Terms and conditions
Terms of use
This website belongs to the Laval Ombudsman’s Office and is operated for your personal, non-commercial use and for information purposes, exclusively.
The use you make of this website is subject to the conditions listed below and all applicable laws.
By accessing and using this website, you consent to the terms of use stated in this policy and agree to abide by them without limitation or reserve. Should you not agree to all of the conditions listed herein, please refrain from using this website altogether.
These conditions may be modified at any time by the Laval Ombudsman’s Office.
Confidential nature of personal information
All personal information communicated by the user to the Ombudsman’s Office through any means that exist to do so, including through this website, is confidential and protected in accordance with the law.
Confidentiality
All files belonging to the Ombudsman’s Office are confidential. Only the members of its team can access the personal information provided, solely within the exercise of their functions and to fulfill the tasks for which they are responsible. Electronic messages are handled according to the same protocols of confidentiality as postal mail.
The Ombudsman and its team are not required to disclose the information gathered in the exercise of their duties, nor can they be compelled to testify in court in that regard. The Ombudsman’s files are not subject to information access laws. This information can, however, be released to municipal representatives to the extent necessary to process files.
Independence
The Ombudsman enjoys considerable autonomy regarding its internal organization, the development of its working methods, as well as the processing of its files. Neither the municipal administration nor elected officials intervene in those regards.
Immunity
The Ombudsman and its staff members cannot be prosecuted in court for acts committed during the exercise of their duties. No injunction, mandatory order, or restraining order can be imposed upon them. They also cannot be made to testify or to divulge information or documents gathered in the process of any investigation.
Their files are also exempt from the application of information access laws.
Information transmitted automatically
Upon accessing the Ombudsman’s website, an exchange of information automatically takes place between your computer and the Ombudsman’s website server. The following information is concerned:
-The name of the Internet domain and the IP address, including the service provider;
-The types of browsers and operating systems used;
-The pages that are visited;
-The address of the referring website, if the Ombudsman’s website has been accessed from a different site.
You cannot be identified personally from the data that is automatically transmitted between computers. This data is gathered only to meet the technological requirements inherent to Internet browsing and are used for statistical purposes. This exchange of information also allows us to present the content of our website in order to optimally adapt it to your computer equipment.
Data gathered for statistical purposes
The Ombudsman’s website uses Google Analytics to analyze the browsing behaviours of visitors to the site and produce statistical reports. This tool analyzes the visitation and usage patterns of websites.
Google Analytics gathers the following information:
-The number of visitors to the site;
-The types of browsers and operating systems used by visitors (Windows, Mac OS, Linux);
-The date, time, and duration of visits;
-The pages that are visited;
-The address of the referring website, if the Ombudsman’s website has been accessed from a different site.
Use of ip addresses and cookies by google analytics
In order to gather information for its statistical reports, Google Analytics uses:
-IP addresses (i.e. the numerical addresses that identify each computer connected to the Internet network);
-A cookie is a small computer file that a Web server installs on a user’s computer, oftentimes unbeknownst to that person. This file can be recovered by the server during subsequent visits. The implantation of this file can be short-term (30 days) or longer-term (2 years).
What’s more, no personal information that could be used to identify a visitor is recorded or provided to Google by Google Analytics.
You can choose to deactivate the Google Analytics analysis by:
Blocking cookies by selecting the relevant option in your browser; or installing the complementary Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. You will continue to be able to access information on our website. Unless you have chosen to block cookies on your browser, the default setting (cookies allowed) will be used.
Links to other websites
The Ombudsman’s website can include links to external websites. When you click on such a link, you will leave the Ombudsman’s website and your use of any other website will cease to fall under our confidentiality policy, but will rather be subject to the confidentiality policies of the other websites that are visited.