INTRODUCTION
Ottawa Comiccon is committed to providing transparency to outside parties with respect to the compliance of the organization’s electronic communication with Canada’ Anti-Spam Legislation, in effect as of July 1st, 2014, and its relevant rules and regulations (hereinafter “CASL”). To that end, the Ottawa Comiccon Anti-Spam Commitment is a formal statement of rights and obligations which is made available to outside parties. It is intended to inform outside parties of the type of responsible and transparent practices adopted by Ottawa Comiccon when electronically communicating with outside parties, inform outside parties who they may contact at Ottawa Comiccon for any concern pertaining to electronic communications, and inform such outside parties of where and how they may unsubscribe to any electronic communications from Ottawa Comiccon. This document also includes a series of answers to questions about spam and Ottawa Comiccon’s practices that are frequently asked by outside parties that Ottawa Comiccon may communicate with.
APPLICATION AND SCOPE
This Anti-Spam Commitment generally applies to any electronic communications sent by Ottawa Comiccon to outside parties and is protected by a range of business procedures, processes and policies to ensure that such communications are done in compliance with CASL. Ottawa Comiccon, in its electronic communications with outside parties, has to comply with the rules established by CASL and enforced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the Competition Bureau and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. CASL regulates all commercial electronic messages (“CEM”), which are messages that include among their purposes, the encouragement of participation in a commercial activity.
WHAT IS OTTAWA COMICCON DOING TO COMPLY WITH CASL
Ottawa Comiccon has undertaken various initiatives in order to make sure that it is compliant with CASL. It has adopted this Anti-Spam Commitment to provide transparency to outside parties with respect to the compliance of the organization’s electronic communication practices with CASL, as well as undertaken the following initiatives:
· Ottawa Comiccon has implemented CASL compliant consent forms
The consent of outside parties is necessary in order for Ottawa Comiccon to send a CEM. This consent typically must be “express”, but in certain circumstances consent can be “implied” and in others, messages are specifically exempt from consent requirements. Ottawa Comiccon has modified certain consent forms in order to ensure that the express consent obtained from recipients is in compliance with CASL.
· Ottawa Comiccon has modified its email footers
Ottawa Comiccon has modified its email footers to manage CASL’s consent requirements. Under CASL, all CEM sent must include certain prescribed content. For example, Ottawa Comiccon must clearly identify Ottawa Comiccon as the party sending the CEM; provide a method where the recipient can readily contact Ottawa Comiccon, such as a mailing address and one of (i) a telephone number with active response voicemail, (ii) an email address, or (iii) a Web address; and provide a working unsubscribe mechanism. In consequence, CASL compliant email footers have been updated on all CEM sent from Ottawa Comiccon, in order to ensure compliance with CASL.
· Ottawa Comiccon has incorporated an Unsubscribe Mechanism
Ottawa Comiccon has incorporated an unsubscribe mechanism into all CEM, in order to manage CASL’s consent requirements. Under CASL, each CEM must provide a working unsubscribe mechanism (functional for 60 days), which must be processed without delay, within a maximum of 10 business days. In consequence, Ottawa Comiccon has set up a uniform process in order to ensure that all unsubscribe requests will be complied with. You may at any time unsubscribe from receiving CEM from Ottawa Comiccon by following the process laid out in the electronic message you receive, or by contacting us.
WHY ARE YOU RECEIVING AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE FROM OTTAWA COMICCON?
The types of CEM Ottawa Comiccon may send from time to time could include the following:
• CEM sent to Ottawa Comiccon’s contacts who have opted-in to receiving our e-newsletter.
• CEM sent to Ottawa Comiccon’s current or potential service providers by various Ottawa Comiccon business units. For example, Ottawa Comiccon may outsource part of its activities to a third party (such as a maintenance company, a translation service provider, etc.) or, Ottawa Comiccon’s HR department may contact potential employees electronically for recruitment purposes.
• CEM sent to Ottawa Comiccon’s current or potential business partners.
If you have received a CEM from Ottawa Comiccon and you believe that you should not have, please assess as to whether you have provided implied or express consent to receive CEMs, or if an exemption applies.
· Express Consent: You have provided your express consent if you have signed up to receiving our newsletters via our website or through an in-person sign-up at a previous edition of Ottawa Comiccon or at an event which you attended in the past and where Ottawa Comiccon had an exhibit booth.
· Implied Consent: Ottawa Comiccon may infer your implied consent if:
o Ottawa Comiccon has an existing business relationship with you or has a former business relationship with you which terminated less than two years ago (for instance, you are a former client);
o Ottawa Comiccon received an inquiry from you within the last 6 months;
o You disclosed your electronic address to a Ottawa Comiccon employee (for example you provided your business card to a Ottawa Comiccon employee) or you conspicuously published your electronic address (for example, via a corporate website or in a brochure) and the CEM sent is in connection with your business role and function.
When is an electronic message exempt under CASL?
If you are receiving an electronic communication from Ottawa Comiccon, it may be a message that is exempt under CASL. This would be the case if the message is one the following:
· You have a personal relationship with the Ottawa Comiccon employee who contacted you, meaning that you have previously had a direct, voluntary, two-way communication.
· You have a family relationship with the Ottawa Comiccon employee who contacted you.
· The CEM is sent within Ottawa Comiccon (between employees of Ottawa Comiccon).
· The CEM is sent between Ottawa Comiccon and another business, where there is an ongoing relationship between Ottawa Comiccon and this other business.
· The CEM was sent by Ottawa Comiccon to you, in order to respond to your request or inquiry.
· The CEM was sent by Ottawa Comiccon to you, in order to enforce a legal right or obligation (for instance, if you have an outstanding debt, or breached a contract that you have with Ottawa Comiccon, etc.).
In certain situations, your consent is not required for certain types of messages sent by Ottawa Comiccon, although you may still unsubscribe from future transmission of similar messages. The type of messages where Ottawa Comiccon does not need your consent is an electronic message that:
· is sent once, following a referral by a current Ottawa Comiccon client, service provider, business partner or employee who also has a personal or business relationship with you;
· only provides you with a request for a quote or an estimate;
· only facilitates or confirms a transaction;
· only provides Ottawa Comiccon warranty, product recall, safety or security information;
· only provides information about:
o your ongoing use of Ottawa Comiccon services or products or ongoing purchases;
o a Ottawa Comiccon product, good, or service purchased (including updates and upgrades).
If you have received a CEM, and you believe that you should not have, please contact us immediately and we will promptly remove your address from our list (within 10 business days).
SOCIAL MEDIA
You may be contacted by a Ottawa Comiccon employee via social media, such as LinkedIn, if you are connected on the social network with the Ottawa Comiccon employee, or if you have indicated through your preference settings the fact that you are open to receiving messages about new business opportunities or ventures. You may also be contacted if you have conspicuously published your electronic address (for instance, on a social media website), have not indicated that you did not wish to receive CEM, and the CEM sent is in connection with your business role and function.
WHAT TO YOU DO IF YOU NO LONGER WISH TO RECEIVE CEM FROM OTTAWA COMICCON
At Ottawa Comiccon, we take the respect of laws very seriously. You may unsubscribe at any time from receiving CEM, by contacting us and we will remove you from our list within ten (10) business days.
AMENDEMENT OF THIS ANTI-SPAM POLICY AND GUIDELINES
From time to time, Ottawa Comiccon will review and update this Anti-Spam Commitment as required to keep current with rules and regulations, new technologies, standards, our business practices and outside parties’ concerns. We will post any Anti-Spam Commitment changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, as the case may be, email notification of Anti-Spam Commitment changes). We will also keep prior versions of this Anti-Spam Commitment in an archive for your review.
QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT THIS ANTI-SPAM COMMITMENT?
If you need further assistance, please contact the Ottawa Comiccon Privacy Department either by mail at 1418 Pierce Street, Montreal (Quebec) H3H 2K2, or by email.
Revised September, 2018
Please note that both the English and French versions of our Anti-Spam Commitment have equal legal value.
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