Privacy Policy

At GTA Telecom your privacy is important to us.

At GTA Telecom, we know your privacy matters to you; earning and maintaining your trust matters to us. We understand that in today's technologically complex, data-driven world, it can be difficult to stay up-to-date on how personal information is being used. An important part of our commitment to respecting your privacy is our promise to be transparent with you about our privacy practices and to clearly explain how we protect your privacy.

How GTA Telecom is Committed to Safeguard Your Privacy

At GTA Telecom, we respect our customers’ privacy and take great care to safeguard personal information. As part of our ongoing commitment to put our customers first, we have instilled a corporate philosophy of protecting privacy across all of our business operations and touch points we call this the GTA Telecom Privacy Commitment Code.

Our Privacy Commitment Code sets out our privacy practices coupled with the general principles that govern the collection, use and disclosure of our customers’ personal information. Our Privacy Commitment Code reflect the requirements of Canada’s privacy legislation, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and our own continuing commitment to customer privacy.

We want you to understand the purposes for which we collect personal information about our customers. And we want to be sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use and disclose your personal information for those purposes. The following is a brief summary of our privacy practices.

Why We Collect Personal Information

Once you join our growing customer community, GTA Telecom will gather some basic personal information about you. We understand that some of this information is private, which is why we collect personal information only for the following purposes:

1. To establish and maintain a responsible commercial relationship with you and to provide ongoing service. For example, when you apply for services, we collect information that allows us to confirm your identity and credit history so that we can accurately bill and collect for the products and services that you receive from us. We may collect credit card or bank account information if you prefer the convenience of pre-authorized payment for services.
2. To understand your needs and preferences. We maintain a record of the products and services you receive from us, and we may ask for additional information so that we can serve you better. For example, we will ask for your email address, if you wish to pay your bills electronically.
3. To develop, enhance, market or provide products and services. For example, we look at how our customers use our products and services, so that we can understand how to improve them. From time to time, we may review and analyze your use of our products and services to help us provide better product recommendations and special offers that we think will interest you.
4. To manage and develop our business and operations. For example, we analyze customer usage of our networks and facilities to help us manage them efficiently and plan for future growth. Telephone calls to or from GTA Telecom customer care, sales or service representatives may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes.
5. To meet legal and regulatory requirements. For example, we may collect information in response to a court order, or to satisfy a request by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, herein referred to as the CRTC, for information about a customer complaint and how it was resolved.

When We Disclose Personal Information

There are a variety of circumstances where we may need to disclose some personal information about our customers. Subject to applicable CRTC regulations, we may disclose personal information, on a confidential basis with the information to be used only for the purpose for which it was disclosed, to:

• a person seeking information as an agent of a customer, such as a customer’s legal representative, or as an authorized user under his or her account, if we are satisfied that the person is authorized to receive the information;
• other GTA Telecom business units to help us serve our customers better and to provide them with services from different parts of our company;
• another telecommunications company for the efficient and cost-effective provision of telecommunications services, such as the information required to facilitate the porting of services between carriers;
• a company involved in supplying a customer with telecommunications or directory related services, for example, Yellow or White Page listings;
• a company or individual hired by GTA Telecom to perform functions on its behalf, such as research or data processing;
• a third party to evaluate a customer’s creditworthiness or to collect an account;
• a credit-reporting agency;
• a public authority or agent of a public authority if, in the reasonable judgment of GTA Telecom, it appears that there is imminent danger to life or property which could be avoided or minimized by disclosure of the information. If a customer dials 911, for example, we will provide the customer’s name, telephone number, address and other location information to the emergency agency;
• our program partners or to third-party agents responsible for administering special GTA Telecom offers or programs;
• third parties in connection with the sale of parts of our business, the sale or securitization of assets, or the merger or amalgamation of part or all of our business with other entities. Since customer and account information will normally be part of such transactions, we may use or disclose such information to other parties included in the transaction, as part of due diligence and/or on completion of the transaction.
• Federal and Provincial government institutions, Police forces or other third party in response to a court order or if otherwise required or authorized by law.

How We Protect Your Personal Information

In order to protect your personal information and your right to privacy, GTA Telecom will:

• protect your personal information with appropriate security safeguards;
• protect the confidentiality of your personal information when dealing with other companies;
• strive to keep your personal information as accurate and up-to-date as is necessary for identification purposes

GTA Telecom will not collect, use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than those identified in this Privacy Commitment Code, your Customer Service Agreement, or our Service Terms, except with your consent.

For greater clarity, unless you provide express consent GTA Telecom will not:

• share your personal information with or sell it to third-party marketers; or
• use your personal information to enable third-party targeted advertisements. Moreover, GTA Telecom does not collect information about the websites you viewed (except visits to our own websites, which we use to optimize our GTA Telecom web properties), your Internet search history or the content of the applications you use.

Personal information collected by GTA Telecom may be stored and processed in Canada or another country. In either case, the information is protected with appropriate security safeguards, but may be available to government agencies under applicable law.

What Are Your Choices?

We would like to have your consent to continue to collect, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes we have identified herein. However, we want you to know that you do have choices and can refuse or withdraw your consent as follows:

• You may have your name removed from our telephone, mail or email marketing lists. We use these lists to inform you of relevant products, services and special offers that may be of benefit to you.
• Our directory publisher (Yellow Pages Group) makes available lists of published names, addresses and phone numbers to selected organizations for a fee. You may choose to be excluded from these lists (non-published names, addresses and phone numbers are automatically excluded).
• You may refuse to provide personal information to us. You may also withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. However, in either case, this may limit our ability to serve you. For further information, please contact us. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume that we have your consent to continue to collect, use and disclose your personal information for the identified purposes referred to herein.

GTA Telecom Web Site Usage

During a Customer’s interaction with one of GTA Telecom’s websites, GTA Telecom may use a browser feature called a “cookie” to collect information anonymously and track user patterns on GTA Telecom’s websites. A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that identifies a Customer’s browser – but not the Customer personally – to GTA Telecom’s computers each time a Customer visits one of the GTA Telecom websites using cookies. Cookies tell GTA Telecom which pages of its websites are visited and how many people visited each web page. This helps GTA Telecom to enhance the on-line experience of visitors to the GTA Telecom websites. Cookies also serve to identify your computer so that your preferences can be saved for future visits, and GTA Telecom works with third parties that use these cookies to help us with such traffic management, research and analytics.

The use of cookies is an industry standard and many major browsers are initially set up to accept them. You can reset your browser to either refuse to accept all cookies or to notify you when you have received a cookie. However, if you refuse to accept cookies, you may not be able to use some of the features available on GTA Telecom’s websites. Third Party Cookies and Advertisements: Some of the advertisements you see on the GTA Telecom websites are delivered by third party advertisers, Internet advertising companies that work on GTA Telecom’s behalf or ad networks. These third parties may use cookies or other technology to help deliver ads that are tailored to your interests and track their performance. This is commonly known as “behavioral” or “interest-based advertising”. You can opt-out of several third party ad servers’ and networks’ cookies simultaneously using a tool created by the Network Advertising Initiative located at http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp. Opting out of a network does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the network from which you opted out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your web preferences and usage patterns.

Definitions

Collection - The act of gathering, acquiring, recording, or obtaining personal information from any source, including third parties, by any means.

Consent - Voluntary agreement with the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for defined purposes. Depending on the circumstances and the province where the personal information is collected, used or disclosed, consent can be either express (mandatory in certain provinces) or implied and can be provided directly by the individual or by an authorized representative. Express consent can be given orally, electronically or in writing, but is always unequivocal and does not require any inference on the part of GTA Telecom. Implied consent is consent that can reasonably be inferred from an individual’s action or inaction./p>

Customer - An individual who uses, or applies to use, GTA Telecom products or services, where such individual is a residential customer or an individual carrying on business alone as a sole proprietorship or in partnership with other individuals. Disclosure – Making personal information available to a third party.

Personal information - Information about an identifiable customer or team member, but does not include aggregated information that cannot be associated with a specific individual. For a customer, such information includes a customer’s credit information, billing records, service and equipment, and any recorded complaints. For a team member, such information includes information found in personal employment files, performance appraisals, and medical and benefits information, but does not include the team member’s name, title, business address (including business e-mail address) or business telephone or fax numbers. Information about sole proprietors or partners is only considered to be “personal information” for purposes of the GTA TELECOM Privacy Code if it is information about the individuals themselves, as distinct from information about their businesses. The latter is protected by other GTA Telecom policies and practices and through contractual arrangements.

GTA Telecom - GTA Telecom and its subsidiary companies, as they may exist from time to time.

Third party - An individual or organization outside GTA Telecom.

Use - The treatment, handling, and management of personal information by and within GTA Telecom.