Confidentiality policy

The Alliance Française de Montréal places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of its website visitors, donors, users, volunteers, members, and partners.

The purpose of this privacy policy is to describe the types of personal information that the Alliance Française de Montréal collects from visitors to the website https://www.afmontreal.ca/, the purposes for which the organization uses this information, users’ rights regarding the personal information they provide, and to whom and under what circumstances the collected information is disclosed. This policy applies to the collection, use, retention, and disclosure of information for all website visitors, in accordance with the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (RLRQ, c. P-39.1), as amended by the Act to Modernize Legislative Provisions Regarding the Protection of Personal Information (“Bill 25”).

PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED

We collect personal information (which may include first and last name, age group, date of birth, home address or other physical address, email address, phone number, and credit card information) only when it is provided voluntarily, for example, to make a donation, register for an activity, a course, or an exam, subscribe to our newsletter, or enter a contest. This information is collected only to the extent necessary for the purposes identified at the time of collection.

Any individual who uses the telephone service of the Alliance Française de Montréal consents to the retention of their personal information for the purpose of case tracking. The individual may withdraw their consent at any time, subject to applicable legal or contractual provisions.

INFORMATION YOU GIVE US

When you make a donation, become a member, use our services, sign up for one of our activities, courses and exams, subscribe to our newsletter, or enter a contest, we retain the personal information you provide, such as your name, email address, mailing address, date of birth, phone number, or credit card information provided during a transaction (donation or purchase). We also keep a record of your donations so that we can contact you—for example, to reissue a donation receipt, send you information about how your donations are used, or invite you to continue your philanthropic journey in support of our cause.

RETENTION PERIOD AND DISPOSAL OF INFORMATION

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or in accordance with the timeframes required by law (particularly for tax and accounting purposes). Once these purposes have been fulfilled or these time periods have expired, your personal information is securely destroyed, anonymized, or depersonalized, subject to any legal obligation to retain it for a longer period.

INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH WEBSITE BROWSING (COOKIES AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES)

Each time you visit the website, certain information is collected through cookies and similar technologies, which may be used to identify, locate, or profile a user. These technologies are used, among other things, to recognize visitors, measure website traffic, and determine which pages are visited.

In accordance with Law 25, we inform you of the use of these technologies before they are activated, except for cookies that are strictly necessary for the website to function. You can configure your browser at any time to refuse or delete cookies, or adjust your preferences via the cookie management banner on the site. Refusing certain cookies may limit some of the site’s features.

INFORMATION FROM THIRD PARTIES

We may receive and use information about you from third-party applications such as Google Analytics, Meta (Facebook), or other public sources to improve our processes and communications.

DISCLOSURE TO THIRD PARTIES AND TRANSFER OF INFORMATION OUTSIDE QUEBEC

Some of our service providers (cloud hosting, communication platforms, web analytics tools) may process or store your personal information outside of Quebec. Before any such transfer, we ensure that the information is protected to a standard equivalent to that provided by Quebec law, in particular through a privacy impact assessment and appropriate contractual agreements with our service providers.

We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for any purpose.

USE OF INFORMATION

We use your personal information only as required by law and for the following purposes: (1) to send you official receipts (for tax purposes); (2) to conduct internal analyses of the site (e.g., number of visitors); (3) to better understand how our visitors use the site; (4) to respond to your specific requests; (5) to protect the security or integrity of the site; (6) to inform you about how your donations are used and/or to invite you to support the mission of the Alliance Française de Montréal. We do not make any decisions regarding you based solely on the automated processing of your personal information.

SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Your personal information is protected by physical, organizational, and technological security measures appropriate to its level of sensitivity, including the encryption of payment data (SSL protocol) and compliance with the PCI-DSS standard for credit and debit card transactions. We do not store any credit or debit card numbers, nor the 3- or 4-digit security code, in our systems. Access to your personal information is limited to authorized individuals and entities as part of their job duties.

IN THE EVENT OF A DATA BREACH

In the event of a privacy incident posing a serious risk of harm (e.g., unauthorized access to, use of, or disclosure of your personal information), the Alliance Française de Montréal will take reasonable measures to mitigate the risks, notify the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec and the individuals concerned, in accordance with its legal obligations, and maintain a record of privacy incidents.

YOUR RIGHTS

In accordance with Act 25, you have the following rights with respect to your personal information:

• Right of Access: To obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: to have any inaccurate, incomplete, or ambiguous information corrected.
• Right to Data Portability: For the computerized personal information you have provided to us, you may request a copy in a structured, commonly used technological format, or request that it be transmitted to a third party, where technically feasible.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You may withdraw your consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to applicable legal obligations.
• Right to be removed from search results and to opt out, in the cases provided for by law.

To exercise any of these rights, you may contact our Privacy Officer, whose contact information is provided below. We will respond to your request within the timeframes required by law.

RIGHT TO FILE A COMPLAINT

If you believe your rights have not been respected, you may first file a complaint with our Privacy Officer. You also have the right to file a complaint with the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (CAI):
Website: https://www.cai.gouv.qc.ca/

ACCEPTANCE OF THE GENERAL CONDITIONS OF THE PROTECTION OF PRIVACY

By visiting https://www.afmontreal.ca/, you acknowledge and agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If a website operated by a third party and accessible from our site has privacy practices that differ from ours, the third party’s practices govern the collection and use of the information you provide to them. The Alliance Française de Montréal is not responsible for the policies, content, or practices of other companies.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

The Alliance Française de Montréal reserves the right to modify certain terms of its privacy policy. We encourage you to check this page regularly. Any changes made will not be applied retroactively, and no changes will be made to how previously collected information is handled without your consent, unless required by law.

For more information about this policy

If you have any questions about this policy, please feel free to contact us using any of the methods listed in the Contact section.

PRIVACY OFFICER

In accordance with the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, the person exercising the highest authority within the Alliance Française de Montréal automatically serves as the privacy officer. This role has been delegated, in whole or in part, to the person identified below, who is responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy and applicable law.

To submit comments or file a complaint regarding compliance with this policy, please contact:

Christophe Brayet
Privacy Officer
The Alliance Française de Montréal
317 Place D’Youville, Suite #100, Montreal, QC H2Y 2B5
Phone: (263) 381-4596
Email: direction@afmontreal.ca