our website);
  • comply with applicable legal requirements and industry standards and our policies.

We may use personal information for other additional purposes. We will identify these additional purposes at the time of collection.

Information in relation to potential employees or sub-contractors of WS

If you apply for a position at WS, we will collect the personal information contained in, and generated in relation to, your application package, in order to evaluate your application and assess whether to offer you a position at WS. For candidates who are not offered or do not accept a position, we normally retain this information for a reasonable period in the event that an appropriate position becomes available or that you re-apply to WS. We may collect personal information from the third parties you provide as references in support of your application, and individuals involved in the evaluation and review process. If you accept a position at WS, the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures.

Information about guests of and visitors to WS

WS collects information about its guests and visitors. Specifically, visitors to WS’ offices may be asked to provide their name, telephone number and organization name. This information is retained by WS as long as necessary for security or emergency preparedness purposes. WS may also install video cameras in public-access areas on its premises and will post signs notifying individuals of the existence and purpose of any such cameras. We use the information we collect about guests of and visitors to WS to enable us to act responsibly in the event of a health or other crisis or emergency and to enhance workplace security.

Information about our agents, vendors, suppliers and foreign associates

WS may collect information about third-party agents, vendors, suppliers and foreign associates (“Service Providers”) who provide goods, services and information to WS. This information would include name and contact information as well as any information (such as banking information) that we need to pay you for your services and other relevant information, such as experience and qualifications of Service Providers.

We use this information in order to assess suitability for particular assignments; to contact you, where necessary, in relation to the goods, services and information you are providing to WS; and to pay you for your services.

How We Collect Information About You

We typically collect personal information directly from you or through our interaction with you, in particular where such information is deliberately disclosed to us for the purposes of providing particular services. You may sometimes provide us with the personal information you collect from your customers to aid WS in providing its services to you. We also collect information through the WS website (the “Site”).

Information collected by automated means

We use information collected online via the Site through cookies and other automated means for purposes such as

  • recognizing your computer when you visit the Site;
  • tracking you as you navigate the Site;
  • improving the Site’s usability;
  • analyzing use of the Site; and,
  • managing the Site.

We also use this information to help diagnose technical and service problems, administer our Site, identify users of our Site, and gather demographic information about our users. We may use clickstream data to determine how much time users spend on web pages of our Site, how users navigate through our Site, and how we may tailor our Site to better meet the needs of our users.

How We Disclose and Share Your Information

We may use and disclose the personal information we collect about clients or other individuals we deal with to third parties, including where:

  • you have instructed us to disclose your personal information to a third party for a designated purpose;
  • the use of the personal information is necessary in the course of providing services to you;
  • we reasonably believe a third party requesting your information is your agent; and,
  • you consent or as permitted or required by law.

Service Providers

WS may also transfer your personal information to our Service Providers hired to administer or provide products, services or information on our behalf. We use reasonable measures to require the organizations with whom we share your personal information for these purposes to use your personal information only to perform the services we have hired them to provide. Note that some of the Service Providers that process or handle personal information on our behalf are located outside of Canada. As a result, your personal information may be transferred, stored and/or processed outside Canada in connection with the purposes described in this privacy statement Contractual or other measures we may use to protect your personal information are subject to the legal requirements of the foreign jurisdictions where your personal information may be transferred, stored or processed, for example lawful requirements to disclose information to government authorities in those countries.

Links to Other Websites

The Site may provide links to other websites for your convenience and information. These websites may operate independently from us. Linked sites may have their own privacy notices or policies, which we strongly encourage you to review to better understand their procedures for collecting, using and disclosing personal information. We are not responsible for the content of the linked websites, any use of these sites, or the privacy practices of these sites.

Children’s Privacy

The Site is not directed to children under the age of 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 on the Site.

Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure

WS will hold personal information in strict confidence and except where required by applicable law will not disclose the personal information to any person, other than those employees of WS who require access to the personal information in order for WS to perform the services for which they have been retained. All employees and sub-contractors of WS, upon their employment with WS sign a confidentiality agreement protecting the confidential information of WS and its clients.

Your Consent

We collect, use and disclose your personal information with your consent or as permitted or required by law. Your consent may be express or implied, depending on the circumstances and the sensitivity of the personal information in question. For example, in most cases, a client’s consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by WS may be implied by the fact that the client has engaged WS to provide services, where the collection, use and disclosure of personal information relates to the performance of those services by WS. If you provide personal information about another person to us, including your customers, we assume you have the consent of that individual to enable us to collect, use or disclose their information as described in this policy and as instructed by you. If you choose to provide personal information to WS, we assume that you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as outlined in this privacy statement.

Security

WS has implemented reasonable physical, organizational and technological security measures to safeguard the personal information in our custody or control. These include safeguards to protect personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. Access to personal information is granted to employees on a need-to-know basis.

Changes to this Privacy Statement

We reserve the right to change or add to this Privacy Statement from time to time and will post any revisions on the Site. We will indicate at the top of the Privacy Statement when it was most recently updated. Your continued use of the Site subsequent to any change to this Privacy Statement constitutes your acceptance of the change. Please review this statement periodically to ensure you are aware of any changes or updates to this Privacy Statement.

Access, Correction, Inquiries and Complaints

If you wish to request access to, or correction of, your personal information in custody or control of WS, please make your request in writing to our Privacy Officer at the address below. We may need to verify your identity before searching for or providing you with personal information. In some circumstances, we may not provide access to your personal information, for example if it contains the personal information of other persons, if it constitutes confidential commercial information, if it is protected by solicitor-client privilege, or if it is otherwise not properly the subject of an access request. Where the request for access is made by a customer of a client, WS will report such request to the client prior to providing such information to the customer, provided we continue to be in compliance with applicable privacy legislation.

Since we predominantly use personal information to provide services, it is important that the information be accurate and up-to-date. Please inform us as soon as possible of any changes to your personal information.

If you have any questions, requests or complaints about our personal information practices, please contact our Privacy Officer at:

info@simplyws.com

200, 630 – 8th Ave SW

Calgary, AB T2P 1G6

Cessation of Use

Upon receipt of a withdrawal of consent, WS will cease using such personal information.