Health Quality Ontario (HQO) is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology
that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy
applies to the Health Quality Ontario (HQO) site and governs data collection and usage.
By using the Health Quality Ontario (HQO) site, you consent to the data practices described
in this statement.
Collection of your Personal Information
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) collects personally identifiable information, such as your email
address, name, home or work address or telephone number. Health Quality Ontario (HQO) also
collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as
your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.
There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically
collected by Health Quality Ontario (HQO). This information can include: your IP address,
browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This
information is used by Health Quality Ontario (HQO) for the operation of the service, to
maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use
of the Health Quality Ontario (HQO) site.
Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information
or personally sensitive data through Health Quality Ontario (HQO) public message boards,
this information may be collected and used by others. Note: Health Quality Ontario (HQO)
does not read any of your private online communications.
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) encourages you to review the privacy statements of Web sites
you choose to link to from Health Quality Ontario (HQO) so that you can understand how those
Web sites collect, use and share your information. Health Quality Ontario (HQO) is not responsible
for the privacy statements or other content on Web sites outside of the Health Quality Ontario (HQO)
and Health Quality Ontario (HQO) family of Web sites.
Use of your Personal Information
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) collects and uses your personal information to operate the Health Quality Ontario (HQO)
Web site and deliver the services you have requested. Health Quality Ontario (HQO) also uses
your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services
available from Health Quality Ontario (HQO) and its affiliates. Health Quality Ontario (HQO) may also
contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services
or of potential new services that may be offered.
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties.
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business
partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases,
your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone
number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, Health Quality Ontario (HQO)
may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send
you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All
such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to
provide these services to Health Quality Ontario (HQO), and they are required to maintain
the confidentiality of your information.
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such
as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) keeps track of the Web sites and pages our customers visit within
Health Quality Ontario (HQO), in order to determine what Health Quality Ontario (HQO) services are
the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising
within Health Quality Ontario (HQO) to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested
in a particular subject area.
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) Web sites will disclose your personal information, without notice,
only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is
necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process
served on Health Quality Ontario (HQO) or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or
property of Health Quality Ontario (HQO); and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect
the personal safety of users of Health Quality Ontario (HQO), or the public.
Use of Cookies
The Health Quality Ontario (HQO) Web site use "cookies" to help you personalize your online
experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page
server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer.
Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the
domain that issued the cookie to you.
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save
you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned
to a specific page. For example, if you personalize Health Quality Ontario (HQO) pages, or
register with Health Quality Ontario (HQO) site or services, a cookie helps Health Quality Ontario (HQO)
to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process
of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses,
and so on. When you return to the same Health Quality Ontario (HQO) Web site, the information
you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the Health Quality Ontario (HQO)
features that you customized.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically
accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies
if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience
the interactive features of the Health Quality Ontario (HQO) services or Web sites you visit.
Security of your Personal Information
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) secures your personal information from unauthorized access,
use or disclosure. Health Quality Ontario (HQO) secures the personally identifiable information
you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from
unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit
card number) is transmitted to other Web sites, it is protected through the use
of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
Changes to this Statement
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect
company and customer feedback. Health Quality Ontario (HQO) encourages you to periodically
review this Statement to be informed of how Health Quality Ontario (HQO) is protecting your
information.
Contact Information
Health Quality Ontario (HQO) welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy.
If you believe that Health Quality Ontario (HQO) has not adhered to this Statement, please
contact Health Quality Ontario (HQO) at OH-HQO_Websupport@ontariohealth.ca.
We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the
problem.