Privacy

Website privacy statement and policy

This privacy statement has been developed to set out Halton Region’s privacy practices when you use halton.ca to access information and/or to digitally apply for benefits and services.

Halton Region respects the privacy of your personal information. We have taken appropriate measures to protect the privacy of:

any personal information you provide to us when accessing digital services or contacting our team; and
analytics data we collect on visits to our website.

Halton Region’s privacy practices are governed by two Acts:

These Acts state how we must collect, use and disclose personal information and personal health information. To learn more about Halton Region’s privacy practices, your rights, and formal requests for information, please visit our Records and Information Requests page. To learn about creating a digital account and using social networking sites managed by Halton Region, please consult our Terms of Use.

Collection and use of personal information

When you browse our website, we do not collect your personal information or personal health information.

You may need to share personal information with us to access specific services. For example, when you want to report information to us (such as a missed waste collection) or if you wish to register or apply for a benefit or service through halton.ca.

When we request personal information to access services, its collection will be limited to what is necessary to deliver the service. A privacy statement that complies with the applicable privacy law will be provided on the page that you enter your information into.

On-page privacy statements will, at a minimum, provide the reason for the collection of your personal information, as well as whom you can contact for questions about the collection.

Collection and use of anonymous analytics data

Our servers automatically collect limited amounts of anonymous analytics information for traffic monitoring and statistical purposes when a device visits our website.

Analytics information is collected by standard platforms using a mixture of cookie-based and cookie-less tracking, including limited use of tracking pixels monitoring traffic from Regional advertisements. To learn more about information collection through cookies, read the use of cookies section.

Some examples of analytics data collected include:

Internet Protocol (IP) address
anonymized geographic statistics
browser software
operating system
device category (computer, tablet or phone)
date and times of visits
referring web site addresses
on-page clicks, key events, and duration of interaction
website exit destination (when following links published on halton.ca)

Analytics information collected on halton.ca cannot personally identify you or attribute activity to your device. This type of information is used to measure operational and performance trends and inform improvements to our website and digital services.

Disclosure

Halton Region is the sole owner of personal information provided to us by individuals using our website.

We do not exchange, rent, or sell your personal information to anyone outside of our organization. In limited circumstances, we may disclose personal information where the disclosure is to someone acting on Halton Region’s behalf or where the disclosure is required or permitted by law.

Security of personal information

Halton Region is committed to ensuring the integrity, confidentiality and availability of the personal information you provide to us through our website.

We use security software, procedures, and encryption protocols (such as modern versions of Transport Layer Security protocol) to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.

Please be advised that e-mail may not be a secure way to communicate sensitive information. If you choose to send sensitive information via email, you accept any risks of doing so. Halton Region will not be liable for any security or privacy breaches resulting from emails sent to our institution containing personal information or personal health information.

Use of cookies

When you interact with our website, a browser feature called a “cookie” may be used to record certain types of information. This "cookie" is a small data file that websites write on your device when you visit them.

A cookie file can contain information such as:

the user ID that the site uses to track the pages you have visited
an account ID and password entered that provided access Halton’s digital services
the options you have selected on a page or service that can be customized

The only personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie cannot read data on your device or read other cookie files created by other sites.

If you have set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive the warning message with each cookie.

You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. This may disable some features on our site, but all content will remain available to you.

To learn more about cookies, check your browser’s “Help” files.

Use of tracking pixels

When you click on a Regional advertisement leading to halton.ca, your activity may be subject to a "tracking pixel". A tracking pixel triggers a server request for the platform that sent you to halton.ca.

The tracking pixel associates your browsing session analytics with the Regional advertisement, allowing Halton staff to measure how the advertisement performed. Data collected by tracking pixels largely overlaps with standard analytics data. Such data may include IP address and anonymized on-page behaviour.

Snap Inc. tracking pixel

Halton Region uses the Snap tracking pixel provided by Snap Inc. to measure Snapchat advertisement effectiveness. This data is collected to inform future campaigns based on user activity after clicking the ad. If you click a Regional advertisement on Snapchat, Snap Inc. may collect data about your device, browser, and interactions based on their privacy policies.

You can opt out of targeted ads on Snapchat via your Snapchat settings or the Snap Privacy Center.

Contact Halton's Freedom of Information and Privacy Coordinator

If you have a question or concern with a particular Halton Region web page that asks for your personal information, please contact the person listed in the privacy statement on that page.

If a statement is not present, or if you have a general concern about the collection, retention, use and disclosure of your personal information through this site (or by Halton Region in general), please contact:

If you would like more information regarding the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (external link) and the Personal Health Information Protection Act (external link), you may check the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario website (external link).

Information pertaining to Canada’s private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (external link), can be found at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada website (external link).