Definitions
For your clarification, we have defined below, a number of the terms which are used within this Privacy Policy.
Donation Refund
For any issues or donation refund request, please contact us at 705-434-9850 or by email
at [email protected]
Shipping
Not applicable
Privacy policy
Ontario Vipassana Foundation promises not to provide any customer information
(sensitive or otherwise) to any 3rd party without express consent
Contact us
Please reach out to us at 705-434-9850 or through email at [email protected]; we guarantee a response within 48 hours. For immediate concerns, kindly leave a message with our automated messaging system, available 24/7.
Affiliated Vipassana Centre:
Another Vipassana Centre which teaches Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N.Goenka in the tradition of Sayagi U Ba Khin and is affiliated to the same global organization.
Aggregate Format:
Statistical information that is accumulated, combined, and summed so that it is no longer identifiable by any individual unit.
Cookies:
A cookie is a small piece of information that is placed on a visitor’s hard drive by a web server. It acts essentially as an identification card as it is unique to that visitor, and can only be read by the web server that placed it on the drive. It also may allow a computer to remember things about a visitor’s past interaction with a website.
The Course:
The 10-day course that teaches Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagi U Ba Khin.
Cumulative:
The principle that each successive Course completed builds upon the knowledge and expertise gained from previous Courses taken contributing to the overall deepening of the meditation practice taught.
New Student:
Someone who has not completed a Course but has applied to or is registered to take a Course.
Old Student:
Someone who has successfully completed at least one Course.
Online Application Form:
Is the online application form you may use to register for a Course scheduled to be held at the Ontario Vipassana Foundation. Information collected via the Online Application Form may or may not be collected via a server located in Canada, and may be collected and maintained on a secure server located outside of Canada, for example in the U.S., in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Ontario Vipassana Centre:
A non-profit, charitable organization registered in Ontario, located at 6486 Simcoe County Road 56, Egbert, Ontario, L0L 1N0, Canada, whose sole purpose is to provide the Course to the public. Ontario Vipassana Foundation is part of the global organizations which offer the courses in Vipassana Meditation in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin as taught by S.N. Goenka and his assistant teachers. For further information see www.dhamma.org.
Personal Information:
Any personally identifiable information about an individual as defined under PIPEDA and collected via the Website.
Additional Information:
Information that is not Personal Information but is related to or is about a New Student or Old Student
Third Party:
An individual or organization other than the Ontario Vipassana Foundation or an affiliated Vipassana Centre.
Website:
The online homepage at www.torana.dhamma.org along with the interconnected webpages located on a secure server by or on behalf of the Ontario Vipassana Foundation.
Introduction
The Ontario Vipassana Foundation respects the privacy of visitors and users of the Website.
Your personal information is collected, used and disclosed by the Ontario Vipassana Foundation in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You can visit this Website without telling us who you are or revealing any information about yourself.
We only collect Personal Information about you when you specifically and knowingly provide it on our Website, for example when you register for a Vipassana meditation Course.
The Ontario Vipassana Foundation has formulated this Privacy Policy, in accordance with the guidelines established by the Canadian Standards Association Model Code on Privacy and with reference to the principles enumerated in the Federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to specify the guidelines which govern the collection and use of Personal Information via this Website. We will make every effort to ensure that the Personal Information we collect and maintain about you is secure and used in a responsible and respectful manner.
YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY
BY USING THIS WEBSITE, YOU ARE EXPRESSLY CONSENTING TO AND HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION AS OUTLINED BY THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF WE MAKE ANY CHANGES TO OUR POLICY, SUCH CHANGES WILL BE POSTED HERE SO YOU WILL ALWAYS BE INFORMED OF OUR CURRENT INFORMATION HANDLING PRACTICES.
Information Collected
By applying to register for a Course held at Ontario Vipassana, or to provide volunteer services to the Ontario Vipassana Centre during a Course, using the Online Application Form, you will be providing us with specific, Personal Information. This information includes but is not limited to the following:
Name;
Address;
e-mail address;
Telephone number;
Fax number; and
other information, such as health information, as requested within the online application form
You understand and agree that when you submit Personal Information to Ontario Vipassana Centre through the Website, that this information may be transferred across national boundaries and may be stored and processed for and on behalf of Ontario Vipassana Centre via a secure server in the United States by a trusted Vipassana service provider that is party to this Privacy Policy and is bound by the privacy policies within its own jurisdiction. For further information, you may contact our Privacy Office at [email protected].
How we use your information
Ontario Vipassana Centre uses the information, including your Personal Information and Additional Information, which you provide about yourself through the Online Application Form to: (a) evaluate your application for admission to the Course, and (b) register you for that Course if your application is accepted. In some cases, we may use your name postal address and/or email address to send you information about Vipassana related news, activities and updates, however, you have the option of opting in or out of such contact.
- Uses of Personal Information of New Students:
If you are a New Student, Personal Information about you will only be used for the specific purposes for which it has been collected. These purposes include: (a) the evaluation of your application for admission to the course for which you have applied, (b) the awareness of any medical conditions that may prevail, and (c) any other special requirements you may have while you are taking a Course.
Only the registrars, the teachers, and the assistant teachers will have access to the full range of information you have provided for the specific Course you enroll in. Other than these individuals, Personal Information submitted on the Online Application Form via this Website, is maintained with strict confidence and safeguarded against disclosure to or access by unauthorized Third Parties in accordance with terms of this Privacy Policy. - Uses of Personal Information of Old Students:
If you are an Old Student but you have never taken a course at the Ontario centre, then your Personal Information will be used in the same way as a New Student (see above). In order to assist you in your Vipassana practice and success in subsequent courses, Old Student Personal Information or Additional Information may be shared with the affiliated Vipassana Centres that you apply for registration. - Disclosure by the Foundation:
Personal Information will not be disclosed to any Third Parties for any purposes whatsoever without your consent, except: (a) if we retain a Third Party service provider and that Third Party is bound by our Privacy Policy, and (b) when required or authorized by law. Under no circumstances does the Ontario Vipassana Foundation disclose your Personal Information to any Third Party for commercial purposes such as to enable Third Parties to market their products and services.
Retention and Disposal of Personal Information
All Personal Information and Additional Information is considered confidential. Any Personal Information or Additional Information retained by the Ontario Vipassana Foundation will be retained for our records for as long as necessary but only for (a) the admistration of the Courses, (b) in accordance with our Privacy Policy, and (c) as may be required by law.
The nature of the Vipassana practice is Cumulative, with many people returning for additional courses i.e. Old Students. Personal Information as well as Additional Information may be collected and accessed only by teachers, and assistant teachers, for reference purposes that relate to an Old Student applying to register for subsequent courses and for such Old Student’s benefit. Please notify the Ontario Vipassana Foundation if you do not wish to have your Personal Information retained by us (“Deletion Request”). The process of fulfilling a Deletion Request will only reach back to the latest information retained by us – please note that some residual information such as Additional Information may remain in our archived backups. Ontario Vipassana Foundation warrants to not retain any Personal Information which you have specifically requested to have deleted from our records.
Security
The Ontario Vipassana Foundation strives to provide you with the most secure transmission environment possible. The Ontario Vipassana Foundation takes every precaution to protect your information from loss, misuse and alteration. Personal Information or Additional Information provided through the Website is automatically encrypted and protected with encryption software [Secure Socket Layers], however, transmission over the Internet is not totally secure and is subject to potential interception by others. Even though Ontario Vipassana Foundation strives to protect your Personal Information and Additional Information, it does not certify complete security. If you are concerned about the possibility of security risks of your information you should not use the Online Application Form and instead fax the printable version of the Application Form to 1-866-691-5214 or mail to 6486 Simcoe County Road 56, Egbert, Ontario, L0L 1N0, Canada.
Accuracy of Personal Information and Individual Access to it
Please contact the Ontario Vipassana Foundation if your contact details have changed to ensure that you are kept up to date with courses being offered by the Foundation and to receive our newsletters.
You have the right to access your file and request rectification of any Personal Information in the file that may be obsolete, incomplete or incorrect. To change your Personal Information, have it removed from our databases, or simply confirm the content and accuracy of such information please contact our Privacy Officer, Trupti Panchal via e-mail at [email protected].
The Ontario Vipassana Foundation will need to validate the identity of anyone making such a request to ensure that we do not provide your information to anyone who does not have a right to that information. Normally we will respond to access or rectification requests within 30 days.
Log Files
In almost all cases, when you go to a web site, web servers log your interaction with the site in something called a log file. Standard log files like ours contain basic information such as what time, and which pages were viewed, and the IP address of the visitor. The Ontario Vipassana Foundation may use this information to analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movements, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. We make no effort to identify IP addresses with individual users.
The Ontario Vipassana Foundation sometimes uses log file information to determine and report on how the Website is being used (e.g. the Website’s average user looks at particular pages on each visit). When reporting in this way we only do so in Aggregate Format.
Cookies
The Ontario Vipassana Foundation does not use cookies.
External Links
The Website contains links to other websites. The Ontario Vipassana Foundation is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites, and encourages users to review such policies on these other websites.
Amendments to this Policy
The Ontario Vipassana Foundation reserves the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Privacy Policy from time to time. A user’s continued use of the Website following such changes to these terms signifies acceptance of those changes.
Any changes to our online Privacy Policy will not change our commitment to the safeguarding of your Personal Information, or the manner in which we use it.
Contacting the Privacy Officer
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or your dealings with this web site, please contact the Ontario Vipassana Foundation at: Email: [email protected].
Disclaimer
The contents of this Website are strictly for information purposes only. The Ontario Vipassana Foundation does not represent, offer advertisement or ascribe to the offerings of any web site accessible through this site.
