Introduction

This website, https://openmedia.org (the “Site”), is operated by OpenMedia (“we” or “us”). OpenMedia is the operating name of the “OpenMedia Engagement Network,” a non-profit organization legally incorporated.

OpenMedia is strongly committed to protecting your privacy online in accordance with applicable privacy laws, which include the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada) (“PIPEDA”) and, where applicable, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

As an organization, we're also strongly committed to data security, including working with top security experts to ensure our own channels of communication are as safe and secure as possible.

This privacy policy provides details about how OpenMedia collects, uses, stores and discloses your personal information.

Your Personal Information

OpenMedia will send you updates by email. You can visit this page to manage which updates you receive. If at any time you decide you do not want to receive any further updates from OpenMedia, you can unsubscribe from our email list or customize your preferences by replying to an email, or sending a message to [email protected]  with the subject heading "UNSUBSCRIBE".

We do not share the information you’ve given us with unaffiliated groups without your explicit permission. We may share some of your personal information with the following groups:

Third Party Service Providers– for example, our database administrators – for the sole purpose of helping us do our work.  These groups do not share your personal information or use it for any purpose other than as instructed by us.

OpenMedia hosts websites on Omega8 and Gossamer Threads.  OpenMedia uses advocacy tools developed internally or provided by New/Mode. OpenMedia members and donors may be contacted by Public Outreach on OpenMedia's behalf.  The comments facility on OpenMedia websites is provided by Disqus.  

Third Party Administrators– such as organizations we engage to facilitate large distribution of messages. The content of these emails will be from OpenMedia and these third parties do not have direct access to your personal information.

OpenMedia uses Engaging Networks for email distribution and member information, and Salesforce for additional member information.

In addition, with your explicit permission on each occasion, we may pass along specific information you provide to the following groups (as is standard practice):

Policy-makers, communications companies, news publications and other targets when you choose to take part in one of our campaigns and send a message to a decision-maker.   

By explicit permission we mean, in each instance, we will ask additional permission from you before passing along information. This additional permission will set out the parties with which we wish to share your information and the purposes for which we intend to do so. We will also require from you some positive indication to demonstrate you have assented to the disclosure of information. The most typical example of this would be a letter campaign, where you enter your information into an internet based form beside a message and click 'Send Your Message'. The parties to whom you will be 'sending your message' will be listed.

When you give OpenMedia personal information, we take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, OpenMedia cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. 

By visiting this Site or providing us with information through the Site, you signify your consent and agreement to our collection, use, storage and disclosure of your personal information as outlined in this privacy policy. You are also accepting our specific rules or terms of use which may be posted on specific sections of the Site, including areas for making donations, signing petitions, or sending emails.  Links to further information are available on each of those pages.

This privacy policy applies to transactions and activities in which you engage and data gathered only on the Site. This privacy policy does not apply to pages hosted by other organizations to which we may link, as their privacy policies may differ,nor does it apply to any offline contact between you and OpenMedia.

Our Anti-Spam Policy

With one of the largest online communities around the world, OpenMedia takes how we engage and communicate with our supporters very seriously. OpenMedia only emails people who have opted-in to our communications by explicitly subscribing to updates, or by selecting an option when participating in one of our campaigns or events. We consider ourselves leaders in responsible email practices, and therefore take the following steps:

We make unsubscribing from our communications swift and easy by including clear subscription options and unsubscribe links at the bottom of our emails.  We respond promptly when people email [email protected] with unsubscribe requests.

We run regular scripts and queries to ensure 100% of our list have opted-in through one of our campaigns or events. The goal of the scripts and queries is to delete anyone who could have been accidentally added to our list due to human error, or somehow added by spammers or other cyber-criminals or hackers. 

We do regular technical reviews for usability to ensure it is easy for supporters remove themselves from our lists.

Petitions and Email Campaigns

For petitions and email campaigns in which you've participated, we treat your name, location, and comments as public information for example, we may provide compilations of petitions, with your comments, to policy makers and other targets, or to the press. We will not make your street address publicly available, but we may transmit it to the designated target as part of a petition. This is a standard advocacy practice in such situations.  In no such case will we disclose your email address or phone number without your permission. OpenMedia is not responsible for the use of your email address by campaign targets.  OpenMedia maintains records of the information you provided through such actions while you remain subscribed to OpenMedia updates.

Coalition Partners

We work in coalitions of organizations campaigning on issues and values similar to our own. Sometimes, on a campaign-by-campaign basis, a coalition partner will be granted access to information you provide via a petition or email campaign. This will be made clear on that campaign page and in such cases, links to the privacy policies of those coalition partners will appear on the campaign sign-up page. 

Sending Emails via OpenMedia

In certain cases, we enable you to send individual emails to policy makers through our website. These messages are sent in your name, with your email address as the return address and your full name and contact information is provided as part of the submission. These messages will only be sent out under your name as you approve them on an individual basis using our email tool. You are solely responsible for the specific message(s) you send using our email tool. OpenMedia takes no responsibility for the content or use of your email address by campaign targets. 

Financial Donations

If you choose to make a donation to OpenMedia, your credit card information will be used only for this transaction through our secure online payment system.  No credit card information is stored on any OpenMedia servers, regardless of whether a supporter has made a one-time donation or is making a recurring donation.  Donations are processed through iATS.  You can view the iATS privacy policy here.  We also accept donations through PayPal and Stripe.  The PayPal privacy policy is here, and the Stripe privacy policy is here. 

Phone Campaigns

For some campaigns, OpenMedia utilizes a phone forwarding tool to connect you to speak directly with the offices of policy makers.  Your telephone number will be visible to the call recipient.

From time to time, OpenMedia may contact you by telephone. If you would like to be removed permanently from our phone list, please email us at [email protected] with the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE PHONE NUMBER". Please allow 8-10 business days to ensure your information is removed from all of our systems and Third Party Service Providers' systems.  

Children

OpenMedia does not solicit personally identifying information from children. Visitors who are under 16 years of age should ask their parent or legal guardian for assistance when using the Site and should not submit any personally identifying information to the Site. 

Cookies

Some parts of the Site are password-protected. We will use a cookie (cookies reside on your computer and are under the control of your browser) to enable you to return to password-protected areas of the website without having to re-enter your password.

Cookies are standard features of websites that allow us to store small amounts of data on your computer about your visit to the Site or the action you've taken with us, to streamline your visitor experience.  You may see a pop-up notification that cookies are in use.  If you wish to disable these cookies, you can do so using the settings menu in your web browser.  Browsing using a "Private" or "Incognito" mode will not prevent cookies from being used, but they will be deleted once the browser is closed.  If you set your browser to disable cookies, the Site may not function correctly.  

Analytics

In order to better serve our members and more effectively advocate on our issues, we use analytics tools and periodically analyze web logs. We assess IP addresses to better understand where our traffic is coming from, and to provide customized services to members.  We do not maintain a permanent record of IP addresses.  We also use third-party services such as Google Analytics. This helps us understand traffic patterns and know if there are problems with our website. We also use embedded images in emails to track open rates and click-through rates for our mailings, so that we can tell which mailings appeal most to OpenMedia supporters.  Our websites honour Do-Not-Track requests from browsers.

Google Analytics

OpenMedia websites use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses "cookies" to help the website analyze how users use the Site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the Site (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law or where such third parties processthe information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using this Site, you consent tothe processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. 

Links to Other Websites

OpenMedia may provide links to third party web sites, and other web sites may provide links to the Site. Third party web sites operate according to their own terms of use and privacy policies. OpenMedia has no control over such third party web sites, and by using this Site, you acknowledge and agree that OpenMedia is not responsible for the availability of such third party sites, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products or other materials on or available from such sites. You further acknowledge and agree that OpenMedia will not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

OpenMedia may revise or amend this privacy policy at any time at our sole discretion. If we make any substantive changes in the way we collect or use personally identifying information provided by users, we will post a prominent announcement on our web site home page and post the changes on this page. We will never change our policies and practices to make them less protective of user information collected prior to the effective date of any changes without the consent of affected users. We encourage users to visit this page periodically to review our current policy.

Who is Responsible

OpenMedia's Data Protection Officer and Data Controller is the Manager of Digital. The Campaigns Director is the Data Processor.  OpenMedia staff are all trained in the management and use of personal information, and only use information for the purposes for which it was supplied, which are communicating with our members, and advocacy on behalf of our community.  

Breach of Security Safeguards

If any breach of the security safeguards involving your personal information under our control occurs that creates a real risk of significant harm, we will, as soon as feasible after we determine that such a breach has occurred, notify you and report the breach to any relevant data protection authorities in affected jurisdictions as required by law.

Contacting Us

At your request, you may view any personal information you have provided to us, or ask for it to be amended or removed from our systems.  If you have any questions about this privacy statement, your personal information, or the practices of this Site, you can write to [email protected].

Effective Date 

This privacy policy was last updated and is effective as of August 1, 2019.