Terms of use

 

1.0 Introduction


Welcome to the Canadian Cancer Society’s online community, CancerConnection/ ParlonsCancer.ca (the “Website” or “Online Community”). This is a cancer-related, non-commercial web site. Its primary objective is to facilitate an environment in which people can share their experiences and build relationships that will support them in their fight against cancer. The Online Community’s aim is to provide a healthy, safe, and constructive environment for discussion, support and the exchange of information about managing cancer in your life.

Please read our Terms of Use carefully as they are legally binding on you. Your use of the Website signifies your acceptance of these Terms of Use. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or delete portions of the Terms of Use at any time without notice. Your continued use of the Website (Online Community) after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new policy. It is your responsibility to regularly check to determine if there have been changes to these terms and to review such changes.

This is a Canadian website intended for use by residents of Canada, who are 18 years of age and over. World-wide participation is welcome, however, keep in mind that the content of the Website and the Online Community is tailored for Canadian residents using the Canadian health care system.

Anyone can view content on the Website without registration. In order to contribute and interact, however, you will need to register. Registration is free. The Online Community is owned and provided by the Canadian Cancer Society (referred to herein as the “CCS” or the “Society”).
 

Health disclaimer


Information shared using the Online Community is intended to be used for general information only and should not replace consultation with healthcare professionals. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before making medical decisions or if you have questions about your individual medical situation. The information shared on this Website does not constitute medical advice. Visitors are encouraged to consult with their medical professionals.

The Canadian Cancer Society does not endorse any product, treatment or therapy; neither does it evaluate the quality of services operated by other organizations mentioned on the Online Community or linked to this Website.
 

2.0 Rules of conduct


Help us keep the Online Community a safe and comfortable place for everyone seeking and sharing information and support. The Society expects its community members to be respectful of others, even those whose views may differ from your own. If you disagree with someone, please express yourself respectfully. Remain courteous at all times.

Remember that there are over 200 kinds of cancer, and everyone experiences cancer in different ways. Treatment solutions and decisions that worked for you may not be suitable for others. Sharing your experience is helpful, but please try to avoid giving advice.

You are responsible for everything you post. This includes all profile information, messages, pictures and other content that you post or upload to the Society’s Online Community. You agree that you will not:
  • use this web site for any unlawful purpose
  • post any information that is medically inaccurate 
  • impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity
  • post any defamatory, harassing, abusive, mean-spirited, obscene, profane, vulgar, sexually explicit, threatening, or illegal material, or any material containing blatant expressions of bigotry, racism or hate.
  • no naming or recommending healthcare professionals. 
  • violate the property rights of others, and you agree not to post any content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party
  • upload files, or cause users to upload files, that contain viruses, worms, “Trojan horses”, corrupted files, or any similar software or programs that may adversely affect the operation of another’s computer
  • advertise or promote any goods or services on the site. “Junk mail”, “spamming”, “chain letters”, “pyramid schemes” "crowd funding pages" and similar activities are strictly prohibited.
  • solicit anyone to buy or sell products or services, without our express written approval
  • violate any applicable local, provincial/territorial, national or international law in connection with the use of the site
  • post or link to any material that contains any information about any person under the age of 18
  • reveal personal information or identifiers about another person, as that may violate that person’s privacy.
  • recruit members as participants in a research project or school assignment of any kind, identify persons to interview for a media project of any kind, interview members for a publication, to recruit volunteers for any service or organization, or solicit members for any other purpose. Users who wish to announce their projects may submit a request via cancerconnection@cancer.ca for consideration. Approval of the request is at the Society’s sole discretion.
  • use email accounts that hide the originating Internet Service Provider information (such as hushmail.com). “Harvesting” email addresses from the Online Community (by copying them or otherwise obtaining them from the Online Community) for commercial or other non-Online Community related purposes is also strictly prohibited.
 

3.0 Privacy


The Society takes its responsibility to keep your personal information private very seriously. Our Privacy Policy is intended to help you understand how we collect, use and disclose your personal information in our Online Community, and to help you make informed decisions when sharing with the Online Community. By agreeing to these Terms of Use, you agree to the terms of the Privacy Policy, and consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set out in the Privacy Policy herein. Please read the complete Privacy Policy.
 

4.0 Copyright & third-party rights


This section outlines your rights and responsibilities relating to your own copyrights and your responsibility to consider the copyrights of others.
  • You confirm that you own the copyright to the material you post or upload to the Online Community but you agree to grant us perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive rights to reproduce, create derivative works from, adapt, publish and translate your entry or post on any media.
  • You agree that you will not use the Online Community to post any copyright material or intellectual property that is not your own without the express permission of the copyright or intellectual property holder.
  • You may add links to internal or external sites within your post but you agree to remain responsible for any links you add. We reserve the right to remove any links we consider inappropriate.
  • If you post links to photos or upload an avatar, you must ensure you have the permission of the person who owns the photos as well as the permission of the people who are in the photos.

5.0 Indemnity, warranty and disclaimers


You agree to indemnify, defend and hold the CCS (and its officers, employees, agents, mandataries and representatives) harmless from any liability, loss, claim and/or expense, including reasonable lawyer’s fees, arising from or relating to your violation of the Terms of Use.

The CCS tries to keep the Website and Online Community up, bug-free, and safe, but you use it at your own risk. We are providing the Online Community “AS-IS” without any express or implied warranties including, but not limited to implied warranties of quality, title, merchantability, merchantable quality, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. The CCS is not responsible for the actions, content, information or data of third parties, which includes you and any other registrants who post on the Online Community, and you release us, our directors, officers, employees, mandataries and agents from any claims and damages, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with any claim you have against any such third parties. Some jurisdictions do not allow for exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, some of the above limitations in this section may not apply to you.
 

6.0 Moderation


Content is added to the Online Community in real time. We do not screen content provided by members. You agree to be fully responsible for your own postings and agree to access and use the site at your own risk on an “AS IS” basis. If you feel that content that has been posted is off-topic, irrelevant, derogatory, defaming or inflammatory in some way, or represents a violation of these Terms of Use, please bring it to our attention by contacting cancerconnection@cancer.ca.

While the Society has no obligation to monitor or moderate the site, we reserve the right to monitor and/or moderate any user content posted on the site and to remove or edit any content at our sole discretion.

As provided in greater detail in our Privacy Policy, the Society reserves the right to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request or when the Society believes, in its sole discretion that such disclosure could prevent imminent harm.
 

7.0 Complaints and termination


To report or make a complaint about a post that it is objectionable or in breach of these Terms of Use, please contact us using the ‘contact us’ link at the bottom of each page or by sending an e-mail to cancerconnection@cancer.ca.

The Society may at any time and at its sole discretion terminate your right to use the Online Community should you breach these Terms of Use. If you are responsible for any breach of these Terms of Use, it will not be an excuse to say that you did not read the Terms of Use.

We reserve the right to:
  • restrict access to the Society’s Online Community for any user. If a formal complaint is made against you, your account will be reviewed and possibly suspended. It will only be reinstated if the complaint is resolved.
  • remove any post breaking these rules without prior contact with the author.
As a last resort we may issue a ban (either temporary or permanent) on your access to or registration with the Online Community if it becomes evident that you are unwilling to comply with the Terms of Use and/or we feel it is necessary to protect others or the integrity of the Online Community.
 

8.0 General


You agree that the laws of the Province of Ontario and Canada will apply to all matters relating to this Agreement.
These Terms of Use constitute an agreement between You and the Society with respect to your use of the Society’s Online Community and supersede all previous agreements, understandings and representations relating thereto. No failure by the Society or You to exercise any rights, powers or remedies hereunder or its delay to do so shall constitute a waiver of these rights, powers or remedies. The single or partial exercise of a right, power or remedy shall not prevent its subsequent exercise or the exercise of any other right, power or remedy. If any provision of these Terms of Use or part thereof is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, the illegality, invalidity or unenforceability of that provision will not affect the legality, validity or enforceability of the remainder of the provision or the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use, as the case may be, or the legality, validity or enforceability of that provision or part thereof in any other jurisdiction. It is the express wish of the parties that these Terms of Use and all related documents are drawn up in English. C’est la volonté expresse des parties que la présente convention ainsi que tous les documents qui s’y rattachent soient rédigés en anglais.
 

9.0 Questions. contact us


Sharing information should be easy. If you have questions or ideas about this site, please send them to cancerconnection@cancer.ca.

If you wish to make inquiries or complaints or have other concerns, or wish to “opt-out” of or request withdrawal of your consent to certain of our uses of personal information, you can contact us through the contact link at the bottom of the page.

Last modified on March 27, 2018.



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