Elections BC Website Privacy Policy

Personal Information

Except for the Online Voter Registration system and the Candidate Nominations Application System, the Elections BC website does not collect personal information.

For information about personal information collected by Online Voter Registration, see the Online Voter Registration Privacy Policy. For information about personal information collected by the Candidate Nominations Application System, see the collection notices within the application.

All personal information provided to Elections BC is protected in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Automatically transmitted data

When you access the Elections BC website, the following information is exchanged automatically between your computer and the site server:

• Domain name and IP address
• Type of browser and operating system used
• Pages visited
• Address of referring site if you visited the Elections BC website via another website

This automatic data exchange does not make it possible to identify you personally. It allows the website to display content that is compatible with your computer. It is also used for statistical purposes.

Data gathered for statistical purposes

Elections BC uses Google Analytics to analyze activity on its website through statistical reports. We may collect, hold, and use statistical information to help improve the site. The data collected are aggregated and visitors are not personally identifiable.

Google Analytics reports the following information to Elections BC:

• The number of visitors to the website
• Browser and operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux)
• Date, time and length of visits
• Pages visited
• Websites that referred visitors to the Elections BC website

Use of IP addresses and cookies by Google Analytics

To collect information for statistical reports, Google Analytics uses:

• Cookies, which are small text files that a web server installs on visitors’ computers. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. They can be referenced during the visit and in subsequent visits to allow faster website navigation. There are two types of cookies, session cookies and persistent cookies. Our website may use session cookies which are stored in temporary memory and are not retained after you sign out or close the browser session.
• IP address, which is the digital address of individual computers on the internet. IP addresses are masked so that they cannot be used to identify individuals. The anonymous part of the IP address and the information generated by the cookies about website use are sent to and stored by Google. No personal information that would identify visitors is recorded on or provided to Google.

You can choose to opt out of analysis by Google Analytics by:

• Deactivating acceptance of cookies by choosing that browser option; or
• Installing the Google analytics opt-out browser add-on.

You will continue to be able to access information on our website. Unless you have deactivated cookies on your browser, the default setting (cookie acceptance) is used.

Links to other websites

The Elections BC website includes links to other sites. When you follow a link to another website, your use of that website is no longer subject to our website policies, but rather those of the other websites you visit.

Contact

For privacy questions or concerns, contact Elections BC’s Privacy Officer:

Suite #100 – 1112 Fort Street
Victoria, B.C., V8V 3K8
250-387-5305 or toll-free at 1-800-661-8683
privacy@elections.bc.ca