1. General
The following terminology applies to this End User Agreement:
"Client", “You” and “Your” refers to you, the person or agency accessing this website and accepting these terms and conditions either on your own behalf or on behalf of an agency, corporate or other organization.
“Ourselves”, “We” and "Us", refers to the Government of Ontario, as appropriate.
“Party”, “Parties”, or “Us”, refers to both the Client and ourselves, or either the Client or ourselves.
“Service” refers to the secure communication channel provided by the Government of Ontario Citizen Direct Secure Email system.
This End User Agreement is between You, the user of this system, and the Government of Ontario. The terms and conditions are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and are to be entered into by You in the Province of Ontario. These terms and conditions form part of the Agreement between you and the Government of Ontario. Failure of the Government of Ontario to enforce any of the provisions set out in these Terms and Conditions or failure to exercise any option to terminate shall not be construed as a waiver of such provisions and shall not affect the validity of this Agreement, or the right thereafter to enforce each and every provision.
1.1 Privacy and Confidentiality
The Government of Ontario is committed to protecting your privacy. Only authorized employees within the Government of Ontario can access or use any information communicated to the Government of Ontario by a Client using the Service.
The Government of Ontario is bound by the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act (FIPPA). Client information or records are considered confidential and therefore will not be divulged to any third party, other than if legally required to do so. Clients have the right to request access to and copies of their own records and information that are kept by the Government of Ontario. Any request for access to records will be handled within the time frame set out in FIPPA. We will not share your personal information with any third party, unless legally required to do so, or use your email address for unsolicited mail.
1.2 Availability
You are solely responsible for evaluating the fitness for a particular purpose of any downloads and text available through the secure email service. The Government of Ontario does not warrant that the Service will be timely, uninterrupted or error free, although it is provided to the best of the Government of Ontario’s ability. By using this Service you, both during and following the term of this agreement, thereby indemnify Ontario and its staff against any costs, losses, damages, judgments, claims, demands, suits, actions, complaints or other proceedings in whatever manner, howsoever caused in connection with the Service.
2. Acceptable Terms of Use
By using this Service, you agree to the terms of this Agreement and confirm that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with the Government of Ontario. You also agree to abide by the following rules:
2.1. All communications that are done via the Service should be civil and respectful and must not be malicious or designed to offend or attack another individual's character;
2.2. You will not communicate any content that you do not own or that you do not have the necessary rights in to grant to the Government of Ontario the right to use the content in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to this secure email service;
2.3. You will not impersonate another person or entity so as to be misleading as to the identity of the user submitting the content or the origin of the content, or falsely claim to represent a person, organization or entity;
2.4. You will not send any message or other content or links to other content that:
a. violates or infringes the rights of any other party, including, without limitation, rights of privacy, rights of publicity, copyright, trade-mark or other intellectual property right;
b. is abusive, hateful, incites hatred, racist, bigoted, sexist, harassing, threatening, inflammatory, indecent, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous, knowingly false, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, profane or otherwise objectionable or is otherwise in violation of any law, rule or regulation;
c. is for commercial purposes, including, without limitation, advertisements or solicitations; and
d. contains any software or computer files that contain a disruptive component;
2.5. You must not submit or divulge another individual's personal information without that individual's prior consent.
2.6. You will not:
a. Attempt to interfere with or disrupt the secure email service, networks or servers connected to the service or violate the regulations, policies or procedures of such networks or servers;
b. Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the secure email service, logins and passwords of others, or computer systems and networks connected to the secure email service;
c. Upload, post or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation (commercial or otherwise).
2.7. You agree not to link, "frame" or "mirror" any content or information contained on or accessible from the website through use of your login information without the prior written approval of the Government of Ontario.
3. Notification of Changes
The Government of Ontario reserves the right to change these conditions from time to time as it sees fit and your continued use of the secure email service will signify your acceptance of any amendment to these terms. If there are any changes to our privacy policy, we will notify you that these changes have been made through email notifications. Any changes to our privacy policy will be emailed to you 30 days prior to any changes taking effect and will not be amended, modified, varied or supplemented except in writing.
4. Termination of Agreement
Both the Client and Government of Ontario have the right to terminate the Agreement for any reason at any time. For our part, you will be notified via email of our intention to end this service. You will receive the notification two weeks before your access to the service is ended. You may notify your Ministry contact in writing or via email of your wish to end your use of the service.