Privacy policy.
Plain language, no fine print. Here’s what we collect, why, and how we look after it.
The short version
- We only collect what you choose to send us — for example, a message through our contact form.
- We use it to answer you and to run our programs. We never sell, rent or trade it.
- This website has no advertising. We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are helpful — it doesn’t tell us who you are.
- Asking for food support is private. Only the volunteers who help you will know.
- You can ask us to see, correct or delete what we hold about you at any time.
The Community Food Resource Network (“CFRN”, “we”, “us”) is a volunteer-run registered charity (762944130RR0001) in Caledonia, Queens County, Nova Scotia. This policy explains what personal information we collect through this website and our programs, and how we look after it.
What we collect
When you contact us
If you use our contact form, we ask for:
- your name and email address (required);
- a phone number and how you prefer to be contacted (optional);
- the topic of your message and the message itself.
If you email, phone, text or message us on Facebook instead, we receive whatever you choose to share, such as your name, contact details and your question.
When you use our programs
To arrange food support, volunteering or donations, we may ask for a name, a way to reach you and any details needed to help. We ask only for what we need.
If you register for food support, our intake form asks for details such as your name, address, phone and email, the names and dates of birth of everyone who lives in your home and whether each person has a Nova Scotia Health Card, income source, and any mobility needs, allergies or dietary restrictions. We don’t ask for health card numbers on this website; a volunteer checks the cards in person at your first pickup. The order form lists the food and household items you’d like. Completed forms go only to the volunteer who handles intake and orders, are kept private and confidential, and are not shared. If you fill out a form online, it is emailed to that volunteer and is not stored on this website.
If you apply for a community garden box online, the form asks for your name and phone number and, if you choose, your address, email and what you’d like to grow. It is emailed to the CFRN, is not stored on this website, and is used only to assign the garden beds and to contact you about the garden.
When you browse this website
We use Google Analytics to understand how people use our website — for example, how many people visit, which pages they read, roughly where they are (city or region), what kind of device and browser they use, and how they found us. This information is collected through cookies and is reported to us only as totals and trends. It does not include your name, email address or anything you type into our contact form, and we never try to identify individual visitors.
When you donate online
Online donations are processed by CanadaHelps (opens in a new tab), which issues your tax receipt. CanadaHelps shares your name and contact details with us unless you choose to give anonymously. Your payment details are handled by CanadaHelps and are never seen by the CFRN.
If you give by Interac e-Transfer, your bank shares your name, email address and any message you add with us. We use these only to thank you and, if you ask, to issue a tax receipt.
Cookies & browser storage
We keep these to a minimum: a few needed for the site to work, and the Google Analytics cookies that help us improve it.
| Name | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|
PHPSESSID (cookie) |
Set only on the contact page, the online client forms and the community garden application. It protects the forms from spam and forged submissions. | Deleted when you close your browser |
cfrn_theme (browser storage) |
Remembers whether you chose light or dark mode. It stays on your device and is never sent to us. | Until you clear your browser data |
cfrn_motion (browser storage) |
Remembers if you chose to pause the page animations. It stays on your device and is never sent to us. | Until you clear your browser data |
cfrnUserWay (browser storage) |
Set only if you open the accessibility menu. It remembers to load the menu on later pages so the settings you chose keep working. | Until you clear your browser data |
cfrn_fb (browser storage) |
Set only if you choose to show our Facebook posts on the home page, so we don't ask again. | Until you clear your browser data |
_ga (Google Analytics cookie) |
Tells visits apart so Google Analytics can count unique visitors. It uses a random number, not your name. | 2 years |
_ga_<ID> (Google Analytics cookie) |
Keeps track of your current visit (session) for our visitor statistics. | 2 years |
Like almost every website, our web host automatically keeps short-term server logs (such as IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time) to keep the site secure and working. We do not use these logs to identify visitors.
How we use it
- to reply to your questions and requests;
- to provide food support, run Muriel’s Closet, the community garden and our events;
- to organize volunteers and thank donors;
- to keep simple, anonymous totals (for example, how many households we helped) for our reports and funders;
- to see which pages are most helpful and make the website easier to use (Google Analytics).
We do not sell, rent or trade personal information, we do not use Google Analytics for advertising, and we do not add you to a mailing list unless you ask to be added.
Food support is confidential
We know reaching out can be hard. Details about anyone who receives food support are shared only with the volunteers who need them to help you, and never with other organizations without your permission — unless the law requires it.
Other services on this site
Some parts of this website are delivered by other companies. When your browser loads them, those companies may receive technical information such as your IP address:
- Google Fonts, jsDelivr and cdnjs (Cloudflare) supply the fonts, layout and icon files used on every page.
- Google Analytics (Google LLC) collects the visitor statistics described above. Google may process this information on servers outside Canada, including in the United States. You can read how Google uses it in How Google uses information from sites that use its services (opens in a new tab).
- Google Maps shows the map on our contact page.
- UserWay provides the accessibility menu (the round button at the bottom left). It is only downloaded if you click that button; after that, UserWay may store its own cookies or browser data to remember your settings. See UserWay’s privacy policy (opens in a new tab).
- Facebook provides the feed of our posts on the home page. It only loads if you choose “Show Facebook posts”; Facebook may then set its own cookies.
- Facebook and CanadaHelps are also linked from this site. Once you follow a link, their own privacy policies apply.
We do not control these services and encourage you to read their privacy policies.
How long we keep it
We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the reason it was collected, or as long as the law requires (for example, donation records for Canada Revenue Agency purposes). Then we delete or securely destroy it. Access is limited to the volunteers who need it, and we take reasonable care to protect it.
Your choices
You can ask us at any time to:
- tell you what personal information we hold about you;
- correct anything that is wrong;
- delete your information, or stop contacting you.
To stop Google Analytics from counting your visits, you can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or install Google’s Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on (opens in a new tab). The website will work just the same.
Just get in touch and we’ll respond as soon as we can. If you have a concern we can’t resolve, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (opens in a new tab).
Children
This website is meant for adults. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children through it. If you believe a child has sent us their information, please let us know and we’ll delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle personal information, we’ll update this page and the “last updated” date. This version was last updated on .
Questions?
Contact the CFRN about this policy or your information:
- Mail: Community Food Resource Network, 9868 Nova Scotia Route 8, Caledonia, NS B0T 1B0
- Email: [PLACEHOLDER – email address]
- Phone: [PLACEHOLDER – phone number]
