1. Who we are
The Ontario Buzz ("TONB", "we", "us") is an Ontario-based media platform sharing news, events, memes, and community stories. This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect personal information, in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and other applicable Canadian law.
2. Information we collect
- Submissions: the content you send us and the details you attach to it, such as your name, email address, city, when the content was captured, and the handle you want credited. This includes information embedded in the files you send, such as where and when a photo or video was taken.
- Inquiries: information you provide through our contact and advertising forms, such as name, business name, email, phone, and your message.
- Technical data: basic, aggregate site analytics such as page views and approximate region. We do not build individual profiles.
- Form and security data: when you send us a form, we record the network address it came from and the time it was sent. We use this only to block spam and abuse and to keep the records described in section 14 of our Submission Terms.
3. How we use it
We use personal information to verify and publish stories, credit contributors as requested, respond to inquiries, operate advertising partnerships, improve the site, and meet legal obligations. We do not use it for unrelated purposes without your consent.
4. Consent
By providing personal information for the purposes above, you consent to its use for those purposes. You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual limits; withdrawing consent may mean we cannot publish or credit your submission.
5. Disclosure
We do not sell personal information. We disclose it only:
- to service providers who help us run the site (such as hosting, form processing, and analytics), bound to protect it;
- when publishing content you asked us to credit, to the extent of the credit you chose;
- on social media platforms when content is posted there, where the platform's own policies also apply;
- if TONB is ever sold, merged, or reorganized, to the new operator, who must protect it under terms at least as strong as this policy; and
- where required by law, such as a court order.
6. Anonymity
If you request anonymity for a submission, we do not publish your name or handle, and we limit internal access to your identity to those who need it for verification.
7. Retention
We keep personal contact information (such as your name, email address, and phone number) for no more than 12 months after our last interaction with you, then delete or anonymize it. Two exceptions apply: where you asked to be credited on published content, we keep the credited name or handle, and enough contact information to act on a removal request, for as long as the content remains published; and we keep information longer where the law requires it or where it is needed to resolve an active dispute.
Submission files work differently. If we do not publish your submission, we delete the uploaded file within 12 months of receiving it. If we do publish it, we keep the file and the submission record described in section 14 of our Submission Terms for as long as the content remains published and for a reasonable period afterward, because we may need them to answer a rights holder, a platform, or a court.
8. Safeguards
We use reasonable administrative and technical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Where your information is stored
Our website, form handling, and email run on OVHcloud infrastructure located in Canada or the European Union (France). Uploaded files sit on our hosting server, outside the public website folder, until we act on them or delete them. When information is stored outside Canada it is subject to the laws of that place, and authorities there may have a lawful right to see it. Wherever it sits, we hold it to the standards in this policy.
10. If something goes wrong
If a breach of our safeguards creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will tell you as soon as feasible, explain what happened and what we are doing about it, and make any reports the law requires. We keep a record of every breach, as the law also requires.
11. This policy and our journalism
Canadian privacy law treats reporting differently from business records. Personal information that appears in our stories because it is the story, such as the name of a public figure or what happened at a public event, is handled under our editorial judgment and applicable law, not under the request process in this policy. Everything else, including your contact details, form submissions, advertising inquiries, and analytics, is handled exactly as this policy says. If published material about you is the concern, sections 8, 9, and 11 of our Terms of Use explain how to complain.
12. Email from us
We email you in two cases. First, to answer something you sent us: a submission, a question, or an advertising inquiry. Second, if you signed up for our weekly newsletter, we send you the events, deals, and stories you asked for.
The newsletter is opt-in only. When you sign up we keep your email address, the date, and the internet address you signed up from, which is our record that you asked. We do not sell, rent, or share the list with anyone. Every newsletter says it is from The Ontario Buzz and has a working unsubscribe that we honour promptly, as Canada's anti-spam law requires. You can also leave the list any time by writing to newsletter@tonb.ca, and we will delete your address.
13. Cookies, analytics, and tracking
The site uses only what is needed to function and to measure aggregate use, such as page views and approximate region. We do not run third-party advertising trackers, social media pixels, or embedded like buttons, and we do not offer social media login. We do not build individual profiles, so your browser's do-not-track or Global Privacy Control setting changes nothing here: there is no tracking to turn off.
14. Third-party platforms
Our pages link to and publish on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. Their privacy practices are their own; review their policies.
15. Children
The site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Minors need a parent or guardian's consent to submit content. If we learn we hold personal information from a child under 13, or from a minor without that consent, we delete it. If you believe a minor has sent us something, tell us at hi@tonb.ca.
16. Your rights
You may ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, subject to the retention rules in section 7. Email us at hi@tonb.ca with the subject line "Privacy request". Before we act, we confirm you are who you say you are, usually by replying to the email address or handle our records are tied to. That step protects you: it stops someone else from pulling your details out of us. We respond within 30 days and at no cost to you. If we refuse any part of a request, we tell you why.
17. Changes
We may update this policy. Material changes will be flagged on this page with a new "last updated" date.
18. Contact
Our Privacy Officer is accountable for how TONB handles personal information and for everything in this policy. Privacy questions, access requests, and complaints go to the Privacy Officer at hi@tonb.ca, subject line "Privacy request". You can also use our contact page.