Privacy Policy
1. Introduction
The Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation and Novamedia Lotteries Canada Inc. (collectively “Postcode Lottery Canada”,“we” or “us”), is committed to protecting the privacy and security of any of your personal information obtained by reason of your interaction with “Postcode Lottery Canada”, including through or in connection with our services and our website (including but not limited to https://postcodelottery.ca/, and any other site, application or portal referring the user to this privacy policy, collectively, the “Sites”). The Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation is responsible for the conduct and management of its lotteries, for which Novamedia Lotteries Canada Inc. is a gaming-related supplier on behalf of the Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation. Where we refer to ‘Postcode Lottery Canada’, this may include communications or activities carried out by either the Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation or Novamedia Lotteries Canada Inc., including in connection with marketing and promotional activities as described below.
This privacy policy (the “Privacy Policy”) explains:
- the types of personal information we collect;
- when such collection occurs;
- how we use and share the personal information we collect;
- the steps we take to ensure your personal information is safeguarded appropriately; and
- how you can contact us regarding your personal information and this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy has been put in place to comply with the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and substantially similar provincial privacy statutes. This Privacy Policy applies to any personal information we collect or receive about you, from you or any other source. The terms and conditions of use of our Sites refer to and incorporate this Privacy Policy and by using said Sites, you consent to this Privacy Policy. From time to time, we may make changes to this Privacy Policy.
The Privacy Policy is current as of the date which appears at the top of this page. We encourage you to look for updates and changes to this Privacy Policy by checking its effective date from time to time. If the changes we make are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice and obtain consent when required by applicable laws. Continued use of the Sites after an update is posted will constitute consent to the new version of the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the changes in our Privacy Policy, it is your responsibility to stop using our services or purchasing our products. It is your obligation to ensure that you read, understand and agree to the latest version of the Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to applications to receive charitable funding from the Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation. Such applications fall under the Funding Privacy Policy of the Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation, which can be found on its website. Our Sites may contain links to websites which are owned and operated by third parties. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to such other websites and services and we have no responsibility over their content or privacy policy.
2. Definition of Personal Information
This Privacy Policy applies to any personal information we collect or receive about you, from you or any other source. “Personal information” refers to any information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is reasonably capable of being associated with a particular individual and that is recorded in any form (such as your name and mailing address, your phone number, your email address and your payment information), as further defined in PIPEDA and similar provincial legislation. It may also include technical information such as your IP address, browser settings and device ID, but only when this information can identify you as an individual.
Please note that personal information excludes information that is anonymized and cannot be associated with an identifiable individual and aggregate information which represents compiled data from a group of individuals who can no longer be individually identified.
Please note that we do not intend to collect information from legal minors. If you believe we may have collected information from a legal minor, please contact us as indicated in the “Contact Us” section so that we can endeavour to delete it.
3. Categories of Personal Information Collected
We limit the collection of personal information to what is reasonably required to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected. Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect information such as:
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Personal identifiers, such as name and mailing address, date of birth, phone number, email address, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses;
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Professional or employment-related information and other information you submit to us when applying for an employment opportunity, which may include some of the information described above, as well as letters of motivation, your resume, references and any additional information provided by you in an application;
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Internet or other electronic network activity information (i.e. technical information when you visit our websites or use our mobile applications), including when you visit the Sites or use our services. This information is collected via automated means, such as cookies, authorized token, web beacons and similar technologies, and may include your IP address, device ID, browser type, data about the web pages you visited on our websites, time and duration of a visit, information about your location, your language preferences;
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Photos and videos, including in the course of advertising a lottery or promoting winners;
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Audio recordings, when you call our help centre; and
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Participant data, including ticket number, number of wins, and other information related to your participation in the lottery.
4. Collection of Personal Information
We will generally collect personal information directly from you when you enter a lottery or promotion, browse a Site or interact with us directly, as deemed necessary for the purposes defined in Section 5 below.
a. Directly from you
We may collect your personal information directly from you such as:
- when you make a purchase on our Sites or make inquiries regarding your purchases, we may collect information about the transaction;
- when you contact us or send us questions, comments, suggestions or complaints, we may collect contact information and information about your inquiry that is necessary in order to address it or to respond to you;
- when you apply for a position, we may collect contact information and other information to process your application for employment;
- when you create or access an account on our Sites, we may collect information to identify you;
- when you use our Sites, we may collect information about how you use the Sites and where you are located, as further discussed below; and
- we may collect any other personal information you voluntarily provide to us in connection with any other matter.
b. Through our website or other technologies
We or our service providers that help us maintain and operate our Sites may automatically collect the following information relating to your access to and use of our website and applications through cookies (small data files stored on your device used to access and use our Sites), Web beacons (small transparent images used to track Sites visits and effectiveness of advertising) and other similar technologies: your domain name; your browser type and operating system; your type of computer or mobile device; pages you view; links you click; your IP address; the length of time you visit or use the service, and how you use the service. However, please note that cookies and beacons might be necessary to access or use certain features of our Sites.
We may also collect information you share regarding Postcode Lottery Canada on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), including your name and the substance of your comments or feedback.
We may also be collecting information about your approximate physical location when you use a mobile device to access our Sites. If you do not want us to collect such information, please adjust or modify the settings of your mobile device accordingly.
c. From third parties
In some circumstances, we may collect personal information about you from third parties rather than directly from you. This may include information obtained from data brokers or other organizations that compile, license, or sell personal information. For example, we may obtain personal information from a data broker in connection with a purchase, application, or transaction you initiate with us, or to help us verify your identity, prevent fraud, improve our services, meet legal or regulatory requirements, or better understand our customers.
The types of personal information collected in this way may include contact information, demographic information, or other information permitted by law. When we collect personal information from a data broker or other third party, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the information was collected lawfully and that its disclosure to us is authorized.
We use such information only for the purposes identified at or before the time of collection, or as otherwise permitted or required by applicable privacy laws. We do not collect personal information from data brokers for purposes that are incompatible with the purposes identified at the time of collection, and we limit such collection to what is necessary for those purposes.
5. Usage of Personal Information
We will generally use your personal information as part of our normal business operations in order to provide you with our products and services through our Sites, to support our business, for research and development purposes, for marketing purposes or otherwise, with your consent or as permitted or required by law:
a. General business purpose
More specifically, we may use your personal information for the following business purposes:
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to process your purchases and related transactions, including to verify payments, postal codes, player age, and banking details;
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to organize a lottery (e.g. age verification, draw, draw publication or membership administration);
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to contact winning players;
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to provide customer service and to respond to your inquiries or requests;
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to elaborate and improve our offerings and our services;
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to manage and improve our players’ experiences and our Sites;
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to monitor, analyze and assess the access and use of our Sites, including the registration and authentication of your account, if applicable;
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to customize the content of our Sites and advertising;
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to protect our rights and those of our employees, other players and the public;
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to make management reports;
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to detect and prevent fraud;
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to test software;
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to maintain appropriate records for internal administrative purposes, including for staffing and personnel management; and
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to comply with legal requirements.
b. Research and development purpose
We may use personal information to understand and assess your interests and changing needs with a view to improving our products and services and developing new ones, as well as to evaluate potential improvements or other modifications to the functionality of our Sites. For instance, we may use third-party web analytics services, such as Google Analytics, to help us analyze how visitors use our Sites. When required by law, we will use anonymized information for these purposes.
c. Marketing purposes
We may use your personal information to provide you with personalized content and services, such as tailoring our products and services, our digital experience and offerings, and deciding which offers or promotions to show you on our digital channels.
We may also use your personal information to communicate with you in a variety of ways (for example, by email, telephone, text message, direct mail or through our online support services) about our programs, products, services, special offers, promotions, contests, gifts or events that may be of interest to you. These communications may be sent by the Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation, Novamedia Lotteries Canada Inc., or on their behalf, including in relation to lotteries operated or supported by either entity.
Where permitted by applicable law, we may rely on implied consent to send certain communications, including commercial electronic messages. In such cases, we will ensure that any such communications are sent in accordance with applicable legal requirements, including Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation. If you no longer wish to receive our commercial electronic messages, please follow the unsubscribe procedure included in each of these messages. For more information on this topic, see “Your Privacy Rights”
6. Retaining Personal Information
Please note that we will only retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the above purposes or as required by law. Once no longer required, your personal information will be securely destroyed or anonymized, in compliance with applicable laws.
7. Sharing Personal Information
We will not disclose or share your personal information without your consent to any company or person other than as authorized by law or as follows:
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to entities affiliated to Postcode Lottery Canada for the purposes detailed in this Privacy Policy;
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with service providers who are assisting us with respect to any of the purposes stated in Section 5 above including those service providers listed in Schedule “A” who require such information to perform their services for us. These service providers will only be permitted to use the information as part of the performance of their work for us or when the disclosure of your information is required by law and that such third parties will have appropriate privacy standards in place;
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if we believe that the disclosure of personal information is required by law;
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if we believe that the disclosure of personal information will help us protect our rights, our property and our safety and those of our employees, players and the public;
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if we believe that the disclosure of personal information is necessary in the investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity (including fraud) or in response to a request by law enforcement authorities;
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if such disclosure would be in a way that it would not directly identify you, such as through aggregated information as mentioned in Section 1 above; and
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when required in the context of a prospective or completed corporate arrangement, such as a transfer of assets or amalgamation, in accordance with applicable legal requirements. For example, we may make your personal information available to advisors or (potential) acquirors of our assets if necessary for concluding the transaction and continuing operating the organization.
8. Your Privacy Rights
For the most part, provincial privacy legislation in Canada provides that if we notify you (for example, through the distribution of this Privacy Policy) of the purposes for which we intend to collect, use or disclose your personal information, and those purposes are reasonable, we will have your implied consent to act in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
You have choices about the way Postcode Lottery Canada handles your personal information.
a. Changing your communication preferences
You can always choose not to receive marketing or promotional messages from Postcode Lottery Canada by email by clicking on “unsubscribe” in any email you receive.
Please note that even if you have indicated your choice not to receive commercial messages from us, we may still communicate with you in connection with a service, in accordance with applicable law (for example, to send you important product information, service notification or recall). In addition, it may take up to ten (10) business days to register a change of preference across all our records.
b. Changing your browser settings on your device
We use technology to enhance your experience and present you with offers, including personalised advertising. Through technologies such as cookies, our websites recognize you when you use or return to them and can provide you with a seamless experience. You can remove or disable some of these technologies at any time through your browser. However, if you do so, you may not be able to use some of the features of our websites.
Please refer to your browser instructions or help screen to learn how to block, delete and manage cookies on your computer or mobile device.
c. Withdrawal of consent
You may withdraw your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy at any time upon reasonable notice to Postcode Lottery Canada in writing, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. To do so, please contact us using the information in the “Contact Us” section below.
The withdrawal of your consent may affect our ability to continue to provide you with the products and services that you have or would like to receive because the continued use and disclosure of your personal information is a necessary part of making the product or service available to you. In some circumstances, legal requirements may prevent you from withdrawing consent and/or we may be required to retain some of your personal information as detailed in Section 6.
9. Safeguards and Data Governance
We have implemented physical, organizational, contractual and technological security measures in an effort to protect your personal information and reduce the risk of loss or theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, misuse or modification of your personal information. These measures include restricting physical access to our offices and records, restricting access to your personal information to only those employees or agents who require access to fulfill their responsibilities, and restricting unauthorized access, disclosure, use and misuse of your personal information in our custody and control. We also periodically update and review such security measures.
Our goal is to prevent unauthorized access, loss, misuse, sharing or alteration of personal information in our possession. We also use these safeguards when we dispose of or destroy your personal information.
We maintain policies and practices which ensure the protection of your personal information. Depending on the volume and sensitivity of the information, the purposes for which it is used and the format in which it is stored, we implement a combination of measures to protect your personal information, including:
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Internal policies and procedures that define the roles and responsibilities of our employees throughout the information life cycle and limits their access to such information on a “need-to- know” basis;
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If information is collected or stored in electronic format, technical safeguards such as encryption, firewalls, antivirus software and similar measures;
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Employee privacy and data security training;
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Procedures for receiving, investigating and responding to complaints or inquiries regarding Postcode Lottery Canada’s information handling practices, including any security incidents involving personal information;
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Framework governing the retention and destruction of personal information, as more fully described above in the “Retaining Personal Information” section of this Privacy Policy;
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Contractual protections and other measures to ensure that service providers with whom we share personal information maintain adequate privacy protections and standards. For example, we generally require our service providers to limit their use and retention of personal information to what is necessary to provide their services and to notify us in case of any actual or suspected security incident. We also try to monitor and audit their compliance with these requirements in various ways (e.g. surveys and interviews, proof of certification, etc.).
10. Cross-Border Transfers of Personal Information
Your personal information may be transferred, stored, accessed, or used in a jurisdiction outside your jurisdiction of residence (for example, outside your province or outside Canada) in connection with our use of third-party service providers engaged by us. We engage these third-party service providers to assist us in providing our services to you; for example, in order to process payment, fulfil product orders, provide e-commerce functions, or manage our communications with you.
We use our best efforts to ensure that all of our third-party service providers take reasonable security measures to protect your personal information (this includes technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect your personal information). We use our best efforts to ensure our service providers only use your personal information for authorized purposes we have made known to you or which are otherwise permitted by applicable law.
Where personal information is located outside of your province of residence or outside Canada, it is subject to the laws of that jurisdiction which may differ from those in your jurisdiction and any personal information transferred to another jurisdiction will be subject to law enforcement, regulatory, and national security authorities in that jurisdiction. Subject to these laws, we will to the best of our abilities use contractual measures to maintain protections that are at least equivalent to those that apply in Canada.
11. Accessing and Correcting your Personal Information
You may be entitled to access your personal information and request the rectification information that is inaccurate, incomplete or no longer up to date, subject to limited exceptions set out in applicable laws. Depending on the law applicable in the jurisdiction where you reside and subject to legal or contractual restrictions, you may also be entitled to:
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request that we stop or restrict processing your personal information ;
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request information on automated processing of your personal information. You can obtain information on the personal information used to render the decision (and request that this information be correct) and the reasons, principal factors and parameters that led to the decision;
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obtain a copy of the personal information we collected from you; and
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obtain additional information about data processing, including the personal information collected and how it is processed by Postcode Lottery Canada.
To submit a request, please contact us in writing using the relevant contact information listed in the “Contact Us” section below.
12. Contact Us
You can contact us at info@postcodelottery.ca
or PO Box 33 Stn B, Toronto ON M5T 2T2 if you wish to ask questions, express concerns or submit a complaint regarding this Privacy Policy.
To ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date, you may contact us using the email address and postal address mentioned above, or log into your account (if applicable) if any changes or modifications are required. You may also send us a written request if you wish to access the personal information we have collected about you.
Please be advised that in order for you to modify, access or review your personal information, we may ask you to provide us with sufficient identification. In all cases, we will generally attempt to answer your request within thirty (30) days or we will advise you if we require a longer response time.
Schedule "A" — Service Providers
We will share your personal information with the following third parties:
| Third Party Service Provider | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Payment | To obtain payments from your account and to pay prizes to you. |
| Insurance | To provide coverage for prize winnings over a defined excess amount. |
| IT services | To supply software to host your player account and to manage our systems, including for hosting, IT support and software licensing. |
| Marketing | To help us send marketing communications by post, email or social media, to help us contact you by telephone in respect of marketing communications, to help us with advertising campaigns (including television and social media) and to help us create and manage our marketing and advertising assets. |
| Communications | To help us send service communications by post, email or social media, and to help us contact you by telephone. |
| Surveys / research | To undertake online, telephone and in-person player surveys and to invite players to participate in research interviews and focus groups. |
| Analytics | To help us better understand our player population. |
| Referrals | To facilitate "refer a friend" schemes and identify players with a sizeable social media following. |
| Age / address / bank verification | To verify your age, address and banking details. |
| Cybersecurity | To promote security, including prevention and detection methods. |
| Postcode Lottery Group | From time to time we may share your information with members of the Postcode Lottery Group. |
| Winner services | To share prize information with our player winners, invites to winners' events and to facilitate winners' events and trips. |
| Public relations | To provide public relations services to our winners and the charities supported by the Canadian Postcode Lottery Foundation. |
Effective date: 08 September 2026