Privacy Statement

Effective December 12th, 2022

Updated September 22nd, 2023

“Covoiturage ARTM” is the carpooling program developed for l’Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (“ARTM”, “us” or “we”). This program is accessible through a phone application under the iOS and Android operating systems as well as through a website. This Privacy Statement (“Statement”) describes how the ARTM uses, communicates and stores personal information collected as part of the “Covoiturage ARTM” program. The personal information collected and kept by the ARTM via “Covoiturage ARTM” is subject to the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information (L.R.Q., C. A-2.1).

The Statement does not apply to personal information collected by the ARTM other than in the context of Covoiturage ARTM. To find out about the ARTM's practices regarding the processing of personal information in the context of its other activities, please consult the ARTM Confidentiality Statement https://www.artm.quebec/enonce-confidentialite/.

What is personal information?

Personal information is any information about an identifiable individual, either separately or in combination with other information. This may include, for example, a person's name, e-mail address, contact information and any similar information provided to ARTM. Information that is rendered anonymous and that cannot be associated with a physical person is not considered personal information if it is at all times reasonable to foresee in the circumstances that this information no longer makes it possible, in an irreversible manner, to identify the person, whether directly or indirectly.

  1. Collection: The ARTM, or its supplier RideShark Corporation collect various information about Covoiturage ARTM users both through the Application and through the Website. This information includes:
    1. Identifiers and coordinates, such as your first name, last name, e-mail address and telephone number, provided when you registered with Covoiturage ARTM;
    2. Information about your profile, such as your gender, your smoking/non-smoking status, your car and the photo you have provided;
    3. Information about your use of Covoiturage ARTM, including the names of people with whom you are matched, and the content of messages sent by you to other people;
    4. Information about your trips registered in Covoiturage ARTM;
    5. Information you provide when you contact Covoiturage ARTM by any other means;
    6. Personal information collected by us through click tracking related to your use of Covoiturage ARTM, including the content you access;
    7. Aggregate data, which tracks access to Covoiturage ARTM; and
    8. Cookies, which are pieces of information transmitted to your computer's hard drive for record-keeping purposes.
  1. Purposes
    Personal information collected through Covoiturage ARTM is used for the following purposes:
    1. To validate your identity, and to help you reset your password or any other procedure for accessing the Website;
    2. To allow you to use Covoiturage ARTM and to enable pairing with potential carpooling partners;
    3. To provide you with additional information regarding Covoiturage ARTM and its mobile app;
    4. To keep the Website relevant and interesting to its users;
    5. To investigate any complaint filed concerning the misuse of Covoiturage ARTM or any misconduct related to carpooling organized directly or indirectly by Covoiturage ARTM, and to take any action we deem necessary to protect your safety or that of other persons regarding these complaints;
    6. For the analysis of aggregated data (but only following a process of anonymization designed to reduce the residual risk of re-identification of individuals to a very low level in accordance with the applicable law).
    7. For the analysis and production of aggregated data (but only following an anonymization process aimed at reducing the residual risk of re-identification of individuals to a very low level in accordance with applicable law);
    8. To respond to inquiries and requests from Covoiturage ARTM users;
    9. To inform you of contests or promotions, when you have activated this function;
    10. To improve Covoiturage ARTM's customer service;
    11. To promote the use of the service; and
    12. To meet any legal or regulatory requirements.
  1. Sharing: You agree that Covoiturage ARTM or its supplier RideShark Corporation may provide Covoiturage ARTM users with access to the following personal information to enable communication between you for the purpose of scheduling carpools :
    1. Your first name and initial of last name;
    2. Your sex;
    3. Your picture;
    4. Your car (make, model, year, color, zero-emission vehicle);
    5. Your carpooling preferences (smoker / or non-smoker, animals / no animals, music / no music);
    6. Your starting point, your destination and your carpooling schedule, for the trip for which you are looking to carpool.
  1. Communication. You agree that Covoiturage ARTM or its supplier RideShark Corporation may disclose to:
    1. The police or other government authorities, personal information about you, when we believe it is reasonable and necessary to protect your safety or the safety of persons with whom you have carpooled, in the event that such carpooling has been arranged, directly or indirectly, through Covoiturage ARTM;
    2. Service providers who enable us to operate Covoiturage ARTM. These providers may include "public transit organizations" within the meaning of section 5 of the Act respecting the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (RLRQ, c. A-33.3);
    3. Third parties, your personal information, where we are required to do so by law; and
    4. Third parties, aggregated data and other anonymized information that does not personally identify you.
  1. Consent: By providing your personal information in connection with your use of Covoiturage ARTM, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Statement. In some cases, your consent may be "implied", meaning that your agreement is presumed based on your action or inaction at the time of collection, use or sharing of your personal information. We generally obtain your consent when we want to use personal information for a new purpose or for a purpose other than those indicated in this Statement, in accordance with applicable laws.
  1. Consequences of non-provision of information: The collection of certain personal information described in this Statement may be mandatory in order for us to operate Covoiturage ARTM, respond to your requests and/or offer our services; therefore, ARTM may not be able to provide you with the required service if you choose not to provide Covoiturage ARTM with the necessary personal information or if you withdraw your consent to the use or disclosure of such information.
  1. Preservation: Information collected via Covoiturage ARTM is stored on the servers of our provider RideShark Corporation located in Ontario, Canada. Users' personal information is retained only for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes stated in this Statement or for such longer period as may be required by law. MTRA may, however, retain aggregated data for a longer period (even after an account has been deleted), but only following an anonymization process designed to reduce the residual risk of re-identification of individuals to a very low level in accordance with applicable law.
  1. Security: The protection of your privacy is important to us, and we strive to protect the personal and confidential information of people using Covoiturage ARTM. Thus, we contractually ensure that our supplier, RideShark Corporation, implements reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect personal information in its custody or control from unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure.
  1. Access and rectification: Users of Covoiturage ARTM have the right to consult the personal information that we, or our supplier RideShark Corporation, hold about them, to obtain a copy or to request the rectification of information that is inaccurate, incomplete, equivocal or collected in contravention of the law by sending a written request to this end to the person responsible for access to documents and the protection of personal information at ARTM and by providing proof of identity to :
    Me Sylvain Junior Godcher
    Secrétaire général adjoint et directeur – Affaires immobilières
    Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain
    700, rue de La Gauchetière Ouest, 4e étage, Montréal, Québec H3B 5M2
    Phone number: 514 409-2786
    Email address: accesinfo@artm.quebec
  1. Changes: The ARTM reserves the right to modify or revise this Privacy Statement at any time, for any reason or when required by law. The ARTM invites individuals to consult this page periodically for updates.