Privacy policy

Last updated: October 7, 2026

PHIZ brings together people working on public health innovation to share ideas, practical experience and opportunities to collaborate. This policy covers our website, subscriptions and related communications.

PHIZ is owned and hosted by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH), which is responsible for the personal information handled through PHIZ. In this policy, “we” means the PHIZ team acting on its behalf. Our purpose and approach to publishing are described in About PHIZ.

Information you share with us #

When you subscribe, we collect your email address and any optional details you provide, such as your name, organization, role or interests. We also keep your subscription preferences, consent and unsubscribe records, and relevant correspondence when you contact us or participate in a PHIZ activity.

Subscribing is voluntary. You can read the website without joining a mailing list.

What we use it for #

We use your information to manage your subscription, respond to you and connect you with PHIZ content and activities relevant to public health innovation. This includes articles, tools, project updates, events, learning opportunities and invitations to participate in research, pilots or collaborations related to PHIZ. We also use relevant information to improve our communications, maintain accurate records, protect our systems and meet legal and recordkeeping obligations.

We do not sell, resell, rent or trade your personal information or our subscriber list. We do not provide subscriber lists to advertisers or other organizations for their own marketing. Featuring a partner or opportunity does not give that partner access to your contact details. We ask for your permission before making an introduction that shares your information.

Your subscription does not give us permission to add you to unrelated mailing lists or use your information for unrelated outreach.

Subscriptions and professional connections #

We may use a contact management system to keep your contact details, preferences and relevant correspondence together. We may match your subscription to an existing PHIZ-related professional contact record to avoid duplicates and coordinate communications.

Our email service records delivery information, including unsuccessful deliveries and unsubscribe requests. Email opens and link clicks may also be recorded using small tracking images and tracked links. These records can include the message, link, time, IP address and browser or device information. They can be linked to your contact record and used to understand your interests and make PHIZ follow-up more relevant; they are not necessarily anonymous.

Being in our contact records does not, by itself, subscribe you to the newsletter. We do not use these records to create advertising audiences.

Service providers and storage #

We use service providers for website hosting, email delivery, subscription management and contact management. Twilio SendGrid supports our signup forms and email communications. We share information needed for these services and remain responsible for information handled on our behalf. Access within our team is limited to people who need it for their work.

Providers may also process technical and communications-use information for security, legal compliance and improving their services under their applicable terms. See Twilio’s data protection terms for more about its processing. Information may be stored or processed outside Canada, where it is subject to local laws and lawful access requirements. Contact us for more information about the arrangements used for PHIZ.

We may also disclose information where required or authorized by applicable law.

Website information and cookies #

PHIZ uses Google Analytics to understand website use and improve the site. Cookies and similar identifiers can collect information about pages visited, interactions, referring websites, approximate location and browser or device characteristics. We do not intentionally send subscriber names or email addresses to Google Analytics or use subscriber information for third-party advertising. See how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

You can manage cookies through your browser and use Google’s Analytics opt-out tool. Hosting providers, signup forms, spam prevention and embedded content may also receive technical information when your browser connects to them. Browser controls do not prevent all technical processing. External sites linked from PHIZ have their own privacy practices.

Your choices #

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in a PHIZ email or by contacting innovation@wdgpublichealth.ca. We honour unsubscribe requests promptly and within applicable legal deadlines. We respect your withdrawal across the systems used for PHIZ subscription communications; contact imports must not automatically subscribe you again.

Unsubscribing does not prevent us from responding to a message you send or coordinating an activity you separately asked to join. It is not permission to continue sending promotional messages.

Retention and protection #

We keep information only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy and applicable legal and records-retention requirements. After you unsubscribe, we may retain limited consent and suppression records to document your choices and prevent unwanted resubscription. Other correspondence may be retained for an ongoing activity you requested or a legal obligation.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it securely or remove identifying details, subject to applicable retention requirements and backup schedules. Unsubscribing does not immediately erase every record. We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards, but no online service can guarantee complete security.

Questions and requests #

Contact innovation@wdgpublichealth.ca to update your details, change your preferences or ask about our use of your information. You can request access, correction or deletion of information we hold about you. We will explain any verification, legal process or retention requirement that affects your request.

For privacy concerns or formal access and correction requests, WDGPH’s privacy contact is clientcommunitysupport@wdgpublichealth.ca or 1-800-265-7293 ext. 7006. Mail can be addressed to WDGPH, 160 Chancellors Way, Guelph, Ontario N1G 0E1. You may also raise a concern with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

Changes to this policy #

We will update this page when our practices change. Before using information for a materially different purpose, we will explain the change and obtain any additional consent or authority required. Updating this policy does not expand the consent you have already given.