Privacy Policy
Policy Statement
The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, doing business as the Ontario Cannabis Store (“OCS”) is committed to protecting the privacy of its customers, in accordance with Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”).
OCS is responsible for protection of personal information in its custody or under its control. This Policy describes key principles and practices followed by OCS with respect to its collection, use, disclosure, retention and disposal of personal information.
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual in their personal capacity. It reveals something of a personal nature about the individual, and it could reasonably identify the individual if disclosed (either on its own, or in combination with other information). Examples of your personal information include your name, address, date of birth, email address, telephone number, transaction details, personal views or opinions or social media user identification.
Statutory Authority for Collecting Personal Information
The Ontario government has established OCS as the province’s exclusive legal online retailer for the sale of recreational cannabis under the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation Act, 2017, S.O. 2017.
What Personal Information Do We Collect and Why?
OCS typically collects personal information from customers online, and may also collect information over the telephone or by mail.
Other than as permitted or required by law, OCS will inform you of the purposes for which we collect and use personal information in a notice of collection.
Generally, we collect and use personal information:
- to process, verify, and deliver your orders;
- to communicate with you regarding services you have requested;
- to receive and respond to your inquiries;
- to meet legal and regulatory requirements;
- to track and analyze trends and patterns;
- to create aggregated information that does not allow you to be personally identified or contacted; and
- to promote social responsibility and support research.
The most common situations in which we collect and use your personal information are set out below.
Visiting the OCS Website
Every time you visit the OCS website, you are asked to enter your date of birth to confirm you are 19 years of age or older to legally access the website’s content.Your date of birth is not used for other purposes, or kept or stored by OCS after you close your browser session.
Product Purchase and Delivery
When you order products from the OCS website, you are required to provide your name, address, email, telephone number and payment card information. This information is used to process transactions, to verify your identity, to deliver and return products, to issue refunds, and to protect against error or fraud.
At delivery, you may be asked to present valid government photo identification to confirm that you are of legal age. If picking up from a delivery depot, you will also be asked to verify that you are someone who is authorized to pick up the package. When requested, identification is viewed, but not recorded. In all cases, the name and signature of the person accepting the package will be recorded as confirmation that the delivery has been received.
Product Complaints and Returns
All returns are subject to the OCS return policy. If you contact us for a refund, or to register a complaint about a product you purchased from OCS, the personal information from your original order will be used.
OCS will need to collect details of your reason for return, for product quality assurance and customer care purposes, and to protect against fraud. Certain product quality issues are subject to Health Canada’s cannabis or consumer product regulations, which require us to report complaint details to suppliers and/or Health Canada. In these cases, OCS does not share your personal information with Health Canada unless Health Canada specifically requests it from us for the purpose of following up directly with you. OCS will not share your personal information with a supplier unless you give us your express consent to do so. Your consent, if given, will allow the supplier to contact you in the event they need more information to investigate the issue. Alternatively, you may choose to contact the supplier yourself.
Public Enquiries and Customer Care
When you contact OCS with a comment, question or complaint we may need to record information in order to respond to you appropriately, including details of your enquiry, your name, and your preferred method(s) of contact (such as your mailing address, phone number or email address).
Call Recording
We may monitor and/or record telephone discussions when you call OCS, to evaluate customer service, for training purposes, and to confirm our discussions with you.
Service Providers Acting on OCS’s Behalf
Personal information will be provided to our service providers in order to fulfill services you have requested, such as delivery of products you have ordered from us, and for no other purposes. Our service providers may not otherwise use OCS personal information, and are required to comply with strict privacy standards.
How is Your Personal Information Secured and Protected?
In some cases, personal information may be stored outside of Canada. In exceptional circumstances your personal information may be available to government authorities under lawful orders and laws applicable in the relevant jurisdictions.
Please be aware, however, that no transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure since "perfect security" does not exist on the Internet. Consequently, OCS does not represent, warrant, covenant or guarantee the complete security of the personal information you provide to OCS.
Social Media
OCS may use accounts on social media platforms to provide the public with education or information.
OCS social media accounts are publicly accessible, and your posts, comments, replies to and mentions of OCS may be publicly visible, depending on your privacy settings.
Your privacy and the retention of information on social media accounts are governed by the privacy policies of the parties that operate these social networks.
Some social media platforms may allow you to control the information you make available to OCS and others. Users should review privacy policies and terms and conditions of the parties that operate these platforms prior to deciding to participate.
OCS does not have any control over such platforms, and therefore we have no responsibility or liability for the manner in which their operators collect, use, disclose, secure and otherwise treat your personal information.
OCS may collect and measure information available to us about social media activity in order to provide content that is relevant and potentially interesting to users of these social media platforms.
OCS Website Server Log Data
Each time you browse from our websites, our server automatically collects limited amounts of standard information sent by your browser. We cannot identify you from this information.
We collect the following standard types of information:
- Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the computers and mobile devices being used to access our websites;
- operating systems and the types and versions of browsers used to access our websites;
- Internet service providers used by visitors to our websites;
- dates and times users access our websites;
- pages visited; and,
- names and sizes of files requested.
OCS Website Cookies
When you visit our websites, a small data file called a cookie is sent to your computer and/or mobile device to save and retrieve information about your visit to our websites. Cookies reside in your internet browser and are generally used to make it more convenient to use our websites, such as by remembering preferences and previous activity.
We may use either or both types of cookies: persistent and session. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit certain websites, while session cookies expire when you close your browser. Session cookies facilitate your use and navigation of our websites, while persistent cookies identify your browser and IP address, but do not collect personal information.
Users can control and refuse to accept cookies from our websites at the individual browser. Some browsers can be set to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when you receive cookies. If you choose to modify your browser’s settings, some pages of the website may not function properly. Please consult your browser's Help menu for instructions.
Use of OCS Website Data
We use cookies and server log data to analyze operational trends and performance; and for statistical purposes and for ways to improve all of our websites.
In addition, we use web analytics services, including Google Analytics, to help us understand how people use the site.
Cookies allow web analytics services to recognize your browser or device and, for example, identify whether you have visited our websites before, what you have previously viewed or clicked on, and how you found us. The information is anonymous and only used for statistical purposes. It helps us to analyze patterns of user activity and to develop a better user experience. The web analytics service does not allow us or our analytics service providers to identify individuals.
You can find more information about how Google Analytics collects and processes data at the following link: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
You can opt out of analytics activity by setting your browser to refuse to accept cookies from our websites. Please see the “OCS Website Cookies” section of this Policy. Google also offers a free Google Analytics opt-out tool for certain browsers. However, the browser deactivation add-on offered by Google Analytics does not prevent information from being transmitted to us (please see the “OCS Website Server Log Data” section of this Policy). You can find additional information on how to install the browser add-on at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en
Third-Party Websites and Links
Our websites may contain links to other sites that we do not own or operate. We provide links to third party websites as a convenience to the user. We are not responsible for the content and the privacy practices of sites other than our own. We encourage you to examine each site’s privacy policy and disclaimers and to make your own decisions regarding the accuracy, reliability and completeness of material and information found there.
Accuracy and Retention of Personal Information
OCS will make reasonable efforts to ensure your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Please contact the OCS Call Centre at 1-888-910-0627 to update your personal information, if needed.
OCS will keep your personal information for as long as necessary for identified purposes or as required by law, which may extend beyond the termination of our relationship with you.
Changes to this Customer Privacy Policy
OCS has the discretion to update this Policy at any time. When we do, we will post the revised policy on the OCS website and the last updated date at the bottom of this page. We encourage users to regularly check this page for any changes to stay informed about how we are handling and protecting the personal information we collect.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions or concerns about the privacy of your personal information, or wish to make a request for general records, one’s own personal information, or a correction to one’s own personal information, held by us, click here.
Research Data Request
The Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) accepts data requests for aggregate data for research purposes for researchers, institutions and government organizations. For more information on the data request process and to download the data request form, click here.
Last revised on August 17, 2023
