Privacy Policy

Art Gallery of Ontario (“AGO”, “we” or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy. We value your trust and recognize that maintaining this trust requires that we be open and accountable in our treatment of the Personal Information that you choose to share with us. We do not trade, rent, or sell the names of our valued supporters.

AGO is responsible for safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by all our visitors (including business-related), donors, sponsors, members, volunteers and those who make purchases from us through our website (collectively, Supporters). As such, we comply with the requirements of applicable Canadian privacy laws and we uphold the principles of the Donor Bill of Rights developed by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. AGO employs reasonable administrative and technical measures to ensure the security of all of the personal information that we collect, and our credit card processing system is Payment Card Industry compliant.

 

What Our Privacy Policy Covers

We value the trust of our Supporters and recognize that maintaining this trust requires that we be transparent and accountable in how we treat the information that is provided to us by our Supporters. This privacy policy describes how AGO collects, uses, and shares the personal information of its Supporters. When we use the term “personal information” we are referring to information that is about an identifiable individual; however, “personal information” does not include business contact information. This policy applies to AGO and to any other person providing services on our behalf. A copy of this policy is located at ago.ca/privacy-policy and will be provided upon request.

 

What We Collect

Personal information is collected when a Supporter supplies it to us voluntarily; for example, by purchasing tickets to an exhibition, registering for a program, making a donation, purchasing product or merchandise, engaging with us on social media, entering a contest or subscribing to our e-newsletter.

We collect personal information that our Supporters provide to us directly, including:

  • contact information (including salutation, name, professional title, company name, home and business address, phone number and email address)

  • the type of AGO membership purchased and the contact information for the primary and secondary cardholder for the membership

  • the number and type of tickets purchased, including whether tickets were purchased for any of our special exhibitions, programs or events

  • the number and type of products, goods, and merchandise were purchased from the AGO Shop or food and beverage outlets

  • visiting history and program participation

  • detailed medical information about participants in our camps and children’s programs

  • value of any donation, sponsorship, grant and volunteer dues

  • volunteer status (active or inactive)

  • age, gender, marital or family status

When you visit the AGO, we also collect images of you which are taken by our security cameras. To better understand our visitors and to improve the visitor experience on our website, AGO’s website collects data using services including Google Analytics); no personal information is collected through these tools that would allow AGO to identify individuals. For more information about Google Analytics, please visit: www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. We also collect information about email open rates and click-through rates to determine whether AGO’s electronic communications are effective.

When you visit our site, we may store some data on your computer in the form of a “cookie”. A “cookie” is a small piece of text that a website places in the cookie file of your browser that allows our site to recognize your personal computer the next time you visit. Cookies by themselves do not tell us your email address or otherwise identify you personally. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Your Web browser can be set to accept or reject cookies. Please note that disabling or deactivating cookies may result in a reduced availability of the functionality of our site or parts of our site may no longer function correctly.

AGO may use third parties to collect data from our website anonymously for marketing purposes (for example, advertisements). Users of our website will not be personally identified through this data and AGO does not see any data or contact information on an individual level. These third parties may include, but are not limited to, Meta and/or X (formally Twitter). You may tailor your privacy settings to limit the collection of personal information.

We collect detailed medical information with respect to participants in our camps and children’s programs. We use this information solely to provide each camper with a high-quality experience, address any integration needs and manage any potential health and safety issues. Except (i) as required by law, or (ii) in a medical emergency where disclosure is limited to medical personnel and law enforcement, we do not share this personal information with any third parties.

In order to provide a safe environment for visitors at AGO, as well as for the art, artifacts, objects, and digital files that we are entrusted to house, AGO has installed security cameras throughout the museum. We use the footage from these cameras for security and loss prevention purposes and in connection with incident investigations. In addition, we may share this footage with law enforcement in connection with a criminal investigation.

 

How We Use Your Personal Information

We use personal information to:

  • communicate with our Supporters about our exhibitions, programs, events, offers, fundraising projects and other special initiatives

  • communicate with visitors about their experience at AGO

  • contact Supporters to determine their interest in becoming members of AGO and processing memberships and membership renewals

  • contact Supporters in connection with fundraising efforts for AGO and processing donations, sponsorships or grants, including sending tax receipts

  • contact Supporters to determine their interest in purchasing tickets to a fundraising event and completing any ticket purchases and related registrations

  • contacting Supporters in connection with opportunities to become a volunteer with AGO and enrolling any interested individuals as volunteers

  • deliver requested information about our programs and events

  • contact Supporters if there is a security incident at AGO that may relate to or impact the Supporter

A Supporter may opt out of receiving communications from us by ‘unsubscribe’ link in your email communication, texting STOP in our SMS or by contacting the contact found under the heading “Contact Us”.

 

How We Share Your Personal Information

The AGO will not disclose any personal information we collect from you to any third parties except as follows:

  • Service Providers. We may disclose your personal information to our service providers who perform certain services necessary to run our business (for example, data hosting and payment processors, restaurant booking and reservations platforms, etc.) to the extent that they require such personal information to perform their duties.

  • When Reasonably Required. We may disclose your personal information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or property, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud or respond to a government, judicial or other legal request, or to comply with the law.

  • Corporate Circumstances. We may disclose your personal information in connection with a corporate change or dissolution, including for example a merger, acquisition, reorganization, consolidation, bankruptcy, liquidation, sale of assets or wind down of business.

In addition, where a member has granted his or her consent to do so, we may share his or her contact information with other not for profit entities within Canada. In those circumstances, AGO shares a member’s contact information with a third party mailing house. The third party vendor communicates with the AGO member on behalf of the other not for profit entity. The other not for profit entity only receives the contact information if the AGO member responds to the communication and engages directly with it. In all cases, the third party mailing house is contractually bound to comply with AGO’s privacy policy and all applicable privacy laws and to maintain the confidentiality of all personal information that AGO provides to it. If you do not wish to have your name exchanged, please email [email protected]

AGO does not sell or rent its list of Supporters to any organization.

 

Protecting Your Personal Information

At the AGO we take the protection of your personal information seriously. We make every reasonable effort to prevent unauthorized use, disclosure, loss or theft of your personal information. Employees who have access to your personal information are made aware of the importance of keeping it confidential.

Where we use service providers who might have access to your personal information, we select them carefully and require them to have privacy and security standards that are comparable to ours. We use contracts and other measures with our service providers to ensure that they maintain the confidentiality and security of your personal information and to prevent such information from being used for any other purpose.

Please be aware that no data security measures can guarantee complete security. You should also take steps to protect against unauthorized access to your password, phone, and computer by, among other things, signing off after using a shared computer, choosing a robust password that nobody else knows or can easily guess and keeping your log-in and password private.

 

Transfers outside Canada

Some of the AGO’s service providers may be located outside of Canada, including in the United States. As a result, your personal information will be used, stored and/or accessed in countries outside of Canada, including the United States. However, all such information will be protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Please note that when your personal information is located outside of Canada it will be subject to the laws of the country in which it is situated.

 

Consent

When a Supporter provides personal information to AGO, he or she is consenting to the AGO’s collection, use and disclosure of his or her personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. A Supporter is able to refuse or withdraw his or her consent to the collection, use or disclosure of his or her personal information at any time. If you reside in the province of Quebec, in certain circumstances, you may also have: i) the right to request that we cease disseminating your personal information, ii) the right to request that we de-index any hyperlink attached to your name that provides access to information by a technological means; iii) the right to request that we re-index a link providing access to information; or iv) the right to request that we communicate to you, as well as to any person or body authorized by law to collect such information, any computerized personal information collected from you in a commonly used technological format. You may exercise these rights by contacting the AGO, whose contact information may be found under the heading “Contact Us”. We will act on such requests promptly.

 

Retention of Personal Information

AGO retains personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected and to comply with applicable laws. When personal information is no longer (i) necessary or relevant for the identified purposes, or (ii) required to be retained by applicable laws, AGO will take steps to have such personal information deleted, destroyed, erased, aggregated or made anonymous. AGO uses reasonable business practices to ensure that we have appropriate practices relating to information security and policies with respect to records retention and destruction with respect to all personal information under our control.

 

Accuracy and Access

AGO takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information that it maintains about Supporters is accurate, complete, and up to date. If a Supporter becomes aware that any personal information under our control about him or her is not correct, please contact the AGO, whose contact information may be found under the heading “Contact Us”.

 

Supporters are entitled to a copy of the personal information that AGO has under our control about them; if you would like a copy of such information, please contact us. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. In addition, your right to access or correct your personal information is subject to certain legal restrictions.

 

Children Under the Age of 14

Children should use the AGO’s website only with the approval of a parent or guardian. In particular, a child under the age of 14 should not provide AGO with any personal information unless his or her parent or guardian has consented to such disclosure. AGO does not knowingly collect any personal information from children under the age of 14. If a parent or guardian learns that his or her child under the age of 14 has provided AGO with personal information without his or her consent, the parent or guardian should immediately contact the AGO, whose contact information may be found under the heading “Contact Us”. and we will remove this personal information from our database.

 

Contact Us

you have any questions about our privacy or security practices, including our use of service providers outsider of Canada, if you would like to request access to or correction of your personal information, or if you would like to opt out of receiving communications from us in the future, please contact our Privacy Officer at: [email protected]

If your concern or complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can contact Erin Prendergast, Chief, Strategic Initiatives and our designated Privacy Officer, who will investigate your concern and try to resolve it. You will be asked to provide the following information, in writing:

  • your name;

  • an address, email, phone number or fax number where we can reach you;

  • the nature of your complaint, including relevant details and what you would like AGO to do; and

  • the name of any AGO staff or volunteers with whom you have already discussed the issue.

We will endeavour to get back to you promptly.

 

Changes to this Policy

We may revise our privacy policy from time to time. You should review our privacy policy periodically so that you keep up to date on our most current practices. We will note the effective date at the end of each version of our privacy policy.

Effective as of September 12, 2024

 

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