Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy provides information on the privacy practices for the collection, use, disclosure and retention of Personal Information if anyone chooses to use the Alberta Emergency Alert mobile app software, and any of its features and capabilities, (the “Application”) and services (the “Services”) provided by the Government of Alberta (“we”, “us”).
All information is collected in compliance with section 33 (c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act. If you choose to use the Application and Services, then you agree to the collection, use, disclosure and retention of personal information as outlined in this policy.
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time and you are advised to review this page periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective immediately after they are published on this page. You agree that you will review this policy periodically.
What personal information is collected?
In choosing to use the Application and Services, we may require you to provide us with certain personal information including:
- A unique identifier for your mobile device
- location information
- settings and preference information
The Application may collect certain information automatically, including but not limited to, the type of mobile device you use, the IP address of your device, your mobile device operating system, and information about the way you use the Application.
You can stop all collection of information by the Application by uninstalling the Application.
If you contact us for help, we may request additional information from you, and keep records and copies of that information, to assist us in helping you.
You may choose to provide a review of the Application and Services, including rating and review with an independent third party. If you choose to provide a testimonial, rating or review, we may request certain personal information from you depending on the nature of the testimonial or the independent third-party may request certain personal information, and you would be subjected to the privacy policies of those third-parties.
How is personal information used?
In general, any personal information collected is the minimum necessary to deliver emergency alerts and notifications, perform customer service and support, and provide notices of new Application and Services features and capabilities. Personal information may be used to contact you regarding administrative notices, and to troubleshoot problems.
Whenever you use the Application and Services, in the case of an Application error, data and information called Log Data may be automatically collected from your device. This Log Data may include information such as your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, device name, operating system version, the configuration of the Application when utilizing the Application and Services, the time and date of your use of the Application and Services, and other statistics.
Any Personal Information collected from you is used only for the purposes described in this privacy notice, including for purposes that are explained to you at the time the information is collected, or to improve the Application and Services. We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy.
How is your location data used?
When you use the Application, and if you provide consent when prompted, the Application may use GPS technology (or other similar technology) to determine your current location. The Application collects location data to enable the “Follow Me” feature, even when the Application is closed or not in use.
Your location data is used to support and improve the features and capabilities of the Application, including but not limited to:
- determining notification messages relevant to your location that should be sent to you,
- displaying your location on a map relative to area(s) affected by notification messages,
- describing the area of relevance in notification messages applicable to your locations, and
- measuring usage of the Application by geographic location.
If you do not want to use your location for the purposes described above, you should turn off the location services for the Application located in your device settings and turn off the “Follow Me” setting within the Application.
What personal information will be shared or disclosed to other parties?
We do not share your personal information with unaffiliated or non-agent third parties for promotional purposes. We do not sell, trade, or rent personal information to others.
However, it may be necessary to share personal information with third parties in order for the Application to perform and operate as expected and to provide Services to you. For example, we send device information to the mobile system provider’s notification services, in order to deliver targeted alert notifications.
Under such circumstances we will only transmit the information needed to fulfill the obligations and intended purpose of the Application and Services. These third parties are also bound by local, regional and national privacy laws and regulations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them. Transfers to these third parties are covered by the provisions in this Privacy Policy regarding notice and choice, as well as applicable contractual agreements.
We may disclose personal information about you as described in this Privacy Policy, including:
- To the extent required to enable you to receive notification messages.
- To fulfill the purpose for which you provided it. For example, if you opt-in to use your location, then we will collect location information to send you notifications for nearby alerts.
- To third party service providers on a need-to-know basis to support operating and maintaining the Application, and providing Services to you.
- As required by law, such as to comply with any court order, subpoena, or similar legal process, including responding to any government or regulatory request, as well as lawfully binding requests by public authorities to meet law enforcement requirements.
- If we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Province of Alberta, or to investigate fraud. However, all such disclosure shall comply with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act.
- To any other party only with your consent.
How long is personal information retained?
We will retain personal information (including geo-location data) provided by you for as long as is needed to provide the Application and Services to you. When there is no ongoing legitimate need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible. We may also retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint.
We are concerned about safeguarding the confidentiality of your information. We provide physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect the information we process and maintain. The Application is hosted exclusively in Canadian data centers to ensure compliance with data residency and applicable privacy laws and regulations.
Please be aware that, although we endeavor to provide reasonable security for information we process and maintain, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches.
How can you access your personal information?
The FOIP Act provides access to information held by public bodies which is not available by other means, and allows individuals to request correction of their own personal information that a public body holds, this is called a FOIP request. The FOIP request form is available through the MyAlberta eServices page. For more information see the Protection of Privacy.