Privacy Policy
Last Updated: April 2022
By providing your personal information (and/or that of an individual for whom you act as parent/legal guardian) to Social Spheres Inc. (“Social Spheres”), you are expressly consenting, on your own behalf and on behalf of such individual, to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with the terms and conditions in this Privacy Policy.
- Personal information collected
Information You Provide to Us Directly
Social Spheres (the “Company”, “we”, “us”, “our”) may collect certain personal information that you provide when you use our website, or online social pages, including not limited to Instagram, such as when you (1) participate in a contest or giveaway; (2) confirm any of the information provided to us for a contest or giveaway (3) host or promote a contest or giveaway (4) send questions or comments by email or otherwise to the Company; (5) fill out surveys; (6) transit user content to us; or (7) otherwise communicate with us. The types of personal information that the Company might collect from you include, without limitation:
- name (including parent/guardian name);
- age and demographics;
- mailing address;
- telephone number;
- e-mail address;
- social media handle/account information;
- social media account/business category;
- for contest winners and influencers – your image, voice, and likeness;
- website or online social page use preferences;
- opinions about our contests or giveaways;
- username, password and other login information;
- information posted on online social pages; and
- other contact or identifying information, about you or an individual for whom you act as parent or legal guardian.
You are not required to provide us with such information, but certain features of the website may not be accessible or available, absent the provision of the requested information. Additionally, absent the provision of the requested information you will be unable to participate in any contest or giveaway.
Information Automatically Collected
We also may receive and store certain information about you and your device(s) automatically when you access or use the website or the online social pages. This information may include:
- Technical Information – We may collect technical information associated with your activity on the website or the online social pages and may include information related to your browser and operating system, IP address (the Internet address of your computer) unique device identifiers, and other information such as your device type. We use such information for diagnostic and statistical purposes and to administer the website or the online social pages and the services provided through the website or the online social pages.
- Usage Information – We may collect information to better understand participant traffic patterns usage of the website or the online social pages. This may include the webpage that you were visiting before accessing the website or the online social pages, the pages or features of the website or the online social pages that you browsed, to inform us which part of the website or the online social pages you visit and how much time you spend there. This information is used to analyze and improve the website or the online social pages and to provide our customers with a better user experience.
- User Preferences – We collect information about your preferences to make your use of the website and online social pages more productive through the use of cookies.
- USe and disclosure of personal information
The Company may use or disclose your personal information to operate its website and online social pages, to operate a contest or giveaway, including to provide you with bonus entries as may be set out in a particular contest’s or giveaway’s rules, to send you information regarding a current or upcoming contest or giveaway, to contact you if you have won a prize, to issue invoices, receipts or other confirmations to you, to process payments, to deliver satisfactory customer service, to contact you to respond to an inquiry or in connection with a contest or giveaway you are hosting, promoting or participating in, to send promotional communications, to contact you regarding policy changes, to enforce this Policy, any contract we have with you, and our official contest rules, to maintain security and regulatory requirements, and to engage in related activities. The Company may also use our personal information to maintain an internal database, which may only be accessed by our employees and affiliates as needed.
Where applicable, you may opt out of having your personal information used or disclosed for a specific purpose at any time by emailing the Company’s Privacy Officer, at the contact details below.
The Company may send your personal information to our service providers, suppliers, and our legal and financial representatives (collectively “Receivers”) who help us provide services to you and to help us complete the above-noted purposes/tasks. All such third parties are made aware of the confidential nature of your personal information. Your personal information will be shared with Receivers on a “need to know” basis only and we limit the information shared to what is needed for the specific task being performed or fulfilled. Your personal information may also be disclosed to government agencies as required by applicable law. The Company may also contact you through surveys to conduct research about your opinion on certain matters related to the Company. The Company does not rent, sell or lease its client or contest participant lists to third parties, except as may be included as part of a sale of the Company’s business.
We may also share your information with third parties where required to protect and defend our legal rights, protect the safety and security of other users of the website and online social pages, prevent fraud, and to comply with the applicable law.
In the event of sale, transfer, merger, reorganization, dissolution, or similar event we may transfer your information to one or more third parties as part of that transaction, including during the negotiation of an actual or contemplated transaction, but we only provide as much information as is needed for the purposes of the transaction.
- Cookies, Beacons, and Other Technologies
We may use cookies, web beacons, pixels, session replays, screen captures, and other similar technologies to collect information and personalize your experience with the website and the online social pages.
Cookies are small web files that a website or the online social pages transfer to your device’s hard drive through your web browser that enables the website’s system or the online social pages to recognize your browser and remember certain information. We use certain first party-cookies to make the website and the online social pages function properly, improve the services provided through the websites or the online social pages, recognize you when you return to the website or the online social pages and remember the information your previously provided and to provide a secure browsing experience.
You may disable the use of cookies by modifying your browser settings. If you choose to disable cookies you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the website or the online social pages. For more information on cookies and how to disable cookies visit https://youradchoices.ca/en/tools.
Web beacons, also known as web bugs, pixel tags or clear GIFs, are small graphics with a unique identifier that may be included on the webpages to deliver or communicate with cookies, in order to track and measure the performance of the website, the online social pages and related services, monitor how many web visitors use the website and the online social pages, and to monitor the effectiveness of our advertising. Unlike cookies, which are stored on the user’s hard drive, web beacons are typically embedded invisibly on webpages (or in an email). We may also use (or our third-party suppliers may use) automated technologies together with personal information that we have collected about you to tailor and deliver ads and content to you when you are on the website.
- SAFEGUARDS and RETENTION
The Company takes reasonable physical, technological and organizational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse, or modification of personal information under our control. For example:
- Only Receivers and employees who need to know your personal information to perform a specific task (e.g. processing a payment) are granted access to that information.
- The computers and servers where your personal information is stored are kept in a secure environment, are password-controlled with limited access, and have industry standard firewalls and anti-virus software installed.
- Paper copies of any documents containing your personal information are kept in a secure environment as well. For example, depending on the sensitivity of the information in question, your personal information may be stored in a locked filing cabinet that can only be accessed by employees who require the information, as described above.
- When destroying paper copies of documents containing your personal information that is no longer needed, the Company ensures that such documents are shredded.
- Laptops, USB keys, mobile phones and other electronic wireless devices used by our employees who need your personal information are password protected. The Company encourages such persons not to store personal information on such devices unless it is reasonably necessary for them to do so to perform a specific task.
- The Company uses Receivers who maintain and protect your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy or their own policies that comply with applicable law.
- The Company trains its employees to comply with this Privacy Policy and periodically conducts audits to ensure ongoing compliance and to determine the effectiveness of its privacy management practices.
The safety and security of your personal information also depends on you. If we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. Passwords registered with our Website are encrypted to ensure protection against unauthorized access to your personal information.
Unfortunately, the transmission of personal information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website, our online social pages, or over any public network. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. Without prejudice to any mandatory legal obligations to which we may be subject, we are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures on our Website.
Retention and Storage
Please note that your personal information may be accessed, transferred, disclosed, stored and processed in Canada, the United States and any other country where the Company, its affiliates, its Receivers, and its agents are located or where their cloud computing infrastructures may be hosted.
The Company retains your personal information for only as long as needed to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and for as long as necessary to comply with applicable laws. Personal information that is no longer required is destroyed, erased or anonymized. Your consent to the Company’ collection, use and disclosure of your personal information for such purposes remains valid after the termination of the Company’ relationship with you.
Third Party Links
The website or online social pages may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. Please note that this Privacy Policy applies only to the personal information that we collect or receive from third parties with your consent and we cannot be responsible for personal information that third parties may collect, disclose, store and use, including through their websites. You should always read the privacy policy of each website you visit carefully.
In addition, when you provide information to us through a third-party website or platform, the information may also be collected by the third-party website and may be subject to their privacy policy.
Children under the Age of 13
Our website or online social pages are not intended for children under 13 years. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. No one under age 13 may provide any personal information to or on our Website.
If you are under 13, do not:
- Use or provide any personal information on our website, online social pages or on or through any of its features
- Participate in any of our contests or giveaways
- Use any of the interactive or public comment features of our website, online social pages or
- Provide any personal information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or user name you may use.
If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that personal data. If you believe we might have any personal information from or about a child under 13, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact details below.
- ACCESS
The Company makes commercially reasonable efforts to keep your personal information complete, up-to-date and accurate. Should you wish to access, update, correct or delete your personal information, or express any concerns regarding our use of your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact information set forth below. We ask that you provide us with the name, address and email address that you previously provided to us, a brief description of under what circumstances you provided your personal information to the Company, and the purpose of your request. If you are unsure as to whether the Company is holding any personal information that belongs to you, you may also contact our Privacy Officer for confirmation.
The Company will make reasonable efforts to respond to your request as soon as practicable, or in any event, in compliance with applicable laws. In order to protect your privacy and security, the Company will take steps to verify your identity before granting access or making any changes to the personal information that we maintain.
- POLICY CHANGES
The Company may update this Privacy Policy from time to time for any reason whatsoever. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy in order to stay informed of how the Company is protecting your personal information. Each time this Privacy Policy is amended, the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of the Privacy Policy will be revised. If we make any material or substantive changes in this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by posting a clear and conspicuous notice of these changes on the Website and in this Privacy Policy and sending you an email to the last email we have on file.
- Contact – Privacy officer
Should you have any questions or comments regarding your personal information or this Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Officer:
Attention: Privacy Officer
Email: info@socialspheres.ca
Mail: 837 Broadview Ave, Unit 7, Toronto, ON, M4K 2P9