PRIVACY POLICY
OVERVIEW
At www.meritmethod.com we respect your privacy and take great care in protecting your personal information. We are committed to compliance with privacy legislation and protecting personal information that we collect, use and disclose when you use our services. We, at www.meritmethod.com, have based our privacy policy on the Canadian Standard Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information and in compliance with British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) which came into effect on January 1, 2004. All information collected will also adhere to the terms established in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act of Canada. Information obtained will be collected as required or permitted by applicable law by fair and lawful means.
ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND CHANGES TO IT
submitting information to us, including your personal information, you consent to the collection and use of your information in accordance with this Privacy Notice. If you do not want to disclose your information in the ways described in this Privacy Notice, you should not use our Services.
Our Privacy Officer is accountable for maintaining our privacy program to ensure it complies with applicable legislation. Our privacy commitment includes ensuring the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of your personal information and allowing you to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
Our Privacy Officer is accountable for maintaining our privacy program to ensure it complies with applicable legislation. Our privacy commitment includes ensuring the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of your personal information and allowing you to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:
- Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.
- Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to meritmethod.com, located at 1028 Barclay Street, Suite 1608, Vancouver BC, V6E0B1.
- Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile Device or any other Device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website, along with other information.
- Country refers to Canada.
- Device means any device that can access the Service, such as a computer, a cellphone, or a digital tablet.
- Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.
- Service refers to The Merit Method, accessible from meritmethod.com.
- Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes Personal Data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.
- Third-party Social Media Service refers to any website or any social network website through which a user can log in or create an account to use the Service.
- Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).
- You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.
1.Collecting and Using Your Personal Data
A. Types of Data Collected
- Personal Data
While using the Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:- name, email address, residential address, date of birth, telephone number, geo-location, gender, payment card information, occupation or employment status. Email address;
- Transaction information (e.g. transaction amount, date and time such transaction occurred)
- Usage Data; and
- Other information that is necessary for Us to provide You with the Service and products as described in the Service.
- Usage Data
Usage Data is collected automatically when You use the Service. Usage Data may include information such as:- Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version;
- The pages of the Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages; and
- Unique Device identifiers and other diagnostic data.
When You access the Service by or through a mobile Device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile Device You use, Your mobile Device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile Device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile internet browser You use, unique Device identifiers and other diagnostic data.
We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You use the Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile Device. - We may use the personal information we collect from you in order to fulfill the following purposes:
- Communicate with you about the Services
- Protect against or deter fraudulent, illegal or harmful actions
- Allow you to create and/or manage your digital storefront, your sales pages, and your online courses
- Allow you to create, manage, and/or subscribe to membership software
- Allow you to create, manage, and/or sell digital files
- Allow you to create, manage, and/or sell digital downloads and online courses
- Contact you about Service announcements, updates or offers
- Personalize website content and communications based on your preferences
- Provide support and assistance for the Services
- Discover others who might be interested in the Services
- To identify trends and other statistical information that may be useful to our business
- Comply with our legal or contractual obligations
- Resolve disputes
- Enforce our Terms of Service (including, for clarity, the Privacy Policy)
- To verify your identity and eligibility to use our services
- In order to collect payments on your behalf from your customers, and provide payments to you, we, using Shopify as a third-party payment processor, collect payment information from you, your attendees and customers, your vendors, and other parties to whom we provide payments on your behalf and from whom we collect payments on your behalf. This information is used solely to collect and provide payments related to the Services, and is only stored by Shopify. You should review the terms of service and privacy policies of Shopify, available at https://www.shopify.com/legal/terms and https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy
- Information we receive from third party sources:
- We have built services from some third parties into the Site, and those third parties provide us with Personal Data about you, such as the following:
- Account information for third party services: If you interact with a third party service when using our Services, such as if you use a third party service to log-in to our Services (for example, signing up for an account with Facebook Connect), or if you share content from our Services through a third party social media service, the third party service will send us information about you, such as information from your public profile, if the third party service and your account settings allow such sharing. The information we receive will depend on the policies and your account settings with the third party service.
- Information from our advertising partners: We receive information about you from some of our service providers who assist us with marketing or promotional services related to how you interact with our Site and Services.
- Information from our service providers: We receive information collected by third parties about your use of the Services. For example, we may use analytics service providers to analyze how you interact and engage with the Services and our advertisements, so we can learn and make enhancements to offer you a better experience. Some of these entities may use cookies, web beacons and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Services and other websites, which may include tracking activity across time and unaffiliated properties, including your IP address, web browser, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked and conversion information. Third parties may also help us provide you with customer support, and provide us with information so that we may help you use our services.
- We have built services from some third parties into the Site, and those third parties provide us with Personal Data about you, such as the following:
- Legitimate Interest: We process the following categories of Personal Data when we believe it furthers the legitimate interest of us or third parties.
- First and last name
- Email address
- IP address
- Billing zip code and/or country of residence
Examples of these legitimate interests include: - Protection from fraud or security threats
- Operation and improvement of our business, products and services
- Marketing of our products and services, directly to you and to others
- Provision of customer support
- Compliance with legal obligations
- Completion of corporate transactions
2.Consent
Your knowledge and consent are required to collect, use, or disclose your personal information, except as required or permitted by applicable law.
2.1 We will obtain your consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).
2.2 Consent can be provided orally or electronically or it can be implied where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be considered obvious and you voluntarily provide personal information for that purpose.
2.3 Consent may also be implied where you are given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of your personal information being used for the marketing of new services or products and you do not opt-out.
2.4 Subject to certain exceptions (e.g., the personal information is necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation), you can withhold or withdraw your consent for www.meritmethod.com to use your personal information in certain ways. Your decision to withhold or withdraw your consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our ability to provide a particular service or product. If so, we will explain the situation to assist you in making the decision.
2.5 We may collect, use or disclose personal information without your knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:
2.1 We will obtain your consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).
2.2 Consent can be provided orally or electronically or it can be implied where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be considered obvious and you voluntarily provide personal information for that purpose.
2.3 Consent may also be implied where you are given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of your personal information being used for the marketing of new services or products and you do not opt-out.
2.4 Subject to certain exceptions (e.g., the personal information is necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation), you can withhold or withdraw your consent for www.meritmethod.com to use your personal information in certain ways. Your decision to withhold or withdraw your consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our ability to provide a particular service or product. If so, we will explain the situation to assist you in making the decision.
2.5 We may collect, use or disclose personal information without your knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:
- When the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law;
- In an emergency that threatens an individual's life, health, or personal security;
- When the personal information is available from a public source;
- When we require legal advice from a lawyer;
- For the purposes of collecting a debt;
- To protect ourselves from fraud;
- To investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law
3.Using and Disclosing Personal Information
3.1 We will only use or disclose personal information where necessary to fulfill the purposes identified at the time of collection.
3.2 We will not transfer your personal information to third parties, except for affiliates and partners that provide services on our behalf. These include (but are not limited to) payment processors, order delivery providers, web hosting services, provided that these third parties agree to comply with legally required privacy standards and use the information only for the purposes disclosed at the time of collection.
3.3 We will not use or disclose your personal information for any additional purpose unless we obtain consent to do so.
3.4 We share Personal Data with vendors, third party service providers and agents who work on our behalf and provide us with services related to the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or our Terms of Service. These parties include:
3.2 We will not transfer your personal information to third parties, except for affiliates and partners that provide services on our behalf. These include (but are not limited to) payment processors, order delivery providers, web hosting services, provided that these third parties agree to comply with legally required privacy standards and use the information only for the purposes disclosed at the time of collection.
3.3 We will not use or disclose your personal information for any additional purpose unless we obtain consent to do so.
3.4 We share Personal Data with vendors, third party service providers and agents who work on our behalf and provide us with services related to the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or our Terms of Service. These parties include:
- Payment processors
- Fraud prevention service providers
- Analytics service providers
- Hosting service providers
- Marketing service providers
- Email providers
- Staff augmentation and contract personnel
- Other users (where you post information publicly or as otherwise necessary to effect a transaction initiated or authorized by you through the Services)
- Social media services (if you interact with them through your use of the Services)
- Third party business partners who you access through the Services, including vendors
- Other parties authorized by you
4.Retaining Personal Information
4.1 If we use personal information to make a decision that directly affects you, we will retain that personal information for as long as remains necessary for the identified purpose or as required by law. This may extend beyond the termination of your relationship with www.meritmethod.com. Personal information may be retained as necessary to prevent fraud, future abuse or for business purposes such as analysis of non-personal data, account recovery, or if required by law.
4.2 Subject to Section 4.1, we will retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.
4.3. Your consent can be withdrawn at any time, except in limited circumstances, including legal or regulatory requirements or as a result of your contractual obligations with us.
4.2 Subject to Section 4.1, we will retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.
4.3. Your consent can be withdrawn at any time, except in limited circumstances, including legal or regulatory requirements or as a result of your contractual obligations with us.
5.Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Information
5.1 Personal information is maintained as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used.
5.2 You may request correction to your personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information can be made either electronically or in writing. You must provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
A request to correct personal information can be made to:
Privacy Officer
1028 Barclay Street, Suite 1608
Vancouver, BC
V6E0B1
hello@meritmethod.com
5.2 You may request correction to your personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information can be made either electronically or in writing. You must provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
A request to correct personal information can be made to:
Privacy Officer
1028 Barclay Street, Suite 1608
Vancouver, BC
V6E0B1
hello@meritmethod.com
6.Securing Personal Information
6.1 We are committed to ensuring the security of your personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.
6.2 www.meritmethod.com follows accepted industry standards to prevent unauthorized access and has multiple safeguards in place to correctly use and maintain data security of personal information. While administrative, technical, contractual and physical procedures are in place to protect your personal information, no method of information transfer over the internet or data storage is entirely secure. As a result, we cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of any email communications or information sent by you to us via our website or applications. If you wish to send us confidential information, please notify us first to make arrangements.
6.3 We will store your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, except where otherwise required or permitted by law (e.g., payment records must be retained for a set number of years for tax purposes). Once no longer required, your personal information will be securely destroyed or anonymized (so the information no longer identifies you). We will use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information as required.
Please note that if your personal information is collected by a third party, it will be retained in accordance with the privacy policies and records retention requirements of that third party.
6.4 We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.
6.2 www.meritmethod.com follows accepted industry standards to prevent unauthorized access and has multiple safeguards in place to correctly use and maintain data security of personal information. While administrative, technical, contractual and physical procedures are in place to protect your personal information, no method of information transfer over the internet or data storage is entirely secure. As a result, we cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of any email communications or information sent by you to us via our website or applications. If you wish to send us confidential information, please notify us first to make arrangements.
6.3 We will store your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, except where otherwise required or permitted by law (e.g., payment records must be retained for a set number of years for tax purposes). Once no longer required, your personal information will be securely destroyed or anonymized (so the information no longer identifies you). We will use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information as required.
Please note that if your personal information is collected by a third party, it will be retained in accordance with the privacy policies and records retention requirements of that third party.
6.4 We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.
7.Providing Access to Personal Information
7.1 You have a right to access your personal information collected by us.
7.2 A request to access personal information must be made in writing at the contact address provided below.
7.3 Upon request, within a reasonable time, we will tell you what personal information belonging to you is stored by us, what it is being used for and who possesses access to it.
7.4 You may notify us in writing at our contact address of the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
7.2 A request to access personal information must be made in writing at the contact address provided below.
7.3 Upon request, within a reasonable time, we will tell you what personal information belonging to you is stored by us, what it is being used for and who possesses access to it.
7.4 You may notify us in writing at our contact address of the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
8.Tracking Technologies and Cookies
8.1 We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Our Service. We do not link information we store in cookies or tracking technologies to any personal information you submit while using our services. You can remove cookies manually by following the directions provided to you by your internet browser.
We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on and use of the Service and to store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze the Service. The technologies We use may include:
Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of the Service. Unless You have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, the Service may use Cookies.
Flash Cookies. Certain features of the Service may use local stored objects (or Flash Cookies) to collect and store information about Your preferences or Your activity on the Service. Flash Cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as those used for Browser Cookies. For more information on how You can delete Flash Cookies, please read: "Where can I change the settings for disabling, or deleting local shared objects?," available at https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/disable-local-shared-objects-flash.html#main_Where_can_I_change_the_settings_for_disabling__or_deleting_local_shared_objects_
Web Beacons. Certain sections of the Service and Our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related Service statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).
Cookies can be "Persistent" or "Session" Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on Your personal computer or mobile Device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close Your web browser.
Retargeting/Advertising Cookies. Retargeting/Advertising Cookies collect data about your online activity and identify your interests so that we can provide advertising that we believe is relevant to you. For more information about this, please see the section below titled “Additional information about interest-based advertisements.”
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of text sent to your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the Website or a third party to recognize you, make your next visit easier and the Website more useful to you. Cookies can be classified as either "persistent" or "session.”. Persistent cookies remain on your personal computer or mobile device when you go offline, while session cookies get deleted as soon as you close your web browser.
Website servers set cookies to help authenticate the user if the user logs in to a secure area of the website. Login information is stored in a cookie so the user can enter and leave the website without having to re-enter the same authentication information over and over.
Third party cookies
In addition to our cookies, we may also use various third-party cookies to report usage statistics of the Website, deliver advertisements on and through the Website, and so on.
Additional information about interest-based advertisements:
We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on and use of the Service and to store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze the Service. The technologies We use may include:
Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of the Service. Unless You have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, the Service may use Cookies.
Flash Cookies. Certain features of the Service may use local stored objects (or Flash Cookies) to collect and store information about Your preferences or Your activity on the Service. Flash Cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as those used for Browser Cookies. For more information on how You can delete Flash Cookies, please read: "Where can I change the settings for disabling, or deleting local shared objects?," available at https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/disable-local-shared-objects-flash.html#main_Where_can_I_change_the_settings_for_disabling__or_deleting_local_shared_objects_
Web Beacons. Certain sections of the Service and Our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related Service statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).
Cookies can be "Persistent" or "Session" Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on Your personal computer or mobile Device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close Your web browser.
Retargeting/Advertising Cookies. Retargeting/Advertising Cookies collect data about your online activity and identify your interests so that we can provide advertising that we believe is relevant to you. For more information about this, please see the section below titled “Additional information about interest-based advertisements.”
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of text sent to your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the Website or a third party to recognize you, make your next visit easier and the Website more useful to you. Cookies can be classified as either "persistent" or "session.”. Persistent cookies remain on your personal computer or mobile device when you go offline, while session cookies get deleted as soon as you close your web browser.
Website servers set cookies to help authenticate the user if the user logs in to a secure area of the website. Login information is stored in a cookie so the user can enter and leave the website without having to re-enter the same authentication information over and over.
Third party cookies
In addition to our cookies, we may also use various third-party cookies to report usage statistics of the Website, deliver advertisements on and through the Website, and so on.
Additional information about interest-based advertisements:
- We may serve advertisements, and also allow third party ad networks, including third party ad servers, ad agencies, ad technology vendors and research firms, to serve advertisements through the Services. These advertisements may be targeted to users who fit certain general profile categories or display certain preferences or behaviors (“Interest-Based Ads”). Information for Internet-Based Ads (including Personal Data) may be provided to us by you, or derived from the usage patterns of particular users on the Services and/or services of Third Parties. Such information may be gathered through tracking users’ activities across time and unaffiliated properties. To accomplish this, we or our service providers may deliver Cookies, including a file (known as a “web beacon”) from an ad network to you through the Services. Web beacons allow ad networks to provide anonymized, aggregated auditing, research and reporting for us and for advertiser. Web beacons also enable ad networks to serve targeted advertisements to you when you visit other websites. Web beacons allow ad networks to view, edit or set their own Cookies on your browser, just as if you had requested a web page from their site.
- Through the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) and Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”), several media and marketing associations have developed an industry self-regulatory program to give consumers a better understanding of and greater control over ads that are customized based on their online behavior across different websites. To make choices about Interest-Based Ads from participating third parties, including to opt out of receiving behaviorally targeted advertisements from participating organizations, please visit the DAA’s or NAI’s consumer opt out pages, which are located at https://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ or https://www.aboutads.info/choices. Users in the European Union should visit the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance’s user information website https://www.youronlinechoices.eu/.
Cookie security and privacy issues
Cookies are NOT viruses. Cookies use a plain text format. They are not compiled pieces of code so they cannot be executed nor are they self-executing. Accordingly, they cannot make copies of themselves and spread to other networks to execute and replicate again. Since they cannot perform these functions, they fall outside the standard virus definition. Cookies CAN be used for malicious purposes though. Since they store information about a user's browsing preferences and history, both on a specific site and browsing among several sites, cookies can be used to act as a form of spyware.
What are your choices regarding cookies?
If you'd like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or, refuse cookies, please visit the help pages of your web browser. Please note, however, that if you delete cookies or refuse to accept them, you might not be able to use all of the features we offer, you may not be able to store your preferences, and some of our pages might not display correctly.
8.2 We use both Session and Persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below:
Necessary / Essential Cookies
Type: Session Cookies
Administered by: Us
Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with the services available through the Service and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided. We only use these Cookies to provide You with the Service.
Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies
Type: Persistent Cookies
Administered by: Us
Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of Cookies on the Service.
Functionality Cookies
Type: Persistent Cookies
Administered by: Us
Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Service, such as remembering Your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Service.
For more information about the Cookies We use and Your choices regarding Cookies, please visit the Cookies section of Our Privacy Policy.
9.Questions and Complaints: The Role of the Privacy Officer or designated individual
9.1 The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring all personal information collected by www.meritmethod.com remains compliant with this policy, the Personal Information Protection Act and Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act of Canada.
9.2 You may direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding www.meritmethod.com compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, you may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.
Contact information for www.meritmethod.com Privacy Officer:
Privacy Officer
1028 Barclay Street, Suite 1608
Vancouver, BC
V6E0B1
hello@meritmethod.com
9.2 You may direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding www.meritmethod.com compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, you may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.
Contact information for www.meritmethod.com Privacy Officer:
Privacy Officer
1028 Barclay Street, Suite 1608
Vancouver, BC
V6E0B1
hello@meritmethod.com