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Online Privacy Policy

The City of New Westminster is committed to protecting your privacy. Any personal information collected, used or disclosed by the City is in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA), Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and other applicable legislation.

Scope
The purpose of this policy is to inform you of the personal information that may be collected when you visit the City of New Westminster’s websites or social media sites, and how the City is using the collected information. To read the City of New Westminster's complete privacy policy please click here.

What is personal information?
Personal information is defined by FOIPPA as recorded information about an identifiable person such as name, age, home address, phone number, email address etc. Information used to contact a person at a place of business is not considered “personal” information, such as a person’s name, title, business address, business phone number, and business email address.

How is my personal information collected by the City’s Website?
Once you visit a City of New Westminster’s website, information is automatically collected about your visit using security audit logs, temporary cookies and/or Google Analytics. Some of the information collected is personal information. Temporary cookies are small text files that contain a unique ID tag, these are placed on your computer by the website. It allows the website to collect information about your visit. The City’s websites may use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. It uses cookies to collect information which is stored in the United States.

The City of New Westminster collects this personal information under the authority of Section 26 (c) of FOIPPA. The City’s websites do not automatically collect your name, phone number, address or email.  This information is only obtained if you supply it voluntarily, usually by contacting the City.

This includes when you:

  • Participate in an online forum or poll
  • Fill in a feedback or contact form
  • Click the “share this” button on any page
  • Request further information about a specific topic via email
  • Registering for any of the City’s services on our secure websites

What information is automatically collected when I visit a City website?
The information which may be automatically collected is:

  1. The time and date you accessed the City’s website
  2. The type of web browser and operating system
  3. Your IP address (a series of numbers that are automatically assigned to your computer when you go online)
  4. Which page you visited
  5. How long you spent on each page
  6. The order you visited the pages
  7. The page you entered on and last page you looked at before you left.

How can I opt out of the City of New Westminster from automatically collecting my information via its website?

It is possible to prevent the City websites from collecting your personal information using cookies by disabling the cookies on your browser. This might limit your ability to browse, read and download information contained on the City websites. It is possible to opt out of Google Analytics using the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on that prohibits sending information to Google Analytics. This add-on does not prevent the collection of information by other cookies.

How is my personal information used?
The City of New Westminster will only use your personal information for the purposes it was originally collected, or in a manner that is consistent with those purposes and for statistical purposes. This information is collected to help the City of New Westminster make the website more useful to visitors, improve website performance, web services and website maintenance. Information collected becomes the property of the City of New Westminster and may be accessed by department heads or their delegates without further consent of the author. The City does not rent, share, or trade your information; it is kept completely confidential.  We will not use it to send you information that you did not specifically request.

How is my personal information kept safe by the City of New Westminster?
The City of New Westminster protects your personal information by using industry standard security arrangements against such risks as unauthorized access or disclosure. Access to systems, applications and the data is restricted to authorized personnel only.  Furthermore, any personal information collected and used for statistical purposes (e.g. IP address) is aggregated and made anonymous during report generation. The City of New Westminster monitors web network traffic to identify attempts to tamper with information or to otherwise cause damage. Please note, unless you are using one of the City’s secured servers (denoted by https://), data transmitted to the City is not secure.

The City of New Westminster allows you to access your personal information anytime to facilitate purchasing licenses, paying parking tickets or electrical bills. These activities are all managed on secure SSL encrypted websites. Some of these services require you to register for a secure account with a password. The City maintains this information securely; please protect your password.  All program payments are securely handled by a third party.  After the transaction is complete, the City does not retain your credit card information.

When is my personal information disclosed?
Personal information is disclosed only in accordance with FOIPPA, PIPA and other applicable legislation. It is not distributed to any third party unless required by law. The City of New Westminster is not required to notify you if your communication is released or compensate you for the use of your communication.

How long is the information kept?
Some cookies will remain on your computer for only as long as your browser remains open, or until you delete them off your computer.  Other cookies will remain on your computer so that you may be recognized when you return to the website.  Information collected by the City of New Westminster is maintained in accordance with the City’s approved records retention standards. Information collected by a security audit log is kept for up to one year.

How can I access or correct my personal information?
The City of New Westminster will attempt to ensure the personal information is as complete, up-to-date and as accurate as possible. You have a right to request access to your personal information held by the City of New Westminster. This can be done by requesting access from the department holding your information or by submitting a Freedom of Information request. You are also able to request to have your personal information corrected or annotated, if you believe it to be inaccurate by submitting a written request describing the error to the appropriate City department.  Legislative Services may be contacted for general information.

External websites
The City of New Westminster’s websites contain links to other sites and apps e.g. See Click Fix and My-Waste. The City is not responsible for the content and privacy practices of external web sites and services. The City encourages you to examine the privacy policy and disclaimer of each site and make your own decisions regarding the disclosure of your personal information to that site.

What can you do?
For your protection, we strongly recommend that you do not provide your account information, user name, or password to anyone.  If you become aware of any suspicious activity relating to your account, it is your responsibility to contact us immediately.

Who can I contact for more information about the City of New Westminster online privacy policy?
For any questions or concerns about this policy or how the City of New Westminster collects and uses your personal information please contact:

FOI and Privacy Coordinator
Legislative Services
511 Royal Avenue,
New Westminster, BC V3L 1H9
Phone: 604.515.3828
Email:

We will review or update this policy if our practices change, or as we develop better ways to keep you informed about them. You should refer back to this page often for the latest information and the effective date of any changes.