Privacy policy.

Who we are

This policy explains how Gingras Psy, the psychology practice of Dr. Gingras ([Legal name of the practice — to confirm]), collects, uses, shares and protects personal information through this website.

It reflects the laws that apply to the practice in Ontario and Québec: the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) and Québec’s Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, as amended by Law 25.

Clinical records created once you become a client aren’t covered here. They are governed by the consent and confidentiality information you receive at your first appointment, and by the record-keeping rules of the profession.

Person in charge of personal information

Dr. Gingras is the person in charge of the protection of personal information for the practice. You can contact Dr. Gingras with any question, request or complaint about this policy:

• Email: [Professional email]
• Mail: [Mailing address — to confirm]

What we collect

We collect only what we need to reply to you.

• Through the consultation request form: your name, email address, phone number (optional) and the message you write.
• When you choose a region: your choice of Ontario or Québec, saved in a preference cookie on your device.
• When you visit: the technical information your browser sends with every request, such as your IP address, browser type and the pages requested. Our hosting provider processes it to deliver and secure the site.

Please don’t include detailed health information in the form. You can discuss it in person, in a confidential setting.

How we use it

• To read and reply to your consultation request and arrange a time to talk.
• To show the site for the region you’re in or have chosen, and the services available there.
• To keep the website running and secure.

Your IP address is used to estimate your province when a page loads. That estimate isn’t stored or logged by the website.

We don’t use your information for marketing, we don’t build profiles, and we never sell or rent it.

Consent

When you send the form and check the consent box, you agree that your contact details will be used only to respond to your request.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by writing to the person in charge. We will then stop using your information and delete it, unless the law requires us to keep it.

Cookies and tracking

The website uses a single first-party cookie, gp_region, which remembers the region you chose for one year. It is strictly functional and is set only when you make that choice.

There are no analytics, advertising or social media trackers on this site. Fonts are served from our own servers, so your visit isn’t shared with font providers.

Sharing and service providers

We share personal information only with the service providers who help us run the website and our correspondence, under agreements that require them to protect it and use it only for that purpose:

• Website hosting: Vercel Inc. (United States).
• Email: [Email provider — to confirm].

Some of these providers store or process information outside Québec and Canada. Before any such transfer, we assess whether the information will be adequately protected, as Québec law requires. Information held in another country may be subject to that country’s laws.

We may also disclose information where the law requires or allows it, for example in response to a court order or to prevent serious and imminent harm.

How long we keep it

A consultation request that doesn’t lead to services is kept for [retention period — to confirm], then securely deleted.

If you become a client, your information becomes part of your clinical record and is kept for the period that professional rules require.

Security

We use administrative, technical and physical safeguards suited to the sensitivity of the information: encrypted connections (HTTPS), restricted access, and providers with recognized security practices.

No transmission over the internet is entirely secure. That is one reason we ask you not to send detailed health information by form or email.

If a confidentiality incident presents a risk of serious harm, we will notify the people concerned and the competent authority, and record the incident in a register, as the law requires.

Your rights

Subject to the exceptions set out in the law, you can:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• have it corrected if it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date;
• withdraw your consent to its use;
• ask that it be deleted;
• receive the information you provided in a commonly used technological format.

Send your request in writing to the person in charge. We will reply within 30 days. Access is free, apart from reasonable fees for transcription or reproduction where the law allows them.

Questions and complaints

Please contact the person in charge first; we will do our best to resolve your concern. If you aren’t satisfied with the answer, you can contact the authority that oversees privacy where you live:

• Québec: Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (cai.gouv.qc.ca).
• Ontario: Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (ipc.on.ca), for personal health information.
• Elsewhere in Canada: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca).

Minors

Personal information about a minor under 14 may be collected only with the consent of a parent or guardian. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our practices or the law change. The date at the top of this page shows the current version, and significant changes will be announced here.