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Privacy Notice

Last Updated: October 31, 2022

1. Your privacy is paramount

Protecting your privacy is a top priority for us, so we've written this Privacy Notice to let you know about your rights and our obligations when it comes to the collection, use, disclosure and retention of your Personal Information. For your convenience, this Notice is made available and updated online at www.407etr.com and, at your request, can also be printed and provided to you. We may update this Notice at any time and, if we do, we'll notify you in writing and/or note this on our website.

2. Who are we exactly?

407 ETR operates and manages Highway 407 ETR, and we also provide tolling and back-office services for the Province of Ontario's Highway 407 (collectively, the "Toll Highways"). This means that two privacy laws can apply when we collect, use or disclose your Personal Information: Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) for Highway 407 ETR, and Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) for the Province of Ontario's Highway 407.

3. We're here to help

We want to be open with you about your Personal Information. So, if you ever have a question or comment, feel free to read our helpful FAQ section or just give our Customer Service Department a call at 1-888-407-0407. You can also call us to update or access your Personal Information, or to request other account information or changes. Our customer service representatives will be happy to help you, and can also provide you with more information about the policies, practices and procedures we follow to properly manage your Personal Information.

Our Privacy Officer, Joe Lai, is responsible for ensuring that we are compliant with this Notice and applicable privacy laws. If you have any privacy-related questions or comments, wish to challenge our compliance with the privacy principles described in this Notice, or have concerns over the decisions we make, Joe can be reached at privacyofficer@407etr.com.

You can also write to us at:

Customer Advocacy & Privacy Office
6300 Steeles Avenue West,
Woodbridge, Ontario L4H 1J1

If you have non-privacy related questions or concerns, including issues with payment, billing or the services we provide, please contact us at the number above or visit our Contact Us webpage.

4. What's Personal Information?

Personal Information is any information about an identifiable individual where the information, alone or with other information that's reasonably available, can be used to identify that person. Certain information is exempted, however, like somebody's business contact information that's used to communicate about their employment, business or profession.

5. Types of Personal Information we collect

We collect the Personal Information listed below mainly to bill customers, and also to fulfill the other purposes described in Section 9 (How we use your Personal Information).

  • Name
  • Mailing address
  • Other contact details like phone numbers and e-mail addresses
  • Financial information, such as credit card and/or banking information
  • Transaction history
  • Year of birth
  • Vehicle information, such as its make, model, year and colour
  • Licence plate number, including expiry date of your plate sticker
  • Transponder identification number
  • Registrant identification number (RIN)
  • Vehicle identification number (VIN)
  • Credit history
  • Trip details on the Toll Highways
  • Customer feedback, including your experiences, opinions, preferences or other details when you contact us or participate in 407 ETR contests or surveys
  • Website cookies and applications that help gather technical and usage data on visitors to 407etr.com or on407.ca, such as internet protocol (IP) and browser information

Here are additional details on certain Personal Information we collect:

  • If you choose to participate in 407 ETR's Transponder Location Program and expressly consent, we will collect the location of your transponder at specific points on other major GTA roadways.
  • If you choose to participate in a 407 ETR repayment program, you may be asked to disclose specific financial, employment or other information.
  • Camera images of vehicles are taken by 407 ETR to capture front and rear licence plates. To protect your privacy, we automatically blur camera images of the front windshield portion of your vehicle. In limited situations, the blurring of images may be imperfect or suspended temporarily so we can test, maintain, and improve our tolling technology. Any Personal Information collected as a result is promptly destroyed after we fulfill such purposes.
  • If you decide to download and install 407 ETR’s mobile app (the "App") and expressly consent, we will collect geolocation, travel and route information (subject to your in-app privacy settings). Non-vehicle geolocation data may be collected by the App strictly for the purposes of testing and calibration, and to trouble-shoot tools used to monitor vehicle driving patterns. In addition, 407 ETR will collect the mobile device ID and other data that provides information about your device, browser, app use and settings, such as what notification and location options you selected. The App is further described in Section 19 (407 ETR’s Mobile App).

6. Where your Personal Information comes from

We collect Personal Information from you when, for example, you:

  • Create an online account
  • Apply for a transponder
  • Sign up for and use the App
  • Participate in our contests, promotions, or surveys
  • Travel on the Toll Highways, using transponder and camera technology
  • Choose to participate in 407 ETR's Transponder Location Program and travel to specific points on other major GTA roadways
  • Choose to participate in a 407 ETR repayment program
  • Otherwise exchange information with us

7. Information from Third Parties

From time to time, we collect Personal Information from third parties for the purposes described in Section 9 (How we use your Personal Information). For example, to collect and enforce overdue amounts we collect Personal Information from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) or other government or public motor transport agencies. We may also collect Personal Information from private administrators or service providers, including credit reporting agencies and collection agencies.

Third parties may also provide us aggregated data that, for instance, helps us market and advertise our products and services in response to our customers' specific interests, needs and preferences. For more information, please see point 11 of Section 9 (How we use your Personal Information), as well as Section 21 (Aggregated & anonymized data).

8. Staying Anonymous

Note that you may choose to limit the Personal Information disclosed to us by opening an "Anonymous Account" for travel on the Toll Highways.

9. How we use your Personal Information

With respect to the Toll Highways, we may use your Personal Information to help us achieve the purposes described below, or as explained to you in future communications.

  1. Collecting and enforcing tolls, fees and other charges owing, including processing payments for amounts owing
  2. Traffic planning and revenue management
  3. Responding to or exchanging information with third parties, government agencies, or toll road operators with whom we, or the MTO, have an agreement relating to collecting and enforcing tolls, fees and other charges owing incurred in a Province of Canada or a State of the United States
  4. Communicating with customers to promote, market or advertise the use of the Toll Highways and to provide road status or traffic updates
  5. Communicating with customers to:
    1. Manage, share or consolidate account information, such as through One-Simple-Bill and account linking, as well as administering accounts where a licence plate has been transferred and Personal Information may be shared between related customers
    2. Manage overdue balances, invoices and payments. For example, when investigating overdue balances, we may contact you, request a credit investigation or a consumer report about you, or exchange or disclose your Personal Information with, or to, government agencies, credit reporting agencies, collection agencies or service providers performing similar functions
    3. Advise on leasing, billing and payment options, as well as programs or services that may add value or meet their needs. For example, if you choose to participate in a 407 ETR repayment program, we will use certain Personal Information to help administer the program.
    4. Assess customer satisfaction and obtain feedback on service quality or offerings, such as through surveys, or in-person focus groups
    5. Resolve or address matters of concern, dispute, or disagreement
  6. Marketing our products and services, and developing offers suited to your interests, needs and/or preferences, as well as those of other customers and prospective customers
  7. Training and testing for the internal purpose of designing, maintaining and improving the quality and/or scope of services we provide to you
  8. Complying with corporate policies, procedures and other business requirements, including responding to authorized or legally required audits
  9. With respect to website cookies, using technical and usage data gathered to improve the functionality and content of www.407etr.com so that you can have a great online experience!
  10. As it relates to the App:
    1. Providing Features of Service as defined in the App's Terms of Use
    2. Providing marketing offers and promotions
    3. Ensuring the App is working properly, such as tracking outages or trouble-shooting issues reported to us
    4. Improving the App or developing new Features of Service
    5. Verifying and improving customer account management
  11. Performing data analysis to achieve the purposes described above. For example, we may use geolocation or third party-sourced data, including aggregated data, for more effective traffic planning and to better understand customer behaviour, allowing us to offer more relevant products and services to current and prospective customers
  12. Protecting 407 ETR's rights and property, including the Toll Highways, and for other legal reasons
  13. Safeguarding the health and safety of users of the Toll Highways, and the public.

10. Disclosure for legal and compliance reasons

If necessary or appropriate, we may use, preserve or disclose your Personal Information, such as to law enforcement or third parties, without providing you with any further notice, when:

  • Aiding in an emergency where a person's life, health or security is at stake
  • Responding to a subpoena, warrant, order or requirement of a court, regulatory agency or government tribunal
  • Preventing, detecting or investigating illegal activity occurring on our Toll Highways, including fraud, identity theft, threats to the security of our property or the safety of any person
  • Asserting our legal rights, defending against legal claims, pursuing available remedies or limiting potential damages
  • Complying with, or supporting compliance with, relevant laws, regulations or our legal obligations

11. Limits to our collection, use, disclosure, and retention

We'll only collect, use and disclose the Personal Information we need to achieve the identified purposes. For example, only Personal Information required to achieve a particular purpose will be disclosed to those responsible for helping us achieve that purpose, and these recipients must have already agreed to treat your Personal Information confidentially and securely, in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

Recipients of your Personal Information may include:

  • The MTO or other public motor transport agencies, including private administrators or service providers
  • Government agencies, credit reporting agencies, collection agencies or service providers performing similar functions
  • Invoice or payment processors
  • Communication agencies, software vendors, and social media specialists that facilitate 407 ETR-specific surveys, marketing or advertising
  • Law enforcement and other parties contemplated in Section 10 (Disclosure to law enforcement and for legal reasons) outlined above
  • 407 ETR's affiliates like Canadian Tolling Company International Inc., which provides tolling and back-office services for the Toll Highways

Rest assured, we'll never disclose your Personal Information to anybody for other purposes, unless required by law, nor will we trade or sell your Personal Information.

We'll also keep your Personal Information only as long as it's needed to achieve the identified purpose or as required by law. After that, we'll delete it and require anyone else with your Personal Information to delete it too.

12. How we get your consent

Subject to applicable laws like the Highway 407 Act and Highway 407 East Act, we won't collect, use or disclose your Personal Information without your consent. In such cases, we'll clearly explain to you the reasons why we need your Personal Information so that you can make an informed decision, whether to consent or not. Based on our explanation, you should be able to understand the nature, purpose and consequences of the collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Information. If not, please let us know so we can clarify or elaborate.

Your consent can be express (written, verbal and/or electronic) or implied (through your action or inaction). When necessary, we'll ask for your express or "opt-in" consent with respect to more sensitive Personal Information and/or where a new purpose is identified, such as for purposes of the App described in part 10 of Section 9 (How we use your Personal Information) above.

In other cases, we'll rely on implied or "opt-out" consent, such as by your travel of the Toll Highways or your use of our online services, in order to collect, use and disclose Personal Information to help achieve the purposes described in parts 5 through 9 of Section 9 (How we use your Personal Information).

In limited circumstances, the law allows us to forgo obtaining consent, such as when the use or disclosure of Personal Information is for the purposes described in parts 1 through 4 of Section 9 (How we use your Personal Information), or as outlined above in Section 10 (Disclosure to law enforcement and for legal reasons).

13. Withdrawing your consent

Where consent was required to use your Personal Information, you may withdraw it at any time by informing us through email, phone or mail. In the case of the App, you may withdraw your consent to our collection of Personal Information by deleting the App. If you would like to request that Personal Information already collected by the App not be used or that such information be deleted, please contact us with your request and we'll delete or render unidentifiable your Personal Information. Withdrawing your consent may limit the services we can provide to you. Further, if you have a balance owing or continue to travel on the Toll Highways we will still need to retain and use your Personal Information to continue providing services to you.

14. Protecting your Personal Information

We protect your Personal Information in a number of ways:

  • Physically - Drawers, cabinets and offices are locked when not in use
  • Technologically - Passwords, encryption and other technological safeguards are used to prevent unauthorized access
  • Organizationally - Security clearance and verification procedures are followed so that those employees who need access to your Personal Information to do their job have access. All employees undergo regular data security training
  • Contractually - Vendors that need access to your Personal Information must agree to comply with the principles in this Notice, applicable privacy laws, and appropriate data security requirements so that, wherever your Personal Information is, there will be a comparable level of protection

15. Cross-Border Transfers

In most cases, your Personal Information is used, disclosed and retained in Canada. In some situations, however, we may disclose your Personal Information outside of Canada in order to achieve the identified purposes, such as to collect tolls, process payments, support or improve our products and services, or to comply with a legal request. Since Personal Information in another jurisdiction may be accessed there by the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities, and are generally subject to different privacy standards, we try to limit such disclosure. Where disclosure is required, we ensure there is a comparable level of protection over your Personal Information.

16. Accessing your Personal Information

You have the right to know about the specific Personal Information we have about you. So, at your written request (with satisfactory identification), we'll be glad to provide you access to your Personal Information. There may be a small processing fee for this and we'll let you know ahead of time if there is. There may be times when we, unfortunately, cannot give you access to the Personal Information you're asking for, such as if giving you access would reveal another person's Personal Information, or if access would be harmful in a legal, security or commercial sense. We'll definitely write and let you know if this is the case and the reason(s) why we had to refuse your request. If you disagree with us, you can challenge our decision by responding back to us.

17. Updating your Personal Information

While we try to make sure that your Personal Information is up-to-date, you would know best if it is. From time to time, please review the Personal Information we have about you and, if a change or correction is needed, let us know right away! We'll make the needed updates to keep things running smoothly. You can review your Personal Information by looking at the correspondence we send to you, like your invoice, or simply request access to your Personal Information, as we've described above.

Note that while the law requires you to notify the MTO of a change in address within six days of moving, MTO does not automatically update us. So, please let us know directly if you've moved.

18. We're accountable to you

We're accountable to you for your Personal Information, and that means we're responsible for the actions of anybody we've disclosed Personal Information to, including our employees, contractors and other third-party representatives. As mentioned above, these parties are not provided your Personal Information unless it's necessary to achieve the identified purposes, and only after they agree to follow the principles in this Notice, applicable privacy laws, and appropriate data security requirements.

19. 407 ETR's Mobile App

Your use of the App is subject to its terms of use (the "Terms"), located at on 407 ETR's website.

The types of Personal Information we can collect depends on the privacy settings you choose on your mobile device. You can always change these settings in the App at any time to control which types of Personal Information we may collect about you, when it is collected, and/or how your information is used. Note, however, that certain Features of Service may become unavailable or not function as expected if you choose to disable or limit location services.

Following a verification process, the App allows you to add vehicles and transponders in order to conveniently review trip details. More than one App user can add the same vehicle so please be aware that trip details belonging to App users of the same vehicle will be visible to every other user. Trip details will, however, only identify the vehicle taking the trip and not the occupant(s) of the vehicle.

We don't trade or sell Personal Information collected by the App, nor do we disclose such information to anybody other than for the purposes identified above. For example, we will not share geolocation or app-usage data with others for their benefit or use.

20. Logins made easier

We may provide you with the option to sign-on to our services (e.g., through the App) using existing information from social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter or Google. By choosing this single sign-on option, you agree that we may use certain Personal Information to simplify the login process for you and avoid the need to create a new account with us.

21. Aggregated & anonymized data

We may collect aggregated data using 407 ETR technology or from third parties. Aggregated data refers to data from multiple sources that can show us group-based trends. This data does not identify you or anyone else specifically but, for example, relates to the driving patterns of hundreds or thousands of commuters. These patterns can, however, be analyzed and potentially applied to individual customer accounts, allowing us to better market and advertise our products and services in response to specific interests, needs and preferences.

From time to time, we may share anonymized data with authorized recipients. Before doing so, however, we take steps to ensure that there is no serious possibility of re-identification, including reviewing the data prior to disclosure, and imposing contractual obligations designed to ensure that the data stays confidential and anonymous. Anonymized data cannot be used to identify or market to you and we do not trade or sell anonymized data.

22. Privacy Commissioners

Since both PIPEDA and FIPPA apply to our collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information, we've listed the relevant contact information of our privacy commissioners just in case you have any questions or concerns that we can't address:

For PIPEDA issues relating to Highway 407 ETR, contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (https://www.priv.gc.ca):

30 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 1H3
Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376
Phone: (819) 994-5444
Fax: (819) 994-5424
TTY: (819) 994-6591

For FIPPA issues relating to the Province of Ontario's Highway 407, contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (https://www.ipc.on.ca):

2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario, M4W 1A8
Toronto Area: 416-326-3333
Long Distance: 1-800-387-0073 (within Ontario)
Fax: 416-325-9195
TTY: 416-325-7539