Introduction
The City of Burnaby’s public website (Burnaby.ca) is a vital communications link between the City of Burnaby (“the City”) and our residents and businesses, and we want to ensure your web experience is simple, informative and safe.
Every time you use Burnaby.ca, you give us information. It may include:
- anonymous information about how you accessed the website or the documents you downloaded, or
- personal information that you provided when you registered for a program, paid for or requested a service, signed up for a newsletter or applied for a job.
No matter what information you share with us, we’re committed to protecting your privacy. The City collects, uses and discloses personal information in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and other applicable legislation. “Personal information” is defined broadly in FIPPA as recorded information about an identifiable individual, other than contact information.
The purpose of this privacy statement is to inform you of the personal information that may be collected from you when you visit Burnaby.ca–or engage with us via other digital communications channels–and how that information may be used. By using this website you agree to be bound by this privacy statement, as it may be updated or replaced. The City reserves the right to change or modify this privacy statement at any time without notice.
The City provides multiple service options for conducting business with us, such as Burnaby.ca or through walk-in, postal mail, email, phone or fax. If at any time you’re concerned about using Burnaby.ca, an alternate service method is available to you.
The City’s website, Burnaby.ca, is hosted in Canada.
Reasons for collecting information
The City collects personal information via Burnaby.ca and other digital communications channels when you provide it to the City, such as by registering for a program, paying for or requesting a service, subscribing to a newsletter, applying for a job or taking a survey. Your information is retained and used only for the purpose for which it was collected, such as:
- To process your requests for services and/products.
- To communicate with you regarding services or products you’ve requested.
- To advise you about changes to our services and/or our web service offerings.
- To meet legal and regulatory requirements.
Types of information we collect and why
There are a number of ways we collect information through our website.
When you visit Burnaby.ca you share your Internet Protocol or IP address with us. An IP address uniquely identifies a device on the Internet—like a return address on a piece of mail.
The IP address of your device (laptop, desktop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) can tell us:
- the operating system and browser you used to access the site
- the number of times you visited the website
- how you navigate the website and pages you visited
- date and time of your visit
- search terms you may have used
This information is used for web analytics to help us manage and improve our website and make your future visits better.
Most websites, including the City’s, use “cookies” which are small data files saved on your device to ensure the website works efficiently and maximizes your user experience. Cookies help your device remember your preferences, such as font size and colour. Our cookies do not collect or share personal information or install anything on your device.
When you use the City website you agree to the use of cookies. Most browsers allow you to choose whether to accept cookies or not. If you do not wish to have cookies placed on your device, please set your browser preferences to reject all cookies before accessing the City’s website.
From time to time, we invite residents and businesses to participate in surveys to help us better understand your preferences or opinions about City programs and activities. Participation in surveys is entirely voluntary and personal information is only collected if the participant consents.
Surveys conducted via Burnaby.ca or other channels must comply with FIPPA and the City’s Survey Policy and Procedures. In addition, surveys conducted on behalf of the City by an independent research or polling company are subject to an information sharing agreement in which third parties are required to maintain the confidentiality of any personal information collected.
When you sign up on the website for a City of Burnaby eNewsletter subscription, you will be asked for information to help us ensure newsletter content is relevant to you and meeting your needs. You can access their privacy policy here. Newsletter content is provided to subscribers in compliance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) which ensures you only receive the online newsletter content and marketing materials you want. You have the option to unsubscribe at any time.
If you choose to provide the City with personal information in an email, the City will use that information only to assist us in addressing your inquiry and responding to your email.
Email messages are subject to FIPPA. Any personal information you share with the City of Burnaby in an email is provided only to those departments and individuals required to address your inquiry.
The City uses web forms to enable you to contact us, provide feedback, apply for job, etc.
When you save or submit information using the web form, it is encrypted and stored in a secure server located in Canada and controlled by Acquia, cloud service provider, until we download it. After the City downloads a submitted form, it is deleted from Acquia’s server. Saved forms that have not been submitted within the timeframe specified on the form will also be deleted from the server. The City will not access or download your saved forms before you submit them unless there is a technical issue that requires investigation.
Acquia cannot view your information except in very limited circumstances when there is a technical issue that requires investigation. In these circumstances, Acquia must seek the City’s formal permission to do so.
The City and its departments may use social media tools and networking services to communicate information broadly or to targeted groups. Social media also helps the City engage with and increase its understanding of its audiences.
The City uses social networking services such as YouTube, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn and Instagram.
Personal information you post in connection with the City of Burnaby through social media networking services may be collected by the City for the purposes of consulting with or providing information to you. Social media engagements are archived by the City using a third-party social media management, archiving and compliance service provided by Hootsuite (view privacy policy) and Global Relay (view privacy policy).
Any personal information obtained via social media engagement either by the City or by a third party contracted by the City is subject to FIPPA.
You should be aware that information you post on social media sites is not under the control of the City of Burnaby and may be stored outside the country. Please read the respective social media sites’ privacy policies to determine their privacy practices.
The embedded videos on Burnaby.ca use YouTube/VIMEO Privacy Enhance Mode. When you play an embedded video from the City website, the video and associated assets will load from the domain www.youtube.com and other domains associated with Google YouTube player. If the domain www.youtube.com is blocked, a local version of the video will be played instead, if available. The only data the City collects about this is whether you receive the YouTube version or the local version. You can access the privacy policy for YouTube here.
When you download BurnabyConnect App, the app does not automatically retain any personal information from you. Any personal information that you choose to share with the City of Burnaby through the BurnabyConnect App is subject to FIPPA, collected in accordance with Section 26(c) and is provided to those departments and individuals required to address your inquiry.
The BurnabyConnect App through a third-party logs a limited amount of standard information essential to the operational and evaluation of the App. This information includes Internet Protocol (IP) address used to access the App; the type of browser and operating system used; date and time of access; the pages visited; and the address of any site from which you linked to the App. You can disable the collection of statistics at any time by turning off the Statistics Collection in the Settings area of the app.
We invite residents and businesses to provide input and feedback through yourvoice.burnaby.ca. The “Your Voice” public engagement website uses software licensed from Social Pinpoint. We take appropriate measures to safeguard personal information and use encryption, access controls, and other security measures to protect it. For details on what personal information we may collect and access, please refer to Social Pinpoint's Privacy Policy.
Users have the right to access, correct, or delete their personal information, subject to certain exceptions. For details on how to exercise these rights, or for any questions or concerns about our privacy practices, please contact us in writing at [email protected].
Use and disclosure of personal information
The City is the sole owner of the information collected on its website. The City will not sell, share, rent or otherwise disclose your personal information to any organization or individual outside the City, unless we notify you and gain your permission first. In exceptional circumstances authorized by FIPPA, the City may disclose your personal information without your permission.
Notification of revisions to the City’s digital communications privacy statement
If the City decides to change its website privacy statement, we will post those changes on the City’s website home page and may circulate the changes via a newsletter.
Links to other websites/social media sites
The City’s website contains links to email addresses, other websites, social media networking sites, etc. Please be aware that the City’s privacy statement applies solely to information collected on the City’s website or via other City of Burnaby digital communications channels such as email.
The City takes no responsibility for the privacy practices of other websites. When you visit those sites, we recommend you read the privacy statement of each website you visit before you decide to provide any personal information.
Links or references to other websites or organizations do not imply endorsement or approval by the City of those websites or organizations.
How to contact us
If you have any questions or comments about the City’s privacy statement you can reach us by:
| [email protected] | |
| Telephone | 604-570-3636 |
| City of Burnaby Marketing and Corporate Communications 205-4946 Canada Way, Burnaby, BC, V5G 4H7 |
Requesting access to information
The majority of information held by the City of Burnaby can be accessed through normal requests to City staff without using FIPPA. A request for access to recorded or personal information that is not routinely available can be made using a formal process specified in FIPPA. For information on how to make a formal request to the City, visit our access to information page.