This notice explains how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) interacts with the public on social media platforms.
Your engagement with the CFIA via social media is in part governed by the terms of service/use of the relevant third-party social media platform providers, as well as the following terms and conditions. The CFIA has no control over the social media platform providers' terms of service/use, but you are strongly encouraged to read them in addition to those that follow.
Content and frequency
The CFIA uses social media accounts as an alternative method of interacting with Canadians and of sharing the content posted on its website, facilitating access to CFIA information and services, and providing stakeholders with an opportunity to interact in an informative and respectful environment.
Please refer to CFIA and other appropriate websites for official CFIA positions, for example, on legal, policy or program requirements.
Because social media platforms and their computer servers are managed by third parties, social media accounts are subject to downtime that may be out of the CFIA's control. The CFIA accepts no responsibility for platforms becoming unresponsive or unavailable.
Postings will occasionally be less frequent, in line with direction from the Government of Canada.
Links to other websites and ads
Social media accounts may post or display links or ads for websites that are not under the control of the CFIA. These links are provided solely for the convenience of users. The CFIA is not responsible for the information found through these links or ads, nor does it endorse the sites or their content.
Following, "liking" and subscribing
The CFIA's decision to follow, "like" or subscribe to another social media account does not imply an endorsement of that account, channel, page, or site. Neither does sharing (re-tweeting, reposting or linking to) content from another user.
Comments and interaction
The CFIA will read comments and participate in discussions when appropriate. Your comments and contributions must be relevant and respectful.
The CFIA will not engage in partisan or political issues or respond to questions that violate these terms and conditions.
The CFIA reserves the right to remove comments and contributions and to block users if the comments or contributions:
- include personal information
- include protected or classified information of the CFIA
- infringe upon intellectual property or proprietary rights
- are contrary to the principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Constitution Act, 1982
- are racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic, profane or defamatory
- contain or refer to any obscenity or pornography
- are threatening, violent, intimidating or harassing
- are contrary to any federal, provincial or territorial laws of Canada
- constitute impersonation, advertising, solicitation, or spam
- encourage or incite any criminal activity
- are written in a language other than English or French
- otherwise violate these terms and conditions
The CFIA reserves the right to report users and their comments or contributions to third-party social media service providers to prevent or remove the posting of content that is contrary to these terms and conditions or to the terms of service/use of the social media platform.
Accessibility of social media platforms
Social media platforms are third-party service providers and are not bound by the Government of Canada's Standard on Web Accessibility.
Copyright
Information that the CFIA posts is subject to the Copyright Act.
Privacy
Social media accounts are not CFIA websites and represent only its presence on third-party service providers.
The CFIA uses various social media platforms to tell you about and get your input on services, programs and initiatives. At times, the CFIA may need to collect personal information from you.
Personal information is information about you that is recorded in any form and that can be used to identify you. Personal information includes:
- your name
- contact information
- Internet Protocol (IP) address
- social media profile information
- social media "likes" or reposts
To consult you about topics that might interest you or to enable you to participate in outreach activities, the CFIA may need to collect biographical information or your opinions and views about different topics.
The CFIA might use your personal information to:
- respond to your enquiries
- compile statistics and reports
- consult you about topics that might interest you
- enable you to participate in outreach activities
- allow for the sharing of opinions, knowledge, expertise and best practices
- evaluate programs
If you make inappropriate comments or contributions, the CFIA may remove them. The CFIA may also block you or report you to third‑party social media service providers if your comments or contributions violate these terms and conditions. When doing so and to the extent necessary, the CFIA may use and disclose your personal information.
The CFIA can make the content of social media interactions publicly available if it has notified participants in advance. The CFIA will get your consent to use your personal information to create mailing lists so that it can contact you about upcoming events or to ask you for your views on particular issues.
The CFIA will not use any personal information that it collects from you through social media accounts to make decisions in processes that you are directly involved in.
The following standard personal information banks describe how the CFIA handles the personal information that it collects through its social media accounts: Public Communications (PSU 914) and Outreach Activities (PSU 938).
Your rights
When you interact with CFIA official social media accounts, your social media profile information may be recorded as per the practices of the social media platform. However, you have the right to refuse to give the CFIA any additional personal information when you interact with the CFIA on social media. There will be no legal or administrative consequences, but you might not be able to take part in a particular activity.
You can ask to access personal information that you have given the CFIA or that may have been created when you have interacted with the CFIA through its social media accounts. The CFIA doesn't collect and retain this information with the intention of it being retrievable, so if you ask to access it, please give the date and time of the interaction and any other details that could help the CFIA retrieve it. To access this information, you can make a personal information request.
Your responsibilities
If you choose to interact with the CFIA on social media, you should familiarize yourself with these terms and conditions. You should also read the terms of service or use and the privacy policies of the social media platform providers.
CFIA responsibilities
Whenever the CFIA collects personal information from you on social media and whenever personal information is created as a result of your interactions with the CFIA on social media, the CFIA has to comply with the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act.
Questions and concerns
If you have questions, comments, concerns or complaints about how the CFIA collects, uses and stores your personal information, consult the CFIA's access to information and privacy webpage.
If you are not satisfied, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) by telephone at 1‑800‑282-1376 or visit the OPC's website.
Official languages
Many social media platforms have multiple language options and provide instructions on how to set your preferences. The CFIA respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that its information is available in both English and French and that both versions are of equal quality.
The CFIA replies to comments in the official language in which they are posted. If the response is a question of general public interest, the CFIA may respond in both official languages.
The CFIA may share links that direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and are available only in the language(s) in which they are written. When content is available in only one language, the CFIA makes an effort to provide similar content in the other official language.