Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the website of the Gastrointestinal Society and the Canadian Society of Intestinal Research (collectively referred to here as "GI Society"). Please review the following pages carefully. By visiting www.badgut.org and badgutgolfmarathon.wordpress.com (collectively referred to here as "www.badgut.org") you agree to accept the policy outlined below.

Personal Information

Personal information is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify, or contact a specific individual. The GI Society keeps personal information gathered in confidence. The GI Society personnel are only authorized to access personal information based on their need to deal with the information for the reason(s) for which it was obtained. Safeguards are in place to ensure that the information is not disclosed or shared more widely than is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was gathered. We also take measures to ensure the integrity of this information is maintained and to prevent its being lost or destroyed. Personal, identifiable information of users will not be sold or otherwise transferred to unaffiliated third parties without the user's prior consent. We only collect personal identifying information when it is knowingly provided by visitors to our site.

Personal information can include, but is not limited to, salutation, first and last name, street address, city, province or state, postal or zip code, country, telephone number, e-mail address, fax, and other contact information. When specific forms or applications are submitted to the GI Society, we may request further distinguishing information including, but not limited to, personal references, employers, areas of interest, diagnosis, and opinions or beliefs. Exceptions: business contact information and certain publicly available information, such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers as published in telephone directories, are not considered personal information. Where an individual uses his or her home contact information as business contact information as well, the GI Society considers that the contact information provided is business contact information, and is not therefore subject to protection as personal information.

You do not need to give personal information to receive information from this site. There are instances online, however, when the GI Society requests individually identifiable information from you. Please note that we give our website visitors options wherever necessary and practical to not provide information, such as choosing not to provide certain personal details when completing donations, forms, or registration features. As well, individuals can choose not to receive potential/further communications from the GI Society. (See below for details on preventing/canceling communications from the GI Society.)

The GI Society uses personal information in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, issuing tax receipts where applicable, updating users on the GI Society and its events, guiding development of new features and services relevant to www.badgut.org users, providing advertisers with summary (never individual) information about our website's overall usage patterns, and processing your credit card information during an online donation/transaction.

The GI Society may contact individuals with further communications on a variety of topics by mail, telephone, or e-mail. If you do not wish to be contacted or would like to be removed from our current database, we will honour this request. Simply contact us by mail at the Gastrointestinal Society, 855 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9 Canada, by phone at 604-875-4875 (toll-free 1-866-600-4875), by fax at 604-875-4429, or by email at info@badgut.org.

Information on Payments/Donations/Pledges

When you choose to make an online payment, donation, or pledge of any kind through www.badgut.org, we may request the following information so that we may process your transaction: a salutation, first and last name, street address, city, province or state, postal or zip code, country, telephone number, and e-mail address. Further optional information may also be requested.

We process standard credit card information (name on card, card number, card type, and expiration date) via a secure web transaction. This information is only used to process the individual payment/donation/pledge. In fact, by using our secure online site, your credit card number is never provided to GI Society personnel, but is directly processed by an agent of the credit card company via a secure site.

In the case of memorial or honour contributions, a personalized acknowledgment card is sent to a designated recipient, usually the family member of the deceased or the honouree. Therefore, we will request the name, address, city, province or state, postal or zip code, country and telephone number for your designated acknowledgment card recipient. This information is only used for the purpose of sending the acknowledgment card.

In order to satisfy the requirements of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA), we maintain records of all contributions to the GI Society. Personal information is private and confidential. Additionally, all information is stored in a secure location accessible only by authorized staff and carefully screened volunteers.

Website Security & Cookies

The GI Society uses password protocols and encryption software, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology from thawte to protect personal and other information we receive when a donation is made or a product or service is requested and/or paid for online. You should always check a site's certificate before entering any credit card information. Our software is routinely updated to maximize protection of such information. However, to take advantage of this, you must use a compatible browser.

Generally, cookies are small text files a website can use to recognize repeat users and ease your ongoing access to and use of the website. They do not come onto a user's system nor do they pose a threat to a user's files. Users should be aware that the GI Society cannot control the use of cookies by advertisers or third parties hosting data for the GI Society. Except as described herein, this site does not use information transferred through cookies for any promotional or marketing purposes, nor is that information shared with any third parties. However, if a user does not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows the user to deny or accept the cookie feature.

Aggregate information regarding overall website traffic patterns is collected by the GI Society's website. Normally, web servers collect this type of standard web server/visitor traffic information as part of their web log processes. We do not report on individual user sessions.

User Submissions

The GI Society frequently gathers and uses personal information submitted via our website (collectively referred to here as "submission/s") for various programs and initiatives. Information such as articles, remarks, suggestions, questions, correspondence, comments, creative ideas, graphics, surveys, or other information communicated to www.badgut.org, shall be treated as non-confidential.

By submitting information, you

Agree that you will not upload or transmit any submission that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any party, and
Acknowledge that by providing a submission you are granting the GI Society the right to publish, distribute, archive, and otherwise use the submission, in whole or in part, in print, electronic, or any other media, and for promotional purposes related to the GI Society's products and services, and
Represent that you have the right to authorize the GI Society to use the submission.

Anyone from whom we collect such submissions should expect that it will be carefully protected, and that any use of, or other dealing with, this submission is subject to consent.

These user submissions are assessed to improve our level of service to you. While aggregate information about user submissions may be publicized, individual data from these submissions will not be shared with other organizations.

Your submission becomes the property of the GI Society and the GI Society shall be free to use the submission on an unrestricted basis for any purpose whatsoever.