>Privacy and security

We at ProtectionPower.ca are committed to providing our Members with the utmost in privacy and security. We abide by all industry guidelines and consistently monitor our systems, processes, management and operating methods in order to maintain the highest commercial standards. This is our promise to our site visitors and Members. We have created this Privacy Policy to clearly demonstrate our commitments to safeguarding your information and your privacy. Protection Power™ adheres to policies that will help to prevent unauthorized use of your personal information while maintaining the accuracy of the information provided. Furthermore, Protection Power protects your information through the use of the latest security measures and operating procedures.

We firmly believe that as fellow Canadians you have certain rights and assurances, as follows:

  • To know in advance what information about you is being collected, stored and used for commercial purposes;
  • The ability to review that information in an understandable format;
  • The right to correct that personal information for any inaccuracies;
  • That information that is collected and stored will be safeguarded and not used for any purpose unless disclosed in advance and as permitted by law;
  • That sensitive information will only be accessed by authorized and legitimate users;
  • That sensitive information that is transmitted over unsecure networks will be encrypted or scrambled; and
  • The right to be treated fairly and consistent with industry practices or above standards.

Knowledge and Consent

By using Protection Power’s website or by registering as a Member into Protection Power’s Membership Program using our secure online registration form directly on our website or through one of our affiliated marketing partners and/or advertising agencies, you consent to the collection of this information and ultimate use of information as it is defined in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to any or all statements as outlined in this Privacy Policy, we ask that you either contact us for clarification or do not use our site and/or that you do not register online into our Membership Program. You can elect to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting our support desk and/or Privacy Officer through the Membership Control Panel. The Privacy Officer will also inform you of the implications of withdrawing consent. Protection Power is committed to ensuring that we only require you to consent to the collection and disclosure of information to fulfil the specified and legitimate need for which the information is being provided by you.

Types of Information Collected

Information is collected from website visitors in two ways: (1) when a visitor voluntarily signs up for the newsletter, email autoresponder service or feedback/contact us form; or (2) when a visitor registers as a member into the Protection Power Membership Program using one of our secure order forms or from one of our authorized marketing partners or advertising agencies. Protection Power gathers the majority of the information directly from the information submitted in our Membership registration forms. This information is personal information that is used for billing and Member support services. This information is related to your personal contact information, including but not limited to your first name, last name, mailing address, email address, phone number and some other identifier that we may use to confirm your billing information and ultimately legitimate identity verification. The identifier may include secret security questions such as your city of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc. Protection Power also requires billing information for your Membership, which may include credit card numbers or other billing-related information. Certain information gathered at registration (name, address, telephone and email information) will be shared with third parties for the purpose of membership registration. We may ask if you would like to participate in surveys that will ask for your opinions or demographic data so that we can improve our program and offerings.

Use of Information Collected

Protection Power is owned and operated by Opie Marketing Group Inc., a Canadian corporation located in Oakville, Ontario. Opie Marketing Group Inc. is one of Canada’s leading marketing firms and offers a number of subscription-based products and services to Canadians. For more information, please visit www.opiemarketing.com. The information you provide while registering into the Membership Program using one of our secure online forms is collected by Opie Marketing Group Inc.

Protection Power uses the information provided by our Members via our Membership registration forms or Membership Control Panel in order to better serve our Members. We use your credit card information to bill you for Membership fees and for any additional products or services that you elect to purchase. Certain information (name, address and telephone and email information) will be shared with third parties for the purpose of membership registration. We may use your mailing address to send you promotional offers, newsletters or membership updates. Our primary means of communication will be through your email address, which we may use to notify you of any updates to the Membership Program, pricing changes, or special offers and promotions from our partners. We also routinely send out customer newsletters, guides, and courses as a value-added service to our Members. You can elect at any time to opt out of receiving any or all of these email communications simply by clicking “unsubscribe” in your email or by unchecking the subscription opt-in boxes in the Membership Control Panel. Protection Power may from time to time also use your personal information, with your permission (i.e. where you have not opted out) to promote and/or market additional goods, services, special offers, gift codes, discounts, incentives, freebies, promotional offers, etc. from us or our network of affiliates or business related partners. These could include but are not limited to certain retailers, healthcare providers, insurance, credit card issuers, travel companies, entertainment, security experts, financial services firms and other related companies. This could be by means of direct marketing through email, postal mail, telephone or similar fashion. With your permission, we may also disclose your name and mailing address to these affiliates and/or third party business associates so that they can send you promotional materials directly.

Access to Your Personal Information

You as a Member have the right, through written request, to access the Personal Information contained in your Membership profile (except under some circumstances that conflict with privacy legislation). The majority of this information is available in your Protection Power Secure Members Area and where necessary (such as with credit card numbers), this information is encrypted. You may request that any inaccurate information be corrected or obsolete information be deleted. Written requests to access your information should be made to Protection Power Privacy Officer, c/o Opie Marketing Group Inc., 150 Randall St., Suite 201, Oakville, Ontario, L6J 1P4. To ensure that all information is accurate and up-to-date, Members must inform us of any changes or inaccuracies of their Membership information without delay.

Use of Cookies

Protection Power is committed to continually improving the user experience for visitors and Members visiting our websites, including through the use of cookies.

A cookie is a small text file sent by a web server to be stored on a web browser, so that it can later be read back from that browser the next time a unique visitor returns to that web server. This is useful as it allows the browser to remember specific information about visitors, including their IP address, location of their last visit, the time spent on the websites, the site they last came from and visit next, and the web browser version and operating system that the visitor is using. This information, along with server log information, is used to analyze trends, audit traffic levels and give Protection Power useful statistical information on all users so that we can better improve the website experience for all visitors, now and in the future.

Protection Power also uses cookies to keep track of Member login names and passwords. This allows Members to automatically log in when they visit their Membership Control Panel, if desired. In this way, cookies can make Members’ return visits to Protection Power websites more convenient. Please note that if your web browser is set to automatically reject all cookies, you will still be able to access Protection Power’s websites, but you will not be able to save your Membership login info for automatic login (unless, of course, you change your cookies settings).

Cookies set up by Protection Power are only accessible by Protection Power and not by any other website. The exception to this is when server log data is provided to law enforcement bodies as outlined in the Security Access section below.

Correcting or Updating Your Information

Protection Power is committed to maintaining the accuracy of your personal information. Members are requested to notify Protection Power using any of the methods indicated in the "Contact Information" section of this Privacy Policy to request access to, or request a correction of, their personal information.

Use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

All personal information that you may transmit to us via the Internet is sent using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL). This is a secure protocol that provides an enhanced layer of security when submitting information over the Internet. Essentially the SSL encrypts or scrambles the information when it is transmitted from your computer through the Internet to our servers. This is similar to a lock and key mechanism, where only servers that have the suitable key can descramble and/or unencrypt the information once received. This serves as an added layer of protection for your personal information, including payment details and credit card information, to help prevent it from being intercepted and read by an unauthorized party via the Internet or other transmission protocol. To ensure your information is being sent via a valid SSL, you can see one or all of the following characteristics in your web browser: (a) the address bar, where you will see the address beginning with https:// instead of http:// and where the “s” denotes “secure”; (b) a small key or padlock in the bottom right corner of your browser if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or similar browsers, indicating that your transaction is secure. In addition, Protection Power meets all of the stringent requirements of the security seal for all online transactions.

Information Storage

All data and personal information that we possess as it pertains to our Members is stored in electronic format on our secure servers at our data centre and, in some cases, in secure physical file format at a secure location. Your information will be retained for as long as you are registered as an active member in the program and for a period of no later than 3 years after you cancel your membership with us, after which your information will be deleted from our databases.

Security and Access

Protection Power takes the security of personal information seriously and we make all commercially reasonable efforts to protect the personal information against loss and unauthorized access. We have adopted procedures to secure storage of personal information and are committed to working with our Members to protect the security of personal information during any transfer to us or from us. We have also instituted a number of safeguards to identify and prevent the fraudulent use of personal credit information. We use firewall technology to protect against intruders and we have various access processes in place, including password protection and cryptography, to secure against loss and unauthorized access. Furthermore, we utilize industry-leading antivirus software solutions and have taken measures for the physical security protection of our facilities.

In order to ensure security and protection of all information, all employees are aware of our security policy and practices and our physical offices are protected with multiple layers of security and limited access privileges. All visitors to our facility must sign-in at reception and be escorted by one of our staff members at all times while on the premises. We have additional layers of security and access that are proprietary in nature and cannot be shared in this policy due to the sensitivity of the security in place. Rest assured that they are added layers of security even beyond what is described here and which are in place to protect the sensitive information that may be obtained from our Members. Our websites’ security is constantly reviewed and improved and access to the information is limited to authorized personnel. Any loss, misuse, or alteration of personal information by our employees, contractors or other parties is strictly prohibited and when required we will follow up by appropriate action and termination of the offending employee. Furthermore, all of our employees, contractors or similar type of relationships are bound by confidentiality and/or non-disclosure agreements.

All Member information is stored in secure databases and all personnel, including but not limited to employees, agents, contractors and third party service providers we may work with to assist us in providing services to you are strictly prohibited from using Members’ personal information for any purpose other than to provide this assistance and are required to protect personal information disclosed by us and to comply with the general privacy principles described in this Privacy Policy.

Protection Power may be required to disclose your Personal Information when specifically ordered and authorized by regulatory authorities including the law, search warrant, subpoena, court order or similar.

Links to Third Party Sites

The Protection Power websites may offer links to other third party websites. You should be aware that operators of these third-party websites may also collect your personal information (including information generated through the use of cookies or other technology). Protection Power is not responsible for any third-party website and the use and protection of your personal information as it pertains to their privacy practices.

Update to this Policy

Protection Power reserves the right to modify this Policy statement at any time, without prior notice, by updating this page on our websites.

Contact Information

In the event that you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or if you have reason to believe that we have not followed this Privacy Policy, you may contact our Privacy Officer via mail at: Protection Power Privacy Officer, c/o Opie Marketing Group Inc., 5063 North Service Road, Ste 100, Burlington, Ontario, L7L 5H6. You may also contact us at the toll-free number listed on our websites.

 

Protection Power™ is a trademark of Opie Marketing Group Inc.

© 2010 Protection Power™ / Opie Marketing Group Inc.

Updated: August 2009