The Office de la protection du consommateur invites visitors to its website to read up on its site’s privacy policy.

Responsibilities of visitors

To browse safely, the Office recommends that you:

  • use the most recent version of a Web browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.);
  • clear the cache memory of your computer after submitting data.

Information collected for statistical purposes

The Office uses Google Analytics to study the browsing behaviour of visitors to its website. This is a tool used to analyse website traffic and use. It is provided by Google Inc. (Google).

Google Analytics collects the following information:

  • the number of visitors to the site;
  • the type of browser and operating system they are using (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc.);
  • the date, time and length of the visits;
  • the pages consulted;
  • the address of the referring site, if visitors are directed to the Office website from another site.

The Office uses the information collected by Google Analytics to study use of its website and to produce statistical reports on visitor activity.

Use of IP addresses and statistical cookies

In order to collect information for its statistical reports, Google Analytics uses:

  • IP addresses, which are the numerical addresses that identify each computer connected to the Internet (for example, 123.45.67.890);
  • cookies. Cookies are small computer files that Web servers install on an Internet user’s computer, often without the user’s knowledge. These files can be retrieved by the server on subsequent visits. They may be installed on a short-term basis (30 days), or a long-term basis (2 years).

Part of the IP address and the information generated by the cookies are transmitted to Google. The company stores the data on servers located in the United States.

The last part of the IP address allows a computer’s precise location to be identified. This information is not transmitted to Google. Furthermore, no personal information that could be used to identify a visitor is saved or sent to Google by Google Analytics.

The cookies are used to:

  • collect standard data for Internet log files: web pages consulted by visitors to the site, the browser that they use to access the Office website, the browser’s language, etc.;
  • anonymously collect data on the browsing behaviour of visitors to the site.

The Office has configured Google Analytics in such a way that the data collected will not be used by Google to improve its products and services. Google has agreed not to combine the data collected from visitors to the Office website with any other data it has stored.

For more information about Google Analytics, consult the Google website. Among other information, you will find the privacy policy for this tool.

Use of advertising cookies

Other cookies (advertising cookies) on the Office website are used to collect data to personalize advertisements based on the user's browsing behaviour. These cookies do not collect or store the user's name, address, telephone number, email address or any other information that could be used to identify him or her.

Opting out of the use of cookies

You can opt out of the use of cookies if you wish.

Rules governing the collection of personal information

The Office is subject to the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information. As such, the Office cannot collect any personal information without your consent.

In addition to obtaining your consent, the Office must inform you of:

  • the name and address of the public body on whose behalf the information is being collected;
  • how this information will be used;
  • the categories of persons who will have access to the information;
  • whether a reply is mandatory or optional;
  • the consequences of a refusal to reply;
  • the rights of access and correction provided by law.

Only authorized Office personnel have access to personal information, such access being limited to the exercise of their duties and required tasks.

Emails are handled with the same privacy measures as regular mail. If you send us personal information by email or through a form available on our website, we will only use the information that is necessary to reply to your message.

Personal information is only communicated to another government body if such communication is required by law. Under no circumstances do we communicate this information to private organizations or use it to draw up user profiles.

Links to external sites

On the Office website you will find links to external (government or other) sites to provide you with more information. The information exchanged on these sites is not subject to the privacy policy of the Office website. It is subject to the privacy policy of the external site, if there is one.

Top of page

Last update : May 3, 2021