Flu data for Montreal

Privacy policy

The Direction de santé publique de l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal is committed to respecting the personal privacy of individuals who visit its main Web site and related ones This page summarizes the policies and practices of the Direction de santé publique de l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal concerning the protection of personal information on its grippemontreal.qc.ca Web site.

Please read this information carefully and check it regularly for any changes. We also suggest that you refer to the sites associated with grippemontreal.qc.ca for details about each of their privacy policies.

As soon as you click on a link and leave grippemontreal.qc.ca, the new site's privacy policy then prevails. By way of precaution, we therefore recommend that you read the privacy policy of each site you visit.

Use of cookies

The portal does not set persistent cookies on users' hard drives. However, to facilitate browsing the site's pages, a session cookie must be placed in the computer's memory. This cookie is automatically deleted when users leave the portal.

You can disable acceptance of cookie files at any time using your browser's options. However, this could prevent you from accessing certain online services or advanced functions.

Information exchanged automatically

As soon as you access the grippemontreal.qc.ca site, information is automatically exchanged between your computer and the portal server. However, the information does not identify you personally without action of some kind on your part. The following information is most often exchanged:

Domain name
IP address that could enable an Internet provide to disclose the identity of the person to which it is assigned
The kind of browser and the operating system you are using
The pages you visit
The date and time when you access these pages
The address of the referring site used to reach the portal

The portal collects this information due to the technological requirements for Web use. The server needs this information to be able to send you files compatible with the computer equipment you are using. Rest assured that none of these requirements enable personal identification.

The information is kept an used by the Direction de santé publique de l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal for statistical purposes during the period needed to analyses the quality of survey data. It is used to count the number of visits, most visited pages, the technology used, referring sites and users' country of origin. The information is never used to compile user lists.

Transmission of personal information

No personal information is collected by the portal without your authorization, thereby ensuring compliance with the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information.

Under sections 64 and 65 of this statute, any government department or agency must collect personal information from you only if necessary, must identify itself, and must inform you of:

the name and address of the public body for which the information is being collected
the intended use of the information
the categories of persons who will have access to the information
whether the request is mandatory or optional
the consequences of refusal to reply
the rights of access and correction provided by law

If you agree to provide certain personal information-for instance, as part of a survey monitoring the health of Montrealers-rest assured that strict measures are used to make the site secure and to ensure your information remains confidential. Please read the measures taken specifically for each survey, if necessary.

We would remind you that sending information by email is not fully secure. This is why we do not recommend that you send personal information, such as your social insurance number, by email. Similarly, we do not use email to answer your questions requiring transmission of confidential information

Electronic correspondence is processed according to the same rules of confidentiality as regular mail. If you send personal information by email by completing an online form that is not protected or by subscribing to a mailing list, we assume you are granting authorization. Rest assured that

the portal will use only the information needed to reply to your request and to follow up on it
this information is kept and then destroyed in accordance with the requirements of the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information
the information transmitted will never be used to produce user profiles
the portal will send this information to another government agency only if your request concerns it or if its transmission is required by law
no information will be forwarded to a private organization

Under the law, you have access free of charge to any personal information about you held by the Direction de santé publique de l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal. You may ask to have any inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous information corrected or destroyed. All requests for transmission, correction or destruction of information must be made in writing to the GrippeMontréal team, Direction de santé publique de l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal, 1301 Sherbrooke Street East, Montréal H2L 1M3, or by email at

Our security protocol

The portal uses the latest technology and equipment for ensuring the security of its transactional pages and maintaining the confidentiality of the information exchanged.

User responsibilities

For optimal security, we recommend that you keep your ID information, access code and password confidential. (The portal cannot be held liable for their unauthorized use. Should their confidentiality be compromised, please notify us immediately to prevent fraudulent use of your identity.)

Disclaimer

The material provided on grippemontreal.qc.ca is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Grippemontreal.qc.c does not render medical services. The information provided on grippemontreal.qc.ca is not a substitute for a professional medical opinion or diagnosis. If you have a medical problem, please contact a qualified health professional or call Info-Santé at 8-1-1, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For more information

Comments or questions should be directed to

Acts

Sites

Links to Web sites not under the control of the Direction de santé publique de l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal are provided solely for the convenience of users. The Direction de santé publique de l'Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the content. It does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their contents.

Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec
Gouvernement en ligne
Secrétariat à la réforme des institutions démocratiques et à l'accès à l'information - Accès à l'information et à la protection des renseignements personnels

Explanatory document

L'accès à l'information et la confidentialité des renseignements personnels sur l'autoroute de l'information (PDF, 20.0 Kb).

Definitions of terms used

The following definitions are mostly taken from the Office québécois de la langue française's Grand dictionnaire terminologique and the Québec Portal.

IP Address

A unique identifier for a computer. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. The four numbers in an IP address are used in different ways to identify a particular network and a host on that network.

Encryption

The translation of data into a secret code. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it.

Web browser

Client software designed to interact with hypertext and hypermedia resources on the Web and overall Internet resources, allowing the user to search for information or access information (e.g. Netscape, Explorer)

Domain name

Domain names are used to identify particular Web pages.

Portal

A Web site home page which offers, in addition to a search engine, hyperlinks with a great deal of attractive information and services, designed to guide Internet users and facilitate access to the network. Personal information Information about an individual that would identify him or her.

Cookie

A small piece of information sent by a Web server to a web browser when the user visits the Website and that can be picked up by the server during subsequent visits.

Session cookie

Cookie stored in the user computer's memory by the browser that only retains data produced at the start of the session and that remains active only while the user's browser is open.

Persistent cookie

Cookie stored in a computer file by the Web browser that can be picked up by the Website server during subsequent visits.

Sources

Québec Portal Privacy Policy
http://www.gouv.qc.ca/portail/quebec/pgs/commun/informationsutiles/confidentialite/?lang=en
Privacy Policy - Québec Portal:
http://www.gouv.qc.ca/portail/quebec/pgs/commun/informationsutiles/confidentialite/?lang=fr
Important Notices, Health Canada:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/home-accueil/important-eng.php
Important Notices - Health Canada:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/home-accueil/important-eng.php

Server

Information system hosting one or several telematic services. Operating system Basic computer software designed to manage the execution of programs by ensuring work management, input-output operations of peripheral devices, resource allocation to various processes, access to program libraries and files, as well as compatibility (e.g. Windows, Mac OS).