A. ONESTEP�s Commitment to Privacy
B. Addition Privacy Information for ONESTEP Members

A. ONESTEP�s Commitment to Privacy

ONESTEP is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of its employees, agency members and other stakeholders. ONESTEP values the trust of those we deal with, and of the public, and recognizes that maintaining this trust requires that we be transparent and accountable in how we treat the information that you choose to share with us.

During the course of delivering various services and conducting research, ONESTEP regularly gathers and uses organization related and personal information. Anyone from whom we collect such information should expect that it will be carefully protected and that any use of or other dealing with this information is subject to consent.

ONESTEP respects your privacy. Any personal and organizational related information you provide to us � including your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address � will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of ONESTEP.

How we collect information from you and what we use it for:
General information regarding users of this website is collected. Through cookies and tracking, we can tell how many users visit each part of our website. Using that information, we can change and modify our site to better meet your needs.

Personal information is gathered during professional development workshop and conference registration, member surveys, discussion board registration, and online News Bulletin subscription. This is information you provide to us by filling out registration forms. We collect personal data in order to better meet your, service and information needs.

We also use and disclose data, which does not identify individuals, for statistical purposes to develop and enhance ONESTEP research and services. We will share aggregated demographic information with our partners, sponsors, and donors. This is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person. We only share this information so that we can secure funding to continue providing our programs and services.

The information you provide will be used to keep you informed of professional development events and to periodically contact you regarding ONESTEP activities. ONESTEP take measures to ensure the integrity of this information and it is maintained to prevent it being lost or destroyed. If at any time you wish to be removed from our list simply contact us by phone at
416-591-7151 or via at email.

Services and links of our Website
Our website enables you to communicate with us.

Because ONESTEP wants your website visit to be informational and resourceful, our Website also provides a number of links to third party sites.

ONESTEP assumes no responsibility for the information practices of sites you are able to access through our site. We encourage visitors to review each site's privacy policy before disclosing any personally identifiable information.

Information sharing
We do not sell personal information we collect. We will not disclose your personal information to anyone else without your prior knowledge or consent, except when required by a government body or agency, or as permitted by law.

Accuracy
ONESTEP endeavours to ensure that any personal information provided and in its possession is as accurate, current and complete as necessary for the purposes for which ONESTEP uses that information.

Retention
ONESTEP keeps personal information only as long as it is required for the reasons it was collected. The length of time we retain information varies, depending on the research being conducted, event or service and the nature of the information. This period may extend beyond the end of a person's relationship with us but it will be only for so long as it is necessary for us to have sufficient information to respond to any issues that may arise at a later date. When your personal information is no longer required for ONESTEP purposes, we have procedures to destroy, delete, erase or convert it into an anonymous form.

Confidentiality/Security
ONESTEP maintains physical, electronic and administrative safeguards that are appropriate to the type of personal information we obtain from you.

ONESTEP staff having access to personal data are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and handle it responsibly.

Privacy Questions
If you are aware of any inaccuracy or changes in the personal information which we hold about you, please contact ONESTEP.

If you have an inquiry about ONESTEP privacy practices, please email us or call us at 416-591-7151

B. Addition Privacy Information for ONESTEP Members

What Are Cookies and Why Do We Use Them On Our Website?
"Cookies" are small text files that are stored on your computer for use by a website browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Cookies are commonly used for saving your preferences at a specific website so you do not have to re-set them every time you visit. For example, cookies are often used to remember whether to display a page with frames, your name, or username and password.

The ONESTEP site uses cookies for one purpose only: to password-protect the Member Zone.
Whenever a member visits the website and enters the Member Zone a username and password is requested. Upon submitting valid information, a cookie is temporarily saved to the member's hard-drive, verifying that their username and password is correct. Throughout the course of the website visit, whenever a page in the Member Zone is accessed, the member's website browser calls up the cookie in the background to verify that the member does, indeed, have permission to access that area. Once the website visit is complete, and the member has closed their website browser, the cookie automatically expires. (This is another safety precaution to prevent accidental access by someone else using the same computer.)

If a member chooses not to allow cookies they will be requested to enter their username and password every time they visit a different page in the Member Zone.

What About Security Issues?
First, the good news: Cookies cannot be used to surreptitiously get data from your hard drive, get your email address or steal sensitive information about your person. Cookies can save your email address, but only if you provide this information by typing it into a form! Likewise, cookies can't retrieve personal information about you without you first typing it into something at the website you are visiting.

Unfortunately, cookies have received a lot of negative attention because their original intention of managing passwords and remembering user preferences has been subverted by some companies in order to track visitors' movements across their website. Most web surfers feel this kind of monitoring is an invasion of privacy and they are wary of having any information collected about them that could be passed on to others (such as advertisers, government, etc.). For this reason, many people choose to turn cookies off when visiting new or unknown sites.

But remember: a site only knows what information you have entered!

More Information About Cookies
There are dozens of websites and discussion groups devoted to the pros and cons of cookies.

Here are some of the most popular:

Cookie Central
Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC)
Junk Busters
The Unofficial Cookie FAQ