The City of Toronto is committed to protecting the privacy of any personal information you may provide when visiting our Web site. Part of that commitment is to explain what information may be collected and why, how it will be used and who may have access to it. Our practices have been designed to ensure compliance with the privacy provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

This privacy statement applies to interactions with the City of Toronto Web server. It does not apply to any other Web site. Following is an overview of our Web site practices.

Personal information

When you visit City of Toronto Web sites, you do so anonymously – there is no need to tell us who you are. If you direct an enquiry to a City department, we will ask you to provide your name and mailing address or e-mail address for the purpose of responding to your enquiry. Only those who “need to know” will have access to the personal information provided.

Encryption technology protects personal information during transmission. A notice stating “you are in a secure site” will be posted on City sites when you are in an encrypted session. A security icon will also appear in either the lower left corner or, depending on your browser, the lower right corner of your browser window. Secure pages are not saved in temporary caches on a computer. Once you exit secure screens, those screens cannot be accessed again. If encryption is not available through a site, an alternative means of communication will be recommended.

The City Web server does not collect or retain your e-mail address in a database format although some Internet Service Providers may automatically include your e-mail address with your IP address (Internet Protocol).

Any City site where personal information is requested will contain a notice outlining our legal authority to collect it and include the following information:

• the purpose for collecting the personal information;
• how it will be used and who will have access to it;
• who to contact if you have any questions about these practices.

Personal information is only disposed of according to a records retention schedule. To ensure personal information is unrecoverable, a utility program is used to remove the electronic data and any paper records generated are shredded.

Logging practices

The City of Toronto logs HTTP requests to the City Web server. These logs record the IP address of site visitors. An IP address is the number automatically assigned to the computer or to the ISP (Internet Service Provider) requesting a URL.

Our logging is passive and we don’t use technologies such as “cookies” or “Web bugs” to maintain any information on site visitors. Logged information, also known as clickstream data, is recorded in non-identifiable form and is used by City staff or those under contract for Web site system administration. Log files are archived and used for systems analysis, maintenance and site evaluation.