Privacy Policy

Manitoba Geothermal Energy Alliance (MGEA) respect the privacy of its users and recognize the need to protect its user’s personal information. This Privacy Policy is a formal statement of how MGEA maintains the confidentiality of any personal information users provide, our use of such information and disclosure as set out in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Personal information is any information that permits an individual to be identified (regardless of the way it was recorded), but does not include information associated with an individual in a professional or business manner that does not relate to anything of a personal nature. MGEA may also collect aggregate information about you which does not identify you and which is not considered to be personal information.

MGEA adheres to the following principles to ensure that its users privacy is respected and protected.

Consent

MGEA will obtain users understanding and informed consent before collecting, using, or disclosing any personal information as and when required by PIPEDA. In addition, a user may withdraw their consent at any time upon notifying MGEA, subject to any legal or contractual obligations of the user and as provided for in PIPEDA.

Collection, use & disclosure

MGEA collects personal information from its users through our team members and Website. If you contact one of our team members by phone, email, text message (SMS) and/or an online form on our Website, you may be asked for personal information so that we can reply to you. This information will be retained in order to better assist you the next time you contact us. MGEA will only use a user’s personal information for the purpose of replying to you unless the user voluntarily provides this information or as is required by law. The types of personal information that MGEA may collect and retain, include, but are not limited, to name, address, email address, telephone number(s) and demographic information.

MGEA may disclose personal information to third party agents for the purpose of assisting MGEA in fulfilling your requests (e.g., requesting us to provide information directly to a third party who provides a grant/incentive). MGEA may also disclose users personal information as required by law. MGEA will not sell users personal information to third parties.

Security

MGEA may store your personal information using secure on-site servers or other internally hosted technology. Your personal information may also be stored by third parties via cloud services or other technology, who MGEA has contracted with, to support business operations. These third parties do not use or have access to your personal information other than for cloud storage and retrieval.

Accountability

MGEA acknowledges that it is responsible for personal information in its possession or custody, including information that has been transferred to a third party for processing. The organization shall use contractual or other means to provide a comparable level of protection while the information is being processed by a third party.

Accuracy

MGEA will ensure that user’s personal information is accurate and updated, when necessary. MGEA relies on its users to inform of any changes to personal information.

Access and correction

Users may access their personal information, subject to the exceptions listed in PIPEDA, or request a correction of personal information. The request must be made in writing and contain sufficient detail to enable MGEA to identify the user’s personal information to either provide the information or to make the correction(s).

Retention and destruction

MGEA will retain personal information provided by users no longer than is necessary for legal or business purposes. When this personal information is no longer required, it shall be destroyed, erased, or made anonymous pursuant to the requirements of PIPEDA.

Breaches of security safeguards

In the event a breach of MGEA’s security safeguards involving personal information creates a real risk of significant harm to an individual, MGEA will provide a report to the Privacy Commissioner and will notify the individual(s) involved (unless otherwise prohibited by law) as soon as feasible after MGEA determines that the breach has occurred.

Marketing

MGEA will not use a user’s personal information to send marketing materials (emails, text messages (SMS), or direct mail) unless you provide such personal information for that direct purpose (e.g., you fill out a form on our Website to sign up for a newsletter by email). Your personal information will never be shared or sold to third parties for marketing purposes.

Third Party Links

Our Website may contain links to other sites that are owned or operated by third parties. These links to third party websites are provided as a convenience to users of the our Website, and not an endorsement of, or referral to, the linked websites. These third party websites have separate and independent privacy statements, notices and terms of use, which you should read carefully.

MGEA has no control over such websites, and assumes no responsibility or liability for the manner in which the organizations may use your personal information. We will not provide any of your personal information to these third parties without your consent.

Social media

The use of social media by MGEA is an extension of its Website. Social media accounts are public and hosted on that particular social media server. Users who decide to interact with MGEA through social media must read the conditions of service and privacy policies of these third-party providers of services and applications used in order to access them.

Cookies

Our Website uses a technology called “cookies”. A cookie is a small data file that our Website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your hard drive so we can recognize you when you return. Our Website uses both “session” and “persistent” cookies. A session cookie is used to identify a particular visit to our site and expire after a short time, or when you close your web browser. A persistent cookie will remain on your devices for a set period of time specified in the cookie in order to remember your information and settings over a longer period of time.

You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie or to not accept certain cookies. If you decide not to accept cookies from our Website, you may not be able to take advantage of all of the features of our Website.

Web analytic tools

MGEA uses web analytic tools. These tools allow MGEA to analyze the information generated through the use of cookies and/or pixels to look at statistically aggregate information that may be used for operational purposes. MGEA may also collect location data to analyze Website traffic patterns.

MGEA utilizes Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google, to analyze how the MGEA Website is used. Google uses data collected through cookies to gather and analyze information about the areas visited on our Website (such as the pages visited, time spent on pages, point of entry, referring site, click activity and other engagement data) in order to evaluate and improve the user experience and the Website.

This data is collected and stored by Google on servers that may be located outside of Canada. However, this information is not shared with external parties, except in limited circumstances, such as for enforcing a law or allowing a third party to perform tasks on behalf of Google (e.g., billing or data storage).

To learn more about Google Analytics, ways Google protects your data, or to opt-out of using Google Analytics through the browser add-on, please see https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245.

Contact

Any questions about the personal information in MGEA’s custody or requests to withdraw consent for the collection of personal information should be directed to MGEA by email to [email protected] or by mail to:

Manitoba Geothermal Energy Alliance (MGEA)
35-2855 Pembina Highway
Unit 440
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
R3T 2H5

This Privacy Policy will be amended from time to time as MGEA reviews and updates its policies and procedures.

Last Updated: 01/28/2024