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The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) collects personal information in the course of its business which it protects and safeguards in accordance with the requirements of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The TSO is responsible for all personal information it holds and remains responsible when personal information is processed by third parties on the TSO’s behalf.

For questions or concerns about the TSO Privacy Policy or practices, please contact Brian Columbus, the Privacy Coordinator, at 416.593.7769 X 394.

The TSO privacy policy may change from time to time.

Privacy Policy for Patrons and Donors

What is collected?

The TSO collects personal information from patrons and donors which can include:

  • name, street, and email addresses;
  • telephone, fax, and credit card numbers;
  • birth date, age, and proof of age;
  • purchase and donation history;
  • seating preferences; medical information related to seating needs
  • artistic and donation preferences;
  • publicly available financial information;
  • personal information such as the names of family members and special interests;
  • patron communications such as letters, electronic communication, or verbal feedback.

Business addresses and certain publicly available information, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers as published in telephone directories, are not considered personal information. The TSO collects information about identifiable individuals from published or public sources for the purposes of its own fundraising activities if the information is reasonably necessary for the fundraising activities.

When is it collected?

Personal information is acquired when selling tickets and processing donations. It may also be acquired when people participate in TSO promotions, contests, lotteries, surveys, or register to receive email bulletins. Access to the TSO website is anonymous unless the patron voluntarily supplies information through such transactions as email, entering a contest, making a purchase, subscribing to an e-newsletter, or registering for programmes.

Information Collected by Technology: The nature of the internet requires specific information to be exchanged between a web visitor and the TSO’s website. The information collected through website technology does not identify individuals personally. It includes:

  • Internet Protocol (IP) address
  • Internet Service Provider (ISP)
  • Type of Operating System (Windows, Macintosh, etc.)
  • Web browser (Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc.)

This information is used to identify system problems and monitor network traffic. The TSO does not attempt to link this information with the identity of the visitors to the TSO website except when necessary to protect the service, the site, or the visitors to the site.

Our websites use "cookies," which are small data files that are stored on your computer when you visit a website. Cookies may be used in a variety of ways to enhance or personalize your online experience. For example, we may use cookies to enable you to use certain website features, store your preferences, recognize you when you return to our website, and monitor and maintain information about your use of our websites. Cookies may also be used to collect transaction information needed by a scrip or loyalty program to which you have authorized us to provide your personal information. You can set your browser not to accept cookies or to notify you when you are sent a cookie, giving you the opportunity to decide whether or not to accept it. If you do not accept cookies, however, certain features of our websites may not be available to you. To learn more about cookies, please visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

We also use "pixel tags" (also called "web beacons" or "clear gifs"), which are tiny graphic images, and other similar technologies on our websites and in our emails. Pixel tags help us analyze our customers' online behavior and measure the effectiveness of our websites and our advertising. We work with service providers that help us track, collect, and analyze this information. Pixel tags on our sites may be used to collect information about your visit, including the pages you view, the features you use, the links you click, and other actions you take in connection with the sites. This information may include your browser type, your operating system, date and time information, and other technical information about your computer. We may also track certain information about the identity of the website you visited immediately before coming to our site. Pixel tags and cookies in our emails may be used to track your interactions with those messages, such as when you receive, open, or click a link in an email message from us.

We may combine the information we collect through cookies and pixel tags with other information we have collected from and about you. This information may be used to improve our websites, to personalize your online experience, to tailor our communications with you, to determine the effectiveness of our advertising, to understand your preferences and for other internal business purposes.

For what purposes is the information collected?

Personal information is used primarily for purchase and donation transactions and to deliver tickets and tax receipts. It is also used to provide customer service with reminders about concert dates and times; information about schedule or artistic changes; parking, construction, or traffic updates; other TSO events and special offers. It is also used to solicit support in TSO ticket sales and development campaigns through direct mail, electronic communication, or telesales. From time to time, the TSO may use this information to conduct market research. The TSO may inform patrons about the events of other arts or cultural organizations if deemed to be of significant value to TSO patrons and may exchange patron lists with other arts and cultural organizations, always through a third-party mailing house to prevent disclosure of personal information. Occasionally, the TSO may provide information to patrons from its sponsors.

From time to time, the TSO may use your personal information in the following ways:

  • To process and fulfill your order(s), including to send you emails to confirm your order status and shipment
  • To administer and fulfill contests, loyalty programs, and other promotions and programs in which you participate
  • To help us address problems with and improve our site design, products and services
  • To enhance your shopping experience
  • To help us learn more about your shopping preferences
  • To understand your shopping interests and purchasing history so that we can tailor offers and promotions to you
  • For our internal business purposes, such as to analyze trends and statistics, for audits, to develop new products, to enhance our websites, to improve our services, to identify usage trends and to determine the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns
  • To protect the security or integrity of our websites and our business
  • To prevent, detect and investigate activity and transactions that are suspicious, fraudulent, or violate our terms of use
  • To contact you if necessary regarding your transactions with us, changes to our terms, conditions, and policies and/or for other administrative purposes
  • With your consent when required, to communicate with you and to send you information by email, postal mail, telephone, text message, or other means about our products, services, contests, and promotions, unless you have directed us not to contact you with promotional communications

As a registered charitable organization, the TSO is exempt from the National Do Not Call List but is committed to ensuring that patrons do not receive an unreasonable number of letters, phone calls, or emails.

Who has access to the information?

Only authorized TSO personnel have access to the information based on their need to deal with the information for the reasons it was obtained. When it is shared with third party agencies (such as payment processing companies, mailing houses, or professional research firms), they are bound by contract to the same privacy standard that the TSO uses, and data is provided for one-time use only.

How is my information used for behavioural or interest-based advertising?

We work with third-party companies that use Google Analytics Advertising. Google may collect information about your activity on our sites and your interaction with our advertising and other communications and use this information to determine which ads you see on third-party websites and applications. More specifically, we use these Google Analytics Advertising features:

  • Remarketing with Google Analytics
  • Google Display Network Impression Reporting
  • Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting
  • Integrated services that require Google Analytics to collect data via advertising cookies and anonymous identifiers

For more information about this practice and to understand your options, including how you can opt-out of receiving third-party behavioural ads, please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance website as http://youradchoices.ca/.

Identifying the purposes and informing patrons

The TSO identifies the purposes for the personal information it collects and informs patrons through privacy messages which appear in print and electronic materials used to collect personal information such as sales and donation brochures, website, point-of-sale screens, and email club sign-up.

Consent for use of information

The TSO obtains consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information. Patrons who are informed of the TSO’s uses of personal information through its privacy messages, and who do not ask to opt out or be removed from TSO lists, are understood to have granted implied consent. Explicit consent (oral, written, “opt-out”, or “opt-in”) is also used.

To be removed from TSO mail, phone, or email lists, please send a message to contactus@TSO.CA or call the Patron Services office at 416.598.3375. Please note that withdrawing consent to some of the contemplated uses may render it impossible for the TSO to continue to provide a service which the patron has requested.

To prevent your browser data from being used by Google Analytics, learn about Google Analytics' currently available opt-outs for the web. You must download and install the add-on for your web browser. The Google Analytics opt-out add-on is designed to be compatible with Chrome, Internet Explorer 8-11, Safari, Firefox and Opera.

Limiting use, disclosure, and retention of personal information

Use: Information is used for the purposes described above and no others.

Disclosure: The TSO does not sell or rent its list of patrons.

Retention: Hard copy records with patron transaction information are retained in the TSO accounting department as required by law for seven years and then shredded. Electronic database files with purchase and donation history are retained as the TSO often has decades-long relationships with its supporters and requires this information to service and recognize them appropriately.

Safeguarding information

The TSO takes technical, contractual, administrative, and physical security steps to protect the personal information in its possession. The security safeguards are appropriate to the sensitivity of the personal information.

Patron Satisfaction

If you have any questions or concerns about the TSO's privacy policy or practices, please contact the Privacy Coordinator, Brian Columbus, at 416.593.7769 X 394. Hours of operation are Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.