Education Portal
Effective 2019-10-08Welcome Canada
The Terms of Use, or simply Terms, govern a user's use of iMatr and the services, platform activities, technologies and software iMatr offers.
1. Our service platform
We strive to give Canadians the power to build a better Canada and a wiser community by bringing Canadians closer together through meaningful and accountable dialog. To help advance these goals and mission, iMatr provides its platform services (the Products), to users in a personalized and yet collective way.
A personalized user experience
Without question, no user experience is the same on iMatr. From the News & Views one reads, to the MyZone politicians one selects to even the Zone one lives in, all opinions on issues, including the e-Petitions one e-Signs, match the nature and character of --(drum roll)-- one of a kind Canadians! Because of this uniqueness, even user's SoCos aren't the same.
iMatr builds and custom tailors its Products to better personalize a user's experience.
Connect users with Canadians, politicians and organizations that think alike
Finding like minded users takes time. But not at iMatr. We help users find and connect with people, politicians, and organizations that share their views across iMatr Products and platform activities. By sharing the data iMatr collects, we let user's know What Others Think, on What's Trending and where politicians and political parties really stand; before, during and after an election.
There's strength in numbers. Closer ties between like minded people creates stronger and focused communities. iMatr promotes political and democratic dialog on what different communities of Canadians need and want and deem important through their selected platform activities. Join the conversation and see why we are most useful when users connect with each other and Have their Say!
Empower Canadians to have their say on what matters
Whether your an individual, political candidate, politician or group, governments and Canadians can express themselves to whom ever they choose about what matters. iMatr, you matter, we all matter. Share your views and opinions on important issues that affect Canadians, families, the economy and governance, presented by users and iMatr. See What others Think about political platforms, policy issues and what electoral communities truly want within conveniently organized categories.
Empowering Canadians in all kinds of communities, through our Products is what we're all about.
Help Canadians unmask politicians, voice issues, search content, and discover service organizations of interest
Tailored to a user's Scope of View and their MyZone, we provide user content submitted by regular people, politicians, organizations and governments. Basic services * are free to Canadians. However, to make iMatr more viable, our partners pay to host or link sponsored content, adds and offers, to what's important to our user's in their personalized view (Scope of View). Ultimately, it's a user's choice on what issues, content, or politicians and organizations they engage or learn about.
For the Canadian "poliphiles" of society, or the audiophiles of politics and democracy, there's our Premium Service; a multi-dimensional view and perspective on so much more.
And finally, tools like Matchmaker fast-track life. It serves up like minded politicians, relevant and useful matches, in sync with your life's preferences and chosen Scope of View.
Combat harmful content and conduct to protect Canadian democracy
Canadians will usually only act when they feel safe, and have important things to say. When their fed up, real change happens.
Privacy and Security are the cornerstones of our platform, and that's why we take very seriously the misuse of our Products, the harmful conduct towards others, the participation of bad actors, including, the possible influence of foreign governments, and the provision of fake news or information.
To prevent conduct like this, we employ advanced technology and dedicated specialists to fact find, and to review and approve all our content. Instead of later removing inappropriate, fake, or harmful content, after damage may have been done, we try to catch inappropriate information pro-actively before it happens. This isn't censorship, it's more like protecting the "chicken coop" from the "foxes".
If we learn of harmful content or conduct attempting to enter our domain, we will take appropriate action like; offering help, removing content, blocking access to some or all platform activities, disabling of accounts, and if necessary contacting law enforcement.
Under threat of harm, misuse, or illicit conduct, we share our data and information with appropriate authorities.
Advanced technology and practices for safe, confidential and secure services to Canadians.
Our use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and SSL certificates, including deep encryption, white list and black lists, enables Canadians to use our Products and platform safely.
Employing the same principles of Credit Card verification, we use PINs mailed to users at their declared addresses, should they wish to engage politicians or government. If a user doesn't live where they say they live, and they don't prove it with geolocation, well then, they can't use the Contact Engine Toolbox. It may seem a little harsh, but no one wants bad actors contacting our political representatives, clogging up communication channels for real Canadians.
Research and input makes us better
Constantly seeking input from our community, we strive to implement ideas and suggestions offered by Canadians to better improve our Products. In tandem, by analyzing the data we collect, iMatr provides evidence based practice models which underpin support for user suggestions.
Continuous research and development into emerging and new technologies, makes our platform safer, resilient and hardened to new and changing cyber threats.
Enable global democratic access to our Products and services
Our platform relies on global systems and data centers inside and outside of Canada. Choosing to launch iMatr firstly in Canada, we take great pride in Canadian know how, and its ripe system of democracy. Not every democracy is ready for iMatr. But it is our belief that Canadians can show the world a few things about how democratic societies can dialog amongst much diversity and between distinct communities. It's politics for the future.
By testing our "Canadian waters", and we certainly have a lot of them, our success looks to engage other democracies across the globe.
Regardless of community, color, or creed, citizens of the world must be able to be heard, Have their Say, and expecting meaningful, accountable and responsible dialog with not just those running for office, but with those democratically elected and from the government that serves.
iMatr, you matter, We the people matter. Social media ++ for democracies and politics.
2. Privacy Policy & user and data control
Without Canadians, there are no Products or services. It's a vacuum without life, passion and participants, a platform void of thoughts, experiences and data. To come alive, we collect user personal data in the form of location, profile, content and platform activity.
We detail a user's rights when we collect data and information in our Privacy Policy, which users must agree to in order to use our Products.
Because we take on a big responsibility when a user engages our services, we encourage users to not just review our Privacy Policy and their privacy choices, but to also understand how a user's settings can help and improve their communities, and ultimately their democracy.
If we want a voice, we must use it; responsibly, privately when necessary and publicly when needed. Your voice on your terms, individually controlled by your selected platform activity.
3. Our User's commitments to our community, iMatr and our democracy
In exchange for the Products and services user's enjoy, with the goal to advance and improve communities and democracy, users agree to make the following commitments when signing up or registering for our services:
Use the same name they use in real life, no nicknames, or aliases
Provide accurate information about their location, and any other voluntary profile information
Create only one account on a principal device in their location of residence
Keep secret, properly safeguard, and protect their password and any PIN from use by others
Not share their account with any other person
Not transfer their account to any other person
Are under the age of 16 years old
Are neither a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
Are prohibited by law from receiving our Products or services under applicable laws
Have had their account previously disabled or deleted for violations of our Terms of Use or Privacy Policy
a. Who may sign up or register?
When Canadians ask to be heard, they need to stand behind their voice, their opinions and actions. This makes our community real, viable and more accountable. For these reasons, users must:
Although we try to make iMatr available to all Canadians, users who:
cannot use, register or Sign Up for iMatr Products or services.
4. What can a registered user share and do on iMatr
Canadians matter! We want people to use our Products to express themselves, and share their voice, experiences and content that is important to them and their communities. Having your Say, or sharing your experiences and content, should not however be at the well-being and expense of:
our community and democracy
other individuals
politicians
organizations
colleges and universities
governments
fueled by user initiated misinformation, hate or fake news.
Violate the Terms of Use or Privacy Policy that applies to a user's use of iMatr
Create unlawful, misleading, discriminatory or fraudulent content or representations
Infringe or violate other Canadians' rights
Unnecessarily bother politicians or abuse the platform's Contact Engine services
a. In order to preserve the integrity of our community and our democracy, users agree not to share or engage in the conduct of, or facilitate or support others to:
b. Users may not upload disruptive or malicious code, viruses, or conduct any activity which could disable, impair, overtake, or overburden the proper functionality or appearance of our Products to the public, our users, and iMatr administration portals.
c. Users may not access, scrape or collect data from our Products using automated means or attempt to gain access to unauthorized areas of the platform, or attempt to access data which is private, confidential and off limits to users.
In violation of any of the provisions noted above, iMatr may take action against the user's account and or remove offending content the user has shared.
Users who are found to infringe on other people's, or organization's intellectual property rights, will have their accounts disabled.
Our community of users is encouraged to help support our democracy and mission by reporting content or conduct that users suspect violates our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy or Intellectual Property Rights.
5. Implicit consent and the permission users give iMatr
For our platform to work, we need certain permissions from our users to provide the platform activities they want and use:
Permission to use user submitted profile information
When a user creates a Start Up, Basic, Contact Engine or University / College profile, the information provided to iMatr is treated as personal information. All personal information is subject to the conditions and requirements of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policies.
In a nutshell, users provide to iMatr, implicit consent to release certain personal information only when a specific platform activity is initiated and completed by the user. Identifying personal information such as a user's name, address, city/town, province, postal code, telephone number and email, including the user's position on an issue, is provided to the user's selected politician ("the receiving user") when the user initiates and executes Contact Engine platform activities known as Smiles, Pokes, or SoCos.
Unlike, Smiles, Pokes and SoCos, users who e-Sign iMatr e-Petitions, also implicitly consent to provide to other e-Signatories, politicians, and governments their personal information found on the e-Petition.
For all of these various platform activities, the nature and purpose of the user's platform activity is to gain a response from the receiving user of the platform activity, and therefore in order to get a response, the receiver needs to know the who, what, where and when, that is obtained from the user's personal information. Otherwise, how would the politician know who to contact?
Permission to use a user's platform activity information
In order to provide the services users want and need, users give express permission to iMatr to use information about platform activities users have undertaken in their use of Products, ads, offers, and other sponsored content without any compensation to contributing users.
Permission to use content user's create and share
When a user creates content, like, give an opinion on an issue or create a question they would like to host, nothing in our Terms, takes away the ownership rights a user has to the content they have created and shared. Users are free to share such content with anyone, whenever they want.
By the nature of iMatr and its premise of sharing and seeking Canadian's opinions on issues, policies, and what politicians think, and stand for, the use of user's content is paramount and inescapable in order to achieve the mission of our Products.
To provide these services and products user's are required to give iMatr legal permission to use their content.
For example, when a user shares, posts, or uploads their created content that is covered by intellectual property rights (like photos or videos as a pro or con to an issue), to be used in connection with our Products and services, users grant iMatr a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of the content (consistent with our Privacy Policy).
This legal license can be ended by a user at any time by simply deleting their account or the content they have created.
For technical reasons, content users create may exist for a limited period of time (See Retention Period in Privacy Policy) in back up copies, invisible to other users. However, content that has been deleted but has been shared with politicians, organizations and government, may continue to appear in other forums outside of iMatr if the other parties (politicians, organizations and government) have included a user's content in their domains.
Limits on using our intellectual property
If a user extracts or uses content covered by intellectual property rights that iMatr or its employees or partners have created (Examples include: images, videos, design, What Other Think data, What's Trending Data, News & Views, Awards data) and iMatr or its Products provide, iMatr retains all rights to its content a user may have used or shared.
Users may use our copyrights or trademarks as detailed and expressly permitted in our Brand Usage Policy or with iMatr's prior written approval.
Users must obtain iMatr's written permission and approval (or permission under an open source license) to alter, create derivative works of, decompile or otherwise attempt to extract source code or server information from us.
6. Additional provisions
a. Terms of Use updates
iMatr strives and works hard to improve its services and Products and to develop new ways Canadians can dialog and engage their democracy, including the development of new platform activities that enable users to get the most out of politics, their politicians and representatives, including their government of the day.
As a result of these activities and the possible inclusion of new legislation and regulation, iMatr may need to update these Terms from time to time to comply and accurately reflect our platform practices. Unless otherwise required by law, users will be notified by iMatr before it makes changes to these Terms to give users an opportunity to review them before they are implimented and take effect. Once any updated Terms do take effect, users will be bound by them if they continue to use iMatr Products.
We sincerely hope our users appreciate our need to comply with our democracies regulations, but if a user does not agree to our updated Terms and no longer wants to use or Products, users can delete their account at any time.
b. Limited Liability
Despite working hard to deliver reliable, consistent and exceptional user experiences, our Products and platform is provided "as is", and iMatr makes no guarantee that it will be safe, secure or error-free, or that it will function as intended, without delay, disruption, imperfections or inaccuracy.
To the extent permitted by law, iMatr also disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including the implied warranties of merchantability , fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infrigement.
Neither the platform nor iMatr, controls or directs what people, politicians, organization and governments do or say, nor can iMatr and its Products be responsible for their actions and conduct (whether online or offline) or any content they share.
iMatr cannot predict or forecast when issues might arise with our Products. Accordingly, iMatr's liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and under no circumstance will iMatr be liable to users for any lost profits, revenues, information, or data, or consequential, special, indirect, exemplary, punitive or incidental damages arising out of or related to these Terms or the iMatr Products a user uses; even if iMatr has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
c. Account investigations, suspensions and terminations
We strive to make iMatr a place where Canadians can feel good and safe to Have their Say, and express their thoughts, opinions and views about issues that may affect their lives.
If it's suspected or determined that a user has violated our Terms, Privacy or Brand Usage policies, we may take action against their account to protect our community, democracy and Products. Actions may include disabling or deletion of a user's account.
Accounts may also be suspended or disabled when required by law, or when permitted by law, when a user creates risk or legal exposure to iMatr.
Where appropriate, under iMatr's sole discretion, iMatr will notify users about their account the next time they try to login after any account action has been taken. Users will have an opportunity to learn more about what they can do if their account has been disabled by following the link in the login notice message.
Should any account be disabled or deleted by either a user or iMatr, the Terms shall terminate, canceling the agreement between a user and iMatr, save and except, provision numbers 3, 6.b - 6.e.
d. Disputes
iMatr works hard to provide clear rules and information so that our platform can limit and avoid disputes between our users and company. If a dispute does arise, it's helpful to know where a legal dispute can be resolved and what laws may apply.
If you are a consumer, who has purchased services, Canadian law will apply to any claim, cause of action, or dispute you have against iMatr that arises out of or relates to the Terms or Products. The "claim" may be resolved in any competent court in Canada that has jurisdiction over the claim.
In all other cases, a user agrees that the claim must be submitted and resolved exclusively in the Superior Court of Justice, Ottawa, Ontario.
e. Other considerations
Advertising Policy - provides information on what types of ad content are allowed by partners who advertise across iMatr products.
Brand Usage Policy - provides guidelines and policies that apply to the use of iMatr trademarks, logos, and screenshots, including hyperlinks to iMatr and/or its Products.
Commercial Terms - outlines guidelines and standards for users who access and use iMatr Products for commercial, business or governmental purposes.
Discussion & Submission Policy - provides information on what type of user suggested content, links and information may be submitted and accepted by iMatr.
Custom Scope of View (Audience) Terms - provides standards and information on approvals required by iMatr to generate Custom Scope of View Audiences for users.
Platform Activity Standards - outlines guidelines and standards regarding a user's platform activity and the content and suggestions a user creates, offers and shares on iMatr.
Premium Service Terms - provides information on the features, limits, and the terms and conditions of iMatr's Premium Service.
1. The Terms defined in this information, make up the entire agreement between a user and iMatr Canada Inc., regarding a users use of iMatr Products. These Terms supersede any prior Terms of Use agreements.
2. Some of the services and Products offered are also governed by supplemental terms. If a user engages any of these other Products, the supplemental terms will be made available before a user purchases the affected commercial Products. For example, when a user accesses and uses our commercial Products for personal, commercial, institutional or business purposes, such as the buying of ads, hosting or linking issues, upgrading to Premium service, or to our use data services, users must agree to our Commercial Terms. To the extent any supplemental terms conflict with the Terms, the Terms shall govern to the extent of the conflict.
3. Should any portion of these Terms to be deemed unenforceable by a court of law, the remaining portion will remain in full force and effect. If circumstances arise where iMatr does not enforce any of the Terms, the inaction will not be considered a waiver. Any amendment to, or waiver of the Terms, must be made in writing and signed by iMatr.
4. Users agree not to transfer any of their rights or obligations under the Terms to anyone without the prior written consent of iMatr.
5. Users may designate a person named as a Legacy User, to manage a user's account should the account be memorialized. The Legacy User or a person who has been identified in a valid will or equivalent document, where express clear consent is provided to disclose a user's content upon death or incapacity, will be able to seek and receive disclosure from a user's account after it has been memorialized.
6. The Terms do not confer any third-party beneficiary rights. Users acknowledge and agree that all of our obligations and rights under the Terms are freely assignable by iMatr in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets or by operation of law or otherwise.
7. Users acknowledge that should there submitted email address be a registered government, university or college email address, detected or undetected on a user's Sign Up and registration, such email addresses require an additional layer of protection. Users assigned government, college, or university emails are additionally required to obtain a PIN, for security and authentication purposes.
Similarly, political candidates running for office and/or elected politicians, must Signing Up and register with only their valid public email address used for election or government purposes. To activate these reserved email accounts, political candidates and/or politicians will require a PIN. A PIN can be obtained by following the link at the time of registration.
8. iMatr always appreciates suggestions offered by users for its platform services and Products. By offering any suggestion, users acknowledge that any suggestion may be used by iMatr without restriction or compensation, and is free of Privacy Policy provisions.
9. iMatr reserves all rights not expressly granted to its users.