GC Forms is a product of the Canadian Digital Service (CDS), part of Employment and Social Development Canada. The CDS website has its own privacy practices.
Your organization must protect personal information
When you create a form through GC Forms, your organization is responsible for:
- Protecting the personal information in form responses.
- Complying with the laws and policies of your department or agency.
To learn more, visit the Terms of use.
We provide privacy information directly to people completing the forms you publish
In addition to the privacy notice statement that you are responsible for including on your form, we also include Terms and conditions in the footer of every form to meet policy requirements related to hosting the form on your behalf. We share information about our retention and disposition (storage and disposal) of form responses in our databases as well as features to protect the security of Government of Canada websites.
We collect your personal information
We use your contact information to communicate with you about GC Forms
We collect your name and contact information, department or agency, purpose for using the product, your manager or person you report to’s email, last login time, and whether you have accepted the Terms of use, as well as the feedback you provide. This information is stored in our web server logs for three months and in our audit logs for two years.
We also log Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The IP address identifies the location of the computer or mobile device that you use to visit GC Forms. We use the IP logs to monitor GC Form’s network and security. Passwords and answers to your security questions are hashed before being stored, Hashing ensures that passwords and answers cannot be deciphered or reconstructed, even by GC Forms employees.
Your information stays in our archives after your account is deleted.
We use your information to improve GC Forms and to report on its impact
Understanding how people use GC Forms helps us better meet your needs. We may use information on how you use GC Forms to learn what could be added or changed to improve your experience.
We use third-party software tools to analyze this data. We may also reach out to you to learn more about your experience and invite you to participate in research sessions.
We use web analytics
Analytics show how people use our websites. By studying how people navigate, we can improve GC Forms.
We use Google Analytics for information about:
- Pages people visit, links they select, and documents they download.
- Types of operating systems that visit GC Forms.
- Browsers that visit GC Forms.
- Approximate location, if enabled on the browser.
- Date and time of visits.
We do not use analytics to collect information that could identify you or your specific location.
The Department of Employment and Social Development Act Section 5.1 allows CDS to collect this information. You can read more about this authority in the Standard Personal Information Bank PSU 915.
We use hCaptcha to protect form security
The use of hCaptcha helps us detect spam and automated abuse or threats from bots. Learn more about this third-party provider’s privacy policy and terms of service.
We share some information
If you use other CDS Platform Services, we may share information with those services to improve your experience.
We use technology and services from other organizations. For example, to prevent digital attacks, we share information with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) about when and how you use GC Forms.
We do not:
- Authorize other services to use your information for anything unrelated to GC Forms.
- Sell or rent your personal information.
We may share information with law enforcement by court order.
We protect your privacy
We handle your information under the Department of Employment and Social Development Act, Access to Information Act, Financial Administration Act, Privacy Act, and Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.
You have privacy rights
The law requires that we protect your privacy. You have the right to access and review your personal information. Use your GC Forms account to check, correct, or update your information.
You also have the right to raise concerns about how we handle your personal information. Send complaints about how your personal information has been handled to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:
1-800-282-1376
