Our Commitment To Privacy

Ray of Hope knows that you care how information about you is used and shared, and we appreciate you trusting that we will do so carefully and sensibly. To better protect your privacy, we provide this Privacy Policy explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used on this website. The information below explains our policy regarding your privacy and the rayofhope.net website. By visiting rayofhope.net, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

The rayofhope.net website is maintained by Ray of Hope, with headquarters at 230-659 King St. East, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 2M4. Telephone: 1-519-578-8018.

Defining Personal Information

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual as defined, from time to time, in applicable Canadian (including federal, provincial and territorial) privacy legislation. This includes any information that can be used to distinguish, identify, or contact a specific individual. An individual’s opinions or beliefs, as well as facts about, or related to, the individual may also be considered personal information. Business contact information and certain publicly available information, such as names, addresses and telephone numbers as published in telephone directories, may not be considered personal information. Where an individual uses his or her home contact information as business contact information as well, we consider the contact information provided to be business contact information, and therefore may not be subject to the same level of protection as personal information.

What Personally Identifiable Information Is Collected On This Site?

When you visit our website, you may provide us with personal information (such as name, address, email address, telephone numbers, and/or credit/debit card information) that you knowingly choose to disclose, which is collected on an individual basis for various purposes. These purposes include registering to receive email newsletters or other materials, requesting further information from us about projects and services, donating to us, making requests, submitting a form on our website, or simply asking a question. We ask for personal information so that we can fulfill your request and return your message. This information is retained and used in accordance with existing laws, rules, regulations, and other policies.

Personal information collected by Ray of Hope may also include: programs an individual wishes to support, language preference, demographic information such as age and gender, and communication preferences for marketing purposes.

If you choose not to provide any personal information, we may not be able to fulfill your request or complete your order, but you will still be free to browse the other sections of the websites owned and administered by Ray of Hope. This means that you can visit our site without telling us who you are or revealing any personally identifiable information about yourself.

The Way We Use Information

When you supply information about yourself for a specific purpose, we use the information for only that purpose (such as to provide the service or information you have requested). For example, you may be asked to give us individual information to receive information, to make a donation, or to apply for a job. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that specific purpose.

We use return email addresses to answer the email we receive. Such addresses are not used for any other purpose and are not shared with outside parties.

Ray of Hope does not sell, rent, give away, or share its email addresses or other information with outside sources.

Should any material changes be made to the ways in which we use personally identifiable information, Ray of Hope will take commercially reasonable measures to obtain email consent from you. We will also post the changes to our use of personally identifiable information on our site at least 30 days prior to a change.

Our Commitment To Data Security

Personally identifiable information is stored on our server and is not publicly accessible. Further, personally identifiable information is only accessed by Ray of Hope personnel on a “need to know” basis. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain the accuracy of data, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. Additionally, sensitive data such as credit card numbers are encrypted using SSL and other industry standard measures, to provide an additional level of security.

Choice/Opt-Out

If you have registered to receive email communications from us and later change your mind, you may contact us to have your name removed from our distribution lists. You have the following options to do this:

You can send an email to: donations@rayofhope.net
You can send mail to the following address:
Ray of Hope
230-659 King St. East
Kitchener, ON N2G 2M4

Correct/Update

If you would like to verify the data we have received from you or to make corrections to it, you may contact us directly at the email and mail addresses provided above.

What Anonymous Information Is Collected On This Site?

Anonymous information is collected for every visitor to this site. This includes pages viewed, date and time, and browser type. IP addresses are used to determine domain type and in some cases, geographic region. We do not make any association between this information and a visitor’s identity.

Automatic Information

When you visit our website, our servers make a log of basic information corresponding to the sites and pages you have visited. This information is stored primarily to track the effectiveness of our website and individual sections and pages within them.

How Does This Site Use Cookies?

Cookies are simple text files stored by your web browser that provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to the website. Ray of Hope uses cookies to identify your browser as you visit pages on the Ray of Hope website. Cookies created on your computer by using our website do not contain personally identifiable information and do not compromise your privacy or security. Cookies allow Ray of Hope to gather anonymous information and to provide more relevant, targeted content as you visit other websites online.

Online Registration Information

You will provide us with information about yourself and your organization when you register for fundraising, donations, and listservs or to buy products. This information is not used for any other purpose than to fulfill your request and is not shared with outside parties. However, visitors should be aware that information collected through the Ray of Hope website may be subject to examination and inspection if such information is a public record or not otherwise protected from disclosure.

Links

This website may contain links to other websites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another site. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of these linked websites as their privacy policy may differ from ours.

Email Links

We use email links located on this site to allow you to contact us directly via email. We use the information provided in your email to respond to your questions or comments. We may also store your comments for future reference.

Email Communications

We publish email publications that are sent periodically to persons on a listserv. The e-newsletter is distributed by email, although back issues may also be viewed on our website. You may subscribe to or unsubscribe from the email listserv at any time. Occasionally we may send announcements about Ray of Hope events to the mailing listserv.

Changes To This Privacy Statement

Changing business practices and circumstances may require that we make changes to this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be reflected on this website. Ray of Hope reserves the right to modify its website and/or this Privacy Policy at any time and users are deemed to be apprised of and bound by any such modifications. Our goal is to provide all services to visitors to the Ray of Hope website in an accessible, efficient and friendly manner while maintaining their privacy. If you have comments or questions regarding privacy, please contact us.

Legal Disclaimer

We may disclose personal information when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary in order to conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Ray of Hope.