Privacy Policy

Travel Alberta publishes and maintains its websites to help a variety of audiences worldwide locate and retrieve official Alberta travel information. Travel Alberta is committed to providing our website visitors with the information they are seeking in a manner that respects their privacy. This page summarizes how Travel Alberta manages its websites in accordance with the rules established in the Alberta Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act.

Personal Information Management

Travel Alberta websites provide individuals with the opportunity to voluntarily supply limited amounts of personal information (such as name, phone number, or postal or e-mail address). Personal information is collected by Travel Alberta if you send us an email or complete and submit an online form.

Information that you provide via email will be used to respond to your questions or supply you with the information or materials that you have requested. Information collected on our online forms will be used only for the purpose specified on each form. Your information will not be disclosed to anyone except appropriately authorized Travel Alberta personnel and contractors who need the information to fulfill your request. Your information will be maintained in a secure systems environment and will be kept only for the length of time necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected. In some cases, information you provide will only be collected and used in non-identifying form.

Important Notice About Cookies

Cookies are small amounts of information that are distributed from some websites to your web browser. Travel Alberta websites create temporary session-based cookies whenever you visit our sites. These cookies are automatically deleted by your computer and our servers within an hour after your visit. Session-based cookies are necessary for you to be able to log into certain sections of our websites (e.g. the Travel Alberta Holiday Card).

To personalize your experience on our websites, certain features depend on the ability to automatically (see Automatic Collection of Non-Identifiable Information below) issue a "persistent" cookie. Depending on your web browser version and settings, you may be prompted with a question as to whether or not you want to accept a persistent cookie. If you accept the cookies, you will experience full website functionality and the cookies will be automatically deleted from your computer in about 30 days, or sooner if you manually delete them. If you refuse to accept these cookies, you will still have general access to most content and functionality with our websites. You will be notified where this is not the case.

Important Notice About Information Sent Via the Internet

You should be aware that personal information you provide via the Internet might not be secure until it reaches the Travel Alberta servers. If you are concerned about sending your personal information to us via the Internet, please call Travel Alberta at 1.800.ALBERTA (800.252.3782), toll free in North America. outside North America dial 1-780.427.4321.

Automatic Collection of Non-Identifiable Information

When you browse our websites, read pages, or download information, we will automatically collect a limited amount of non-identifiable information about your visit. This information indicates a person’s activity on the site, but we will not know that the person is you. This information includes:

• Access date and time;
• Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if a private Internet access account is used) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to a computer whenever someone is surfing the web);
• Type of browser, operating system and version used to access our site;
• Files viewed or downloaded;
• Pages visited; and
• Previous website address (if linked to Travel Alberta websites from another website).
  

  We use this information to improve our websites – for example, we learn what type of information is of most interest to our visitors and how many visitors we receive.

  Security

  For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, Travel Alberta uses software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

  Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

  In some areas of the Travel Alberta websites, you are able to exercise control over the security of your own information by registering and/or accessing/updating a user account. Your user account will enable Travel Alberta to permit you access into secure areas of the websites. At this time, only the Travel Alberta Holiday Card (available to Alberta, British Columbia & Saskatchewan residents only) utilizes a secure user account. For complete details about how this program is administered to protect your personal privacy and information, please refer to the Help/FAQs for this program.

  Privacy & Links to Other Websites

  Travel Alberta’s websites contain links to other websites that provide useful travel and tourism information. We are not responsible for the content and privacy practices of other websites you may visit after you enter Travel Alberta’s websites. Travel Alberta also encourages you to examine each site’s privacy policy and disclaimers and make your own decisions regarding the accuracy, reliability and correctness of material and information found.

  Questions?

  For more information about any of the policies described above or about our website in general, please contact us:

  Contact Title: Aaron Nissen, Manager, e-Strategies
  E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  Telephone: 403.297.2836
  Fax: 403.297.5068
  

  View the Government of Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act.

Tourism British Columbia

Tourism British Columbia (Tourism BC) offers a selection of websites designed to help people find information about travel and vacation experiences in British Columbia and participate in a variety of tourism-related services:

• The consumer information or HelloBC site (www.hellobc.com) provides an array of information on topics useful to people visiting British Columbia, such as accommodation, vacation packages and special offers, transportation and events;
• The Tourism BC corporate site (www.tourismbc.com) provides information on the organization's corporate program that is useful to tourism operators, media and stakeholders;
• Our travel media page (www2.hellobc.com/travelmedia/) provides information useful to writers, editors and film producers such as story ideas, images, filming and planning a research trip;
• The British Columbia Magazine site (www.bcmag.ca) provides information about our award-winning magazine and its unique portrayal of the beautiful places, intriguing journeys and remarkable people of British Columbia;
• Our supplier site (www.tourismbc.net) enables tourism product suppliers to register their properties or tourism businesses online and for inclusion, as applicable, in our Approved Accommodation Program or one of Tourism BC's marketing programs. Access to tourismbc.net is only possible with a Tourism BC-assigned authenticated user ID name and user-assigned password.
• The Tourism 2010 Resource Centre site (www.tourism2010.com/CMS/) provides information on Games-related topics important to BC's tourism industry.

Tourism BC also offers international websites that provide travel and vacation information that may be of particular interest to visitors from other countries.

We at Tourism BC are committed to protecting the privacy of our customers. Any personal information provided to us through our website is collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and other applicable legislation.

What is considered Personal Information under the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act?

Under the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, personal information includes recorded information about an identifiable individual, such as name, address, phone number, e-mail address and credit card information. Business contact information is not included in the definition of personal information under our provincial legislation.

When Tourism BC collects personal information, we identify the:

• purpose for collecting the personal information,
• legal authority for collecting it, and
• title, business phone number, business address and e-mail address of an employee who can answer questions you may have about the collection of information.

What Personal Information We Collect and How We Use It

When someone visits one of our websites, our web server automatically collects a limited amount of standard information essential to the operation, security and evaluation of the Tourism BC website. This information helps us to make our site more useful to visitors and includes the:

• Internet domain and Internet Protocol (IP) address from computers that access our web site,
• type of browser and operating system used to access our site,
• date and time our site is accessed,
• pages visited,
• address of any web sites linked to, and
• content downloaded from our site.

While some of this information does not identify who people are, other information (e.g. Internet domain names or the IP addresses of internet service providers) may provide identification. The extent of personal identification depends on the naming standards followed by the internet service provider. You may wish to check with your provider to inquire about their policies and practices in this regard. Tourism BC does not use this information to identify individuals who visit our website unless required to do so as part of an internal investigation or other law enforcement purpose.

Any personal information collected via our website (e.g. web forms) is done in compliance with BC's privacy legislation and is considered necessary for providing services offered by our organization. There is always an option of whether or not to provide us with personal information. Your decision not to participate in electronic service delivery activities will not impair your ability to browse our web site. However, it may limit the use of certain website features. The personal information provided to us is used for the purpose for which it was collected or for a use consistent with that purpose. For example, personal information may be used to: send information about British Columbia that we believe will be of interest (based on a confidential personal profile); contact about upcoming vacation opportunities; respond to inquiries; provide requested materials; obtain feedback on vacation experiences; or assist with the use of our web site. In most cases, we try to obtain explicit consent before these activities will occur. At any time, anyone may request that we stop communicating by either updating their user profile or contacting us directly.

In certain circumstances, we may need to provide personal information to our service providers in order to facilitate the operation of our website or processing of payment transactions. Before any personal information is disclosed, all recipient organizations must agree to protect the privacy of personal information in a contractual manner consistent with our policy and compliant with BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Security of Your Information

Tourism BC is obligated to protect personal information by making reasonable security arrangements against such risks as unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure or disposal. Security measures, such as the use of FTP secure sites, have been integrated into the design, implementation and day-to-day operating practices as part our commitment to protect the information we hold.

The personal information submitted is secure once it reaches the Tourism BC server. In transit between a computer and the server, however, it may not be secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that information will not be disclosed in ways not otherwise described in this policy.

Links to Other Web Sites

The Tourism BC consumer website includes links to our other sites. Some of these sites offer unique services and may include detailed privacy statements describing how personal information may be used. We encourage users to review any detailed privacy statements prior to providing personal information. Your use of our website services and provision of personal information through our sites signifies your consent to our use of this information as outlined in this privacy policy or any detailed privacy statements.

The Tourism BC website also provides links to external web sites that offer information on tourism-related products and services. These sites may be operated by other government agencies, non-profit organizations or private businesses. Tourism BC is not responsible for the content and privacy practices of external web sites. We encourage users to review the privacy policy for each external site before submitting any personal information.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of data that web pages place in computers to assist in returning to that page. Tourism BC uses cookies to track activities on our web site to help us identify what tourism-related products and services consumers are interested in, so that we may continually work towards providing useful and relevant content. It is possible to change the settings on a web browser to deny cookies or to warn when cookies will be deposited.

Mappoint

Tourism BC uses a third party service for locator maps. See the Mappoint Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

How Long Information Is Retained

The length of information retention varies in relation to the nature of the service provided. We keep information for the length of time necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected. Tourism BC manages the information it collects in accordance with government records retention schedules and other legislative requirements.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

Tourism BC may, from time to time, review and revise its privacy practices and our website privacy policy.

Who Can I Contact About the Tourism British Columbia Privacy Policy or the Collection/Use of Personal Information?

General questions or comments about this privacy policy can be directed by e-mail, phone, fax or in writing to our privacy manager at:

Tourism British Columbia
Manager, Records, Access & Privacy
Box 9830.Stn.Prov.Govt
300-1803 Douglas Street
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 9W5
Phone: (250) 356-6363
Fax: (250) 387-8246
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Where Can I Find Information on British Columbia's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act?

For information relating to British Columbia'sFreedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, please refer to the Government of British Columbia website at: www.mser.gov.bc.ca/privacyaccess/