1. Scope of this policy
This policy applies to personal information handled through the website of Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc. and through the watch desk that the company operates from its Longueuil office. It covers information you give us directly, information produced when you use the website, and information that arrives at the desk in the course of a watch engagement.
The policy does not cover the practices of other organizations, including harbor authorities, vessel operators or shipping agents that may send us information on your behalf. Those organizations are responsible for their own privacy notices, and we encourage you to read them alongside this document. The policy also does not cover information that a client keeps inside its own systems, even where that information was produced during a watch that we ran.
When you deal with us in a business capacity, some of the information you provide may relate to other people, for example the names of crew members or the contact details of a harbor officer. In that case you confirm that you are permitted to share the information with us and that those people have been told how we will use it.
2. Who is responsible
The organization responsible for the information described in this policy is Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc., a company with its registered office at 103-3485 rue Edmond-Hardy, Longueuil - J4N 0J5, Canada (CA). The watch desk can be reached at shipping@miqmaritime.lol or on +12765761584.
The website and its supporting code are maintained by the developer mIQMaritime. The developer operates under the direction of the company and handles website information only in the ways described here. If you have a question about the website itself, the developer can answer it, and if you have a question about a watch engagement the company will answer it.
A single point of contact handles privacy matters for both. You do not need to decide whether your question belongs to the developer or to the company. Write to the desk at shipping@miqmaritime.lol and say that the matter is about privacy, and the message will be routed to the person who can answer it.
3. Information we collect
We collect only what a watch desk needs to answer an enquiry and to run a watch. The categories are limited and they are described in full below.
Identity and contact information
Your name, organization, job title, email address, telephone number and postal address when you send them through the contact form, by email or by telephone. If you are the contact for a fleet, we may also record the name of the vessel or the harbor that your enquiry concerns.
Correspondence
The content of messages you send to the desk, including the subject line, the body of the message and any attachment you choose to include. We keep a record of our replies so that the desk can continue a conversation across shifts without asking you to repeat yourself.
Enquiry details
The water, the hours, the passages and the contacts you describe when you ask for a watch brief. This information is used to decide whether we can run the watch and to prepare the first brief.
Technical information
When you visit the website, the servers that host it may record the request time, the page requested, the referring page, the browser type and the approximate network location. This information is used to keep the site working and to understand which pages are read.
Watch records
Where a watch engagement produces plot notes, blip logs or log sheets that mention a person, those records are handled as described in section seventeen. Vessel movement data is treated separately and is described in the same section.
4. How information reaches us
Most information reaches us because you choose to send it. You may use the contact form on the website, write to the desk by email, telephone the watch office or speak with a watchkeeper during a visit. Each of these routes produces a record at the desk, and each record is handled in the same way.
Some information reaches us without a direct message. The servers that host the website record technical information automatically when a page is requested. If a client forwards a message or a document that mentions a person, that person may appear in our correspondence without having contacted us directly.
We may also receive information from a harbor authority or a vessel operator that has engaged us for a watch, where the information is needed to run the watch. In that case we treat the information as confidential to the engagement and use it only for the purposes described in section five.
5. Why we use information
We use information for a small number of purposes, and we do not stretch those purposes to cover unrelated activity. The purposes are:
- to answer an enquiry and to prepare a watch brief;
- to agree the plot band, the hours and the contacts for a watch;
- to run the watch and to close the record at the end of each day;
- to send short notes about the watch to the client contact;
- to keep the website working and to correct faults;
- to understand which pages of the website are read;
- to meet accounting, tax and record keeping duties;
- to respond to a legal request or a lawful demand.
We do not sell personal information. We do not use information from a watch engagement to market a different service to a different client. We do not build advertising profiles, and we do not rent contact lists.
Where you have asked us to send a note about the watch, we treat the request as consent for that note. You can withdraw the request at any time, and the watch itself will continue unless you also ask us to stop it.
6. Legal basis for processing
Where Canadian law applies, we handle personal information in line with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and with the provincial rules that govern a business operating in Quebec. We rely on your consent where you send information to us for an enquiry, on the performance of a contract where a watch has been agreed, and on our legitimate interest in keeping the website working and the record sound.
Where the law of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom applies, we rely on the equivalent grounds: consent for an enquiry, performance of a contract for a watch, legitimate interests for website operation and record keeping that does not override your rights, and legal obligation for accounting and tax records.
Where you have given consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of the handling that took place before the withdrawal. Where we rely on a legal obligation, the obligation itself decides how long the record must be kept.
8. How long we keep information
We keep information only as long as the purpose requires, and we keep a separate schedule for each category so that nothing lingers by habit.
- Enquiries that do not lead to a watch are kept for twelve months and then deleted;
- Correspondence about an active watch is kept for the engagement and for two years after the final sheet is signed;
- Plot notes, blip logs and log sheets are kept for the period agreed with the client and by default for three years;
- Accounting and tax records are kept for the period required by law;
- Server logs are kept for a short period and then overwritten.
When a retention period ends, the information is deleted or made anonymous so that it can no longer be connected to a person. Where a legal hold applies, the record is kept until the hold is lifted, and the reason for the hold is noted at the desk.
9. How we protect information
We use technical and organizational measures that fit a small watch office. Access to the website and the desk mailbox is limited to people who need it, and each person has a separate account. Passwords are stored in a way that cannot be read back, and access is reviewed when a person leaves the desk.
The website is served over an encrypted connection. Content that is sent through the contact form is passed to the visitor mail program and sent to the desk address, so the message is held by the mail provider used by the sender and by the mail provider used by the desk.
No system is perfect. If a breach occurs that creates a risk of harm, we will assess the risk, contain the incident, notify the affected people and the relevant authority where the law requires it, and record what happened and what was done. We would rather tell you about a problem early than keep a fault quiet.
11. Measurement tools
We use a simple measurement approach to learn which pages are read and which pages are not. The measurement records page visits and not the content of messages. It does not follow you to other websites and it is not used for advertising.
Where a measurement tool records an approximate network location, the location is never exact and is never combined with the contact form to identify a person. If you prefer not to be measured, you can block the tool with a browser setting or an extension, and the website will keep working.
The measurement records are kept for a limited period and are reviewed only by the developer and by the watch desk. They are not sold and they are not shared with advertisers.
12. Privacy for children
The website and the watch desk serve professional clients. They are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of eighteen. If you believe that a child has sent us information, write to the desk at shipping@miqmaritime.lol and the information will be removed promptly.
Where a watch engagement involves a young person on a vessel, the information about that person is handled under the engagement agreement and not through the website. The deck of an operating vessel is an adult workplace, and our watch does not create a service for young visitors.
13. Your rights and choices
You have the right to know whether we hold information about you, to see that information, to correct it where it is wrong, and to ask us to delete it where there is no continuing need. You also have the right to ask us to restrict how the information is used and to object to a particular use.
Where the law of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom applies, you also have the right to receive information in a portable format and the right to withdraw consent at any time. Where Canadian law applies, you have the right to be informed of a refusal and to challenge it before the appropriate authority.
To exercise a right, write to shipping@miqmaritime.lol with the word privacy in the subject line and describe what you would like us to do. We do not charge a fee for an ordinary request, and we respond within thirty days where the law allows.
14. Access and correction requests
When you ask for access, we will confirm your identity so that we do not disclose personal information to the wrong person. The confirmation is light and it is not used to collect more information than is needed. We then gather the information held about you, review it with the watch desk, and send it in a readable form.
Where the information includes material about another person, we may remove that material before sending the response. Where the information is covered by a legal privilege or by a duty to a client, we may withhold that part and explain the reason. We do not use a withholding to avoid an ordinary question.
If the information is wrong, tell us which item is wrong and what the correct value should be. We will correct it, and where the information was shared with a provider we will ask the provider to correct it as well. Where the correction concerns a watch record, the record is amended rather than erased so that the trail of the watch remains intact.
15. Deletion and objection
You can ask us to delete information about you. We will delete it where there is no continuing need and no legal obligation to keep it. If we must keep a record, we will tell you why and how long it will be kept, and we will limit the use of the record to the reason that requires it.
You can object to a use that rests on our legitimate interest. When you object, we will pause the use while we review the objection, and we will explain the outcome in writing. If the objection is upheld, the information is deleted or restricted.
On receiving a deletion request we will also pass the request to the service providers that hold the information for us and confirm that the deletion has taken effect. Backups are overwritten in the ordinary cycle, and a deletion request is noted so that the record is not restored.
16. International transfers
The desk is located in Longueuil, Quebec, and most information is handled in Canada. Some service providers are based outside Canada, and their systems may hold a copy of an email or a website log. When information leaves Canada, we use a provider that is bound by a written agreement and we take reasonable steps to ensure a comparable level of protection.
A transfer to another country may mean that the information is subject to the law of that country. Where the law of that country allows a public authority to obtain the information, we will resist the request where we can and we will tell you where the law permits us to do so.
If you would prefer that your information stay in Canada, write to the desk before sending it and we will explain which parts of the watch can be run without leaving the country.
17. Watch records and vessel data
A maritime watch produces records: plot notes, blip logs, AIS track sessions and log sheets. Those records belong to the client who engaged the watch, and we hold them as a custodian. We use them to run the watch, to answer a question from the client, and to close the record at the end of the period.
Vessel movement data is not personal information in the ordinary sense, but it can become personal when it is combined with the name of a person who operates a vessel. Where that happens, we handle the combined record under this policy and we do not publish it. A watch record is released to a third party only with the agreement of the client or under a lawful demand.
A watchkeeper who works at the desk is a person, and information about that watchkeeper is handled as employment information and is not shared with clients. Shift sheets carry the name of a watchkeeper so that the record can be followed, and that name is not used for any other purpose.
18. Links to other websites
The website may link to another website that we do not control, for example the website of a harbor authority. We do not take responsibility for the privacy practices of that website, and a link is not an endorsement of what that website does.
If you follow a link to another website, read its privacy notice before sending personal information. If you believe a link on our website leads to a site with unclear practices, write to the desk and we will review the link.
19. Changes to this policy
We review this policy when the watch changes, when a provider changes or when the law changes. When we make a material change, we update the date at the top of the page and we describe the change in plain words so that a returning reader can see what moved.
A change does not reduce the protection of information that we already hold, and a new use is introduced only after a new legal basis has been agreed. If you do not accept a change, you can ask us to restrict the use or to delete the information where no legal obligation prevents it.
The current version of this policy is always the one published on this page. A printed copy can be requested from the desk at any time.
20. Complaints and supervision
If you are unhappy with how we have handled information, tell us first. Write to shipping@miqmaritime.lol with the word privacy in the subject line and describe the problem. The desk will record the complaint, review the file and reply within thirty days.
If the reply does not resolve the matter, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, where Quebec law applies, to the Commission de la protection de la vie privee. Where the law of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom applies, you can complain to the supervisory authority in your country of residence.
We do not treat a complaint as a reason to change the watch in a way that affects the client record. The complaint is a separate matter, and the client record stays intact unless a legal decision requires otherwise.
21. How to contact us
For any privacy question, write to the watch desk at the address below. The same address handles watch enquiries, so you may add the word privacy to the subject line to help us route the message quickly.
Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc.
103-3485 rue Edmond-Hardy
Longueuil - J4N 0J5
Canada (CA)
Email: shipping@miqmaritime.lol
Telephone: +12765761584
The website is operated by the developer mIQMaritime under the direction of Miq Maritime Intelligence Inc. The watch desk answers on behalf of both and will direct a question to the right person without asking you to repeat it.