What Information We Collect:
The types of information that we collect fall under two general categories: personally identifiable information (PII) and non-personally identifiable information (non-PII). PII consists of any information which can be used to specifically identify you as an individual, whereas non-PII consists of aggregate information or any information that does not reveal your identity. The following sections describe how your PII and non-PII are collected by us, and how we use such information.
How We Collect and Use Information
- Log Files. Any time you visit any of our websites, our servers automatically gather information from your browser (such as your IP addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks) to analyze trends, administer the site, prevent fraud, track visitor movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information. For example, we may log your IP address for system administration purposes. IP addresses are logged to track a user’s session. This gives us an idea of which parts of our site users are visiting. We do not share the log files externally.
- Cookies. We use “cookies” to keep track of some types of information while you are visiting our website or using our services. Cookies are very small files placed on your computer, and they allow us to count the number of visitors to our website and distinguish repeat visitors from new visitors. They also allow us to save user preferences and track user trends. We rely on cookies for the proper operation of our website; therefore if your browser is set to reject all cookies, the website will not function properly. Users who refuse cookies assume all responsibility for any resulting loss of functionality. We do not link the cookies to any PII.
- Web Beacons. “Web beacons” (also known as “clear gifs” and “pixel tags”) are small transparent graphic images that are often used in conjunction with cookies in order to further personalize our website for our users and to collect a limited set of information about our visitors. We may also use web beacons in email communications in order to understand the behavior of our customers. We do not link the web beacons to any PII.
- Information About You. When you register or subscribe to any of our services, we collect a wide variety of information about you. Non-PII about yourself (such as your name) will be used to build your profile on the site.
- E-mails and Telephone Calls. We require an e-mail address from you when you register for our services. We use your e-mail for both transactional and promotional (e.g., newsletters, new product offerings, event notifications, special third-party offers) purposes. E-mail messages we send you may contain code that enables our database to track your usage of the e-mails, including whether the e-mail was opened and what links (if any) were clicked. We reserve the right to send you certain communications relating to the Hearo Communications services, such as service announcements and administrative messages, without offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them. We may also contact you by telephone or text message (including to any wireless number you may provide to us) solely in connection with Hearo Communications’s services.
- Demographic Data. Demographic data is also collected at our site. We use this data to tailor our visitors’ experience at our site, showing them content that we think they might be interested in, and displaying the content according to their preferences. Some of this information may be shared with advertisers on a non-personally identifiable basis.
- Online Survey Data. We may periodically conduct voluntary member surveys. We encourage our members to participate in such surveys because they provide us with important information regarding the improvement of our services. You may also volunteer for certain surveys that we may offer to our users, and any additional rules regarding the conduct of such surveys will be disclosed to you prior to your participation. We do not link the survey responses to any PII, and all responses are voluntary and anonymous.
Disclosure of Your Information to Third Parties
- Disclosure By Law. You acknowledge and agree that we may disclose information you provide if required to do so by law, at the request of a third party, or if we, in our sole discretion, believe that disclosure is reasonable to (1) comply with the law, requests or orders from law enforcement, or any legal process (whether or not such disclosure is required by applicable law); (2) protect or defend Hearo Communications’s, or a third party’s, rights or property; or (3) protect someone’s health or safety, such as when harm or violence against any person (including you) is threatened.
- Disclosure to Protect Abuse Victims. Notwithstanding any other provision of this privacy statement or our Terms and Conditions of Service, we reserve the right, but have no obligation, to disclose any information that you submit to the Services, if in our sole opinion, we suspect or have reason to suspect, that the information involves a party who may be the victim of abuse in any form. Abuse may include, without limitation, elder abuse, child abuse, spousal abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. Information may be disclosed to authorities that we, in our sole discretion, deem appropriate to handle such disclosure. Appropriate authorities may include, without limitation, law enforcement agencies, child protection agencies, or court officials. You hereby acknowledge and agree that we are permitted to make such disclosure.
- Disclosure to Trusted Third Parties By Us. We may share your non-PII with third parties, but not in a manner that would reveal your identity. We may share your PII, sometimes in conjunction with your non-PII, with service providers that may be associated with us to perform functions on our behalf. For example, outsourced customer care agents or technology assistants may need access to your information to perform services for you. Your information will be treated as private and confidential by such service providers and not used for any other purpose than we authorize. In addition, from time to time we may share PII (such as e-mail or mailing address) about our user base with carefully selected third parties, so they can offer goods and services that we believe may be of interest to our users.
- Disclosure to Trusted Third Parties at Your Request. While visiting our site, we may provide you with advertisements, promotions, sweepstakes and offers from third party providers. If you choose to accept any such offers, you may either (depending on the situation) directly provide your information in connection with the offer to such third party provider, or we will provide your information, including billing information, to the third party provider by pre-populating the offer registration forms. Your information will not be transferred until you actually accept the offer. You may opt-out of the offer at any time up until this point. Please refer to the third party provider’s own privacy policy (provided on the offer pages) if you have any questions regarding how your information is used by such providers. Please be aware that these offers may be presented on pages framed by an Hearo Communications website. We do this to provide a seamless experience. Although these offer pages have the look and feel of our websites, you will be submitting your information directly to the third-party advertiser. You agree that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings, including the sharing of the information you supply to us with third party providers described here, or as the result of the presence of such providers on an Hearo Communications site.
- Information Transferred As a Result of Sale of Business. As we develop our business, we may buy or sell assets and, depending on the transaction, your PII may be one of the transferred assets. In the event that we are acquired by another company, your PII may be part of the assets transferred to the acquiring party. If this occurs, you will be notified if there are any material changes to the way your PII is collected or used.
Third-Party Advertising
We may use third-party advertising agencies or other service providers to serve ads on our website on behalf of Hearo Communications or third-party advertisers (e.g., retailers of goods or services). These companies may employ cookies and web beacons to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information that these third parties collect via cookies and web beacons is completely anonymous.
We will only share your information with third parties in the ways defined in this privacy statement.
Age Restrictions
Our age restrictions for different services are set forth in each applicable Terms and Conditions of Service. We do not target our sites or services to anyone under the age of majority in their home jurisdiction, and any information we may receive from users we believe to be under the age of majority will be purged from our database.
Security
We will exercise reasonable care in providing secure transmission of information between your computer and our servers, but given that no information transmitted over the Internet can be guaranteed 100% secure, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the Internet and hence accept no liability for any unintentional disclosure.
Retention and Storage of Your Personal Information
We retain your PII for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected and to comply with applicable laws, and your consent to such purpose(s) remains valid after termination of your relationship with us. Your PII may be processed and stored outside of the province in which you reside and/or outside of Canada by us, an affiliate or an unaffiliated service provider for the purposes set out in this privacy statement and, under the laws of these other jurisdictions, in certain circumstances foreign courts, law enforcement agencies or regulatory agencies may be entitled to access your personal information.
Links to Other Sites
You may be able to access your account or content of your account from third party sites, such as social networking sites, by way of various applications. The privacy policies and practices of such sites in connection with information you disclose on such sites may differ from the practices of Hearo Communications as set forth in this privacy statement, and you should review their policies and practices to ensure that the privacy of the information you submit on their site does not conflict with and is consistent with how you wish your information to be treated. Such sites may also place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit personal information from you. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites that may provide access to, or be linked to or from this site, including that of any social networking sites and third party advertisers whose offerings require you to navigate away from our site.
Contacting the Website
If you have any questions about the practices of this site, or your dealings with any Hearo Communications websites, you can contact:
Site Administrator
Hearo Communications Inc.
106 – 209 Queen Street
Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada
B2N 2N6
Acceptance of Privacy Statement
Your use of our website(s), including any dispute concerning privacy, is subject to this privacy statement and the applicable Terms and Conditions of Service. BY USING OUR WEBSITE, YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE PRACTICES SET OUT IN THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT AND THE APPLICABLE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE.
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement page and any other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, or by other means, such as e-mail, at our discretion.
Your continued use of any portion of our website following posting of the updated privacy statement will constitute your acceptance of the changes.
Effective Date
This privacy statement was last revised on July 31, 2024.
