The City of Toronto is committed to protecting the privacy of any personal information you may provide when visiting our website. Part of that commitment is to explain what information may be collected and why, how it will be used and who may have access to it. Our practices have been designed to ensure compliance with the privacy provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

This privacy statement applies to interactions with the City of Toronto's web server. It does not apply to any other website. Following is an overview of our website practices.

Personal information

When you visit City of Toronto websites, you do so anonymously — there is no need to tell us who you are. If you direct an enquiry to a City division, we will ask you to provide your name and mailing address or email address for the purpose of responding to your enquiry. Only those who "need to know" will have access to the personal information provided.

Encryption technology protects personal information during transmission. A notice stating "you are in a secure site" will be posted on City sites when you are in an encrypted session. A security icon will also appear in either the lower left corner or, depending on your browser, the lower right corner of your browser window. Secure pages are not saved in temporary caches on a computer. Once you exit secure screens, those screens cannot be accessed again. If encryption is not available through a site, an alternative means of communication will be recommended.

The City web server does not collect or retain your e-mail address in a database format although some Internet Service Providers may automatically include your e-mail address with your IP address (Internet Protocol).

Any City site where personal information is requested will contain a notice outlining our legal authority to collect it and include the following information:

• the purpose for collecting the personal information;
• how it will be used and who will have access to it;
• who to contact if you have any questions about these practices.

Personal information is only disposed of according to a records retention schedule. To ensure personal information is unrecoverable, a utility program is used to remove the electronic data and any paper records generated are shredded.

Location, step counts, and personal data

Location data is used in the Live Green Perks app to determine participating businesses near you on the map, to help you locate participating businesses in relation to you, as well as for the optional geofenced deal alerts feature. Your location data is not retained by the app, or by the City of Toronto, it is never displayed outside of the app, and no one has access to it.

The Live Green Perks app includes the ability to connect to your step count data collected by other applications/devices such as Google Fit, Apple Health, Fitbit, and others. This data is used to provide you with rewards for walking every day, and to contribute your steps to your local ward's team in periodic walking challenges. The rewards you earn in the app can be spent on entering prize draws, or to help expand Toronto's urban tree canopy. Your step data is displayed on the steps screen the app to show you how you're doing and your step history, but is never shared with anyone else and is not displayed outside of the app. Step data is aggregated with other members of your ward during walking challenges to award points to your team.

Your login information, including your name, email address, and postal code is retained for the purposes of administering the Live Green Perks program. If you request a Live Green Card in the mail, your mailing address is also retained. Your personal information is accessible only to the staff who work on the Live Green Perks program, and only for the purposes of administering the program. If you have any questions about the collection of this data please contact the manager of the Live Green Toronto program at 416-392-9714.

Logging practices

The City of Toronto logs HTTP requests to the City Web server. These logs record the IP address of site visitors. An IP address is the number automatically assigned to the computer or to the ISP (Internet Service Provider) requesting a URL. The City cannot identify you from this information. The City archives and uses log files for systems analysis, maintenance and site evaluation.

We do not link information with the identity of individuals visiting our sites unless an attempt to damage our site has been detected.

Cookie practices

Some City web pages use cookies for one of the following three practices:

• Single-session cookies, which log users over a single session and do not maintain data over multiple sessions or visits,
• Multi-session cookies for use in web analytics, which log users over multiple sessions purely to gather data to analyze web traffic statistics, and
• Multi-session cookies for use as persistent identifiers (persistent cookies), which log users activities over multiple visits with the intent of remembering data, settings, or preferences unique to that visitor.

The City’s website uses persistent cookies to improve users’ experience by remembering settings related to functionality. Other multi-session and single-session cookies are used in combination with the website’s analytics software for website improvements.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. All Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer.

By declining cookies, use of interactive features or online services that depend on cookies will not function as intended. If you choose to accept cookies, all browsers offer the ability to later delete cookies that you have accepted. If you choose to delete cookies, any settings and preferences controlled by those cookies will be deleted and may need to be automatically recreated upon a return visit.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the City's website collection, use and disclosure practices, please contact Corporate Information Management Services at infomgmt@toronto.ca or call us at 416-392-9684.