ARCHIVED - Common Look and Feel Standards - Crosswalk Table Policy Requirements - Important Notices

All GC Web pages must include direct access to plain language information regarding the rights, responsibilities and legal obligations of the information provider and the end-user, in the format of an Important Notices link.

The institution must implement a link to its Important Notices page in the footer, labelled "Important Notices" on English pages and "Avis importants" on French pages.

The link must be located in the lower right hand corner of the page aligned with the content currency indicator and forms part of the final line of content. The default font for the text is Verdana specified by a Cascading Style Sheet and sans serif is the alternate font. The text elements must be presented using a white (#FFFFFF) background colour and a foreground colour that achieves high contrast, when viewed by someone having colour deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.

The following Copyright/Permission to Reproduce text must be included within the Important Notices link at the bottom of all GC Web pages.

The Internet provides a tremendous vehicle for distributing an enormous range of information to Canadians, when and where they need it. One of the Government of Canada's goals is to give Canadians information that is easily identified as having been created and / or distributed by the Government of Canada. Through the act of posting information on this medium, institutions are essentially indicating they want individuals to use, and to share, information found in this freely available format. For this reason, the institution must provide a Copyright / Permission to Reproduce Notice on its Important Notices page, to inform site visitors of content ownership and the conditions associated with reproduction of materials posted on Government of Canada Web sites.

The official symbols of the Government of Canada, including the 'Canada' wordmark, the Arms of Canada, and the flag symbol may not be reproduced, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, without written authorization. Request for authorization from the Treasury Board Secretariat may be addressed to the Federal Identity Program.

All GC Web sites must include the following Privacy Notice within the Important Notices link at the bottom of all GC Web pages.

The Privacy Notice assures Web site visitors that information automatically acquired through a visit to any Government of Canada site will not be used other than for the express purposes of Web maintenance and security. One of the differences between electronic communications and paper-based communications is that it may not be obvious to the individuals involved whether or not personal information is being collected in the course of any specific interaction.

The Privacy Notice must provide enough detail to allow site visitors to understand what and how information will be collected and when as well as how it will be secured, and to make an informed decision concerning whether to remain at the site. For these reasons, the institution's Important Notices page must include a Privacy Notice that includes the elements set in requirements 14.1.1 to 14.1.11, even if no personal information is collected through the site.

All GC Web sites must include a direct hyperlink to the Privacy Notice section of the Important Notices page whenever Web pages provide an opportunity for users to input personal information.

Every institution that is subject to the Privacy Act must ensure that each collection of personal information conforms to the requirements of that act. The requirements apply equally to electronic collections as they do to paper-based collections. Any time personal information is collected electronically, individuals must be properly informed of the risks and of their rights.

The federal Privacy Act requires that a government institution inform any individual from whom the institution collects personal information about the individual of the purpose for which the information is being collected. The institution accomplishes this by including a Personal Information Collection Statement whenever Web pages provide an opportunity for site visitors to input personal information. The Personal Information Collection Statement must be prominently and immediately placed before each Web page (or series of Web pages that are part of the same application) or online form where personal information is entered and before each occurrence of a persistent cookie.

A Personal Information Collection Statement informs individuals that personal information is being collected about them, how the information will be used, whether provision of the information is mandatory or discretionary, how long the personal information will be kept, the Personal Information Bank number where the information will be kept and how they can obtain access to that information and how they can make requests for correction. Where applicable, the statement must also indicate if other methods are available for submitting personal information, such as by phone or in-person.

Where externally sourced information, i.e., third-party information, is hosted on the institutional Web site, a liability disclaimer should be directly attached to the externally sourced information and should describe the type of information to which the disclaimer applies, i.e., databases, documents.

When third-party information is hosted on the institutional Web site, a third-party information liability disclaimer must be directly attached to the externally sourced information and must describe the type of information to which the disclaimer applies.

Either of the following formats should be used only in exceptional circumstances in which institutions believe application of the Crown copyright symbol is necessary to protect specific elements of their Web sites:

1. © Government of Canada, date
   or
2. © Applied title of Institution, date

In exceptional circumstances in which the institution believes that application of the Crown copyright symbol is necessary to protect specific material on its Web sites, one of the following formats must be used:

1. © Government of Canada, date
   or
2. © Applied title of Institution, date

All GC Web sites should incorporate Exit Notices in site architecture as a means of informing users that they are about to leave a gc.ca domain.

Conflicts with accessibility requirements.

Official Languages Notice (January 2003)

The institution must provide an Official Languages Notice on its Important Notices page to inform Web site visitors of their right to receive information and to interact with the Government of Canada in the official language of their choice.

Hyperlinking Notice (January 2003)

The institution must provide a Hyperlinking Notice on its Important Notices page to inform site visitors of what expectations they should have about links to other Web sites, including accuracy, currency, and official languages.

When an institution establishes hyperlinks to non-Government of Canada sites to facilitate access to those sites for the public as a courtesy, the content of those sites does not need to be in both official languages or be fully accessible if they are not subject to federal legislation. The Hyperlinking Notice must state that there are no official languages obligations for non-Government of Canada sites. Where a non-Government of Canada site hosts information produced by or on behalf of an institution subject to the Official Languages Act, the hyperlink is not just "for courtesy only" and the institution has the obligation to ensure that its own information respects the requirement of the act. This does not mean that the rest of the non-Government of Canada site must be in both official languages.

HTML "mouse-over" Coding for Important Notices link (January 2003)

Refer to CLF Toolbox.

Forms (July 2000)

Mailto Tools (July 2000)

This duplicates a 4.1 Best Practice

An institution's Web site Privacy Notice should include a statement concerning:
Links to other sites not covered by this privacy policy

This duplicates Part 3, R14.3 - Hyperlinking Notice.

Any specific institutional policy on collecting information from children online

Where applicable, a statement regarding any specific institutional policy on collecting information from children online.

Refer to the following checklist for a complete list of items to be considered:
Privacy Notice Statement Checklist:

Refer to CLF Toolbox.

The copyright-tagging practices

In exceptional circumstances in which the institution believes that application of the Crown copyright symbol is necessary to protect specific material on its Web sites, one of the following formats must be used:

1. © Government of Canada, date
   or
2. © Applied title of Institution, date

The following is an example of an exit notice that could be used.

Guideline is being deleted as well because it contravenes accessibility standards.