Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 14, 2024

This Privacy Policy describes our policies and procedures regarding the collection, storage, use, and disclosure of Personal Data of a person who participates in the Activities of the Society. 

The Austrian Society and its charitable arm, the Austrian Society Trust Fund (together, the “Austrian Society” or “we”), organize events for the Austrian community in Montréal and surrounding areas, open to Austrians, people of Austrian descent, and all friends of Austria. We communicate information regarding such events, both past and future, as well as other news and other events that may be of interest to the community we serve, which communication is done in various ways such as through emails, social media posts, direct messaging, and publishing information on our website. We refer to such activities, collectively and individually, as the “Activities”. As part of the organization of such Activities, we collect Personal Data. 

By using this website, by allowing us to communicate with you regarding the Activities and by participating in our Activities, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. 

Interpretations and definitions

Interpretations

Capitalized words have the meaning set out below.

The expressions “such as”, “including” shall always be understood to refer to non-exhaustive lists or examples.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

• Austrian Society means the Austrian Society and its charitable arm, the Austrian Society Trust Fund and is also referred to as “we”, “our”, or “us” in this Privacy Policy; 
• Cookies are small files that are placed on Device by a website, containing the details of your browsing history on that website among its many uses, for example to remember your preferred language; 
• Device means any device that can access the Austrian Society’s Website, social media platforms and that can receive digital communications such as a computer, a cellphone, or a digital tablet; 
• Personal Data means any information that can identify an individual and shall include any visual or audio representation of the individual in question including photos, drawings, videos, and recordings; 
• Activities of the Society means any activities of the Austrian Society including events organized, hosted, or co-hosted by the Austrian Society, events that the Austrian Society is invited to or has invited the Austrian community to, communications regarding such events, regarding other news and events that may be of interest to the community we serve; 
• Service Provider means any natural or legal person that provides services to the Austrian Society; 
• Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Website or from the Website infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit); 
• Website refers to the website of the Society, accessible from https://austriainmontreal.com;

Collecting and using your Personal Data

Types of data collected

Personal Data

While participating in our Activities, we may ask you to provide us with certain Personal Data. Such Personal Data may include, depending on the circumstances:

• Email address
• First name and last name
• Age
• Phone number
• Address
• Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Website.

Usage Data may include information such as your Device’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.

When you access the Website by or through a mobile Device, we may also collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile Device you use, your mobile Device unique ID, the IP address of your mobile Device, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile internet browser you use, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Website or when you access the Website by or through a mobile Device.

Tracking technologies and Cookies

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Website and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information, and to improve and analyze our Activities, including the Website. The technologies we use may include:

• Cookies or Browser Cookies: A cookie is a small file placed on your Device. You can instruct your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept Cookies, you may not be able to use some parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, our Website may use Cookies.
• Web Beacons: Certain sections of our Website and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Austrian Society, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).

We use Cookies for the purposes set out below:

• Essential Cookies: These Cookies are essential to provide you with certain features of the Website. They also help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. These Cookies are essential for the use of the Website and are turned on by default. 
• Cookies policy/notice acceptance Cookies: These Cookies identify choices made by the users, if the users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website.
• Functionality Cookies: These Cookies allow us to remember choices you make when you use the Website. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide you with a more personal experience and to avoid you having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Website. These will be turned on if you have consented to them.

Use of your Personal Data

The Website and Activities are situated within the jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada. All Personal Data is processed in compliance with the laws applicable in Quebec. The Austrian Society may transfer Personal Data outside of this jurisdiction as detailed in this Privacy Policy, and always in the goal of being able to offer its Activities to you. Data handled by third-party Service Providers may be transferred beyond this jurisdiction and is governed by the privacy policies of such Service Providers. The Austrian Society disclaims any responsibility for the actions or practices of third-party Service Providers 

The Austrian Society may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

• To manage your membership account: to keep your membership account up to date in our files, if you have registered as a member of the Austrian Society;
• To contact you: to contact you by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application’s push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products, or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation;
• To provide you with news and invitations regarding the Austrian Society’s Activities, such as (and without limiting the scope of the definition of Activities set out above) events, whether they are solely or jointly hosted, coordinated or organized by the Austrian Society (including regarding the annual Viennese Ball, other cultural events, the annual members assembly), as well as information regarding events the Austrian Society considers to be of particular interest to you (such as concerts, events with a connection to Austria or Austrian music or culture, events organized by organizations with which the Austrian Society has collaborated with or will collaborate with) as well as updates and information regarding members, partners, organizations, companies, or persons connected to Austria or the Austrian Society or with whom the Austrian Society has or will collaborate in the future or has the intention of collaborating with some point in time; 
• To register you to various Activities referenced in the preceding paragraph; 
• To process your payment when you buy a ticket to participate in an Austrian Society Activity; 
• To manage your requests: to attend and manage requests you may address to us;
• For other purposes: We may use your information for other internal purposes to the Austrian Society such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns, and to evaluate and improve our Activities;

We may share your personal information in the following situations:

• With Service Providers: We may share, disclose, or give access to your personal information to Service Providers that will be used by the Austrian Society in the organization, hosting, and setting up the Activities, such as outside payment processing platforms and communication platforms (such as Google ReCAPTCHA, Zeffy, MailChimp, or other such platforms);

Retention of your Personal Data

The Austrian Society will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

We consider that our Activities are of interest to you, as applicable (a) for the duration of your membership with the Austrian Society; (b) for as long as you have not requested to be unsubscribed from a newsletter or other mailing list, whichever is longer. We will keep your Personal Data for such time, and a reasonable time afterwards to monitor that we have respected our obligations towards you. 

The Austrian Society will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Website or electronic platforms or accounts, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at such places as the Austrian Society’s Activities are organized, set up, hosted, and in such other places where the parties involved in the organization, set-up, and hosting are located. Although this will mostly be in the Province of Quebec, certain of such persons are located in other jurisdictions. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of the Province of Quebec where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction. This will mostly be in Europe, where your Personal Data will be governed by GDRP, however may also be towards other jurisdictions. 

The Austrian Society will take all steps required by Quebec law to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Delete your Personal Data

You may update, amend, or delete your information at any time by contacting us. You may also contact us to request access to, correct, or delete any personal information that you have provided to us.

Please note, however, that we may need to retain certain information when we have a legal obligation or lawful basis to do so.

Disclosure of your Personal Data

Legally required disclosure

Under certain circumstances, the Austrian Society may be required to disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law.

Security of your Personal Data

The security of your Personal Data is important to us, however no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is completely secure and without risk. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. Consequently, by participating in our Activities, you accept such risk. 

Children’s privacy

Our Activities are addressed to adults. Participants may bring their children to certain events, always under their supervision and guardianship. Certain programs we have (such as the Debutante and Cavalier program) are addressed to youth over 16 years old. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from or relating to anyone under the age of 14. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child under 14 has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children under the age of 14 without verification of parental consent, we will take the necessary steps to remove that information from our servers.

Links to other websites

Our Website or other online communications may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time.

We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, you can contact our Data Protection Officer Monica Schirdewahn.

• By email: info@austriainmontreal.com
• By visiting this page on our website and sending a message: https://austriainmontreal.com/contact 
• By phone number: 1-800-304-0193