The Workbench

Privacy Policy

SYNOPSIS Recherche Marketing Inc. (“SYNOPSIS” or “we“) places a high value on the protection of your personal information. This Privacy Policy (the “Policy“) is a statement of principles and guidelines regarding the protection of the personal information of our clients, suppliers, consultants or other stakeholders (“you“).

IN SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH THE WORKBENCH COMMUNITY, YOU AGREE THAT WE MAY COLLECT, USE AND SHARE THIS PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND TO THE EXTENT PERMISSIBLE OR REQUIRED BY LAW.

1. WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

You provide your express consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Statement when you voluntarily provide the requested information.

Canadian privacy legislation broadly defines personal information as information relating to an “identifiable individual” or as information which may be used to identify an individual. SYNOPSIS does not collect your personal information when you browse our websites, unless you have voluntarily signed up for a specific service asking you to provide such information.  For example:

  • In submitting your email address to join the The Workbench Community, you agree to receive marketing emails from the community inviting you to share your opinion on a range of topics, participate to focus groups, interviews or take part in quick and fun challenges;
  • In submitting your email address to join the The Workbench Community, SYNOPSIS collects information necessary to complete your profile member (your first name, email address, your gender, age, your habits and attitudes, family status and other information). We collect this information to define your customer profile and invite you to participate to activities that are relevant to you.
  • If you submit a request for information by email, the personal information contained in that request will be shared with SYNOPSIS employees or representatives who require such information to respond to your request.

2. WHY DO WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Collecting your personal information allows us to contact you and personalize your experience on The Workbench Community. Specifically, we collect, use and share your personal information for the following purposes:

  • to establish, maintain and manage relationships with community members to enable their participation in our activities;
  • to respond to your questions and requests for information;
  • to understand your needs and preferences, and satisfy them by communicating with you to conduct surveys, studies and evaluations;
  • to detect errors, negligence, contract violations, fraud, theft, as well as all other illegal activity, and protect SYNOPSIS against such acts; and to ensure that our policies and contractual obligations are respected;
  • to monitor quality control and respond to questions and concerns by communicating with clients and consumers;
  • to the extent that the requirements, legislative provisions or regulations in place allow, and in compliance with these, including in the context of reports on adverse events; and
  • for any other purpose to which you have consented.

3. WHO RECEIVES YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Except as stated in this section, SYNOPSIS does not disclose personal information collected on The Workbench Community website to third parties without your authorization to do so, or under specific circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that it is required by law, or during contests as outlined in the rules. SYNOPSIS will never sell the list of community members.

We may share your personal information with the third parties listed below under the following circumstances:

  • Sharing of information with RONA Inc.: SYNOPSIS manages the The Workbench Community website (www. ca) on behalf of its client, RONA Inc. Any information you provide on The Workbench Community website also becomes the property of RONA Inc. As such, we may share your personal information with RONA Inc. under circumstances when this is required, without further authorization from you.
  • Communication with service providers: We may share your personal information with businesses offering services in our name to the extent that this information required. We will only share the information required for these businesses to offer their services. Furthermore, these businesses are forbidden from using this information for any other purpose.
  • Sharing information in the transfer of businesses: SYNOPSIS or RONA Inc. may be party to the sale or transfer of some or all its businesses. In the event of such a sale or transfer, SYNOPSIS and RONA Inc. may share your personal information with the acquiring company (particularly in the exercise of due diligence), with the stipulation that the acquiring company agree to preserve the confidential nature of your personal information in accordance with this Policy.
  • Compliance and disclosure under the law: SYNOPSIS may share your personal information with a government institution lawfully entitled to collect such information; if there are reasonable grounds to believe this information may be relevant to an investigation into illicit activity; in compliance with a summons, warrant or order from the court, an individual or organization with the jurisdiction to compel the disclosure of information; in compliance with court orders to hand over files and disclose information; or with SYNOPSIS’ legal representatives.

4. CONTROL OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

At SYNOPSIS, we want you to have full control over how your personal information is used.  

For example:

  • Any individual who gives their consent to receive email invitations may withdraw this consent at any time, at no cost, by clicking on the unsubscribe link.
  • At any time, you may direct us not to disclose your personal information for purposes other than to provide you with the service or information you requested (see the “How to contact us?” section below).
  • The name of The Workbench Community will be visible on all communications sent on its behalf. These communications will include an option to unsubscribe from any future emails.
  • You may access your personal information from our files and update them, as outlined below in Section 6.

5. WHERE IS YOUR INFORMATION STORED?

Your personal information is stored in secure locations, as well as on SYNOPSIS-controlled servers, which are located in the offices of our service providers in Canada. To access your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer (see the “How to contact us?” section below).

6. HOW CAN YOU ACCESS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Once a written request has been submitted, and subject to certain exceptions, SYNOPSIS will inform you of the existence, use and disclosure of your personal information and will grant you access to this information. We store your personal information for as long as you do business with us, and for a reasonable time afterward. If required by law, your information will be stored for a longer period. Access to information requests should be submitted to our Privacy Officer using the contact information provided in the “How to contact us?” section below.

7. HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We undertake efforts in accordance with commercial practices to protect any personal information in our possession against loss, misuse or falsification.

We employ administrative, contractual and technological safeguards to protect your personal information. For example, access to the personal information of our clients, suppliers and consultants is granted exclusively to authorized employees and suppliers. When personal information is sent to third parties for processing purposes, we ensure, through contractual agreements, that any information provided to them be used exclusively for its intended purpose. As such, these third parties are bound to preserve the confidential nature of the information received. In addition, we employ secure data networks that are firewalled, and password protected in accordance with industry standards.

Despite SYNOPSIS’ best efforts to prevent any third-party access to or acquisition of your personal information through its websites, full confidentiality and security are currently not guaranteed. Any communication via the internet may be intercepted, lost or altered. You acknowledge and agree that SYNOPSIS should not be held liable for damages resulting from the transmission of confidential or personal information on the internet and that such communications come with a degree of risk.

8. ONLINE COMMUNICATION AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Once you access The Workbench Community website, as is the case with most websites, some information is automatically collected, though none of this data can be used to identify you personally. This includes the country, domain name and IP address from which you accessed the website, as well as your browser and operating system. We use this information for statistical purposes to analyze and optimize the flow of traffic to the website.

We use “cookies” (small text files that are gathered through various websites, and then saved to your hard drive). This can help you log into The Workbench Community website more easily and improve your user experience when there is an interruption in the questionnaire flow.

While our websites may contain links to other websites, they are only provided for information purposes. Visitors are advised that the privacy policies and practices of third-party websites may differ from those set forth by SYNOPSIS. We take no responsibility for these third-party sites. 

9. CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

All information posted on the website of the Community, including this Privacy Policy, is subject to change without notice. Your continued use of the website after such changes is deemed to be your acceptance of such changes so please check the Privacy Policy regularly. If any changes are made to this Policy, Synopsis will revise the “Last Updated” date that is indicated on the Policy.

10. HOW TO CONTACT US

We value your opinions. If you have a privacy inquiry, compliment or complaint, you may direct your inquiry, compliment or complaint to our privacy officer at privacy@theworkbenchcommunity.ca or by submitting a written request to:

SYNOPSIS Recherche Marketing Inc.
Attn: The Workbench Community Privacy Officer
415 Le Moyne Street, suite 402
Montréal, Quebec
Canada
H2Y 1Y5

Phone number: (514) 543-9911

LAST UPDATED

MAY 8, 2023