Privacy Policy
Last updated: August 2023
Please read the following privacy policy carefully and consider that by visiting and using www.gem-wheel.com, or any other website owned or operated by the Montreal Gemmology School Inc. (the “Website”), you (“you” or the “user”) agree to and consent to the practices described in this privacy policy for the collection, use, and communication of your Personal Information.
The Montreal Gemmology School Inc. (“GEMWHEEL” or “we”) is committed to handling your personal information confidentially in accordance with this privacy policy (the “Policy”) and applicable Canadian data protection laws in the private sector, such as the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector (Quebec), as well as all substantially similar laws governing the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information elsewhere in Canada. We will work with the relevant regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to attempt to resolve any complaints or disputes related to the transfer of personal data that we cannot resolve directly with the individuals concerned.
For the purposes hereof, “Personal Information” means information about an individual that identifies them.
Collection of personal information
Users may communicate personal information through various means on the Website, including by accessing the Website, by completing:
- the various available forms,
- by subscribing to our newsletter,
- by submitting an application
- by providing personal data in any other way.
Personal information, such as the user's first and last name, address, email address, and financial and banking information, may be voluntarily collected from you. Users do not need to submit this information to use the Website.
In general, when you browse our Website and view its content, you remain anonymous. However, when you register to access certain parts of our Website, list an item for sale, or make a purchase, we ask you to provide us with some information, which generally includes your email address, financial and banking information, and other basic information such as your name.
Why do we collect personal information?
We collect, use, or disclose certain personal information to enable us to undertake, manage, maintain, and develop our business and operations, including for:
- to operate the Website, facilitate navigation on the Website, and allow you to access and use it;
- to process and evaluate customer and user inquiries and requests;
- to establish, maintain, and manage our relationship with you so that we can provide you with our services;
- to be able to review the services we provide to you so that we can understand your preferences and needs and work to improve our services;
- to send you marketing, advertising, and promotional messages and other information that may interest you, provided that you can unsubscribe or opt out of receiving these communications in your settings when you access your account;
- to protect us against errors, fraud, theft, and damage to our property and assets;
- to allow us to comply with applicable laws or regulatory processes;
We expressly acknowledge that we will not use your personal information for other purposes without your consent. Furthermore, we will only collect personal information to the extent necessary for the aforementioned purposes.
Use of Personal Information
Your personal information may be used and disclosed as follows:
- We may use and disclose your personal information for any other purposes described in this Policy or for which we have obtained your consent for the use and disclosure of your personal information.
- We may use or disclose your personal information without your knowledge or consent when permitted or required by applicable laws or regulations.
It is also possible that we communicate non-personal information (for example, aggregated and anonymized customer data) publicly and to our partners or other third parties. Additionally, personal information may be used and disclosed to the extent that GEMWHEEL reasonably deems necessary to enforce the terms of an agreement between you and GEMWHEEL, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of a person or entity, or, if required by law, particularly in response to a request from competent government authorities.
Who do we share your personal information with?
We share your personal information with our employees, our contracted staff, our advisors, and other parties that require this information to help us establish, maintain, and manage our relationships with you, including third parties that provide services to us or provide services on our behalf, third parties that collaborate on the services we provide to you, and third parties whose services we use in order to provide our services.
We may also share personal information during transactions, including in the context of merger negotiations, asset sales, financing, or acquisitions. Anonymized personal information may be shared for statistical analysis purposes.
Retention period for personal information
We do not retain your personal information beyond the time permitted by law and we delete personal information when it is no longer necessary for the purposes described in this Policy.
Website hosting
Our site is hosted by: Shopify, whose headquarters is located at the following address: 151 O’Connor Street, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2L8, Canada
The host can be contacted at 613-241-2828. The personal information we collect and process is transferred to the following country(ies): Canada.
Person responsible for processing personal information
The person responsible for processing personal information is: Marie-Hélène Corbin. She can be contacted by phone at 514 844-0024 and by email at mh.corbin@egmtl.com, from 9:30 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Friday. The person responsible for processing personal information is tasked with determining the purposes and means used for processing personal information.
Obligations of the data controller regarding personal information
The data controller is committed to protecting the personal information collected, not disclosing it to third parties without your knowledge, and respecting the purposes for which this information was collected. Furthermore, the data controller is committed to notifying you in the event of rectification or deletion of personal information, unless this would result in disproportionate formalities, costs, or steps for them.
In the event that the integrity, confidentiality, or security of your personal information is compromised, the data controller is committed to informing you by any means.
How can I review the information collected?
In accordance with applicable personal information protection laws, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Right of access: You can ask if we hold personal information about you and, if so, request a copy of it. Fees may be charged for the transcription, reproduction, or transmission of this information.
- Right to rectification: If any personal information about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or ambiguous, or if its collection, communication, or retention is not compliant with or authorized by the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, RLRQ, c. P-39.1 (the "Act"), you may request that it be rectified.
If you wish to review or correct this information, please send us a written request to info@gem-wheel.com.
How can I manage or delete my information?
You can update or delete your personal information at any time by logging into the Website and making the necessary changes to your account. If you provide personal information on the Website and then determine that you do not want GEMWHEEL to use, collect, or disclose this information for any permitted or required purposes under applicable laws, you must contact info@gem-wheel.com .
You understand and acknowledge, however, that some of your personal information must be provided to GEMWHEEL in order for you to use the platform, and that withdrawing it may limit your access or use of the Website.
How can I withdraw my consent?
You can at any time decide to no longer consent to the retention of your personal information by sending a written request to info@gem-wheel.com .
Upon receipt of the notice of revocation of your consent, we will stop retaining your personal information within a reasonable time frame, which will vary depending on the personal information we have collected and the purpose for which we collected it. Please note that we will send you a confirmation email upon receipt of your request. Please note that if you choose to withdraw your consent, your experience using the Website and browsing our Website may no longer be optimal, and you may no longer have access to all our services offered through our Website.
How can I file a complaint?
You can file a complaint related to the collection, use, destruction, retention, or protection of your personal information at info@gem-wheel.com Please note that we will respond to your complaint within 30 business days.
We are committed to complying with the legislative provisions set out in the laws of Canada and Quebec. In the event of a dispute, the dispute should be resolved before the court in Montreal, Quebec, Canada located at 1 Rue Notre-Dame Est, Montreal, QC, H2Y 1B6.
How do we secure your personal information?
Your personal information is stored on servers located in Quebec. We continuously implement and update security measures to help protect your personal information against unauthorized access, destruction, or alteration. However, no method of transmission over the Internet and no method of electronic information storage is 100% secure. As a result, we cannot guarantee the security of the data transmitted to us or the personal information we hold.
To ensure the security of your personal information, we use the following measures:
SSL Protocol (Secure Sockets Layer)
SET Protocol (Secure Electronic Transaction)
Network monitoring software
Computer backup
Digital certificate development
Identifier / password
Firewall (Firewalls)
Furthermore, your personal information may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside your jurisdiction, where the laws on personal information protection may not provide similar or adequate protection as those in your jurisdiction. By consenting to this privacy policy, you consent to such transfer.
What information is collected about visitors to the website?
Our server may obtain information about your visit, including the IP address and domain used to access our website, the type and version of your web browser, the website from which you came to reach our website, the page where you entered and then exited, all the pages of the website viewed by the IP address, as well as the country from which you come. We use this information to track activities on our website (the number of visits, the average duration of visits, the pages viewed) and strategically enhance our visibility on the internet.
What about links to other websites?
Our website may contain "links" to a wide variety of other websites. GEMWHEEL disclaims any responsibility regarding their privacy policies and how these websites handle the information collected about their users. We strongly recommend that you inquire about the privacy policies of these websites.
Policy Update
If we decide to modify this Policy, we will make every effort to announce these changes on this page so that our users are always aware of the type of information we collect, how we use it, and the circumstances under which we disclose it, if applicable. Your continued use of the website after the implementation of such changes constitutes acceptance of this Policy in its modified version.
Please share your feedback or requests regarding this Policy at the following email address: info@gem-wheel.com
Eligibility
The website and the services offered there are not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. If GEMWHEEL becomes aware that personal information about individuals under 18 has been collected inadvertently, it will delete it without delay.