Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information KSM Kawartha Scale Modellers collects, why we collect it, how it may be used or disclosed, how long it may be retained, and the choices available to you.

1. Scope and Accountability

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information under the control of KSM Kawartha Scale Modellers (“KSM,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), including information collected through this website, email, online forms, club activities, meetings, workshops, surveys, registrations, and KSM-operated events.

KSM is a volunteer-operated scale-modelling club. We seek to manage personal information responsibly and in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy requirements. Where the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act applies to a KSM activity, KSM will administer that information in accordance with its applicable requirements.

KSM has designated its Administration Services function as responsible for privacy administration. Questions, requests, and complaints may be directed to the contact information at the end of this policy.

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2. Personal Information KSM Collects

The information KSM collects depends on how you interact with us. We limit collection to information reasonably required for an identified club, program, event, administrative, or website purpose.

Information you provide directly

• Contact inquiries: your name, email address, subject, message, and any information you choose to include.
• Membership and club participation: contact information, participation information, communication preferences, and administrative records reasonably required to operate the club.
• Workshop registration: your name, contact information, registration status, workshop selection, experience level, accessibility requirements you choose to disclose, payment status, and information required to administer the session.
• KSM Scale Model Showcase participation: entrant, visitor, vendor, sponsor, volunteer, judge, exhibitor, media, or other event information needed to plan and administer the event.
• Model and competition information: modeller name, model subject, scale, manufacturer, category, class, entry number, award result, and related presentation information.
• Surveys and questionnaires: your responses and any optional contact or organizational information you provide.
• Submitted content: photographs, model images, captions, descriptions, articles, comments, attribution information, and permissions associated with material submitted to KSM.
• Communications: correspondence sent by email, contact form, mail, or another communication channel, together with KSM’s responses.
• Transaction records: the amount, date, purpose, and status of a membership fee, workshop fee, event fee, vendor fee, sponsorship payment, purchase, refund, or other transaction.

Payment information

When online payment is offered, payment information may be entered directly into a third-party payment processor’s system. KSM does not intend to receive or store complete payment-card numbers or card-security codes. The payment provider processes that information under its own terms and privacy policy.

KSM may retain a limited transaction record showing information such as your name, transaction amount, date, payment method, confirmation number, and payment or refund status for event administration, reconciliation, accounting, and recordkeeping.

Information collected through the website

When you visit the KSM website, the website host, server, security systems, or related service providers may automatically process limited technical information, including:

• Internet Protocol address;
• browser and device type;
• operating system;
• date and time of access;
• pages or resources requested;
• referring page or website;
• general diagnostic, security, and error information; and
• cookie or similar technical identifiers required for website operation.

Technical information may be used to operate and secure the website, diagnose errors, prevent abuse, understand general website use, and maintain reliable service.

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3. How KSM Uses Personal Information

KSM may use personal information for purposes including:

• responding to questions and directing inquiries to the appropriate KSM organizer;
• administering membership, meetings, club activities, and volunteer participation;
• processing workshop, Showcase, vendor, sponsor, competition, or other registrations;
• confirming registrations, payments, schedules, eligibility, instructions, changes, and cancellations;
• planning room capacity, equipment, materials, accessibility, staffing, and event logistics;
• administering competitions, judging, awards, results, and public recognition;
• conducting surveys, consultations, and program development;
• publishing submitted articles, model photographs, captions, credits, or other content with appropriate permission;
• maintaining reasonable financial, transaction, consent, registration, and administrative records;
• preventing fraud, spam, abuse, unauthorized access, and security incidents;
• maintaining and improving website performance and content;
• meeting legal, regulatory, insurance, accounting, contractual, or dispute-resolution obligations; and
• carrying out another reasonable purpose identified to you at or before the time of collection.

KSM will not use personal information for a materially different purpose without obtaining additional consent where consent is required, unless the use is otherwise permitted or required by law.

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4. Consent and Your Choices

KSM seeks consent appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, the purpose of collection, and the circumstances. Consent may be express or implied where permitted by law.

For example, when you send KSM a message, you consent to KSM using the contact information and message content needed to review and answer that inquiry. When you register for an activity, you consent to KSM using the information reasonably required to administer your registration and participation.

You may withdraw consent to an optional use of your information by contacting KSM. Withdrawal will not affect uses already completed and may be subject to legal, contractual, safety, accounting, recordkeeping, or operational limitations. Withdrawing consent may also prevent KSM from providing a service or administering an activity that depends on the information.

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5. Email and Electronic Communications

KSM may send operational messages reasonably required to respond to an inquiry or administer a membership, registration, payment, workshop, meeting, event, volunteer role, vendor arrangement, sponsorship, or submitted contribution.

Operational messages are separate from optional promotional communications. Where Canadian anti-spam requirements apply to a commercial electronic message, KSM will rely on an applicable form of consent, identify the sender, provide contact information, and include a functioning unsubscribe method.

You may unsubscribe from optional promotional email using the unsubscribe method provided in the message or by contacting KSM. An unsubscribe request will not prevent necessary administrative communications relating to an active registration, transaction, membership, event role, or direct inquiry.

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6. Cookies, Logs, Analytics, and Embedded Services

The KSM website may use essential cookies and similar technologies required for website functionality, security, spam prevention, form processing, accessibility, session management, or user preferences.

Web-server logs may record technical information such as an Internet Protocol address, browser type, requested page, access time, referring page, and security or error information. These records may be used to operate, diagnose, protect, and maintain the website.

KSM may use analytics or audience-measurement services to understand general website use. Where practical, KSM will favour aggregated, limited, or privacy-conscious measurement rather than behavioural profiling. KSM does not use website information to sell individualized advertising profiles.

Pages may contain externally hosted video, maps, social-media features, payment functions, registration services, or other embedded content. A third-party service may receive technical information when its content or function is loaded. Your interaction with that service is also governed by the provider’s own privacy terms.

You may configure your browser to limit or reject cookies. Blocking essential cookies may prevent some website functions from operating correctly.

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7. Service Providers and Disclosure

KSM does not sell, rent, trade, or exchange personal information or membership, inquiry, registration, survey, vendor, sponsor, or participant lists for another organization’s independent marketing.

KSM may provide limited information to service providers that perform functions on our behalf, such as:

• website hosting and maintenance;
• email and communication delivery;
• contact-form processing;
• spam prevention and website security;
• cloud storage and document administration;
• registration and ticketing;
• payment processing;
• accounting and recordkeeping;
• printing, awards, identification, or event-production services; and
• analytics or technical support.

Service providers are given only the information reasonably required to perform the applicable service. They may not use that information for unrelated independent purposes except as permitted by their agreement with KSM or required by law.

KSM may also disclose information:

• with your consent or at your direction;
• to administer a joint activity where the participating organization and intended disclosure have been identified;
• to investigate fraud, misuse, threats, harassment, security incidents, or violations of KSM rules;
• to protect the rights, property, safety, or legitimate interests of KSM, its members, participants, volunteers, or the public;
• to obtain professional legal, accounting, insurance, or technical advice; or
• where disclosure is permitted or required by applicable law, court order, warrant, subpoena, or lawful government demand.

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8. Processing Outside Canada

Some website, email, cloud-storage, security, payment, registration, social-media, analytics, or other service providers may store or process information outside Ontario or outside Canada.

Information processed in another jurisdiction may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction and may be accessible to courts, law-enforcement authorities, or government agencies in accordance with applicable law.

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9. Retention and Secure Disposal

KSM retains personal information only for as long as reasonably required to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected and to satisfy legitimate administrative, accounting, insurance, legal, security, dispute-resolution, or recordkeeping requirements.

Retention periods may differ according to the record. For example, an unanswered general inquiry may be required for a much shorter period than a financial transaction, consent record, award result, published contribution, incident report, or contractual record.

When personal information is no longer reasonably required, KSM will delete, destroy, anonymize, or securely dispose of it using measures appropriate to the nature and sensitivity of the information. Information contained in backups may remain until the backup is overwritten or securely retired.

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10. Security Safeguards

KSM uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures appropriate to the sensitivity and amount of personal information under its control. Measures may include:

• limiting access to organizers and service providers who reasonably require the information;
• password and account-access controls;
• website encryption while information is transmitted;
• software maintenance, security monitoring, and spam protection;
• restricted storage of registration, payment, and administrative records;
• careful handling of printed records and event documents; and
• secure deletion, destruction, or disposal when records are no longer required.

No electronic transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Email and ordinary contact forms should not be used to send information requiring a higher level of confidentiality unless KSM has provided an appropriate method.

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11. Photography and Event Media

KSM meetings, workshops, exhibitions, competitions, and public events may be photographed or recorded for documentation, reporting, education, historical preservation, and promotion of KSM activities.

KSM will use reasonable notice appropriate to the activity. Express or specific consent may be requested for posed portraits, testimonials, interviews, participant profiles, prominent promotional uses, or situations involving greater privacy sensitivity.

Incidental crowd, room, display, competition-table, or event-atmosphere photographs may include identifiable people. A person who does not wish to appear prominently should advise the photographer or a KSM organizer as early as possible. KSM will make reasonable efforts to respect such a request, although complete exclusion cannot be guaranteed at a public event.

Where a photograph, model image, article, or other contribution has already been printed, distributed, shared by third parties, or incorporated into completed archival material, KSM may not be able to retrieve every existing copy. A withdrawal request will be considered for future use where reasonably practicable and legally appropriate.

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12. Children and Youth

KSM welcomes age-appropriate participation in the scale-modelling hobby. We seek to limit the collection of personal information about children and youth and to adapt notices and consent procedures to the age, maturity, sensitivity, and circumstances of the participant.

A parent or legal guardian must provide consent where the young person cannot provide meaningful consent for the proposed collection, use, or disclosure. Except in unusual circumstances, KSM will require parent or guardian involvement before knowingly collecting personal information online directly from a child under 13.

Registration, photography, publication, emergency-contact, and participation requirements for a youth activity may include additional notices or consent forms appropriate to that activity.

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13. Access, Correction, and Deletion Requests

You may contact KSM to:

• ask whether KSM holds personal information about you;
• request access to personal information under KSM’s control;
• ask how that information has been used or disclosed;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• withdraw consent to an optional future use;
• request deletion of information that is no longer reasonably required; or
• raise a concern about KSM’s privacy practices.

KSM may need to verify your identity before processing a request. Please do not send copies of government identification unless KSM specifically determines that identification is necessary and provides appropriate instructions.

Access or deletion may be limited where the information is subject to a legal restriction, contains personal information about another person, is protected by legal privilege, is required for an active dispute or investigation, or must reasonably be retained for financial, insurance, contractual, safety, security, archival, or other legitimate purposes.

KSM will respond within a reasonable period and as required by applicable law. If a request cannot be completed, KSM will explain the reason where legally permitted.

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14. Privacy Breaches

If KSM becomes aware of unauthorized access, disclosure, loss, misuse, or another suspected breach involving personal information, KSM will take reasonable steps to contain and investigate the incident, assess potential harm, preserve appropriate records, and reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

Where required by applicable law, KSM will notify affected individuals and the appropriate privacy regulator when a breach creates a real risk of significant harm.

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15. External Websites and Services

The KSM website may link to websites, social-media platforms, payment providers, registration systems, clubs, associations, vendors, sponsors, reference sources, or other third-party services that KSM does not control.

This Privacy Policy does not govern the privacy practices of an external organization. Review the applicable organization’s privacy policy before providing personal information or using its service.

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16. Changes to This Policy

KSM may revise this Privacy Policy as its website, programs, events, technology, service providers, or legal obligations change.

The current version will be posted on this page with its effective or last-updated date. Where a change materially affects an existing use or disclosure of personal information, KSM will provide additional notice or obtain new consent where reasonably required.

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17. Contacting KSM About Privacy

Questions, access requests, correction requests, consent withdrawals, and privacy complaints should be directed to:

Please use the subject line Privacy Request and include enough information for KSM to understand and respond to the matter. Do not include unnecessary sensitive information in the initial message.

KSM will review privacy complaints in good faith and will take reasonable corrective action where appropriate. Where PIPEDA applies, an individual may also have the right to submit a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.