PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: 3/4/2026

1. Introduction

Owl News (the "Website") is operated by the South Alberta United News Bureau ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"). We are committed to protecting the privacy of our users ("you," "your") in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act (Alberta) ("PIPA") and the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA") .

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our Website, including any news content, editorials, webstore, or interactive services. It also outlines your rights regarding your personal information.

2. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact our designated privacy officer:

Privacy Officer: Tom
Email: tom@comtv.ca
Address: 1791 Dunmore Rd SE, Medicine Hat, AB, T1A 1Z8

3. Information We Collect

We collect information in two ways: (1) information you voluntarily provide to us, and (2) information automatically collected through your use of our Website.

3.1 Personal Information You Provide

"Personal Information" means any information about an identifiable individual . We may collect the following when you:

  • Create an Account: Name, email address, and username.

  • Make a Purchase (Webstore): Name, billing/shipping address, email, phone number, and payment information. (Note: Payment details are processed by third-party gateways; we do not store credit card numbers).

  • Post Comments: Any information you voluntarily include in your public comments (as a registered user or guest).

  • Contact Us: Information you provide when you email us or fill out a contact form.

3.2 Information Collected Automatically (Usage Data)

When you visit our Website, we may automatically collect certain information about your device and usage, including:

  • Your IP address.

  • Browser type and version.

  • Operating system.

  • Pages you visit on our Site, time and date of visit, time spent on those pages, and other diagnostic data .

  • Information collected via cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 5 below).

4. Legal Basis and Consent

We collect, use, and disclose your personal information with your consent or as permitted or required by law . By providing us with your personal information, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. However, withdrawing consent may affect your ability to use certain features of our Website (e.g., commenting or purchasing). To withdraw consent, please contact our Privacy Officer.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies (e.g., web beacons, pixels) to track activity on our Website and store certain information .

  • Essential Cookies: Required for the operation of our Website (e.g., to keep you logged in, manage your shopping cart).

  • Functionality Cookies: Used to remember your preferences (e.g., language or region).

  • Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our Website by collecting anonymized information.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Website.

6. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • To Provide and Maintain our Service: Including managing accounts, processing webstore orders, and displaying comments .

  • To Improve our Website: Analyzing usage trends to enhance user experience and content quality.

  • To Communicate with You: Responding to your inquiries, sending order confirmations, and providing updates regarding your account or transactions.

  • For Security: Monitoring for and preventing fraud, unauthorized access, and other illegal activities.

  • Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes .

We do not use your personal information or the content you view to train artificial intelligence models or machine learning algorithms. (See Section 11 for specific restrictions regarding AI).

7. Disclosure of Your Information

We may share your information in the following circumstances:

7.1 Service Providers

We may employ third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our Website (e.g., payment processors like Stripe or PayPal, web hosting services, analytics providers like Google Analytics). These third parties have access to your personal information only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are contractually obligated to protect it to the standards required by Canadian law .

7.2 Business Transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your personal information may be transferred as a business asset. We will provide notice before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy .

7.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency) .

7.4 Public Forums (Comments)

Any information you post as a comment on our Website becomes public information. You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information in public areas .

8. Data Retention

We will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (e.g., for tax, legal, or accounting purposes) .

Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period, except when used to strengthen security or improve functionality, or when we are legally obligated to retain it for longer periods .

9. Security of Your Information

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information against loss or theft, and unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification . These safeguards vary based on the sensitivity of the information and include:

  • Physical measures (e.g., locked filing cabinets, restricted access to offices).

  • Organizational measures (e.g., staff training, need-to-know access).

  • Technological measures (e.g., firewalls, encryption, secure servers) .

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

10. Your Rights and Access

Under PIPEDA and Alberta's PIPA, you have the right to:

  • Access: Request access to the personal information we hold about you .

  • Correction: Request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete information .

  • Withdraw Consent: Withdraw your consent to our collection, use, or disclosure of your information at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions.

To exercise these rights, please contact our Privacy Officer at tom@comtv.ca. We will respond to your request within 30 days or as permitted by law. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

11. AI / LLM Training and Content Use Restrictions

We value the integrity of our original journalism and the privacy of our community. You agree to the following strict terms regarding the use of our content for artificial intelligence and machine learning purposes:

  • No AI Training: You may not use, nor permit others to use, any content (including news articles, editorials, photographs, or user comments) from Owl News to train, develop, or improve any artificial intelligence system, machine learning model, or large language model (LLM) . This includes, but is not limited to, automated scraping, data mining, crawling, or the use of bots for these purposes .

  • Exception for Search and Discovery: The prohibition in Section 11.1 does not apply to general-purpose search engines (e.g., Google, Bing) or AI systems that only crawl the web to index and provide links back to our Website as answers. We permit the use of our public content for the sole purpose of directing users to our original source material via hyperlinks . Any summary or extraction must be limited to what is necessary to enable a user to find our content and must not replace the need for the user to visit our site.

  • Detection and Enforcement: We employ technological measures (such as analyzing access logs and bot detection tools) to identify and block unauthorized scraping activities . Violation of this provision constitutes a breach of these Terms and our Privacy Policy and may result in immediate blocking of your IP address, termination of your account, and legal action .

12. Third-Party Links and Services

Our Website may contain links to third-party websites or services that are not owned or controlled by us. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites. We strongly advise you to read the privacy policy of every site you visit .

13. Children's Privacy

Our Website is not directed to individuals under the age of 13 (or the age of majority in Alberta). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top. In some cases, we may provide additional notice (e.g., via email or a prominent notice on our Website). You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes .

15. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Alberta and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Any disputes relating to this Privacy Policy shall be resolved in the courts of Medicine Hat, Alberta .

16. Complaints

If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy-related concern, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.