TERMS OF USE
Tourisme Côte-Nord and the members of the cooperative “WhalesofQuebec” may interrupt, temporarily or permanently, operation of all or part of the “WhalesofQuebec” site.
The members of the cooperative “WhalesofQuebec,” represented here by Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners and service providers, shall under no circumstances be liable for any loss or damage related directly or indirectly to delays or waiting times involved in the use of this site, any user’s inability to use the site or any computer virus that may infect the computer of a user who accesses the site.
Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners may modify these terms of use at any time. It is the responsibility of users to be aware of all changes, without prior notice from Tourisme Côte-Nord or its partners and service providers. The site and its use are governed by the laws of Québec. Any legal action or proceedings related thereto shall be brought exclusively in a Québec court of competent jurisdiction.
The user agrees to hold Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners and service providers harmless and indemnified against all damages, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, related to any violation of these terms by the user or persons using the user’s account, or in connection with the use of this site or the placement or transmission of any information on this site by the user or persons using the user’s account.
Accessing or attempting to access password-protected areas of this site that are reserved for the personnel of Tourisme Côte-Nord, or its accredited users is strictly prohibited. Unauthorized individuals caught accessing or attempting to access password-protected areas shall be subject to immediate legal prosecution.
INFORMATION ON TOURISM BUSINESSES, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
The fact that Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners provide information on a business, product or service on the “WhalesofQuebec” website in no way means that it endorses or recommends that business, product or service. The prices displayed on this site for the various establishments were obtained from them at the time all of the other information was gathered and do not necessarily reflect the full range of prices charged by those establishments. Prices are provided for information purposes only.
To report any errors noted on this site, users are asked to contact [email protected].
ONLINE COMMERCIAL OFFERS
Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners are not travel agents, wholesalers or retailers within the meaning of the Quebec Travel Agents Act. The travel packages service provided online is intended solely to help users learn about the services provided by Québec tourism service providers.
Tourisme Côte-Nord is neither the representative nor the agent of those service providers and shall not be involved in any way in any claim or dispute that may arise between service providers and their customers. Furthermore, Tourisme Côte-Nord and its representatives are in no way liable for any damage, financial loss or information loss that could result from such transactions.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND PERSONAL INFORMATION
In using this site, users acknowledge that they have read, understood and accepted the terms set out above as well as the legal framework governing the protection of personal information, described below. Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners comply with the requirements of Law 25.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK GOVERNING THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
The “WhalesofQuebec” site is published in Québec, Canada. Users’ personal information is protected under Québec and Canadian laws. For information on user rights, visit the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec website.
Unless required by law, Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners do not disclose any personal information on “WhalesofQuebec” users.
Use of personal information
The information collected by Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners, with user consent, serves to send users paper-based or electronic documents; respond to their information requests; forward reservation, product purchase or tourism service requests to service providers; subscribe users to Tourisme Côte-Nord publications or its newsletter and compile mailing or survey lists. This information also serves to determine user habits and interests with a view to improving future service.
Disclosure of personal information
User requests may require the disclosure of personal information to service providers or sub-contractors involved in fulfilling a request (e.g., disclosure of a user’s contact information to an organization handling document shipping or to an establishment where the user wishes to make a reservation).
By authorizing Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners to send the user travel literature or a tourist newsletter, the user authorizes Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners to transfer said user’s personal information to a service provider or sub-contractor for purposes other than a response to the user’s request for information, a newsletter or a reservation.
Sub-contractors and service providers apart from Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners that use personal information held by Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners are required to sign a confidentiality agreement and may use such information solely for the purposes to which the user has consented.
Information collected automatically by the site
When a user accesses the “WhalesofQuebec” site, information is automatically exchanged between the user’s computer, the site server and third parties tasked with compiling statistics on site visits.
The information exchanged includes:
- the domain name of the user’s Internet Service Provider and the user’s IP address;
- the type of browser, the type of device and the operating system used to access the site;
- the date and time of access to the site;
- the site pages visited;
- the address of the originating website.
Retention of personal information
This information exchange is necessary for the proper operation of the site. The information is kept for statistical purposes. It is also stored in data logs for site security reasons and used to compile statistics on site visits. Information in the site’s data logs may be communicated to third parties for security verification or legal investigations and will not be used for any other purpose.
Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners retain the data collected for various periods of time, depending on their nature and usefulness in providing their products and services. During the retention period, Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners take physical and technical measures to ensure the security of data containing personal information.
The primary locations where personal information is stored are the cities where Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners have offices or facilities, and cities where third parties responsible for producing site traffic statistics have servers containing data collected by Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners.
Personal information may be stored outside the country in which you reside if a third-party provider or another entity to whom we disclose personal information in accordance with this Policy is located outside the country. In such cases, personal information may be subject to the local laws of the countries or territories where the information is collected, used, disclosed or stored, and government authorities and law enforcement agencies of those countries or territories may have access to it.
Once the retention period has expired, personal information is destroyed. Only statistics or reports containing de-identified and anonymized data may be retained for extended periods.
In the event of a data or information breach, Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners solemnly commit to transparency and to working with the relevant authorities to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. A private data encryption system is currently active on the website. An incident registry has been established further to the enactment of Law 25. Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners are committed to complying with the framework of Law 25.
USE OF COOKIES
Cookies are small data files transferred to the user’s browser by a website. They track the user’s preferences, making subsequent visits to the site more efficient. They can also serve for advertising purposes. The use of cookies is a common practice adopted by most major sites to better serve their customers. Most browsers are designed to accept cookies, but the settings can be modified to block them. The “WhalesofQuebec” site uses cookies for advertising and statistical analysis purposes.
VERIFICATION, COMMENTS OR COMPLAINTS
Users may ask to see, correct or delete the personal information in their file with Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners. Requests for verification and related comments or complaints should be sent to [email protected] along with information identifying the user.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
The “WhalesofQuebec” site offers its users hyperlinks to websites created by third parties. Tourisme Côte-Nord and its partners are in no way liable for the content or practices of those websites, particularly with respect to the protection of personal information and privacy.
CONTACT PERSON CONCERNING LAW 25
Law 25 – Protection of private life
If you have any questions about this Policy and our legal framework governing the protection of personal information on the “WhalesofQuebec” site, you may contact Privacy Officer Étienne Lalancette, Digital Marketing Strategy, at [email protected].