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Security and Confidentiality

Secure Transactions

All the information you enter into the CITÉ+ website, whether it is your name, your e-mail address or data related to your credit card, is numbered through a high-tech cryptographic system called the SSL protocol ( Secure Socket Layers protocol ) using a 128-bit key.

Therefore you must use a browser with a 128-bit cryptographic protocol. If you do not have it, you may download it from the website of your browser.

Security Icons

It is possible for you to know if the page in which you are entering data is secure or not. On a secure page, your browser displays a message and an icon. If you are using the French version of Netscape, a small blue key appears in the lower corner of your screen. Microsoft Explorer and the English version of Netscape display a padlock.

Caution! A broken key or an open padlock mean the link is not secure.

A page is secure when:


an “s” will be added to the URL address that appears in the toolbar of your browser. Therefore, the address will begin with “https” rather than the usual “http”.

Credit cards

Only Visa and MasterCard credit cards are accepted. The city gives the financial institution the amount of your subscription or of the deposit you wish to pay into your client account, and you yourself give the financial institution your credit-card details. As soon as you finish entering the data , the latter produces an authorization number. This number appears on the CITÉ+ page, which displays the confirmation of your subscription.

Security of the city's systems

The city's server is equipped with a firewall that controls access to the information the city wishes to, and must keep confidential. In addition, the city's server comes with a security certificate guaranteeing confidentiality for all data transmitted to it.

Necessity for “Cookies”

Any person who accesses the CITÉ+ website must accept the presence of witnesses or “cookies” as they are called in Internet jargon. A witness is an element of information (a simple numerical sequence) that a website sends your browser and that is temporarily in the hard drive of your computer.

The witnesses sent by the CITÉ+ website are necessary for us to make sure we are dealing with the right client.

The witnesses placed by CITÉ+ are unable to go find any other information in your hard drive.

As soon as the connection between your computer and the CITÉ+ website is de-activated, the witnesses are no longer operational.

As a rule, browsers are configured by default to accept witnesses. Some Internet users choose to modify their systems in order to reject cookies. If that is the case, you must reconfigure your system so that it accepts “cookies”.

De-activated Connection

When over 30 minutes go by without any movement within the CITÉ+ website, the connection is automatically de-activated. To pursue your research, you have to re-enter your user name and password.

Confidentiality

The information contained in the forms you will fill out (either online or in the Accès Montréal offices) will be treated confidentially in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

Personal information collected by the city

In keeping with its duty to protect all personal information that might be sent to it by users of its site, Ville de Montréal wishes to inform Internet users of the reasons why this information may be gathered and the use that may be made of it. If the Internet user agrees to supply the personal information requested, he/she will be deemed to have agreed to it being collected and used by the city. If the personal information supplied by Internet users are likely to be used for purposes other than those listed below, or that may reasonably result from them, the city, except when exempted by the law, will advise the Internet user accordingly and obtain his/her consent.

Non-disclosure to third parties

If you provide personal information to the city via its Web site, whether in correspondence, to subscribe to a service or to make a payment, be advised that the city does not sell, market or rent information supplied by Internet users on its site to third parties.

Ville de Montréal is committed not to disclose to a third party any personal information on Internet users unless it is combined with other information; in this way, such disclosure makes the identification of any particular Internet user impossible. Thus, the name and address of an Internet user will never be disclosed, although in our statistical reports, we might publish the following, for example: «50% of Internet users visiting the Web site of Ville de Montréal are Montréal residents aged between 25 and 45, and 25% come from Europe.»

However, Ville de Montréal reserves the right to divulge personal information in order to protect its property rights to the site or those of its users, sponsors, advertisers or suppliers, and in cases where the law obliges it to do so.

Right of access and modification

Subject to the restrictions provided for by law, at any time you are entitled to access, change, rectify, and when allowed, remove personal information that you have supplied to the Web site of Ville de Montréal. Generally, it is the city clerk?s office that is responsible for requests to access a document or personal information or requests to rectify information. In the case of CITÉ+, you can contact Customer Service directly.

Links to Other Sites

The CITÉ+ website contains links to other departments of the City that contain, in turn, links to other websites.

The City assumes no responsibility for the information you may forward to these sites. When you surf on these sites, it is up to you to take the appropriate precautions.



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