Privacy Policy

Welcome to the Gander Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”).

This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms a part of the Gander Terms of Use (the “Terms”) between Gander Social Inc. (“Gander”, “we”, “us” or “our”), the provider of the Gander social media mobile application (the “App”) and website (the “Site”, and together with the App, the “Services”), and you (“you” or “your” or “user”), a user of the Services. Any capitalized terms used but not defined in this Privacy Policy will have the meanings set forth in the Terms.

This Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information through your use of the Services in accordance with the privacy laws applicable to us, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada).

THIS PRIVACY POLICY CONSTITUTES A BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND GANDER. PLEASE READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICES. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU CONSENT TO OUR HANDLING OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION ACCORDING TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THIS PRIVACY POLICY, DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES.

1. Personal Information

   For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “Personal Information” is information that can be associated with an individual and could be used to identify that individual. For example, Personal Information includes your name and email. Personal Information does not include information that has been made anonymous or aggregated, in accordance with applicable laws, so that it can no longer be used to identify an individual (“Anonymized Information”).

2. What Personal Information We Collect

   Gander collects Personal Information from you in three main ways: (1) when you provide it through your access and use of the Services; (2) when we collect it automatically through your access and use of the Services; and (3) when we receive it from others.

   1. Personal Information You Provide. We may collect Personal Information from you when you: register for a user account with us; update or add information to your user account; participate in community discussions, chats, or dispute resolution on the Services; engage or communicate with us, other users or third parties in connection with the Services; post or complete transactions using the Services; or otherwise access or use any part or all of the Services. Such Personal Information may include:
      1. User Account Information – your name, email address and date of birth.
      2. User Profile Details – your bio, profile photo, links, location you may choose to add.
      3. User Content and Interactions – your posts, photos and videos, GIFs, comments, likes, followers, direct messages, saved collections (i.e., posts saved by users to their personal boards), and any other content you create.
      4. Sensitive Information in User Content – Gander does not request or intentionally collect health or medical information as a separate category of Personal Information. However, users may voluntarily include information relating to their physical or mental health in posts, direct messages, profile text, comments, photos, videos, or other User Content. Where users choose to provide such information, Gander treats it as user-generated content submitted by the user and not as health data collected for a health-related purpose.
   2. Automatic Collection. Gander may automatically collect technical information about your computer or mobile device, such as your Internet protocol (IP) address, device ID, physical location, browser and operating system type, resolution of your screen, language settings in your browser, and referring URLs. This information is necessary for analyzing web traffic, troubleshooting problems, preventing fraud, and improving the Services. The Services may also track (i) invites sent by users to friends to join Gander, (ii) whether the invite link was used to create a user account, and (iii) which existing user initiated the invite. All such foregoing information in this section may or may not constitute Personal Information in the circumstances. Gander may provide a process for users to opt out of automatic collection of information by adjusting the settings in their user account, or otherwise by contacting Gander.
   3. Receipt from Third Parties. We may obtain Personal Information from third parties, such as (i) other users of the Services providing it through their User Content, and (ii) social networks when you grant permission to Gander to access your Personal Information on one or more networks (e.g., connecting your User Account on Gander to your account on another platform).

   When Gander collects Personal Information from you to fulfill a specific function on the Services, such as the creation of a User Account, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that we collect only the minimum amount of Personal Information that is required in order to achieve such purpose.

3. Use of Personal Information

   Gander may use the Personal Information that we collect from you:

   1. for operational purposes to deliver and improve the Services, such as:
      1. creating, verifying and managing your User Account;
      2. verifying your identity in cases of suspected botting, impersonation, or high-risk behavior;
      3. displaying your User Content;
      4. enabling users to follow and interact with other users and their User Content;
      5. enabling you to personalize your feed and recommendations; and
      6. troubleshooting bugs and improving the safety and performance of the Services;
   2. to contact you about feature updates and informational and service-related communications (e.g., password resets, security alerts, responding to support requests);
   3. to appropriately respond to your communications and provide you with customer service;
   4. to detect, prevent, mitigate and investigate fraudulent or illegal activities;
   5. to enforce our Terms;
   6. to meet our legal obligations, respond to lawful requests, and to protect our rights, and the rights of our users; and
   7. to carry out any other purpose that is disclosed to you and for which you consent, or as is otherwise permitted by applicable law.

   Gander does not sell your Personal Information. Gander does not use your Personal Information for surveillance-based advertising.

   Sensitive Categories of Information. Gander does not actively collect, access, infer, or use health or medical information as a separate category of Personal Information for any health-related purpose. To the extent that users voluntarily include such information in User Content, it is processed only as part of providing the Services, including displaying, storing, moderating, and enabling sharing of that content in accordance with a user’s settings and actions, and is not used for profiling, advertising, or health-related analysis.

4. Sharing Personal Information
   1. Other Users and the Public. Anything that you post publicly through the Services will be visible to other users and the public, may be indexed by search engines, and may be shared by other users or third parties outside of the Services. You may have the ability to filter who can see your content through the Services by adjusting your privacy settings.
   2. Service Providers. We may provide your Personal Information to third party service providers to help us with our business activities and the provision of the Services. For example, we may use third party service providers to (i) assist us with verifying user identities, (ii) the prevention, detection, mitigation and investigation of potentially illegal acts, violations of our Terms, fraud and/or security breaches, and (iii) collect and process error and crash reports, host web servers and store data. These third parties are authorized to use your Personal Information only as necessary to provide these services to us.
   3. Corporate Reorganization. We may also provide your Personal Information to an affiliate or a third party in the event of a proposed reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of Gander’s business, assets or equity (a “Corporate Transaction”), subject in each case to customary confidentiality agreements. Gander will notify users with respect to any such Corporate Transaction.
   4. Legal Disclosure. Subject to applicable laws, Gander may also disclose Personal Information about you to others as we believe to be necessary or appropriate: (i) to comply with applicable laws, legal process, or respond to legal claims; (ii) to respond to requests from public authorities and law enforcement officials, including officials outside your country of residence; (iii) to enforce the Terms; (iv) to protect our operations or those of any of our affiliates; or (v) to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
5. Consent for Processing Personal Information
   1. General. Gander will not process your Personal Information without your consent, unless we are permitted or required to do so by applicable law. Consent may be express or implied, depending on the nature and sensitivity of the Personal Information. The type of consent we may rely on in processing your Personal Information will vary based on your reasonable expectations, the sensitivity of your Personal Information, and the circumstances surrounding the collection of your Personal Information. Express consent is when you willingly agree (e.g., orally, in writing, or electronic agreement) to the processing of your Personal Information for particular purposes. Implied consent is when: (a) you do not expressly give consent, but you rather volunteer Personal Information for obvious purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances; or (b) you are given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of your Personal Information being processed for specified purposes, and you do not opt-out. For certainty, by accessing and using our Services, you consent to us handling your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
   2. European Union. If you are located in the European Economic Area and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) is applicable to our Services, we may process your Personal Information on the following grounds, in addition to any other grounds that may be available pursuant to applicable law:
      1. Consent. Where you have given us consent through a statement or clear affirmative action agreeing to the processing of your Personal Information.
      2. Contract. Where processing of Personal Information is necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party with us, or which you have agreed to enter into with us.
      3. Legal Obligation. To comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject.
      4. Legitimate Interests. Where the processing of Personal Information is based on our legitimate interests, provided that these do not override your own interests and fundamental rights. We have legitimate interests in the following:
         1. to properly operate and deliver our Services to you;
         2. to understand how users engage with our Services;
         3. to improve our Services; and
         4. to provide assistance to users, including responses to inquiries and feedback.
6. Security of Personal Information

   We protect your Personal Information using technical and administrative security measures to reduce the risks of loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure and alteration. Some of the safeguards may include utilizing firewalls, encryption, and information access authorization controls. If you believe your User Account has been compromised, please contact us. Gander utilizes commercially reasonable industry standards to protect the Personal Information processed by us, both during transmission and once we receive it. However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

   Gander stores your Personal Information on sovereign cloud in Canada. However, Gander may use third party service providers to help us operate, maintain, and improve the Services (for example, identity verification, security monitoring, and error/crash reporting). To the extent that you provide your Personal Information to such third party service providers, your Personal Information may be processed, stored, or accessed by those service providers in jurisdictions outside of Canada. When Personal Information is processed outside of Canada, it may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is processed and may be accessible to law enforcement, national security authorities, or other governmental authorities in accordance with those laws. To the extent that Gander discloses your Personal Information to its third party service providers, Gander will take reasonable steps to protect your Personal Information through contractual and other safeguards so that those services providers: (a) only use your Personal Information as is necessary for them to provide their services; and (b) handle your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

7. Third Party Policies

   This Privacy Policy addresses only the handling of Personal Information that Gander collects from you. If you disclose your Personal Information to others, or if you engage with any third party sites or services, such third party’s privacy notices and practices will apply. Gander is not responsible for any third parties to whom you may disclose your Personal Information, regardless of whether such third parties are accessed through the Services or not. For example, Gander may utilize third party identity verification services, and if you disclose your Personal Information to such third parties, then their privacy practices will apply with respect to your Personal Information.

   Gander cannot guarantee the privacy or security of your Personal Information once you provide it to a third party, and we encourage you to evaluate the privacy and security policies of each such third party before any such engagement or disclosure.

8. Marketing Communications

   If you have opted to receive marketing communications from Gander via email, or any other form of communication that you have provided us contact information for, then you may opt-out at any time by clicking “Unsubscribe” in the communication, as applicable, or by contacting us as set forth in the “Contact Us” section at the end of this Privacy Policy. Please note that certain communications may be necessary for the proper functioning of certain functions and features of the Services, and opting out of those communications may hinder the use of the Services.

9. Certain Rights Relating to Personal Information
   1. General. You have certain rights relating to your Personal Information, subject to applicable law and our Terms:
      1. Right to be Informed. To know how your Personal Information is collected, how it is used, and how it is disclosed and stored. This further includes:
         1. Right to Withdraw Consent. To withdraw your consent to the processing of your Personal Information at any time. Please be advised that withdrawing your consent to the processing of Personal Information may impact your ability to access and use the Services. For further information on this, please contact our Privacy Officer as provided in the “Contact Us” section below.
         2. Right to Make a Complaint. To make a complaint about the processing of your Personal Information.
      2. Right to Access. To receive a copy of your Personal Information.
      3. Right to Rectification. To request the correction of your Personal Information.
   2. European Union. If the GDPR is applicable to your use of our Services, then you have the following additional rights relating to your Personal Information, subject to applicable law in each instance:
      1. Right to Erasure. To request the deletion of Personal Information when: (A) you believe it is no longer necessary for the purposes collected; (B) you withdraw your consent or otherwise object to the processing of your Personal Information; or (C) your Personal Information was unlawfully processed.
      2. Right to Restriction of Processing. To restrict the processing of Personal Information if you dispute its accuracy or object to its processing.
      3. Right to Portability. To request that your Personal Information be transferred to another organization.
      4. Right to Information about Automated Decision Making. To receive information about the basis of any automatic decision making (e.g., algorithms).
      5. Right not to be Subject to Automated Decision Making. To not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, unless this is necessary pursuant to a contract between us.
      6. Right to Object to Processing Activities. To object to the processing of your Personal Information based on our legitimate interests.
   3. Exercising Your Rights. If you would like to exercise your rights relating to Personal Information, please refer to our “Contact Us” section below. When doing so, please tell us which right you are exercising and provide us with contact information to direct our response. We may verify your identity before fulfilling requests to exercise any applicable rights. If we cannot initially verify your identity, we may request additional information to complete the verification process. Any Personal Information you disclose to us for the purposes of verifying your identity will solely be used for the purpose of verification.
   4. Data Export and AT Protocol Transfers. You may export a copy of your User Content from the Services, and you may choose to transfer that exported data to external AT Protocol servers or services that support the AT Protocol. If you initiate such a transfer, you authorize Gander to make your exported data available in a format suitable for AT Protocol-compatible services. External AT Protocol servers are not operated by Gander, and once your data leaves our Services, it will be handled under the receiving server’s terms, policies, and security practices. Gander is not responsible for how third parties store, use, disclose, or secure your data after such transfer.
10. Retention of Personal Information

    Gander retains Personal Information for as long as necessary to provide the Services, and for other essential purposes such as complying with our legal obligations, resolving disputes and enforcing our Terms. Because these needs can vary depending on the circumstances, actual retention periods can vary significantly.

    After it is no longer necessary for us to retain your Personal Information, Gander will securely delete or anonymize the Personal Information that we control according to our data retention and deletion policies. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Privacy Policy, Gander is not responsible for any liability or loss you experience as a result of: (a) Gander’s disposal of your Personal Information; or (b) the use and sharing by third parties of your Personal Information which you have shared through the Services with other users and/or the public. By virtue of using social media and making your Personal Information publicly available, you acknowledge and agree that your Personal Information may be retained by other users of the Services, by search engines, and by third parties even after any deletion of it on the Services.

11. Information About Other Persons

    Before providing any information to us on behalf of another person, or otherwise granting us access to information belonging to another person, in each case, you represent and warrant that you have received all necessary authorizations to do so. Do not provide us with any information, or access thereto, on behalf of another person if you do not hold all such authorizations to do so under applicable law.

12. Children

    You must be at least 18 years old in order to access and use the Services. The Services are not intended for, nor does Gander knowingly collect information from, individuals under the age of 18. If we learn that we have collected any such Personal Information, we will take steps to delete the information as soon as possible.

13. Changes to Privacy Policy

    We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time, so please review it periodically. Unless otherwise provided by us, any amendments to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting of the amended version on the Services. Your continued use of the Services after we post the amended Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of the amendments and your consent to abide and be bound by the amended Privacy Policy. To the extent required by applicable law, Gander will notify you by email of any material amendments to this Privacy Policy. You can determine when this Privacy Policy was last amended by referring to the “Last Updated” reference expressly provided above.

14. Interpretation of this Privacy Policy

    This Privacy Policy is originally written in the English language. If and when Gander translates this Privacy Policy into another language, the English language text will prevail in the event of any inconsistency. Unless the context otherwise requires, words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa, and words importing gender include all genders. Where the word “including” or “includes” is used in this Privacy Policy, it means “including (or includes) without limitation”. The descriptive headings used in this Privacy Policy are for convenience of reference only, and will not be used in the interpretation of this Privacy Policy. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any rule of construction to the effect that any ambiguity in the provisions of this Privacy Policy is to be resolved against the author is not applicable in interpreting this Privacy Policy.

15. Contact Us

    If you have any questions about Gander’s Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise any applicable rights, please contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@gandersocial.ca.