Privacy & Security

    Privacy

  • Our Commitment To Your Privacy

  • Collection and Use of Personal Information (FAQ)

  • Website Privacy Notice

  • National Do Not Call List

  • Caller Authentication and Recording

  • Copyright Information (Notice and Notice)

  • Third Party Information Requests

  • Transparency Reports

  • Privacy Policy

  • Security

  • Toll Fraud Prevention

  • Identity Theft

  • Malicious & Fraudulent Emails

  • Protecting Your Family Online

  • Disclaimer Regarding Links to non-Distributel Websites

  • Latest Updates

  • Survey Scam!

  • Data Privacy Day

  • Do you use a Netgear router?

  • Heartbleed Bug

  • Misfortune Cookie
  • Do You Have a D-Link Router?

Privacy

OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

Distributel, a division of Bell Canada is committed to protecting your privacy. We are compliant with federal legislation that has been designed to protect you and your personal information. Our privacy policy is based on the 10 standard Privacy Principles included in Schedule 1 of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, also referred to as PIPEDA.

The vast majority of all personal information will remain in Canada. Most storage and processing is done within Canada. However, in some circumstances, our partners and service providers make it necessary to transfer some personal information to third parties that may operate or store information outside of Canada. Some overflow of calls may be routed through a third party call center partner located abroad in Egypt and our cloud service providers may host data on US based servers.

We generally prefer to route communications within Canada. For example, we have significant presence at TorIX (the largest Canadian Internet Exchange Point) and a multitude of private domestic interconnects. However, it may be necessary to route communications through non-domestic routes (such as the US). The routes we use will depend greatly on the origin, destination and availability of Canadian connectivity.

Distributel is active in ensuring that your personal information is protected against unauthorized access or misuse. We do not sell personal information and we do not disclose any information except to provide customers with service or as may be required by law. If we are required to provide information to a third party, we only do so in accordance with our stated policies and ensure that it is afforded an equivalent level of protection as that offered by PIPEDA.

If you have any questions concerning the use of your personal information, you may call us at 1-877-810-2877 and speak to one of our customer service representatives.

To view the full Distributel Privacy Policy click here

COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION (FAQ)

  1. WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION MAY DISTRIBUTEL COLLECT OR RETAIN ABOUT ME?
    1. Distributel offers a variety of services to many different types of customers.

      Therefore, it is important to recognize that not all of the information listed here will apply to you. Carefully identify the services that you subscribe to and keep those in mind as you read through this disclosure. If you are uncertain, or would like assistance with interpreting how these answers pertain to your particular account, please do not hesitate to contact our Privacy Office.

    2. We may collect and retain logs of IP addresses in a number of ways;

      When you visit our website or web portals to manage your account, including webmail services, the web server may log statistical information such as: type of operating system and / or browser identity, time and duration of visits, web pages, images and files requested. When you submit a form or make a request through our website, Distributel may retain the information you submitted as well as your IP address.

      If you subscribe to our ADSL, FTTN or Dial-Up internet services, we may log your authentication and connection time information. This may also include the IP address you were assigned, username, port ID, start and stop time, bandwidth usage and service type.

      If you subscribe to our TPIA (Cable) internet services, we may receive records from the incumbent provider. In some cases, we receive no such information unless it is specifically requested for troubleshooting purposes. When we do receive such records, we may be able to identify the MAC address of end user equipment including the name or MAC address of the equipment requesting an IP address.

      If you subscribe to our VoIP home phone service, we may collect SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) data which may include your VoIP equipment identification information and dialed or received numbers.

    3. Basic subscriber information consists of name, phone numbers and addresses.
    4. Other subscriber information will include any information that you have provided us as well as any unique identifiers that we may have assigned to you in the course of providing you service. This may include: your account number, order numbers, services, rate plans, addresses (includes; previous, billing, service, shipping, 911), published 411 & white pages information, assigned SIP user ID, hardware MAC addresses, hardware authentication credentials, billing and payment history, debit or credit card information used for payment, modem settings, current or previous service providers, whether you have a purchased or rented modem, security questions and answers, customer provided labels, call forwarding numbers, static IP address (if assigned), email addresses, usernames and relevant passwords.
    5. We may collect and retain telephone call records in a number of ways;

      When you subscribe to any of our voice services including calling cards, long distance, equal access, overseas, VoIP, toll free, SIP trunk, Hosted Lync, Hosted PBX, Think 365, plain old telephone service, or PRI facilities – our call records may include the origination and destination phone numbers, routing information, date, time and duration of calls, calling party ID whether or not a privacy treatment exists (call block), whether or not the call was successful, call forwarding information, automated messages or errors you received, billing and charge numbers, dialed numbers, and registered or configured SIP bindings. We do not retain the actual voice data unless we obtain your consent and it is expressly required for the purposes of troubleshooting and diagnosing issues with the service.

      When you communicate with us, our calls may be recorded and archived for security, quality and legal reasons (such as demonstrating you provided express consent to our 911 service limitations). We may also keep notes in our customer administration systems with respect to the nature and reason for the call.

      If you use our voicemail service and delete a message, it may remain on our daily back-up storage media for up to 48 hours until new back up data overwrites it. These messages are not recoverable once you have deleted them.

    6. We may collect and retain emails or other written communication in a number of ways;

      If you communicate with us via email or through our website.

      If you communicate with us by regular post, depending on the nature and sensitivity of the document, the document may be shredded once the request (purpose) has been fulfilled or we may retain an electronic copy.

      If you communicate with us by fax, all documents received are transmitted to their destination number in electronic format via email. The document may be deleted once the request (purpose) has been fulfilled or we may retain an electronic copy.

      If you subscribe to our email service, a copy of messages sent to and from your email account may remain on our server until you download it locally. If you use our webmail or IMAP service, messages may remain on the server until you purge them from your deleted items folder. Once purged, it may remain on our daily back-up storage media for up to 48 hours until new back up data overwrites it. These messages are not recoverable once you have purged them. If an account is cancelled or disabled, all data is purged after 30 days.

    7. In order to better understand our network usage patterns and enable us to make technical and business decisions to help us improve our products and services, we have equipment that allows us to perform network traffic analysis.

      We may obtain statistics of the most popular web browsers and device types used across the network.

      We may obtain statistics regarding the top web sites used by customers.

      We may collect connection specific usage and related protocol and application information including bit rates and the number of connected devices. Connection specific usage may also include the originating IP address which may be used to associate the data with a specific subscriber account.

    8. Personal Information Distributel does not collect or retain;

      Text messages or multi-media messages. We do not offer SMS services.

      Information regarding persons or devices associated with mobile device applications. We do not offer mobile device applications.

      Geolocation information* (e.g. GPS information, cell tower information). We do not offer mobile devices.

      * If you subscribe to our ADSL service, the port number and DSLAM you connect through may identify your approximate location within a few kilometers. Cable internet subscribers could possibly be associated to the nearest city based on where they connect (Point of Interconnect). When placing some phone calls, the area code and exchange may be associated to a specific city.

  2. HOW LONG MAY DISTRIBUTEL RETAIN MY PERSONAL INFORMATION?
    1. In recent years, Distributel has experienced tremendous growth and has acquired a number of partner companies. In so doing, we have also acquired additional administrative and network systems. Past inventories of personal information suggest that some information may have never been subjected to scheduled or automated destruction activity whereas the retention of other data may depend on legal, storage or system performance requirements.
    2. Distributel has been actively and aggressively making continuous improvement in this area. Our network teams, with input from the privacy office, are currently involved in a large number of projects with the objective of consolidating systems, applications and databases. We are upgrading our equipment, routing and network management tools and practices. As a result of these changes, we have identified and implemented new and effective automated destruction schedules for much of the data we collect whereas we have yet to implement these automated schedules for other types of data.
    3. To better understand how this may apply to you, please refer to the list below:
      Paragraph Sub Para. Planned period availability
      A2 a If no account exists: up to six months. If account exists: as long as required by law or reasonably required by business
      A2 b & c Up to three hundred and sixty five days. Often thirty days.
      A3 d Up to three hundred and sixty five days. Often twenty days
      A4   As long as required by law or reasonably required by business
      A5   As long as required by law or reasonably required by business
        a Seven hundred and thirty days.
        b As long as required by law or reasonably required by business
      A6 c As long as retained by customer or up to 48 hours past deletion
        a, b & c If no account exists: up to six months. If account exists: as long as required by law or reasonably required by business
      A7 d As long as retained by customer or up to 48 hours past deletion
        a & b Three hundred and sixty five days.
  3. WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION DOES DISTRIBUTEL DISCLOSE TO THIRD PARTIES?
    1. In order to provide you with telecommunication services, we may disclose certain subscriber, device and preference information to the incumbent carriers or other telecommunication service providers. This may include name, address, telephone number, modem MAC address, internet product, connection information, previous carrier, and confirmation of your consent or the nature of any service problems you have reported. These disclosures are necessary in to order to provide you with our service and are provided for in our terms & conditions of service, privacy policy and our acceptable use policy.
    2. Using some of our services may identify you as a Distributel customer to other people when you contact them.
    3. In order to resolve billing and collections on past due accounts, we may provide a collection agency with subscriber information, account balance and service order details.
    4. If you make a complaint to a third party such as the CCTS or Better Business Bureau, Distributel may address and respond to that third party and provide them with any personal information or details they request.
    5. We may provide information about your account to people you have expressly consented to adding as an authorized contact on your account.
    6. For any of our home phone subscribers, in order to provide you with 911 emergency services, we may disclose the name and address you have registered with us to our 911 service provider. In the event of an emergency, this information is provided to emergency services, including law enforcement.
    7. We do not sell your personal information for marketing or any other purpose.
    8. Distributel may release information to third parties, law enforcement or other government agencies on receipt of a valid production order. We do not charge to process these requests. It should be noted that Distributel has a public record in opposition of a motion to compel Distributel to disclose personal information about some of its customers to a third party.
  4. IF I MAKE A REQUEST TO ACCESS MY PERSONAL INFORMATION, HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
    1. Depending on the nature and volume of the information you are requesting, it may take as long as thirty days from the date the request is received. In most cases, requests are fulfilled within 5 business days. There may be a cost associated with obtaining some records.

    If you have any further questions regarding your personal information, you are encouraged to review our privacy policy

WEBSITE PRIVACY NOTICE

Online privacy is a serious concern. We want your visit to our website to be a safe and meaningful one.

This Website Privacy Notice is intended to inform you of the different ways Distributel may use, collect or store your personal information while visiting this website. If you have any questions about our website privacy notice, you may write to us:

By email: privacy.officer@distributel.ca

By mail:

Distributel, a division of Bell Canada. c/o Privacy Officer
801-3300 Bloor St. West Toronto, Ontario M8X 2X2

If you wish to view the full Privacy Policy click here.

Cookies:

Cookies are small data files exchanged between Internet Browsers and Internet Web servers for the purpose of allowing the Webserver to store information on the user’s computer for use during current or subsequent website visits. Typically, the information stored would include users’ preferences or other data to streamline website viewing.

The Distributel webservers deliver cookies to allow us to provide you a more user-friendly visit to our website and to collect information on how you navigate our website.

We use cookies to store your choices and a browser session identifier. A browser session identifier is how a webserver keeps track of your browser across multiple page loads. Without it, you may need to specify your Language and Location for each page.

Distributel also uses analytics cookies to track user traffic patterns. Over time, our website developers can use the aggregated information from multiple visits to help us improve our site design, content or to improve our business and marketing strategies. Our advertising systems deliver cookies to better track ad impressions, sales and click rates. The information we collect from our use of cookies is not linked to or stored with your personal identity unless you directly contact us following an interaction with our website or other marketing platforms.

You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. If you’ve set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive the warning message with each cookie.

If you choose to visit our website with cookies disabled, some of the site features may not work correctly.

Logging:

The web server will log statistical information such as visitors' IP addresses, type of operating systems, time and duration of visits, and web pages, images, files requested. We will use these logs in our efforts to improve our website’s performance and efficiency or aid in the investigation of any reported problems or abuse. Such logs are governed by our Privacy Policy.

Online Portal and Forms:

When you submit a form or make a request through our website, Distributel retains that information as well as your IP address. The information is retained in a secure database that is accessible only by employees with a need-to-know and need-to-access.

We collect this information in order to validate your account and also to contact you in order to complete your request. The information you provide to us may also be used to generate aggregate data (statistics). These statistics are used for improving our website, our services or to improve our business and marketing strategies or aid in the investigation of any reported problems or abuse. If you cancel, abandon or otherwise navigate away from an order form before completing or submitting the order, we will retain the information you had entered up to the point of abandonment for a maximum period of seven days. This information may be used to identify problems with our website and/or improve user experience.

If you submit an employment application or otherwise use our Careers Portal (hosted by iCIMS), please rest assured that our privacy policy covers all the information we collect, use or disclose for employment purposes. In addition, your information is also protected in accordance with the iCIMS Privacy Policy.

NATIONAL DO NOT CALL LIST

The National Do Not Call List (DNCL) will allow Canadians to reduce the number of unwanted telemarketing calls and faxes Canadians receive.

Key facts for consumers

How to register

As of September 30, 2008, you can register your home phone, cellular phone or fax number(s) on the National DNCL. Signing up is simple, quick and free. You can sign up online at www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca or by calling the toll-free numbers 1-866-580-DNCL (1-866-580-3625) or 1-888-DNCL-TTY (1-888-362-5889). Once you have signed up, many telemarketers can no longer call you starting 31 days after your registration. You must renew your registration every three years if you want your number(s) to stay on the National DNCL.

Complaints

Complaints about telemarketers can be made through the National DNCL website (www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca) or by calling the toll-free numbers 1-866-580-DNCL (1-866-580-3625) or 1-888-DNCL-TTY (1-888-362-5889). Types of complaints can include receiving a call even though you have registered on the National DNCL, receiving a call outside of permitted calling hours, a telemarketer who does not put your name and number on their do not call list, or any other violation of the rules. When making a complaint, remember that you must provide information such as the date of the call and the name or telephone number of the telemarketer. The CRTC will investigate complaints and can penalize telemarketers found to be in violation of any of the CRTC’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. As of September 30, 2008, the CRTC can levy penalties of up to $1,500 for an individual and up to $15,000 for a corporation, for each violation.

The Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules

Telemarketing Rules

Among other things, the Telemarketing Rules require all telemarketers to: identify who they are and, upon request, provide consumers with a fax or telephone number where they can speak to someone about the telemarketing call, display the telephone number that they are calling from or that the consumer can call to reach them only make calls and send faxes between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on weekends maintain their own do not call lists, and register with the National Do Not Call List. For more information see Part III of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.

National DNCL Rules

Parliament amended the Telecommunications Act in 2005. These amendments provide for a National Do Not Call List (DNCL), on which Canadian consumers can register to reduce the number of unwanted telemarketing calls and faxes they receive. The National DNCL will launch on September 30, 2008. Among other things, the National DNCL Rules require telemarketers to: not call the home phone, cellular phone and fax numbers that consumers have registered on the National DNCL (except where a consumer has consented to be contacted) purchase a subscription for the area codes they intend to call download the numbers from the National DNCL and delete them from their calling lists, and use a version of the National DNCL that is not older than 31 days. For more information see Part II of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.

Additional information

Who can still call you?

Registering on the National DNCL will reduce but not eliminate all telemarketing calls and faxes. There are certain kinds of telemarketing calls and faxes that are exempt from the National DNCL, including those made by or on behalf of: registered charities seeking donations newspapers looking for subscriptions political parties and their candidates, and companies with whom you have an existing commercial relationship; for example, if you have done business with a company in the previous 18 months––such as a carpet-cleaning company––that company can call you. Telemarketers making exempt calls must maintain their own do not call lists. If you do not want to be called by these telemarketers, you can ask to be put on their do not call lists. They are obliged to do so within 31 days.

For more information, see Part II of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules and the Telecommunications Act.

Market research, polls and surveys

You will continue to receive calls from organizations conducting market research, polls or surveys even though you are registered on the National DNCL. These are not considered telemarketing calls because they are not selling a product or service, or requesting donations. Rules telemarketers must follow when they call Among other things, telemarketers must: identify who they are and, upon request, provide you with a fax or telephone number where you can speak to someone about the telemarketing call display the telephone number that they are calling from or that you can call to reach them, and only call or send faxes between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on weekends. Telemarketers must not use Automatic Dialing and Announcing Device (devices that dial telephone numbers automatically and deliver a pre-recorded message). However, these devices can be used by police and fire departments, schools and hospitals, as well as for appointment reminders and thank you calls.

For more information, see Part III and Part IV of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules.

CALLER AUTHENTICATION AND RECORDING

Security Questions

Whenever you speak with a Distributel representative, you will be asked a number of screening questions. These questions are designed to help us protect your privacy and your personal information. Distributel does not want to release your information to the wrong the person. Identity thieves often target call centers for the express purpose of illegally obtaining someone’s information.

We strongly encourage all customers to put a password on their account. This will reduce the number of screening questions that our customer service agents must asked you. Like all passwords; make sure it is something secret that only you would know and cannot be easily guessed.

Call Recordings

We record the call center telephone calls. These recordings are primarily made for training and quality assurance purposes. However, in some circumstances, such as a billing dispute or security concern, recordings may be reviewed in order to verify what information was discussed during the call. This may assist us to resolve disputes or security concerns more accurately and quickly.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION (NOTICE AND NOTICE)

Quick Facts
  • On January 2, 2015, the Notice and Notice provisions of the Copyright Modernization Act came into force.
  • The Notice and Notice regime formalizes a voluntary practice aimed at discouraging online copyright infringement.
  • The Notice and Notice regime is one of several new measures introduced through the Copyright Modernization Act that strengthen the ability of copyright owners to control the use of their online works.
Quick Facts for Consumers
  • If you receive a notice of alleged infringement, it is because a copyright owner has identified your Internet address as being involved in an activity that allegedly infringes their copyright.
  • Receiving a notice does not necessarily mean that you have in fact infringed copyright or that you will be sued for copyright infringement.
  • The Notice and Notice regime does not impose any obligations on a subscriber who receives a notice and it does not require the subscriber to contact the copyright owner or the intermediary.
  • The information provided by the copyright owner should help you understand the details of the alleged infringement.
  • An objective of the Notice and Notice regime is to discourage online infringement on the part of Internet subscribers and to raise awareness in instances where Internet subscribers' accounts are being used for such purposes by others.
  • U.S. copyright fines and penalties do not apply in Canada.
What is Notice and Notice?

Notice and Notice is a tool established in the Copyright Act to help copyright owners address online copyright infringement (e.g. illegal downloading) so that they can protect their copyright material while respecting the interests and freedom of users. It formalized a voluntary industry-based practice that has been in place for several years.

How does Notice and Notice work?

When a copyright owner thinks that an Internet user might be infringing their copyright, they can send a notice of alleged infringement to the user's Internet service provider (ISP), such as Distributel. Notice and Notice requires that Distributel forward (e.g. via email) the notice of alleged infringement to the user and then inform the copyright owner once this has been done.

For example, a copyright owner observes an Internet user with a Canadian Internet protocol (IP) address downloading a movie from a pirate site. Not knowing who the person is, the copyright owner can send a notice of alleged infringement to the ISP that owns the relevant IP address. The ISP must then forward the notice to its subscriber who was using that IP address at the time of the alleged infringement.

What are the obligations for Distributel?

Upon receipt of an alleged copyright infringement notice, Distributel must electronically forward an unaltered copy of the notice to the identified end user. The law states that Distributel must also preserve records associated to the identification of the end user for a minimum of 6 months. Records may be preserved for a maximum of 12 months in the event the copyright owner pursues a suit against the end user.

Does Distributel have any part in the discovery of alleged copyright infringement?

No, Distributel does not monitor customer Internet activities for possible copyright infringement. Distributel will not investigate the copyright owner’s claim(s), nor will assess the merits of the claim. Distributel simply play the role of messenger; Distributel receives the copyright holder’s notice and forwards a copy to the customer.

Through this regime, do copyright owners have access to end user’s personal information?

No, copyright owners do not have access to end user information through the notice-and-notice regime. Distributel does not share end user information with the copyright owner unless ordered to do so by a court with the appropriate jurisdictional authority. The only information Distributel provides to the copyright owner is whether or not the notice was successfully forwarded to the end user.

What does it mean for an end user if they receive a notice?

The notice itself simply means that a copyright owner has identified their assigned IP address as being involved in an activity that allegedly infringes their copyright. The goal of the Notice and Notice regime is to discourage online infringement. Receiving a notice does not necessarily mean that you have in fact infringed copyright or that you will be sued for copyright infringement.

If you receive a notice, it must contain information that will help you understand the details of the allegation, including the date and time of the alleged conduct. For instance, you may receive a notice in which a copyright owner alleges that you or someone using your Internet address has engaged in illegal downloading or illegally sharing a song or movie.

It is possible that the notice pertains to acts that were undertaken by someone using your Internet connection without your knowledge. You may want to ensure that your home network is secured by a strong password to prevent others from using your Internet connection to engage in infringement.

Does the end user have to respond to the notice?

The Notice and Notice regime does not impose any obligations on a subscriber who receives a notice, and it does not require the subscriber to contact the copyright owner or the intermediary.

What should the end user do if they believe someone has used their Internet connection without their authorization?

According to the published Distributel Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), the account holder is responsible for all activities originating from the Internet service. To avoid unauthorized use of the Internet connection, it is important that secure passwords be enabled on home Wi-Fi networks if applicable and to change the password(s) on a regular basis.

THIRD PARTY INFORMATION REQUEST POLICY

Distributel has always been, and remains, committed to protecting a customer’s rights to privacy and is compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the CRTC Confidential Customer Information Rules, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Distributel offers a variety of telephony and Internet solutions to its customers. The use of a telephone number, IP address, email address, and other service attributes, may identify Distributel as a customer’s service provider.

As a result, government and law enforcement agencies as well as private interests may contact Distributel to request information about its customers in relation to national security, a criminal investigation or civil action. Distributel will only disclose a subscriber’s information when compelled to do so by Canadian law. Government or law enforcement agencies do not have direct access to any Distributel customer databases or network.

It is Distributel policy to require a lawful order validating the government agency, law enforcement agency, or private interest’s lawful authority to request the information before any subscriber information is disclosed, except in any of the following national security or law enforcement situations:

  1. Emergency situations that present an immediate threat to human life; or
  2. Emergency situations where there are reasonable grounds to believe that it would be impractical to obtain a lawful production order for information that would assist in stopping a crime in progress; or
  3. Requests in regard to a Commercial entity’s name or address; or
  4. Requests for a telephone directory listing that are already publicly accessible.

All production orders and emergency requests for information are thoroughly vetted by the Distributel Law Enforcement Agency Support Group (LEA Support) before any information is disclosed. Throughout the process, LEA Support will review the production order for judicial jurisdiction, any irregularities, validity, accuracy and relevance. If Distributel is not satisfied that the production order meets the applicable legislative and regulatory requirements for the release of information Distributel will reject the request and if necessary oppose the request in court.

Whenever feasible, Distributel will notify affected residential subscribers when it has received a third party request for their information, unless explicitly prohibited by law or lawful order.

PRIVACY POLICY

Statement of purpose

This notice is meant to inform you about the Distributel policy with regard to how we use, collect, or disclose personal information.

If you have any general questions concerning access to or use of your personal information, you should contact our customer service team at 1-877-810-2877.

If you have any unresolved concerns or wish to make a privacy related complaint, you may contact the Privacy Office directly at 1-855-376-5423.

Write to us by
email: privacy.officer@distributel.ca

Or by regular mail at:

Distributel, a division of Bell Canada. c/o Privacy Officer
801-3300 Bloor St. West Toronto, Ontario M8X 2X2

Important definitions

PIPEDA

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act: You can download and print the act in its entirety at www.priv.gc.ca

Personal Information

In accordance with PIPEDA, we define personal information as any information (in any format) that is about an identifiable individual. This may include information such as, but not limited to:

  • Names, addresses (even electronic ones), telephone numbers, age, date of birth, ethnic origin.
  • Social Insurance Number, credit card or bank account numbers, credit, billing or call history.
  • Opinions, evaluations, comments, disputes, intentions, activities or meta-data.
  • Identifiers* (account number, order numbers, services, SIP user ID, IP Addresses, MAC addresses, usernames, passwords, configurations, security questions and answers).

This does not include business contact information or other instances where PIPEDA does not apply to personal information such as personal information collected, used or disclosed by federal government organizations under the Privacy Act, Provincial or territorial governments and their agents.

* In accordance with our Terms & Conditions, Distributel retains ownership of any identifiers assigned or provided to the Customer in association with the Service.

Express Consent

Permission given by a customer where the customer provides:

  • written consent;
  • oral confirmation by an independent third party
  • electronic confirmation through the use of a toll-free number; or
  • electronic confirmation via the Internet.
  • oral consent, where an audio recording of the consent is retained by the carrier; or
  • consent through other methods, as long as an objective documented record of customer consent is created by the customer or by an independent third party.

Implied Consent

An assumption of permission inferred from the actions or statements of the customer. For clarity, it is an understanding that is not directly stated. For example, to subscribe to any of our services we need some basic information from you to set up your account.

Accountability

Distributel has designated privacy officers to respond to any complaints or inquiries with regards to how we use your personal information. These officers are responsible for overseeing our compliance with PIPEDA. All Distributel employees are trained to follow our policy and procedures.

Consent

When subscribing to any of our services, you are providing implied consent for us to collect personal information like your name, phone number, and billing information.

We will obtain your express consent prior to using or disclosing your personal information for a purpose that is not described within this policy, or that we did not identify to you at the time of collection.

When dealing with certain emergencies or legal issues, Distributel may be required by law to disclose your personal information without seeking or obtaining your consent.

Identifying purposes

Distributel may collect and retain your personal information:

  • To meet legal and regulatory requirements.
  • To establish and provide you with ongoing service.
  • To help us understand and determine which of our services might better suit your needs.
  • To manage, protect and improve our business operations.

In instances where we require your personal information for a purpose that is not listed above, Distributel will identify the purpose at the time of collection.

Limiting collection

Distributel shall limit the type and quantity of personal information collected to the amount necessary to carry out the identified purpose(s). Whenever feasible, our representative will explain why the information is needed at the time of collection.

Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention

Unless we obtain your express consent or a disclosure is pursuant to a legal process, any personal information held by Distributel is kept confidential and will not be used or disclosed to anyone other than:

  • the customer;
  • a person who, in the reasonable judgment of Distributel, is seeking the information as an agent of the customer;
  • another telecommunications company, provided the information is required for the efficient and cost-effective provisioning of telecommunications service**
  • Another telecommunications company or other service provider **

Any publicly available information, such as a listed name, address or telephone number (411 or white pages listings) is not kept as confidential. You should also be aware that the fact that you are a Distributel customer may be revealed to others when using the Service.

We will retain your personal information only long enough to satisfy the purpose(s) to which you have already consented. Within a reasonable time after the purpose has been satisfied, your sensitive information will be destroyed or made anonymous.

** In order to establish and provide you with ongoing service, Distributel must work with various third parties. These disclosures are made on a confidential basis with requirements to ensure that your information is safeguarded and only used for the specific purpose it was disclosed. These purposes may include, but are not limited to:

  • supplying telecommunications, directory, equipment or other related services
  • manage, protect and improve our business operations
  • billing or collection of your account
  • help us understand and determine which of our services might better suit your needs.
Accuracy

Keeping in mind the purpose of its use, we will make every reasonable effort to keep your personal information as accurate and complete as possible. We encourage your participation by helping us correct anything you feel we may have missed.

Safeguards

Distributel is working hard to keep your personal information protected from unauthorized access and any other type of misuse. Access to your personal information is restricted and only made available to authorized personnel with a need-to-know. We are continuously looking to improve our physical and technological security controls in order to meet or exceed industry standards.

When it is no longer needed, we make sure that your information is securely destroyed or made anonymous.

Openness

We encourage you to read our privacy policy. If you are not able to access it from our website, we will gladly provide you with a copy. If you wish to discuss the policy, we are ready to answer any questions you may have.

Individual access

You are entitled to have access to or challenge the accuracy of your personal information that is under our care. Upon your written request, Distributel will promptly inform you of the existence, use, or disclosure of your personal information.

In some limited circumstances, if the information you requested is too costly to collect or if it conflicts with any legal or commercial proprietary obligations, Distributel may withhold access or charge a reasonable fee. In the event that Distributel does withhold access, you will be notified of the reason(s) no later than 14 days after your request was submitted.

Challenging compliance

We are committed to being as receptive and accommodating as possible in responding to any issues you may have about the handling of your personal information. Any customer complaints received by Distributel about our compliance with PIPEDA will be acknowledged, investigated, and documented.

If you feel that the Distributel Privacy Officer has not adequately resolved your issue, you may challenge our compliance with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Please consult their Guide to the Complaint Process, call them toll free at 1-800-282-1376 or visit their website at www.priv.gc.ca for more information.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 1H3

Our right to update this policy

Distributel reserves the right to add, modify, or remove any section of this document in order for it to remain representative of Distributel business operations and continue to be compliant with PIPEDA.

This policy was last updated: 06/13/2016

Security

TOLL FRAUD PREVENTION

What you should know about toll fraud

Distributel has been innovating in the Canadian telecommunications space since 1988. We’re now a national carrier with service in over 800 cities, offering cable and DSL Internet as well as residential VoIP and long distance to consumers in Alberta, BC, Ontario and Quebec. It is because of this rich Canadian tradition that we take fraud very seriously. We want to assure our loyal customers that they have nothing to fear when using the Distributel services.

There are important differences between business phone solutions, which are at higher risk of fraud; and residential services, which are rarely affected. Fraudsters generally target businesses because complex phone systems with multiple lines allow for larger call volumes and make it much harder to detect unauthorized usage despite strict monitoring practices. For more information about how businesses can eliminate the risk of toll fraud, click here.

Although toll fraud is an extremely rare occurrence for residential consumers, here are some quick tips to ensure that you are using your services correctly and avoiding any practices that could put you at risk:

  • Overseas long distance calls are blocked by default for our residential customers. If you don’t place international calls, simply leave the block in place. You can add or remove a block by simply contacting us.
  • Do not provide the PIN, username or password associated with your telephone service, calling cards or Internet connection to anyone – it’s extremely valuable information. If lost or compromised, contact us immediately and we’ll happily re-issue new, secure credentials.
  • Do not tamper with the devices we provide to you. Our qualified technicians calibrate your hardware in order to best serve you. If you modify your modem or Internet Voice Gateway (used for VoIP), it could allow others to hack your system. By doing nothing, you’re keeping yourself safe!
  • If any of your devices or services appear to be malfunctioning for whatever reason, contact our technical support team so that we can resolve the issue.

If you have any additional questions about your services, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d be happy to assist you!

IDENTITY THEFT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has released some great information and guidance documents to help you protect yourself against identity theft and what to do when you believe you have become a victim of identity theft. For more information, visit their website at: https://www.priv.gc.ca/information

MALICIOUS & FRAUDULENT EMAILS

Phishing (or spear phishing) is a form of fraudulent activity designed to trick you into to divulging your personal information; some of these scams (such as emails, surveys or text messages) are expertly crafted to look genuine and may even pretend to be from someone you trust, like Distributel, a family member or your bank.You can often tell that they are not legitimate;

  • Look to see if the domain name of the sender makes sense: distributelwebadmin@yahoo.ca or billing@rbcbank.net for example.
  • Open the email properties and review the header to see the return address.
  • Place your cursor over the link in the email; if the URL is different than what is written in the email, do not click on it!
  • Never open links or attachments in an email from an untrusted sender.

Canada's anti-spam law (CASL) was passed in December 2010 and came into force on July 1, 2014. The law will help to protect Canadians from these types of email by prohibiting the sending of commercial electronic messages (includes emails and text messages) without the recipient's consent (permission). For More Information about this, you can visit: http://fightspam.gc.ca

PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY ONLINE

DISCLAIMER REGARDING LINKS TO NON-DISTRIBUTEL WEBSITES

Distributel does not offer any guarantee about the privacy policy, security or content of any third party links found on Distributel.ca and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content. To be clear, Distributel is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the content on those websites and provide the links solely for your convenience.

Latest Updates

SURVEY SCAM!

There has been a recent increase in reports by customers receiving unwanted pop-up surveys. The survey is simply a form of phishing designed to trick you into providing your personal information. Please rest assured that Distributel is in no part responsible for that survey. Persons who have followed the survey to completion are often asked to provide credit card details before they are able to claim their “gift”. The malware adjusts itself to represent the service provider of whomever has fallen victim. It does this by performing a simple lookup of the owner of the IP address the computer is presenting. For Distributel customers, the survey may present itself as conducting the survey on behalf of Distributel.

This malware has been proliferating online for some time now and after having already received a number of complaints. Until these attacks are stopped, educating our customers that we do not perform surveys in such a manner is our only option.

In the event that you have been a victim of that survey, please consider reporting the incident to the local police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501). The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has some great information about protecting your identity and online safety. You may wish to visit their website at https://www.priv.gc.ca/index_e.asp

DATA PRIVACY DAY - JANUARY 28TH

DO YOU USE A NETGEAR ROUTER?

Netgear has released updated firmware images in response to public disclosures that its routers were vulnerable to a remotely exploitable authentication bypass vulnerability. Exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to access the administration portal of a vulnerable device without knowledge of the password. At least 8 models have been identified to be vulnerable but have updated firmware available for download from the Netgear support website.

HEARTBLEED BUG

The Heartbleed Bug is a serious vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL cryptographic software library. This weakness allows stealing the information protected, under normal conditions, by the SSL/TLS encryption used to secure the Internet. SSL/TLS provides communication security and privacy over the Internet for applications such as web, email, instant messaging (IM) and some virtual private networks (VPNs).

Read more at: http://heartbleed.com/

MISFORTUNE COOKIE

Misfortune Cookie is a critical vulnerability that allows an intruder to remotely take over an Internet router and use it to attack home and business networks.

Read more at: http://mis.fortunecook.ie/

Do You Have a D-Link Router?

Serious security flaws have been discovered in many D-Link networked products which leave users open to attack. On September 11, 2017, a security researcher has publicly disclosed 10 zero-day vulnerabilities in D-Link DIR 850L wireless AC1200 dual-band gigabit cloud routers. The researcher goes as far as to say these vulnerabilities are so severe and trivial to exploit that the devices should be unplugged from the internet until D-Link can release a patch.

We recommend reviewing your devices to make sure they are all running the latest firmware, make sure you are using complex passwords and changing them frequently.

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