Privacy Policy


At ruralWISP Ltd., operating under the brand name ruralWISP we are committed to protecting the privacy concerning personal and business information. The terms of this Privacy Policy (“Policy”) are subject to change. We encourage periodic review of this page in order to check the changes that may have been made to this Policy. Every time ruralWISP Ltd. services or products are accessed, there is assumed to be agreement to the terms and policies of the Privacy Policy as they exist at that time.

Canadian Anti-Spam Law & Email Marketing
By way of ordering services from us, you have thereby given implicit consent to receive these promotional emails from us about new services or products. As per the Canadian Anti-Span Law, you may unsubscribe from this promotional marketing list used by ruralWISP at anytime, without charge, by using the unsubscribe mechanism within the received email, by contacting us via email at info@ruralwisp.ca or by filling out our contact for at https://www.ruralwisp.ca/contact-us.

Information Collection & Usage
ruralWISP LTd. is the sole owner of the information collected either by telephone, email or via our website. ruralWISP Ltd. only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via direct contact from. The information collected from you is for the purpose of service registrations/signup. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone at anytime or for any purpose. We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. We will not share your information with any third party outside of our organization, other than as necessary to fulfill your request, e.g. to ship an order. We may contact you via email to make you aware of changes to this policy.

For purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal information means any information about an identifiable individual, other than the person’s business title or business contact information when collected, used or disclosed in the course of commercial activity, to conduct business and to provide services and products.

The type of information ruralWISP Ltd. collects includes the following:
- Information such as name, home address, telephone number and e-mail address
- Social Insurance Number, identity card number, or other government identification number
- Copies of any agreements with ruralWISP Ltd.
- Information provided to ruralWISP Ltd. such as preferences, feedback and comments
- Credit and financial information

ruralWISP Ltd. uses the personal information above for different purposes relating to the management of our business and our business relationships. These purposes include, but are not limited to the following:
- Establishing, maintaining and managing a business relationship so that ruralWISP Ltd. may provide the services or products requested
- Enabling ruralWISP Ltd. to comply with requests such as preferred method of communication
- Sharing personal information with any third parties under direction or consent by you
- Enabling ruralWISP Ltd. to review the products and services that ruralWISP Ltd. provides so that ruralWISP Ltd. may understand the requirements for ruralWISP Ltd. products and services and to improve ruralWISP Ltd.'s products and services
- Protecting ruralWISP Ltd.'s business from error, fraud, theft and damage to ruralWISP Ltd. goods and property
- Enabling ruralWISP Ltd. to comply with applicable law or regulatory requirements
- Safeguarding and protecting ruralWISP Ltd.’s confidential information
- Other purposes reasonably required for the management of ruralWISP Ltd.'s business relationships and the management of ruralWISP Ltd.'s business

The information collected from you during the registration process such as name, phone numbers and email address, either over the phone or via our website, is used to contact you about the products and services you expressed interest in. Optionally, demographic information such age or gender may be provided with your consent when requested. To buy or rent from us, you must provide contact information such as name and address as well as financial information such as credit card number, expiry date and security code. If there is trouble processing your order, this information will be used to contact you.

Access to Your Information
At anytime you may contact us via phone or email to request what data we have about you, if at all. You may, at anytime, change or correct any data we have on you or delete any data we have about you as long as it does not pertain the information required to maintain an active account. You are welcome to contact us should you have concerns about the usage of your data.

Sensitive Data Security
As a service subscriber a user of our website, we take precautions to protect your personal information both on and offline. All sensitive information is encrypted and always transmitted to us in a secure manner. Personal and sensitive data is only accessible to the employees whos job duties require such information such as a billing or customer service agent. Any personally identifiable information is kept in a secure environment on secure servers with access limited to only the ruralWISP employees responsible for the use and safety of the servers and the data residing on those servers.

Website Cookies
We use “cookies” on this our website. A cookie is a piece of data stored on a visitor’s hard drive to help us improve your access to our website and identify repeat visitors to our site. Cookies can enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally identifiable information on our site. Some of our business partners may use cookies on our site (for example, advertisers). However, we have no access to or control over these cookies.




Acceptable Use Policy


This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) applies to all commercial and business relationships in which ruralWISP Ltd. is engaged. The Policy is intended to comply with legislation relating to commercial activity in all jurisdictions in which ruralWISP Ltd. operates.

1. USER DUTIES

It is the duty of the user of the Services to comply with all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances, and regulations. The Services provided are operated from Canada. Any use of the Services that violates any applicable laws in Canada will be grounds for discontinuing the contract holder’s use and access to the Services.


2. VIOLATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF ACCEPTABLE USE
2.1 Restrictions on Use of Service

2.1.1 The user agrees to not to use the Services to publish, post, distribute, disseminate, or otherwise make available proprietary information, including but not limited to trademarks, trade secrets or copyrighted information, without the express authorization of the rights holder. Please refer also to the Copyright Infringement Policy at http://www.ruralwisp.ca

2.1.2 As ruralWISP Ltd.’s business relationship is with the contract holder only, the contract holder agrees to refrain from renting, leasing, sub-licensing, assigning, selling, loaning or otherwise transferring user’s username or password.

2.1.3 The contract holder agrees not to use, or allow others to use, your account to post, transmit, promote, or facilitate the distribution of any threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, profane or otherwise objectionable information of any kind.

2.1.4 The user agrees not to use the service to commit a crime or encourage others to commit a crime. The contract holder will not allow others to use, their account to post, transmit, promote, or facilitate the distribution of any unlawful or illegal material, including but not limited to material that would constitute or encourage a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, provincial, national or international law.

2.1.5 The user will not use the service to add, remove, or modify identifying network header information (a.k.a. “spoofing”) in an effort to deceive or mislead. ruralWISP Ltd. frowns upon the impersonation of another person by using forged headers or other identifying information. Please note the use of anonymous re-mailers and nicknames does not constitute impersonation.

2.1.6 Any activities which adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use ruralWISP Ltd. services or the Internet is prohibited. This includes “distribute denial of service” (“DDOS”) attacks against another network host or individual user.

2.1.7 Attempts, whether successful or unsuccessful, to gain access to any computer system or customer’s data, without consent, are prohibited.

2.1.8 Using the services to “bully”, sending threatening or harassing email or in any way threaten bodily harm or destruction of property are always prohibited. If after being requested to stop, a service user persists in such activities, ruralWISP Ltd. may intervene.

2.1.9 Disseminating material which violates copyright or intellectual property rights. The customer assumes all risk regarding whether material is in the public domain;

2.2 Inappropriate Content

2.2.1 There is content on the Internet, or otherwise available through the Service, which some may find offensive or disturbing. It is possible to obtain access to content that is pornographic or offensive. ruralWISP Ltd. cannot assume any responsibility for the content contained on the Internet or otherwise available through the Service. The customer must assume the risk of accessing content through the Service, ruralWISP Ltd. shall not have any liability whatsoever for any claims, losses, damages, suits or proceedings arising out of or otherwise related to access to such content. The user is solely responsible for any information that you publish on the Web or other Internet services. The user must ensure that the receipt of the content is appropriate. The user must take appropriate precautions to prevent minors from viewing inappropriate content. ruralWISP Ltd. reserves the right to refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that it, in its sole and absolute discretion, deems to be offensive, indecent, or otherwise inappropriate, and regardless of whether such material is unlawful.

2.2.2 ruralWISP Ltd. has no obligation to monitor transmissions made on the Service. ruralWISP Ltd. does, however, have the right to monitor transmissions at any time.

2.3 Commercial Electronic Messages (“CEM”s)

As Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation or “CASL” comes into effect on July 1, 2014, (www.fightspam.gc.ca) dealing with CEM’s, the following is a summary of requirements and ruralWISP Ltd. encourages the user to become familiar with the legislation.

Sending or transmitting of a “Commercial Electronic Message” to an electronic address is generally prohibited unless: The receiver has already consented to the receipt of the CEM; and The CEM contains certain prescribed information, subject to limited exclusions / exemptions. A CEM is a message sent by any electronic means (i.e., email, text, instant message, tweet) that has, as its purpose, or one of its purposes, to encourage participation in a “commercial activity” A “commercial activity” is: “Any particular transaction, act or conduct that is of a commercial character whether or not the person who carries it out does so in the expectation of profit”. Examples include: Offer to purchase, sell, or lease goods or services. Offer to provide a business, sell, or lease investment, or gaming opportunity or advertising or promotion of these activities.

Not-for-Profits are not exempt from this policy. Examples: Emails seeking donations. Emails seeking volunteers / members Emails selling tickets to a charity event / lottery. Emails promoting a charitable event /activity.   Electronic newsletters. Emails promoting the organization’s work CEMs may only be sent with recipient’s express or implied consent.

Onus of proving consent rests with the sender. An electronic message requesting express consent is a CEM and is therefore prohibited. (post July 1, 2014)

2.4 Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

2.4.1 The Service may be used to participate in real-time text-based conversations (“Chat”). ruralWISP Ltd. will not monitor the contents of these discussions and is not liable for the contents of any communications made via Internet Chat. The Service may not be used to send messages that disrupt another user’s equipment, including software, hardware, and user display. Flooding is defined as the deliberate act of repeating text-generating actions in quick succession to prevent other service users from utilizing the Chat service. The Service may not be used to “flood” a Chat room or to perform acts of “flooding” of Chat services. The use of IRC “bots” is prohibited, as is the violation of any accepted policies on IRC servers. If ruralWISP Ltd. is banned from a server, the offending account may be terminated. Any computer or other device connected through the Services may not maintain more than three simultaneous Chat connections. This includes the use of automated programs, such as “bot” or “clones”. The Service may not be used to access any Chat server in violation of the Acceptable Use Policy of that server. The Service may not be used to manipulate any Chat server to disconnect or harass other Internet users, or to gain unauthorized access to network resources. A customer may not use the Service to connect to Chat servers or channels from which they have previously been banned.

2.5 Unauthorized Reselling, Unauthorized Commercial Use

2.5.1 Reselling service without express written consent from ruralWISP Ltd. or offering any public information service, such as running a Web server, Email Server, FTP server or the like is prohibited.

2.6 Excessive Bandwidth

2.6.1 ruralWISP Ltd. reserves the right to set limits on bandwidth and use in excess of those limits is not permitted. The total number of bytes transferred from a contract holder’s s account determines bandwidth utilization. If excessive bandwidth is determined to adversely affect ruralWISPs ability to provide service, immediate action may be taken. The account owner will be notified by email as soon as possible.

2.7 Forwarding email

2.7.1 ruralWISP Ltd. is not responsible for the forwarding of email sent to any account, which has been suspended or terminated. Such mail will be returned to the sender, ignored, or deleted at the sole discretion of ruralWISP Ltd.

2.8 Line of Service Demarcation

ruralWISP Ltd. may provide technical support for one computer connection to the Service of the network for the sole purpose of providing the Service. ruralWISP Ltd. or any member of its technical support team does not support any additional internal networking within the contract holder’s premise, regardless of who installed it. ruralWISP Ltd. is not responsible for supporting shared networking printer devices or other resources or devices within the contract holder’s premise.

2.9 Reasoning and General Understandings

This section attempts to provide a general understanding of ruralWISP Ltd.'s AUP. Common sense and judgment are a necessary part of any system of rules, and this AUP is no exception. Of course, flagrant, or repeated violations of the policy are viewed in a very different light than minor infractions.

ruralWISP Ltd. considers net-abuse an action that undermines the ability of the Internet to serve as a discussion medium. In addition, net-abuse may be a violation of municipal, provincial, or federal law, or the laws of other countries. Protection of ruralWISP Ltd.'s contract holders and its resources, the ability to provide quality service to ruralWISP Ltd. contract holders, compliance with existing law, and the protection of ruralWISP Ltd.'s reputation as a service provider are all contributing factors to decisions on AUP violations.

It is ruralWISP Ltd.'s intention to allow ruralWISP Ltd. contract holders access to everything the Internet has to offer with minimal or no interference. ruralWISP Ltd. belief in free speech is a firm commitment to its contract holders. Just as free speech does not include the right to shout “fire” in a crowded theater; certain activities are considered inappropriate by the Internet community at large and cannot be permitted under the guise of free speech. ruralWISP Ltd. does not censor the content of any newsgroups and believes such choices should be left to the individual. ruralWISP Ltd. does advise its contract holders and users that tools are available to screen an account’s access to newsgroups one considers offensive. It is the contract holder’s responsibility to make use of such tools if desired. 

3.0 Agreement Violations

ruralWISP Ltd. does not monitor the activity of accounts except for measurements of system utilization and billing records. In our efforts to promote good citizenship within the Internet community, however, ruralWISP Ltd. will respond if it becomes aware of inappropriate use of ruralWISP Ltd. services. If a ruralWISP Ltd. account is used to violate the AUP, ruralWISP Ltd. reserves the right to terminate service without notice. ruralWISP Ltd.'s preferred course of action would be to advise the contract holder of the inappropriate behavior and the corrective action necessary. Flagrant violations of the AUP, however, may result in immediate termination of service. In the event that an account is temporarily inactivated as a result of any prohibited activities, the account may be subject to reactivation charges and/or deposit requirements determined by ruralWISP Ltd..


3. ACCOUNT TERMINATION

ruralWISP Ltd. may terminate a contract holder’s account and access to the Services if, in appropriate circumstances, it is determined at ruralWISP Ltd.'s sole discretion that such user has repeatedly or flagrantly violated the terms of this AUP. Any untimely payments of account(s) due may also result in account cancellation.


4. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM OR ACCESSED FROM OR OTHERWISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE NETWORK. ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION ACCESSED BY OR PROVIDED TO YOU THROUGH THE NETWORK IS PROVIDED “AS IS,” “WITH ALL FAULTS,” AND “AS AVAILABLE". RURALWISP LTD., ITS AGENTS, AND Its LICENSORS DO NOT WARRANT THE AVAILIABILITY, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, SUITABILITY OF CONTENT OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE NETWORK. YOU ACCESS SUCH CONTENT OR INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK. RURALWISP LTD. DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE NETWORK WILL BE ERROR-FREE, OR CONTINUOUSLY AVAILABLE, OR THAT IT WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL RURALWISP LTD., ITS AFFILIATES, ITS AGENTS, OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE, FROM THE USE OF THE NETWORK THAT ARISE UNDER ANY CAUSE OF ACTION, INCLUDING THOSE THAT RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF THE NETWORK, ANY SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH THE NETWORK, OR ANY TRANSACTION PERFORMED THROUGH THE NETWORK. THIS IS A COMPREHENSIVE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY THAT APPLIES TO ALL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING COMPENSATORY, SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, LOSS, THEFT, HACKING OR UNAUTHORIZED USE OF DATA, INFORMATION, PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL OR VIDEO TYPE TRANSMISSIONS (CONFIDENCIAL OR OTHERWISE), INCOME OR PROFIT, LOSS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND CLAIMS OF THIRD PARTIES-EVEN IF KNOWN BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOU AGREE THAT THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF RURALWISP LTD., ITS AGENTS, AND ITS LICENSORS, IF ANY, ARISING OUT OF ANY KIND OF LEGAL CLAIM IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO THE NETWORK WILL NOT EXCEED $100.00. BECAUSE SOME PROVINCES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH PROVINCES, THE LIABILITY OF RURALWISP LTD., AND ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY SUCH PROVINCIAL LAW.



Copyright Infringement & File Sharing Policy


ruralWISP Ltd. is committed to deterring the sharing of and distribution of unauthorized copyrighted material.

“File sharing is where – (a) material is uploaded via, or downloaded from, the Internet using an application or network that enables the simultaneous sharing of material between multiple users; and (b) uploading and downloading may, but need not, occur at the same time.” 

Your use of the Services constitutes your acceptance of this Copyright Infringement & File Sharing Policy (“Policy”). 

Please read the following sections carefully, as they constitute a legally binding agreement between you and ruralWISP Ltd. 

If you do not wish to be bound by the Policy contained herein, you are prohibited from using or accessing the Services.  The terms of the Policy are subject to change, so we encourage you to periodically review this page to check the changes that may have been made to the Policy.  Every time you use or access the Services, you are agreeing to the terms of the Policy as they exist at that time.

Policy Scope

This Policy applies to all commercial and business relationships in which ruralWISP Ltd. is engaged.

While file sharing networks are not illegal in themselves, although much of the content on file sharing networks is music, film, television, books or software that is protected by the Copyright Act 1994. When a rights owner alleges that its copyright has been infringed via file sharing, the Act provides that the rights owner may require the relevant Internet Protocol Address Provider (IPAP) to issue infringement notices to the account holder concerned. The first infringement notice is a detection notice, the second is a warning notice, and the third is an enforcement notice. The Act makes provision for an account holder to challenge each infringement notice it receives, and for the rights owner to either accept or reject any such challenges.” The Policy is intended to comply with privacy legislation relating to commercial activity in all jurisdictions in which ruralWISP Ltd. operates.

To ensure compliance with this policy and applicable File Sharing and Copyright Infringement legislation,ruralWISP Ltd. has appointed a Review Officer. If you have any questions about the application of this policy, please contact ruralWISP’s Review Officer:

Review Officer
ruralWISP Ltd.
PO Box 186, Chestermere, Alberta T1X 1K8
Email: review.officer@ruralwisp.ca

Disclosure of Personal Information

If a court order is received to disclose to the claimant the name and other related information of a ruralWISP Ltd. customer, ruralWISP Ltd. will do so through the services of our corporate lawyer to the court requesting that the information be disclosed.  At no time will ruralWISP Ltd. release any customer information to any entity, without being legally compelled to by a court order. 

Procedure

Evidence of a claim does not imply guilt, nor is it the intent of ruralWISP Ltd. to determine guilt.  Only a court can determine if a crime has taken place.  ruralWISP Ltd. respects the intellectual property of others and if you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our Review Officer the written information specified below:

  • An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest.
  • A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed upon.
  • A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the website, including the auction ID number, if applicable.
  • Your address, telephone number, and e-mail address.
  • A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  • A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

If a notice of File Sharing and Copyright Infringement is received by a complainant, the Review Officer will follow this procedure:

      1.  Is the Notice Valid? - Does the claimant have the right and authority to issue claims of this nature?  Verification will be done on the identity of the claimant and to ensure they represent a copyright holder who is authorized to issue such claims.
      2.  Does the claimant have any evidence of the infringement? A review of the above requested relevant information will be done regarding the infringement such that we can determine the validity of the claim.
      3.  In the case where an infringement appears valid, the Review Officer will write a form letter to inform the IP holder of the claim.  No disclosure (as per the ruralWISP Ltd. Privacy Policy) of the IP holder will be disclosed to the claimant of infringement.

    The letter will be in the following format:

    Dear Customer,

    We are writing to inform you that ruralWISP Ltd. has received a complaint that alleges your Internet Service account has been involved in copyright infringement. This complaint was traced back to your account based on the IP address used at the time of this alledged activity.  At ruralWISP Ltd., we respect our customer’s privacy, and as such, have not provided your personal account information to the complainant.  It's ruralWISP Ltd.’s Privacy Policy to only disclose such information to a complainant in this context when ordered to do so by a court of law.  Please visit www.ruralwisp.ca/policy for more information about our privacy practices. To review the ruralWISP Ltd. policy on Acceptable Use, please visit www.ruralwisp.ca. We do, however, want you to be aware that this complaint was received by us and offer you the following information that may be of help to you:

    • If you are unaware of this type of activity originating from your account, you may wish to inquire with others who have access to your account.
    • You may also want to check your system for viruses, which may explain why this sort of activity is originating from your account.
    • If the Wireless Station is connected to a wireless router, please make sure that only your authorized computers can connect to it and access the Internet. For help in securing the wireless router, please contact support@ruralwisp.ca.

    Below is an excerpt from the complaint that we received regarding your account. We include it in this notice to help you identify the activity that is in question.  A copy of the orignal Infringment Notice has been attached for your review.

    Sincerely,

    Review Officer
    ruralWISP Ltd.

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