Privacy Policy
Privacy of personal information is an important principle to MarketScore Inc. (“MarketScore”). We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy laws, rules and regulations. This document describes our privacy policies, which may be modified from time to time. We will post a notice on our web site to notify users of any changes to this Privacy Policy. Such changes will be effective immediately upon posting the revised Privacy Policy to the www.MarketScore.ca (the "Site"). By utilizing the Site or retaining our services, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, as it may be amended from time to time.
WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. It includes information that relates to personal characteristics (name, gender, age, income, home address or phone number, e-mail address, IP address, ethnic background, family status, etc.), health (health history, health conditions, health services received) or activities and views (religion, politics, opinions expressed by or about an individual). Personal information does not include business information (business address and phone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.
WHO WE ARE
MarketScore provides an online service by giving registered and unregistered users an indicator as to the desirability of investment in particular real estate properties using a proprietary algorithm. An up or down indicator is given to all registered and non-registered users. Registered users are given a numeric score for each property searched.
WHY WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION: PRIMARY PURPOSES
About Customers
We collect, use and disclose personal information about our registered and non-registered users in order to provide you with the services made available through the Site, to provide you with information regarding same, to communicate with you, to market to you, to provide to other entities to market to you, to make internal business decisions, and/or to manage your registered user account.
MarketScore will share your personally identifiable information with certain third parties to carry out your instructions and to provide specific services, including, without limitation, hosting and maintenance, database storage and management. These third parties do not retain, share, or store any personally identifiable information except to the extent required to perform the services for which they are engaged and are bound by strict confidentiality agreements requiring such third parties to maintain the privacy and security of your data.
MarketScore reserves the right to disclose, sell, lease or distribute, personal information to third parties for the purposes of advertising or marketing goods and/or services to registered users by these third parties through web advertising, e-mails, direct mail and through other forms.
About Members of the General Public
We collect, use and disclose personal information about members of the general public to make them aware of our services in general or about MarketScore in particular.
The Site only collects personal information entered into the Site and we only use that information for the purposes for which it is given. Cookies may be used by third parties to distinguish between site users or track when they are on the site, however these cookies do not track, collect, or have access to personally identifiable information. In addition, your IP address and other site user data may be used to gather broad demographic information about our users and to analyze overall trends to help us improve MarketScore’s service.
About Contract Staff
For people who are contracted to do work for us, our primary purpose for collecting personal information is to ensure that we can contact them in the future and for necessary work-related communications
WHY WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION: SECONDARY PURPOSES
We also collect, use and disclose information for purposes related to or secondary to our primary purposes. The most common examples of our related or secondary purposes are as follows:
i. To invoice registered users for services rendered, and to process payments.
ii. To advise registered users and others of new developments to the Site or Services.
iii. To advise registered users and others of other MarketScore news and changes.
iv. To ensure high quality services (for instance, assessing performance of staff and contract workers).
v. To assist external advisors with audits or other quality assurance reviews.
vi. Registered users or other individuals may have questions about the services that we have provided after they have been received. We will access information to provide answers to those questions.
vii. We may be required to disclose certain personal information by law or in a good faith belief that it is necessary to comply with a law, regulation, court order, ongoing judicial proceeding, or other legal process served on MarketScore or in our own legal defense.
viii. MarketScore may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your personally identifiable information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy. In such a case, a “due diligence” review of the MarketScore’s records may be required to ensure that it is a viable business that has been honestly portrayed. This due diligence may include some review of our accounting and service files. The entity or purchaser conducting the due diligence would not be able to remove or record personal information. Before being provided access to the files, the entity or purchaser would be required to sign a confidentiality agreement. Only after having already agreed to acquire or merge with MarketScore will such individual or entity be provided access to personal information.
PROTECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION
MarketScore is very concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your personal information.
The following is a list of measures utilized to protect information under our control:
* Paper information is either under supervision or secured in restricted areas.
* Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in restricted areas at all times. In addition, passwords are used on computers.
* Paper information is transmitted through sealed, addressed envelopes or boxes by reputable companies.
* Electronic information is transmitted either through a direct line, made anonymous or encrypted. No financial information is stored on our web site. When we transmit data, we do so through secure servers using current encryption technology to encode your data safely. The personal information that is stored on our web site is protected by firewall and password.
* Staff are trained to collect, use and disclose personal information only as is necessary to fulfill their duties and in accordance with our privacy policy.
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
Our Site contains links to other websites. The fact that we link to a website is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party. We do not exercise control over third party websites. These other websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit personally identifiable information from you. Other sites follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the personally identifiable information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other websites you visit.
RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
You can close your account through the Site. If you close your account, we may retain certain data contributed by you if it may be necessary to prevent fraud or future abuse, or for legitimate business purposes, such as analysis of aggregated, non-personally-identifiable data, account recovery, or if required by law. All retained data will continue to be subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy. We generally retain this information for three years after the closure of an account, but if you would like us to delete your personal information right away, please send your request to Info@MarketScore.ca. You will receive a response within seven business days of our receiving it.
We keep any personal information relating to our general correspondence with people who are not our customers for three years for the purposes of following up with marketing materials, etc. Upon request, we will delete an individual from our files.
We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed. We utilize passwords, encryption and virus protection systems.
VIEWING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
With some exceptions, you have the right to see what personal information we hold about you and amend the information if it is shown to be inaccurate. We can help you identify what records we might have about you and help you understand that information if there is any confusion. We will need to confirm your identity before providing you with access to personal information.
If you believe that there is a mistake in the information that we have collected, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. We may ask you to provide evidence that our records are incorrect. When we agree that we have made a mistake, we will correct the mistake and notify anyone to whom we sent the incorrect information. If we do not agree that we have made a mistake, we will still agree to include in our file a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.
If there are any issues surrounding the disclosure of information, we may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within 30 days if at all possible, providing you, to the best of our ability, with particulars as to why the information cannot be released.
If you would like to view or make a change to the personal information held in your file, please make a written request to our Information Officer at the e-mail address listed below.
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy or our use of your personally identifiable information, please contact our Information Officer, at Info@MarketScore.ca.
If you wish to make a formal complaint about our privacy practices, you may make it in writing to our Information Officer. The Information Officer will acknowledge receipt of your complaint, ensure that it is investigated promptly and provide you with a formal decision and reasons in writing.
This policy is made pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada). It is a complex Act and provides some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to the commitments set out above.
For more general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada oversees the administration of the Act in the private sector. The Commissioner also acts as an ombudsman for privacy disputes.