Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada

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Copyright/Permission to reproduce

The coat of arms and the corporate graphic identifier cannot be reproduced.

Unless otherwise noted by the application of the copyright symbol ©OCL-CAL, other materials on this site may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes in part or in whole and by any means, without charge or further permission from the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. We ask only that:

  • Users exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials reproduced;
  • The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada be identified as the source; and,
  • The reproduction is not represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor as having been made in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada.

Third-party materials

Some of the materials and graphical elements found on this site are subject to copyrights held by other organizations. In such cases, restrictions on the reproduction of materials or graphical elements may apply. Please seek permission from the author or copyright holder prior to reproduction.

Disclaimer

Some of the information on this site has been provided by external sources. The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada is not responsible for the accuracy and reliability of the information provided by external sources. Users wishing to rely upon this information should consult directly with the source of the information.

Privacy policy

We are committed to respecting the privacy of our website users.

This section summarizes the privacy policy and practices on the website of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. Any personal information you provide, other than public disclosures made under the Lobbying Act, is protected under the federal Privacy Act.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about how we manage privacy on our website, contact atip-aiprp@lobbycanada.gc.ca. You can also file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada regarding our Office’s handling of your personal information. 

Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and foreign nationals, regardless of where they are located, can request access to their personal information held by federal government institutions under the Privacy Act.

What personal information do we collect?

Web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor's Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, may not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner considers the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when a visitor requests a web page. This information can include the name of the page you visited and the date and time of your visit.

We do not automatically gather personal information, such as your name, phone number, email address or physical address if you simply visit our website. However, we may collect this information if you supply it voluntarily, usually through contacting us via email, or filling out an electronic form.

We collect personal information when you register in a secure portion of the site, for example, through our Lobbyists Registration System.

Why do we collect your personal information?

While providing services through our website, we collect personal information, such as digital markers and web analytics, to improve our site. We also use software to ensure the security of our website. These uses are described in more detail in the sections below.

If you send us an email or complete an online form, we may use your personal information to respond to you. In most cases, we will delete any personal information that we did not ask for.

Personal information from emails or completed forms is collected according to the Privacy Act. Such information is used to provide our services and may also be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. We do not use personal information submitted through online forms to create individual profiles.

We also collect personal information when it is required by law. See Disclosures in the Lobbyists Registration System below.

Digital markers (including cookies)

A digital marker is a small file placed on your computer by a website that you visit. They are stored there so that the web server can remember certain pieces of information about you. Examples of digital markers are "cookies" or HTML5 web storage. This information is used by the web server during the same or future visits to the website. They are often used in the collection of web analytics, to store your preferences (e.g., language or location), and to manage your session if you are logged in.

Digital markers can:

  • allow a website to recognize a previous visitor; and
  • track what information is viewed on a site, which helps website administrators ensure visitors find what they are looking for.

We use first-party and third-party digital markers on our website. During your visit, your browser exchanges data with our web server. Some digital markers are kept for up to 18 months (i.e., web analytics) and others are only valid during a session (i.e., when you log into the Lobbyists Registration System).

Web analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement, and reporting of data about web traffic and visits. This data is used to improve our website and deliver on our public education mandate. It also helps us complete administrative tasks such as:

  • communications and information technology statistics;
  • audit and evaluation;
  • research;
  • planning; and
  • reporting.

How we use web analytics

We use web analytics in accordance with the Government of Canada’s Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics (Appendix E).

When your computer requests one of our web pages, we collect the following types of information for web analytics using digital markers:

  • originating IP address anonymized so that they cannot be used to identify individuals;
  • date and time of the request;
  • page(s) visited;
  • page previously viewed through which you arrived on our site;
  • files that were clicked and downloaded;
  • links to an outside domain that were clicked; and
  • type of operating system and browser used.

We use this information to establish:

  • which of our pages are the most popular;
  • what people are looking for on our site;
  • how people navigate our site; and
  • where we can improve our site.

We use externally hosted software from Google Analytics. Information is retained for 18 months, after which it is disposed of in accordance with the Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics (Appendix E) and as authorized by the Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Our web analytics will also respect any "do not track" setting you might have set on your browser.

Protecting the security of our website and Lobbyists Registration System

We have partnered with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) to establish a protected environment for the majority of our IT infrastructure and systems. OPC uses software to monitor network traffic and identify unauthorized attempts to change information, or damage our systems. This software receives and records the IP address of the computer that has contacted our website, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited.

We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless we have detected or been advised of an attempt to damage the site.

The information may be shared with law enforcement authorities if we suspect criminal activities. This information may also be used for network security related statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting. It is included in Personal Information Bank PSU 939 Security Incidents.

Disclosures in the Lobbyists Registration System

Information is collected in the Lobbyists Registration System to facilitate the reporting requirements of the Lobbying Act and associated Regulations. Any personal information you provide in this system, other than public disclosures made under the Lobbying Act, is protected under the federal Privacy Act. A personal information bank is maintained — TBS registration: 009943 Bank number: OCL PPU 039.

MS Teams

To provide its services, Microsoft will collect limited personal information, which may include your name, email address, IP address, partial telephone numbers, device information (such as name, make, model and other technical specifications) and chat conversations.

While the OCL does not directly collect this information, it may access it for security or troubleshooting purposes. In these limited cases, the OCL may need to collect your personal information and retain it only for the time required to resolve or address the issue.

For more information, you can refer to Microsoft's Product Terms or their article on the Location of data in Microsoft Teams.

Official languages

The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada is subject to the Official Languages Act and applicable Treasury Board policies. Most information on this website is available in both English and French, but some information from external sources may be available only in the language in which it was provided.

Comments or questions

If you have any comments or questions, please contact us:

info@lobbycanada.gc.ca

613-957-2760

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