Privacy Policy Update and Notice Effective Date:  2023 June 22
Privacy Notice Updated:  2023 June 22 (major update)

1      Organization and Definitions

Milestone Christian Ministries is owned and operated by The Toronto Church of Christ (to be referred to as “Church”), which includes the “https://milestonechurches.com” website (the “Website”) as well as the Milestone Christian Centre, 610 Monarch Ave., Ajax, ON (“Milestone CC”).

The present Privacy Notice represents the Church’s Privacy Policy and its application to meetings of the Church and to the Website.  Unless otherwise defined herein, the terms used here have the same meanings as in our Privacy Policy, accessible as described in Section 2.  The following definitions apply to this Privacy Notice.

Church – The Toronto Church of Christ (also “us”, “we”, or “our”).

Website – The “https://milestonechurches.com” website owned and operated by the Church.

Milestone CC – The Milestone Christian Centre, 610 Monarch Ave., Ajax, ON, also owned and operated by the Church.

Personal Data – Data about a living individual who can be identified from that information with or without other information either in our possession or likely to come into our possession.

Usage Data – Data collected automatically either generated by the use of the Website or from the Website infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

Cookies – Small files stored on your device (computer or mobile device) used by the Website.

2      Church Personal Information Privacy Commitment Statement

The Toronto Church of Christ (the “Church”) [1] is committed to protecting the privacy of its members, adherents, donors, volunteers, employees, directors, officers, and any other persons about or from whom the Church collects personal information, in compliance with applicable jurisdictional requirements. 

In being or becoming a member or adherent of the Church, it is recognized by all such individuals that the Bible portrays believers as members of one body (see 1 Corinthians 12).  This sometimes necessitates the sharing of personal information within the Church.  The Church and it’s employees will be made aware of and adhere to, the Policy and Procedures Manual of the Church, which includes the Privacy Policy.

 The personal information will not be sold, rented, or leased without consent. . 

Other persons or organizations who act for, or on behalf of, the Church will be given restricted access to personal information solely to perform the services for which they are retained to perform for the Church.

The Church has designated its Privacy Officer.  Any enquiry, request or concern related to privacy matters, including a request for a copy of the full Privacy Policy of the Church, should be made in writing to this individual, who may be contacted at:

Privacy Officer
Milestone Christian Centre
610 Monarch Ave.
Ajax, ON L1S 6M4

or by e-mail at: privacy@milestonechurches.com.

3      Privacy Notice for Meetings of the Church

Personal information may become available to Church staff and volunteers in public forums.  These include:

• Online interactive public meetings using platforms such as Zoom, YouTube, and other existing or emerging social media. The Church will not request personal information from attendees of such public forums. However, when attendees post comments or other content to the online public forum, these posts may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside the forum in perpetuity.
• Zoom meetings held by the Church, as well as any off-line public meetings.  These will not be recorded by the Church unless clearly notified in a timely manner prior to, or at the beginning of the meeting.
• YouTube meetings, both online and hybrid (online/in person).  The Church will not request personal information during such public forums.  All YouTube meetings, including associated participant responses, are recorded for future playback unless otherwise clearly specified and attendance at such meetings provides implicit permission to make such recordings.
• Photos and/or video recordings. These may sometimes be used by Church staff and volunteers to enhance the experience of church.  Wherever possible or reasonable, written permission of those photographed or videoed will be obtained in a timely manner prior to distribution of those images, otherwise unapproved images obtained by the Church will be safely destroyed.  The only exception is in the case of videos of the audience, or public invitations to the in-person audience to participate in the recorded service.  All publicly recorded meetings of the church at Milestone CC and rented facilities are subject to these exceptions.  Attendance of such meetings provides implicit permission to make video recordings in the context of these meetings.
• Social media. No personal information will be requested by the Church in that context. Any quotes, images or videos posted by the Church on social media will have corresponding written permission from owners and those being represented.  Information posted to any social media platform is subject to the privacy policy of that particular platform and is not the responsibility of the Church.

Information provided or posted to any public forum or social media platform is subject to the privacy policy of that particular platform and is not the responsibility of the Church.

4      Privacy Notice for the Website

This section informs you (the website user) of our requirements regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Website and the choices you have associated with that data.

By using the Website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with these requirements.

Information Collection and Usage

We collect several different types of information for various purposes to provide and improve our Website to you.

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using our Website, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Data”). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

• Email address;
• First name and last name;
• Phone number;
• Address, such as Country, Province, Postal Code, and City; and
• Cookies and Usage Data.

Usage Data

We may also collect information on how the Website is accessed and used (“Usage Data”). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol address ( IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

Tracking Cookies Data

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Website and to hold certain information.

Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Other tracking technologies are also used such as beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyse our Website.

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.

Examples of Cookies we use:

• Session Cookies. We use Session Cookies to operate our Website.
• Preference Cookies. We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
• Security Cookies. We use Security Cookies for security purposes.

Use of Data

Milestone Churches uses the collected data for various purposes:

• To provide and maintain the Website;
• To notify you about changes to our Website;
• To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Website when you choose to do so;
• To provide support;
• To provide analysis or valuable information so that we can improve the Website;
• To monitor the usage of the Website; and
• To detect, prevent and address technical issues.

Transfer Of Data

The Church will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with its Privacy Policy.

Disclosure Of Data

Any personal information transferred to a third party or used by a third-party contractor on our behalf is subject to our Privacy Policy.

The Church may disclose your Personal Data to a third party in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary:

• To comply with legal obligation;
• To protect and defend the rights or property of Milestone Churches;
• To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Website;
• To protect the personal safety of users of the Website or the public; or
• To protect against legal liability.

Security of Data

The security of your data is important to us but remember that 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 Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Links to Other Sites

Our Website may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Children’s Privacy

Parents/guardians’ permission is required for their child to participate in church-related Children’s Ministry activities.  Permission is not required for our normal video recordings during church gatherings outside of Children’s Ministry activities. Otherwise, we do not knowingly collect and store personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected electronic Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to address this issue and to remove that information from our servers.

Changes to This Privacy Notice

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by updating the Privacy Notice on this page. We will let you know by means of a prominent notice on our Website when the changes are made and will update the “effective date” at the top of this Privacy Notice.

You are advised to review this Privacy Notice periodically for any changes.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

• By email: info@milestonechurches.com

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[1]     The Church operates the Milestone Christian Centre, 610 Monarch Ave., Ajax, ON, as well as the website ‘milestonechurches.com’.