Privacy Statement

At Northumberland Ferries Limited and Bay Ferries Limited, (collectively, the “Company”), we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our customers’ personal information. This Privacy Statement outlines our practices and principles for collecting, using, disclosing, and safeguarding your personal information in accordance with the ten principles of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”).

1. ACCOUNTABILITY

The Company is responsible for the personal information in its custody or under its control. Our designated Privacy Officer is responsible for overseeing the Company’s compliance with privacy legislation and this Privacy Statement.

2. IDENTIFYING PURPOSES

When a customer contacts the Company by phone, email or through our website, or when a customer makes reservations or purchases tickets from us, the customer may voluntarily provide the following types of personal information:

  • Full name
  • Date of birth
  • Contact information, including email, address, telephone number and fax number
  • Emergency contact information
  • Accessibility information
  • Login and password information
  • Identification information
  • Credit card information

In addition, customers’ personal information may be collected and used for the following purposes:

  • Booking and Reservations: Customers’ personal information is collected when customers make reservations or purchase tickets. This information is used for creating and managing customer manifests, ensuring ticket availability, and facilitating the booking process.
  • Identification and Verification: Customers' personal information, such as names and identification numbers, is collected to verify each customer’s identity during ticketing and boarding processes. This helps prevent unauthorized access and ensures safety on board.
  • Communication:Contact details like email addresses and phone numbers are collected and used to communicate with customers regarding booking confirmations, changes, or service updates, such as delays or cancellations due to adverse weather conditions.
  • Safety and Security: Customers’ personal information is used to maintain a customer manifest, which is vital for accounting for all customers in the event of an emergency, conducting security checks, and managing potential security threats.
  • Ticketing and Payment Processing: Customers’ personal information is used to process payments and issue electronic or physical tickets. It helps prevent fraud and ensures accurate billing.
  • Customer Service: Customers’ personal information may be used to provide personalized customer service, address customer inquiries, and resolve issues efficiently.
  • Marketing and Promotions: With customers' consent, the Company may use personal information to send promotional offers, discounts, and newsletters. This helps improve customer engagement and loyalty.
  • Website Usage Information: When a customer visits our website, the Company may collect certain information to enhance customers’ browsing experience and improve our services. This information may include customer’s IP address, pages viewed, browser type, device information, approximate location information based on your IP address, internet service provider, domain name, timestamps of website visit(s), the referring URL, screen resolution, exit page, time on page, the source of visit (such as email or ad clocked to reach our site), buttons clicked during your visit, on-site search queries, aggregated mouse tracking data (to understand general user behavior), and computer’s operating system. The Company may use this data for analytical purposes to understand trends, optimize our website’s performance, and personalize the customer’s experience.
  • Video Surveillance: Video surveillance is in place to protect the Company’s premises and vessels and to ensure the safety of all visitors and employees. Footage is recorded and monitored only for security purposes, and access to this information is restricted to authorized personnel.
  • Emergency Situations: In the event of an emergency, such as a medical issue on board, customers’ personal information will be used to assist emergency responders in providing appropriate care and contacting next of kin if necessary.
  • Legal Obligations: The Company may collect and maintain certain customer personal information to fulfill their legal obligations, such as tax reporting and compliance with transportation regulations.
  • Feedback and Surveys: The Company may use customers’ personal information to gather feedback and opinions through voluntary customer surveys, allowing the Company to make improvements based on customer input.
  • Service Improvement: Analyzing aggregated and anonymized data may provide insights into customer demographics, preferences, and behaviour. This information can be used to enhance service quality, schedule planning, and amenities offered on board.

3. CONSENT

The Company will obtain the customer’s informed consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information, except where permitted or required by law. Consent can be expressed or implied, and you may withdraw it at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions

4. LIMITING COLLECTION

The Company shall limit the collection of personal information to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by us. Personal information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.

5. LIMITING USE, DISCLOSURE, AND RETENTION

The Company shall not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes for which it was collected.

6. THIRD PARTY DISCLOSURE

The Company may disclose customers’ personal information to a third party in the following circumstances:

  • In the case of employee information, for purposes related to the employment relationship
  • As required by our liability insurers 
  • If the Company engages a third party to provide administrative or other services for our benefit, in which case the Company shall use contractual or other means to protect customers’ personal information that is being provided to the third party
  • Where required or permitted by law (i.e. pursuant to a Court Order) 
  • With consent of the affected individual(s)

7. ACCURACY

The Company shall ensure the personal information is as accurate, complete and up to date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

8. SAFEGUARDS

The Company shall protect all personnel information by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

9. OPENNESS

The Company shall make readily available to its customers specific information about our policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.

10. INDIVIDUAL ACCESS

The Company shall, upon request, inform our customers of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall give him or her access to that information except where we are permitted or required by law not to disclose personal information to the customer.

11. CHALLENGING COMPLIANCE

Customers may address any concerns or questions about our privacy practices or compliance with this Privacy Statement to our designated Privacy Officer. We will investigate and respond to all complaints.

12. COOKIES

The Company may use cookies on our website to collect information about customers’ use of our website and to make customers’ use of our website more convenient. A cookie is a text file which enables a website to store information about customers’ activities on that site, or the length of customers stay. Cookies help us analyze website traffic and improve customers’ browsing experience. Customers can choose to disable cookies through browser settings; however, this may affect the customer’s ability to access certain features of our website. 

The Company also uses third-party cookies and other similar technologies that are managed by third parties, such as our marketing partners or service providers. These include analytical or performance cookies, which help us analyze how our website is used. Our service providers collect and compile information on our behalf and provide us with analytics reports, which do not allow us to identify specific individuals. For more information on our current service providers, including Google Analytics and VERB Interactive, please review their respective privacy policies. Our marketing partners also use cookies and other similar technologies for marketing and targeted advertising purposes, including to tailor our content to customers' interests. You can opt out of third-party cookies used for targeted advertising by adjusting your cookie settings.  

13. CONTACT INFORMATION

For any inquiries regarding our Privacy Statement or complaints, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Kelly Williams
Director, Corporate Services
Northumberland Ferries Limited/Bay Ferries Limited
205-5475 Spring Garden Road 
Halifax, NS B3J 3T2 Fax: 902-423-7904
Email: [email protected]

14. REVIEW AND UPDATES

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Statement at any time. The revised Privacy Statement will be posted on our website. Please check our website periodically for updates.

By using our services, customers consent to the terms of this Privacy Statement and the collection use, and disclosure of your personal information described herein.

EFFECTIVE: 01-2004
REVISION: 09-2024