Privacy Policy

Authority and scope

The City of Fernie (City) is committed to protecting personal information in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act of British Columbia (FOIPPA).

Where personal information is collected, used, stored, or processed by third-party service providers on behalf of the City, those providers are also subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and/or other applicable privacy legislation.

This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, disclosed, and protected through this website.

Ownership and service provider

This site is owned and operated by the City using software licensed from Social Pinpoint, which provides the online engagement platform and related technology services.

The City retains custody and control of personal information collected through this site. Social Pinpoint acts as a service provider and is contractually required to protect personal information, limit its use to authorized purposes, and comply with applicable privacy legislation, including FOIPPA and PIPEDA. For additional details, please refer to Social Pinpoint's Privacy Policy.

Collection of personal information

Personal information is collected only as authorized under FOIPPA and, where applicable, PIPEDA, and only where reasonably necessary for public engagement, communication, and service delivery.

Personal information may be collected in the following ways:

Profile information
If you choose to register on this site, we may collect your email address and any additional information you voluntarily provide. Registration is optional, and you may browse publicly accessible areas of the site anonymously.

Engagement information
We collect information you voluntarily submit when participating in engagement activities, such as survey responses, comments, submissions, or feedback.

Usage information
We may collect limited information about how the site is used (e.g., pages visited or documents downloaded) to evaluate and improve engagement activities and website performance.

Use of personal information

Personal information collected through this website may be used to:

• support, analyze, and evaluate public engagement initiatives;
• communicate with you about engagement opportunities, events, or related initiatives;
• respond to enquiries, comments, or submissions; and
• meet statutory, operational, and administrative requirements of the City.

Disclosure of personal information

Personal information may be disclosed only as permitted or required under FOIPPA and PIPEDA. This may include disclosure to authorized service providers, such as Social Pinpoint, who provide services on behalf of the City and are bound by contractual and legal privacy obligations.

Storage, security, and safeguarding

The City takes reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or loss. These measures may include encryption, access controls, and secure system management practices.

Personal information is stored and managed in accordance with FOIPPA requirements. Where information is handled by third-party service providers, appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure compliance with applicable privacy legislation.

External links

This website may contain links to external websites for convenience. The City is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external sites and encourages users to review the privacy policies of those websites before providing personal information.

Access to and correction of personal information

Under FOIPPA, you have the right to request access to records in the custody or control of the City, including records containing your personal information, subject to limited and specific exceptions. You also have the right to request correction of your personal information if you believe it is inaccurate or incomplete.

Where PIPEDA applies, you may also have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal information, subject to applicable legal requirements.

Requests must be made in writing and will be handled in accordance with applicable legislative timelines.

Changes to this policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this website.

Contact us

For questions about this Privacy Policy, to request access to or correction of personal information, or to raise privacy concerns or complaints, please contact:

Email: letstalk@fernie.ca

The following Terms and Conditions govern the use of Let's Talk Fernie (“the site”). The software platform is owned by Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd and operated by us, the City of Fernie.

By accessing and using this site, you are choosing to accept and comply with the Terms presented throughout this agreement as well as the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy. These Terms apply to all visitors and users of this site. Linked sites, affiliated services or third party content or software have their own Terms that you must comply with. If you disagree with any of the Terms presented in this agreement, you may discontinue using the site immediately.

If you are under 18 years old, please ensure that your parent or guardian understands and accepts these Terms and Conditions (including the Privacy Policy and Moderation Policy).

What are the conditions with a user’s account?

While using the site, you must not violate any applicable laws and regulations. It is our duty to protect the confidentiality of content you provide on our site in accordance with our Privacy Policy. When you create an account with us, you must always provide us with accurate information. Failure to provide accurate information violates the Terms, which may result in immediate termination of your account on our service. You are responsible for protecting your own password you use for this site and for any activities done under that password. Unauthorised use of your password or account must be immediately reported to us. In some cases, we or our agents may require access to your user accounts to respond to technical issues.

We are not responsible for the content on the site that has been provided by the users of the site. Any content posted by you is subject to the rules of our Moderation Policy. Your contribution to the site may be edited, removed or not published if we consider it inappropriate (refer to Moderation Policy). Contributors should also be aware that their posts may remain online indefinitely. Where practical, you may choose not to identify yourself, deal with us on an anonymous basis or use a pseudonym.

What do we require from our users?

You must understand and agree that, without limitation:

• all information, data, images and other materials are the sole responsibility of the person from whom the content originated;
• you are prohibited from advertising or offering to sell or buy any goods and services
• you cannot transmit Content that contains software viruses or programs designed to change or destroy the functionality of any computer software or hardware; or
• you cannot collect or store personal data about other users of the site
• you cannot impersonate any person or entity, including without limitation to a City of Fernie representative
• you cannot interrupt or interfere with the site or servers or networks connected to the site
• you cannot attempt to gain unauthorised access to the site or other use accounts

Can your account be suspended or terminated?

We may terminate or suspend access to your site and/or account immediately, without prior notice, including without limitation if you breach the Terms. We may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all the related files and information in your account. After your account has been terminated, the content you have posted may also remain indefinitely on the site.

If you want to terminate your own account, please send an email to letstalk@fernie.ca.

Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, the United States of America and Queensland, Australia, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

Indemnification

The City of Fernie, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, licensors and other partners are not responsible for any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including legal fees, made by any third party due to or arising from a breach of this agreement and/or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth above.

What content do we own?

This website contains the copyrighted material, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and other proprietary information (“Intellectual Property”) of the CIty of Fernie and its suppliers and licensors. The City of Fernie owns and retains all proprietary rights in the intellectual property. All intellectual property in the content of this site including without limitation to text, software, source code, pages, documents and online graphics, photographs, sounds, audio, video, and other interactive features are owned by or licensed to us.

Any original content that you submit or post on our site may be made available to the public and allows users to share your content (with the end user acknowledging your contribution) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Except for Intellectual Property which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission, you may not copy, alter, transmit, sell, distribute any of the Intellectual Property on this site.

We are not responsible for your communications or dealings, including payment and delivery of goods or services, with a third party found via our website. Any loss or damage incurred from those communications or dealings are solely between the user and the third party.

Disclaimer and Warranties

Users must agree that you use of the site is at your own risk. We make no warranty that the site will meet your requirements or be uninterrupted or error-free. Any material that the user downloads through the site is done at their own risk and are responsible for any damages to their computer system or loss of data.

What happens if these Terms change?

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time without notice. The most recent version of the Terms can be seen on this page. By continuing to access or use our site after those revisions become effective, you agree and will comply to the revised terms. If you do not agree to the revised terms, please discontinue using our site.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at letstalk@fernie.ca