Privacy Policy

Published April 1, 2025

FACTOR is committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information.

The following statement summarizes the privacy practices of FACTOR’s websites and explains why and how FACTOR collects and uses personal information. This policy should be read in tandem with the Terms of Use, as both documents govern your use of FACTOR’s websites.

website information

FACTOR does not automatically collect personal information. Portions of our website may be accessed anonymously. When you browse or download information from FACTOR’s websites our servers automatically collect limited amounts of standard information for traffic monitoring and statistical purposes only. This information is used by FACTOR as an administrative tool, and allows us to analyze operational trends and performance, and identify where improvements can be made. The information collected does not identify you personally and includes:

  • the Internet Protocol (IP) address
  • the operating system, browser, and device
  • the Internet Service Provider
  • the date and time of access
  • the country, city, and continent of access
  • the pages visited
  • the visit duration
  • the traffic source, including social network referrals
  • the key words entered in our search engine
  • the names and sizes of files requested

Collection and Use of Personal Information

When you visit our websites, we will not collect your personal information unless you choose to create a User Profile on our Online System. For payment transactions, FACTOR uses up-to-date security protocols to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of information and systems.

You may choose to provide us with personal information if you wish to:

  • submit an e-mail, comment, question or request or subscribe for information online;
  • apply for funding which can include conducting e-commerce transactions; or
  • provide feedback, participate in a jury.

By applying for funding from FACTOR, you are bound by the Terms of Application and the Applicant Agreement set out in FACTOR’s Business Policies. Any personal information you provide will be used to respond to your message and/or administer your application.

FACTOR requests demographic information for individuals that create User Profiles or are related to Artist and Applicant Profiles in FACTOR’s Online System. Providing this information is voluntary and has no impact on the application process. Information provided will be kept confidential and will be used for data collection and statistical purposes only.

Demographic data is vital in helping us understand who is accessing our funding, and who is not. With this knowledge, we will be better able to understand and address systemic gaps and barriers where we find them.

Demographic information may be shared in a format that maintains confidentially with stakeholders (e.g. our Diversity & Inclusion Committee) or publicly (e.g. on our website’s Diversity & Inclusion page or in our annual reports) for the purposes of understanding, addressing and reporting on systemic gaps and barriers.

FACTOR routinely publicly promotes projects funded through FACTOR programs. Demographic information may be used by FACTOR to identify projects relevant to national and international dates or events of significance (e.g. Black Music Month, Pride Month, International Women’s Day, National Indigenous Peoples Day, etc). These projects may be promoted by FACTOR in various ways related to the date or event of significance (e.g. a Spotify playlist, a feature in our newsletter, promotion on social media, etc). In order to ensure the privacy of the demographic information provided to FACTOR, FACTOR will verify that the demographic information shared is also publicly provided by the artist and may follow up with artists to opt-in where deemed necessary.

FACTOR may invite individuals to relevant events based on personal information provided (e.g. an information session on FACTOR programs happening in a particular location or for a particular demographic group). You may choose to opt-out of these sorts of invitations by contacting FACTOR.

All personal information you provide is protected under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). More information about your rights can be found on the website of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

cookies

Some pages of the FACTOR websites use cookies. Cookies are generally used to make it more convenient for users to move around our websites. If you choose, they may be used to ‘remember’ your password and make it easier and faster to log-in to certain sites. These types of cookies need to be stored on your computer’s hard drive. You may choose to disable cookies in your browser; however, doing so may render some portions of FACTOR’s websites unreadable or unusable.

Web Analytics

FACTOR uses web analytics services including Google Analytics to help analyze the use of our websites. These tools use cookies to collect and generate information about your visits to our sites (including your IP address) that is transmitted to their servers in an anonymous form for processing. The use of these tools does not allow us or our analytics service providers to identify individuals.

You can opt-out of analytics activity by setting your browser to notify you when a cookie is sent and block analytics cookies if desired. Please consult your browser’s Help Menu for instructions. Visiting our website with analytics cookies disabled will have no significant impact on your browsing experience.

Google currently offers a free Google Analytics opt-out tool for Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera and Mozilla Firefox.

Disclosure of Personal Information

FACTOR does not sell or loan personal information.

As a condition of funding, information about your application, such as your contact information, expenses and claims, and funding received may be made available to the Department of Canadian Heritage.

If you are awarded funding and payment is made by FACTOR, your contact information, Social Insurance Number or Business Number and amount of funding received may be made available to the Canada Revenue Agency.

The Applicant’s name and the Artist’s name, province or territory of residence, musical genre and amount of funding offered may be posted on a public site on FACTOR’s website. FACTOR may choose to link to the artist’s website. These same data may also be published in FACTOR’s Annual Report.

Accessing and Updating Your Personal Information

Once you have created a personal User Profile you will be able to access and update your personal information online. You may also update your personal information by contacting FACTOR staff directly. You may be asked to submit a request in writing.

In order to protect your privacy, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections to your personal information.

Use of Personal Information in Online System

Information provided to a User Profile in our Online System, including Artist Profiles, Applicant Profiles, and contents of any applications created by the User, is subject to the strictest confidentiality. All information whether personal or financial in nature will be used strictly for the purposes of assessing the eligibility of the Artist, Applicant, and application; and of administering the application according to FACTOR’s administrative procedures and Business Policies. Confidential information of the User is not disclosed to jurors, members of the Board of Directors, nor any other third party except in accordance with the General Agreement and Business Policies (such as a third-party audit instituted by FACTOR or the Government of Canada).

Every FACTOR employee is bound to the terms of a permanent Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement which prohibits the disclosure of any User information outside of FACTOR’s operations, and upon breach of which such employee may face immediate termination.

Retention and Disposal of Personal Information

Personal information may be kept up to 10 years in paper and/or digital format, following which digital and paper documents will be securely destroyed.

Additional Information

Questions or comments about FACTOR’s privacy practices should be directed to:

Meg Symsyk, President & CEO

Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR) 247 Spadina Avenue, 3rd Floor Toronto, ON M5T 3A8

p: 416-696-2215 x201 / 1-877-696-2215

www.factor.ca or email info[at]factor[dot]ca

You can also contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada for assistance: online: https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/contact-the-opc/

phone: (819) 994-5444 / 1-800-282-1376

fax: (819) 994-5424

TTY: (819) 994-6591

or by mail at:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada 30, Victoria Street

Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3