Créativité Québec Privacy Policy

Scope and privacy officer

This policy describes how Créativité Québec collects, uses, discloses, retains and protects personal information. It applies to the website, forms, communications, events, programs and digital services operated by Créativité Québec.

Some programs or platforms may come with a more specific privacy notice, in particular when they process progress data, portfolios, assessments, video evidence, IMPACT data or analyses assisted by artificial intelligence. Where there is a difference, the specific notice prevails for the processing it describes.

Third-party sites and services reached through external links are governed by their own policies.

In this policy, "Créativité Québec", "CQ" and "we" refer to Créativité Québec inc. Within Créativité Québec, access to personal information is limited, on a need-to-know basis, to people responsible for the relevant program or service, administration and, where necessary, technical support. Access is granted according to each person's duties and appropriate authorizations.

Privacy officer

Créativité Québec inc.

Title: Vice-President

Name: Cyril Cosenza

Email: info@creativite.quebec

Mailing address: Montréal, Québec

Website: www.creativite.quebec

Information we collect

The information collected depends on your relationship with Créativité Québec and on the activity concerned.

Identification and contact: name, email, phone, address when necessary, city or region, preferred language.
School, organization or role: institution, organization, position, grade level, group, club or team.
Participation: registrations, attendance, activity choices, authorizations, logistical needs, emergency contacts when required, feedback and creative work.
Technical data: IP address, browser, device, technical logs, pages viewed and preferences.
Transactional information: billing, tickets, purchases or paid registrations. Full payment card data is normally handled by a specialized provider and is not retained by Créativité Québec.
Sensitive information: accessibility needs, allergies, health information or support measures. It is collected only when necessary, with adapted safeguards and, where required, express consent.

This information may come directly from you, from a parent or representative, from an authorized school or organization, automatically through use of a service, or from a provider acting on our behalf.

Use and consent

We use personal information for specific and legitimate purposes:

responding to questions and requests;
managing registrations, programs, events and partnerships;
communicating practical information and next steps;
ensuring the safety, accessibility and support of participants;
administering accounts, portfolios, submissions and feedback where the service provides for it;
managing billing, payments and accounting records;
improving our services and understanding how they are used;
documenting impact, preferably using aggregated or anonymized data;
meeting our legal obligations and protecting people's rights.

We do not use personal information for a new purpose incompatible with the stated purposes without obtaining the required consent or relying on an applicable legal basis.

Consent and choices

Where consent is required, it must be free, informed and given for specific purposes. You may decline to provide information that is not necessary; where information is genuinely necessary, we explain the consequences of a refusal. You may withdraw consent for the future where applicable. As far as possible, the newsletter, non-essential cookies and photo or video authorizations are managed separately from participation.

Website, cookies and communications

Essential cookies

They support the operation of the site, security, navigation, session management and your saved preferences. They generally cannot be disabled without affecting some features.

Non-essential cookies and services

Some measurement tools or embedded services may collect data according to the privacy choices offered. External content, such as videos, may use the technologies of its own providers when you interact with it.

Managing your choices

You can use the site's consent mechanism, where offered, as well as your browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may limit some features.

The newsletter service currently used is Mailchimp. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in each message. Filling out a contact form or taking part in an activity does not automatically subscribe you to the newsletter.

Providers and processing outside Québec

We may entrust certain functions to providers acting on our behalf: hosting and digital infrastructure, forms, communications, newsletter, ticketing, payments, accounting, video, technical support, analytics, and research or reporting where appropriate. Their access is limited to what the mandate requires and framed by suitable confidentiality and security obligations.

Information may be disclosed: with your consent; where necessary for an announced activity or service; where the law permits or requires it; to protect a person or manage an incident; or as part of certain organizational operations, subject to appropriate safeguards.

What we do not do

Créativité Québec does not sell personal information and does not rent its contact lists to third parties for marketing purposes.

Processing outside Québec

Some providers may process or store information outside Québec or Canada. Before disclosing personal information outside Québec or entrusting its processing to a provider located outside Québec, Créativité Québec applies the assessments and safeguards required by law, taking into account factors such as the sensitivity of the information, the purposes of the processing and the applicable contractual commitments. When information is processed in another jurisdiction, it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction.

Young people, photos and creative work

Because youth are at the heart of our mission, we apply reinforced principles when information concerns minors: data minimization, age-appropriate language, limited access, separation of consents where possible, human supervision and heightened protection of sensitive information.

In Québec, personal information concerning a minor under 14 generally cannot be collected directly from that minor without the consent of the person having parental authority or the tutor, except where the collection is clearly for the minor's benefit. For a minor aged 14 or over, consent may be given by the minor, the parent or the tutor, depending on the context and applicable rules.

A school or partner organization may help gather authorizations. This does not relieve Créativité Québec of its own obligations.

Our commitments to young people

We do not collect more information than necessary.
We do not sell their information.
We do not use it for targeted behavioural advertising.
We separate participation from public distribution as much as possible.
We do not let artificial intelligence decide alone on an opportunity, a level or a selection.

In plain language for young people

We collect only the information needed to run the experience, support you and protect your participation. You can ask questions. You or your parent can ask us to correct certain information and, depending on the context, to remove it.

Photos, videos and creative work

Uses that are necessary for the activity are not automatically the same as promotional, media, research or public distribution uses. Where required, a separate authorization specifies the type of content, the media, the scope, the duration and how to withdraw. For a minor, the appropriate authorization is obtained according to age and applicable law.

Withdrawing an authorization generally applies going forward: content already published, printed or reused by a third party may be difficult to remove completely, but we take reasonable steps in the channels we control.

Privacy, image rights and intellectual property in creative work are three distinct matters. Intellectual property rules are set out in the program or challenge terms.

Artificial intelligence

Créativité Québec may use artificial intelligence tools to support certain tasks: organizing content, summarizing responses, extracting elements, suggesting feedback, detecting errors or producing preliminary analyses.

These tools are used under human supervision, with safeguards proportionate to the sensitivity of the information. We seek to limit the identifying information sent to these tools and to avoid using sensitive information in unapproved services.

Créativité Québec does not make important decisions about a person solely on the basis of automated processing. Artificial intelligence tools are used under human supervision and do not replace human judgment in such decisions.

Results produced by artificial intelligence may be inaccurate or incomplete and do not replace professional, educational or human judgment.

Retention, security and incidents

Retention

We keep information only for as long as necessary for the stated purposes, taking into account applicable legal, contractual and accounting obligations. Once the purposes are fulfilled, information is securely destroyed or anonymized. Anonymization aims to make re-identification impossible in practice; simple de-identification does not have the same effect. Backup copies may persist for a time before being overwritten according to technical cycles.

Security

Our measures include:

limiting access on a need-to-know basis;
authentication and account management;
encryption where applicable;
backups and monitoring;
confidentiality obligations and internal procedures.

No security measure eliminates all risk. We review our practices as activities, technologies and risks evolve.

Incidents

A confidentiality incident may involve unauthorized access, use or disclosure, or the loss of information. In the event of an incident, we analyze the situation, seek to limit the consequences, document the facts and take steps to prevent recurrence.

Where the applicable legal conditions are met, we promptly inform the individuals concerned as well as the Commission d'accès à l'information or the competent authority.

Your rights, requests and complaints

Subject to the conditions and exceptions provided by law, you may:

find out whether we hold personal information about you;
request access to that information and obtain a copy;
request the correction of inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous information;
withdraw consent for the future where applicable;
obtain certain information about our practices, retention periods and the contact details of the privacy officer;
request, where the right applies, certain information in a structured, commonly used technological format;
file a complaint about our practices.

We may ask for reasonable information to verify your identity. A request concerning a minor may require verification of the authority of the person acting on their behalf. Some rights may be limited by law.

Requests and complaints

Requests and complaints must be sent to the privacy officer (see section 10). We respond within the applicable timelines and explain the reasons for a refusal where required. If you are not satisfied with how your request was handled, you may contact the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec or the competent authority in your jurisdiction.

Contact us