Privacy policy

Smoke-Free NB (“we”, “us”) provides this service to provide you with resources to assist you to quit smoking. Smoke-Free NB is committed to protecting your privacy and to providing you with a service that provides a safe online experience.

This privacy statement summarizes the privacy practices at Smoke-Free NB. By using the Smoke-Free NB Platform (this environment), you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this statement.

Collection of personal information

Information you provide us

We collect personal information which you supply to us voluntarily by registering with and using the Smoke-Free NB Platform. This includes information provided when you:
(a) register and create your membership profile,
(b) fill out surveys, evaluation or self-assessment questionnaires,
(c) use functionality on the Smoke-Free NB Platform,
(d) make requests for expert advice

Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally-identifying information or personally sensitive data through the Smoke-Free NB Platform forums, chat, or other community resources, this information may be collected and used by others and we are not responsible for those uses. It is up to you to review your settings and what information is shared. Please review your profile and subscriptions settings carefully before sharing information.

Information automatically collected

Information about your computer hardware and software is automatically collected by the Smoke-Free NB Platform. Like many organizations, our site automatically collects certain non-identifying information regarding users of our site, such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer, the IP address of your internet service provider, the date and time you access the Smoke-Free NB Platform, the operating system you are using, the sections of our web service that you visit, the pages of our web service that you read.  This non-identifying information is used for the operation of the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform.

We make no attempt to link this information with the identity of individuals visiting our services.  We may, however, review service logs for security purposes, for example to detect intrusions into our network. The possibility, therefore, exists that service log data, which contains visitors’ IP addresses, could in instances of criminal malfeasance be used to trace and identify individuals. In such instances, raw data logs would be shared with the appropriate investigative bodies authorized to investigate such breaches of security. The Smoke-Free NB Platform uses “cookies” to allow us to tailor your experience.  A “cookie” is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server.  You may choose to decline cookies if your browser permits, but doing so may affect your use of the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform and your ability to access certain features of our service.

Use of your personal information

Smoke-Free NB collects and uses your personal information to operate the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform and deliver services you have requested. If you register with our service we use the email address provided to contact you periodically for surveys, evaluation or equivalent to get feedback about our program. You have the option to unsubscribe at any time. You have the right to request that we communicate with you in a certain way. You may change your email address at any time.

We also use the information we collect about you to operate and improve our platform. We may need to access your user information to keep our web service running. This includes troubleshooting technical support issues. If you report a problem with the site, we may access your user information to identify the web browser you are using or to reproduce a problem you have reported. We will also periodically run reports to determine how many people are online, what features they are using, and what the general characteristics of our users are. For example, we will run a report to show us how many users have set quit dates or how many users have registered in a given period. The development of an effective online program is a continuing task. Throughout the process of improving the platform, we will perform a variety of analyses to answer questions about how users like you are using our site. We deploy content targeted to you based on information provided. For example, if you receive emails or text messages, the content of these are based on information collected to better serve you.

Disclosure of your personal information

As a general rule, all information concerning users of the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform is held in strict confidence and, except in limited circumstances, is not revealed to anyone else unless expressly or implicitly authorized by such individuals.

We do not sell or share your personal information with outside organizations unless they are directly involved with the service or evaluation of this program. We may also disclose personal information to meet regulatory requirements or otherwise without your consent, as required or permitted by law. Where we are obliged or permitted to disclose personal information without consent, we will not disclose more information than is required.

We sometimes share aggregate information with our agents, contractors or medical researchers for research-related matters. This information does not include anything that could be used to identify you. For instance, we generate summary reports showing the number of users of different ages, genders and quit status.

Security of your personal information

In operating the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform, we secure your personal information to unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Smoke-Free NB secures the personally identifying information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secured environment, protected to unauthorized access, use or disclosure. 

Employees and contractors engaged in the operation of the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform are trained to respect the information accessed in the course of working with the Smoke-Free NB Health Platform. For example, when you ask a question of an expert counsellor, that counsellor will not reveal your name or email address to anyone else if he or she needs to discuss details about a particular question to better assist you. If you report a technical problem, while the technical person solving the problem may see information such as your quit date, he or she would never pass that information along to anyone else unless it is necessary to solve the problem.

We will protect you when you are on our platform

The Smoke-Free NB Platform may contain optional links to partners and third-party information sites and services that may collect data about you or your computer. Please be aware that if you choose to leave our site via a link, Smoke-Free NB assumes no responsibility for the privacy practices or the content of other websites. We encourage you to review the privacy statements of websites you choose to visit from the Smoke-Free NB Platform so that you can understand how those websites collect, use and share your personal information.

Evolving practices

The development of the Smoke-Free NB Platform procedures for the protection of personal information is an ongoing process. Due to changes in technology and legal requirements and other reasons, Smoke-Free NB will, from time to time, review and revise this statement. New versions of this statement will be posted here.

Important information

The Smoke-Free NB Platform is not intended for persons under the age of 18. We will not knowingly collect or retain any personal information of visitors to our service who are under the age of 18, unless we obtain parental or legal guardian consent. We encourage and support the efforts of parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to caution them in providing personal information to any website without their permission.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy practices, please contact us.