Last updated: November 14, 2023
This policy records the measures and practices that ROBERT WISEMAN INC (the “broker” or “we” or “us” or “our”) has in place to govern its management of personal information and to safeguard the personal data of its clients. The latter are defined as individuals whose personal information the broker collects through direct or indirect interaction with an authorized representative of the broker or through the https://rwiseman.com/fr/ website, (the Website) (the Clients or you). The objectives of this policy are explained in Section 4 below.
In this document, the term personal information refers to any data collected by the broker that allows, alone or in combination with other data, to directly or indirectly identify a Client.
The main purpose of this policy is to inform customers:
- the methods used by the broker to obtain personal information;
- what types of personal information are collected by the broker and for what purpose that collection is made;
- how the broker may use the personal information and to whom it may disclose it;
- the rights you have in relation to the personal information collected by the broker, such as access to your personal information or to request rectification of inaccurate personal information, if applicable;
- the various security arrangements established for the broker to maintain the confidentiality of personal information;
- regarding the retention, destruction and/or anonymization of personal data, as well as how to contact the broker to ask questions, share comments or file a complaint in connection with this policy.
By providing personal information to the broker through direct or indirect interaction with an authorized representative of the broker or through your use of the website, you agree that the broker may collect, use, disclose and retain such information in accordance with the terms set forth in this policy.
The Broker reserves the right to change the terms, conditions and conditions of this policy at any time in its sole discretion. By using the Services (as defined in Section 4 below) after receiving this version, you expressly accept all changes made.
This current Policy and any amended version are subject to the law in force in the province of Quebec.
1. How does the broker collect personal information?
The broker collects personal information in the following ways: (i) when individuals voluntarily provide such information to an employee or authorized representative of the broker in writing, by email or verbally, (ii) the information we collect from other companies and public bodies (including companies in the RE/MAX group with which the broker is affiliated) during your use of the Website.
Personal information provided when using the Website may be transmitted either directly (e.g. via an online form or email) or automatically (see the list of personal information collected automatically in Section 3).
2. What personal information does the broker collect?
The personal information that the broker may collect is as follows:
- Your surname, first name and contact details (postal address, e-mail address, telephone number);
- Your date of birth, gender and preferred language;
- Personal information necessary for the broker and its authorized representatives to verify your identity and that of others in accordance with current legislation in the field of real estate brokerage, including in the field of real estate brokerage (including the Real Estate Brokerage Act (CQLR, c. C-73.2) and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (S.C. 2000, c. 17) as well as their respective regulations):
- Your main occupation or job,
- A genuine, valid, and up-to-date government-issued photo ID.
- A document from a trusted source that includes your name and address, a document from a trusted source that includes your name and date of birth, and a document that contains your name and confirmation that you have a deposit account, a prepaid payment account or a credit card or other loan account with a financial institution;
- Your Canadian nationality or residency;
- Personal information that you provide to us in the course of performing the Services (as defined in Section 4 below) that could be considered sensitive data, including:
- Information about your real estate purchase project; and
- financial information needed to conduct credit checks and collect deposits and payments (credit card number, mortgage approval, tax slips, credit inquiry report, etc.);
- Interactions and communication history with us, including call recordings, chat sessions, and instant messaging conversations, including through our social media platforms;
- Personal information you create while using our services (complaints, inquiries, reviews, comments, and survey responses);
- Personal information provided when applying for employment or recruitment with the broker (such as curriculum vitae, details of education, work experience, and professional affiliations);
- Personal data that you are required to provide or are asked to provide to the broker due to your relationship with the broker (for example, if you are a director or employee of the broker: social insurance number for employees and financial information for employees, photos of employees for publication on the website, and identification documents for each director of the broker in accordance with the law mainly aimed at improving corporate transparency);
Personal data collected automatically during your use of the Website (see section 3).
3. To ensure the proper functioning of the website and to achieve the purposes related to the personal information listed below, the broker must automatically collect or via cookies the personal information of customers visiting the website:
- The domain of their Internet Service Provider;
- Their IP address;
- Their browser (Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.) and operating system (Windows, Mac OS, etc.);
- The date and time of their visit;
- Their country of origin;
- The pages viewed and the duration of the visit;
- The address of the referring site; and
- Crash data.
As soon as a customer logs in to the website, all this data is collected automatically. Some of this personal information is obtained by placing cookies or temporary web beacons. These files or tags are also used to improve the performance of the website and some of its features.
4. Why does the broker collect personal information?
The broker collects your personal information for the purpose of:
- To provide support, information, recommendations and resources related to the real estate transactions you would like us to carry out (collectively referred to as the Services);
- Carry out real estate transactions and receive remuneration for our services;
- Comply with applicable laws and regulations;
- When using the Services, the broker sends notifications and alerts to provide you with specific information. To do this, it uses profiling technology that must be activated by the customer on the website.
- Assess your eligibility for programs such as Tranquilli-T (https://www.tranquilli-t.com/index_en.html,), Integri-T (https://www.garantie-integri-t.com) and Key Program (https://quebec.programmecleremax.com/en) to benefit from savings and protection against latent defects when purchasing your property.
- Generally, we want to get in touch with you to provide you with various information about our services and offer you products or services that may be of interest to you;
- Conduct regular check-ins to ensure your satisfaction with the provision of the Services;
- Promote the development, improvement and promotion of the Services by producing and disseminating anonymized statistical data based on the personal information of various customers;
- Measure the impact of the broker’s strategies to attract traffic to the Website;
- Determine the data provided by the broker and the actions taken that captivate the attention of visitors to its website;
- Determine what actions taken by our partner sites have led to visitor acquisition;
- Optimize the effectiveness of the Website in attracting and retaining visitors;
- Determine the legislation governing the protection of visitors’ personal information; and
- If necessary, the broker will review your application for employment or employment.
Unless otherwise provided by law, the broker will seek your consent before using your personal information for purposes other than those listed above.
5. With whom might the broker share your personal information?
As a general rule, the broker uses its clients’ personal information only for internal purposes. However, it may share this information with the following persons or entities:
- Employees and delegates who require access to personal information to fulfill the purposes set out in Section 4 above;
- To external service providers with whom the broker has signed a contractual agreement obliging the relevant external service provider to implement appropriate measures:
- Ensure the confidentiality of the personal information shared;
- Ensure that the personal information shared is used exclusively in the course of providing the services it is responsible for performing on behalf of the broker;
- Ensure that the personal information shared is not retained beyond the conclusion of the contract mentioned;
- Immediately notify the broker of any breach or attempted breach by an individual of any obligation related to the confidentiality of the personal information transmitted, and
- Authorize the broker to conduct any verification regarding the confidentiality of personal information shared. For example, the service provider responsible for hosting and maintaining the website may access personal information in the specific context of performing its services under a contractual agreement with the broker;
- To entities that are part of the RE/MAX group with which the broker is affiliated (RE/MAX Québec Inc., Fonds promotionnel RE/MAX Inc., National Relocation Services (RELONAT) Inc. and RE/MAX, LLC (Denver, CO)), to the extent required to enable the broker to meet its contractual and legal commitments;
- to any other person or entity, in accordance with the requirements or authorizations of applicable law, or with the consent of the relevant Customer.
In order to fulfill the purposes set out above, the broker may share your personal information outside of Quebec. However, this will only be done after a Privacy Impact Assessment confirms that the receiving party can ensure adequate protection of the information, consistent with generally accepted principles of privacy. In such situations, the broker enters into a contract with the entity receiving your personal information, obliging it to comply with various conditions ensuring the protection of your data, including, but not limited to, all the conditions set out in Section 5 previously mentioned.
6. What measures does the broker take to ensure the confidentiality of your personal information?
The broker implements adequate physical, technological, and administrative safeguards to secure your personal information and reduce the risk of unauthorized and/or unlawful access, use, disclosure, and destruction.
Without limiting the scope of the above, the broker will:
- Checks the identity and criminal records of all its employees and representatives;
- asks each of them who has access to personal information to sign a confidentiality agreement;
- implements access control restricting access to personal information to only those employees and authorized representatives who have a need to know; stores personal information on physical media held in locked premises accessible only by authorized broker personnel; and
- Stores personal information on a secure technological medium, namely the information system provided by the Electronic Document Management Providers.
This system is equipped with an identification and authentication system designed to restrict access to your personal information to authorized individuals who require such access to fulfill the purposes listed in Section 4 above.
In addition, specific security mechanisms are built into the Website to ensure the protection of your personal information, including:
- All communication between RE/MAX’s servers and users’ devices is encrypted;
- All user passwords are encrypted;
- Every communication between RE/MAX’s servers and users’ devices is encrypted. Similarly, users’ passwords are also subject to encryption. The broker’s IT service provider is obliged to comply with various security obligations, such as periodic assessments of security practices and processes, as well as constant monitoring of the software components of the Website and their updates.
7. How does the broker respond in the event of a confidentiality incident?
The broker maintains a register of confidentiality incidents in accordance with applicable legislation. If an incident poses a serious risk of harm, the broker will take the necessary steps to inform you, in accordance with the legislation. The risk assessment takes into account the sensitivity of the information in question, the anticipated consequences of its use, and the likelihood of harmful use.
8. How long is your personal information retained?
The broker retains your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected listed in Section 4, and in accordance with applicable legal requirements. Once this period has elapsed, your information is disposed of in a secure manner.
The broker reserves the right to close a client’s file once the real estate transaction process has been completed, or in the case of employees, after a continuous period of at least seven (7) years from the end of employment, subject to statutory obligations providing for different retention periods. The closure of a file results in the complete and permanent destruction of the personal information it contains, or its anonymization for serious and legitimate purposes. For files of clients who are not employees or representatives of the broker, the destruction or anonymization of personal information generally occurs after six (6) years from the date of closure of the file, in accordance with legislated retention periods.
In this Policy, the term “anonymization” refers to the process by which personal information becomes irreversibly unable to directly or indirectly identify the customer with whom it is associated.
9. How can you verify, correct, update and/or obtain a copy of your personal information?
The broker acknowledges the right of its Clients to access, correct, update, and obtain a copy of their personal information by submitting a written request to the broker using the contact information provided in Section 13 below. In the event of such a written request being sent to the broker, the broker must, in accordance with the Act, verify your identity and respond in writing within a maximum period of thirty (30) days from receipt of the said request. Any request that is not processed within this period shall be deemed to have been refused.
A request to rectify personal information will be granted in certain circumstances, including:
- The personal data is inaccurate;
- Personal data is outdated;
- Personal data is ambiguous;
- Personal data is incomplete; or
- The personal data was collected in an unjustified manner.
If the broker accepts a client’s request for a copy of the computerized personal information, it will ensure that the copy is provided in a structured and commonly used technological format, either directly to the client or to any person or body authorized by law to receive such information. However, this provision does not apply if disclosure in this format poses serious practical difficulties, or with respect to computerized personal information created or inferred from other personal information.
If the broker refuses to respond to a request for access, rectification or update made by a client, it must explain the reasons for this refusal and inform the Client of the remedies available as well as the time limit for exercising them. If requested by the Client, the broker shall also provide assistance to assist the Client in understanding the reasons for the refusal.
If a client sends a written request to the broker to this effect, the broker may stop disseminating personal information about him or her and/or remove or re-establish the hyperlinks associated with his or her name, depending on the criteria established by the legislation in force at the time.
In theory, there should be no charge for a customer’s use of a right set out in this section. However, a reasonable fee may be charged to the relevant customer to cover the costs of transcribing, reproducing or transmitting their personal information. In this case, the customer will be informed of the amount of the fee before their request is processed.
10. How can you withdraw your consent to the use or disclosure of your personal information?
Provided that you comply with your contractual obligations towards the broker and applicable law, you have the option to revoke or modify your consent to the use or disclosure of your personal data. To do so, please submit a written request to the broker, the contact information provided in section 13 below.
Please take into consideration that withdrawing or changing your consent may affect the broker’s ability to effectively use the personal information collected in accordance with Section 4 of the current Policy, and thus impact our services to you.
11. How do I file a complaint?
Please feel free to submit any concerns you may have about our privacy practices, practices and policies by sending a letter to our Privacy Officer, whose contact information is set out in Section 14 of this Policy.
Any report will be handled directly by our Data Protection Officer. A response will be sent to you within 30 days of receipt of the report. If the report is accepted, you will be provided with a brief summary of the actions taken in response to it.
If you are not satisfied with the processing of your complaint, you can also contact the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec. You can file a written complaint with the Commission at the following link: https://www.cai.gouv.qc.ca/diffusion-de-linformation/services-et-formulaires/.
12. The security of your personal information is a priority for all entities affiliated with Groupe RE/MAX Québec inc.
To learn more about how other entities of Groupe RE/MAX Québec inc. handle your personal information, we encourage you to consult the privacy policy of each of these entities:
- RE/MAX Québec Inc. can be consulted on https://www.remax-quebec.com/fr/politique-confidentialite for its privacy policy.
- To receive a copy of the RE/MAX Promotional Fund Inc. Privacy Policy, please request one.
- The Privacy Policy of National Relocation Services (RELONAT) Inc. is available on https://www.relonat.com/confidentialite.
13. The broker is not responsible for, and has no obligation to, any Third Party Products.
The Website may contain links to other websites or third-party products and services (collectively referred to as Third-Party Products). These Third-Party Products may be subject to different terms of use and privacy policy than the broker. The broker cannot be held responsible or be obligated by the content of the terms of use and/or privacy policy of these Third Party Products. In addition, the broker disclaims any responsibility or liability for your personal information that may be collected, used, disclosed or retained by any person or entity in connection with your access to or use of the Third-Party Products.
No link on the Website to a Third-Party Product implies that the broker endorses or assumes responsibility for the content or use of such Third-Party Product. The broker makes no warranty as to the quality, safety, suitability or reliability of the Third Party Products, or the content or materials contained therein. Before accessing or using any Third-Party Products, it is recommended that you review their terms of use and privacy policy.
14. How do I contact the broker’s Privacy Officer?
We take care of the management of your personal information. For example, we have appointed a data protection officer within our broker. If you wish to exercise any of your rights, ask questions, make comments or make a complaint about our policy or the processing of your personal data, please contact that person using the contact details provided.
It is important to note that the broker must first verify your identity before processing any requests, questions, comments, or complaints addressed to its Privacy Officer:
PERSONAL DATA SECURITY OFFICER:
Robert Wiseman 514-630-7324