Updated February 10, 2011

Preamble

OpenFile.ca (“OpenFile” or “the Site”), which is owned and operated by thefile inc. (“we” or “us”), respects the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information. This privacy policy addresses the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in any form, whether written or electronic, by OpenFile. The collection, use and disclosure of your personal information is governed by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act as well as any applicable provincial legislation. This privacy policy explains what personal information OpenFile may collect from you and how it is used.

Please read this privacy policy carefully and check back periodically as we may revise it without notice. By submitting your personal information to OpenFile, you agree to the terms and conditions of this privacy policy.

This privacy policy applies only to personal information collected by OpenFile. Be aware that OpenFile.ca may contain links to other websites that are maintained by third parties who are not required to comply with this privacy policy and for which OpenFile has no responsibility. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of other websites you link to from OpenFile or otherwise visit.

Exclusions

This privacy policy does not impose any limits on the collection, use or disclosure of:
a) information collected, used or disclosed solely for journalistic, literary or artistic purposes;
b) information that is publicly available, such as a person’s name, telephone number and address, when listed in a directory or made available through directory assistance; or
c) business contact information, including the name, title, business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization;
d) information that is aggregated and not associated with a specific individual, such as demographic information or statistics about average time spent on a website.

Children

If you are under the age of 18, please obtain your parents’ or guardian’s permission before you share any personal information with us, or anyone else. We encourage parents to be aware of their children's online activities.

Your personal information

We collect personal contact information such as your name, email address, postal address and telephone number if you: sign up for a newsletter or register on our website in order to comment on or contribute content to the site. This information is used to fulfill your request for information or services and to respond to your inquiries. Where applicable, this information may be used to provide proper credit for your contributions.

We will retain your username and password so that we may remind you of them upon request.

We collect demographic information in order to gain a better understanding of your interests so that we may develop better products and services.

We ask for your postal code in order to better deliver local content to you. We may also ask for your phone number in order to verify information you have submitted to our site. Neither your postal code nor your phone number will be used to personally identify you on OpenFile.ca, nor will they be shared with any third parties.

We may also use demographic, personal contact and history information to contact you about changes to the website or other notices related to data or services you requested from us. In addition, we may use this information to send you offers or information from OpenFile.

If you provide freelance or other services to OpenFile, we may collect your GST/HST number and your contact information in order to pay you.

When you visit the OpenFile website, we may assign an internet cookie so we can recognize you as a return user and customize your experience. An internet cookie is a small text file that is placed on your browser to collect and store information. We use cookies to better understand how you use our website and to improve its performance. For example, a cookie may recall a set of preferences you have set for our website and record items for which you have registered. Storing cookies on your browser allows us to present you with web pages and other content that meets your needs. Unless you have set your preferences so that you will be alerted when a cookie is being stored on your computer, you won’t be otherwise notified.

If you are concerned about cookies, you may turn them off in your web browser’s preferences. However, please be aware that by disabling cookies, you may not be able to use some or all of the features of our website, especially those that require registration.

We use IP (internet protocol) addresses to gather demographic and statistical information about our users, to analyze trends, administer the site and track traffic patterns.

We may use pixel tags (also called "clear" gifs), tracking links and/or similar technology to note some of the pages you visit on our site and personalize your experience. We may also use pixel tags to determine what types of email your browser supports. We may use the information collected through pixel tags, tracking links and similar technology in combination with your personally identifiable information.

We will never provide your personally identifiable information to third parties for their use in marketing their products or services to you without your consent.

We may, from time to time, track and analyze anonymous usage and browsing patterns of visitors to our websites to provide our advertisers with more targeted opportunities and to help users see sponsor messages that are most likely to interest them.

We generally use your personal information for the purposes of: managing, administering, collecting or otherwise enforcing your accounts; maintaining business records for reasonable periods of time and generally managing and administering our business; and meeting all relevant Canadian and international regulatory, legal, insurance, audit, security and processing requirements.

Other than as permitted or required by law, if we wish to collect, use or disclose your personal information for purposes that are not set out in this privacy policy, we will identify those purposes at the time of collection. You will be given the opportunity to opt out of any such additional purposes.

OpenFile may disclose your personal information to third parties if you have violated our terms of service, or if we need to comply with applicable laws and lawful governmental requests, other legal and regulatory authorities and for other legal reasons.

You may access, update, edit or delete certain subscriber or registration information by going to the appropriate page on the OpenFile website and changing or deleting such information as desired.

Consent

In general, OpenFile seeks consent to use your personal information in accordance with our opt-out policy. Except as set out in this section, OpenFile obtains your express opt-in consent to use or disclose sensitive personal information.

Generally, when you provide us with your personal information, we will assume that you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of such information for the purposes identified or described in this privacy policy, if applicable, or otherwise at the time of collection. We reserve the right to use and disclose any information we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, including personally identifiable information, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request.

Security

OpenFile has technical, contractual, administrative and physical security measures to protect personal information that you provide to us.

Please be aware that email is not a secure medium, and any personal information you send to us by email could be intercepted. If your communication is very sensitive, you should not send it electronically unless the email is encrypted or your browser indicates that the access to our website is secure.

Material posted to online forums such as comment sites is public, not secure and may be viewed by anyone. Any personal information you post may be collected and used by anyone and may result in unsolicited messages from other internet users. OpenFile is not responsible for personal information you choose to post on or submit to its website.

You can help protect the security of your personal information as well. For instance, never give out your password, since this is what is used to access your personal profile. Also remember to log out of your account and close your browser window when you finish visiting OpenFile.ca.

Questions?

OpenFile encourages you to contact us with any questions or concerns you have about your privacy or this privacy policy. Please contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@openfile.ca.

Our mailing address is:
OpenFile
99 Atlantic Ave., Suite 210
Toronto ON
M6K 3J8