Privacy policy

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal information is information that concerns an individual and allows that individual to be identified directly or indirectly.

Users are not required to disclose any personal information whatsoever to access the content of the Société de transport de Laval (hereinafter referred to as “STL”) website and of STL’s applications or dynamic display devices and any other digital tools the STL might make available to the public (hereinafter collectively called “Tools”).

However, through the Tools, STL offers specific benefits and services that require users to provide personal information if they want to access such benefits and services. For instance, you must provide personal information to access the following services and benefits:

Submit a request to the STL (inquiry, service request, complaint or comment)

• Use the online form to submit a request, obtain information, file a complaint, or provide feedback.

Create a customer account

• Select your favourite bus routes and stops to quickly access schedules and receive service alerts for those routes and stops. 
• Track the status of inquiries submitted to STL.

Subscribe to communications 

• STL newsletters. 
• STL service alerts by SMS or email for your preferred routes and stops.

Submit a job application (Careers section)  

• Create a profile and subscribe to job alerts through the STL recruitment platform. 
• Apply for posted positions or submit a general application.

Other services and benefits available on this website may require users to provide personal information. Where applicable, users will be informed at the time such information is collected.

Collection and use of personal information

Only authorized STL personnel or service providers authorized under contract with the STL may access your personal information. The STL ensures that those individuals are authorized to access such information and require it to perform their duties.

The information collected through STL’s tools helps us better understand the needs and interests of users. Its primary purpose is to provide more relevant information, without personally identifying individuals.

More specifically, your information is used for purposes determined by the STL, including:

• Responding to requests (inquiries, service requests, complaints and comments) submitted online or by phone to Customer Service (Customer Contact Centre). 
• Providing requested services (e.g., newsletter, customer account). 
• Managing participation in contests or promotions. 
• Improving STL services and the overall customer experience.

Personal information may be provided directly by users when they register for a service or may be collected automatically when users use STL Tools.

Below is a list of the types of information that may be collected through your use of our digital tools, along with the digital marketing techniques used by the STL on those Tools.

Data provided directly by users 

When you subscribe to our newsletter, create a customer account, submit a paratransit form, use our online contact form, make a request by phone, apply for a photo OPUS card, or submit any other form containing personal information to the STL in order to receive a service, you consent to providing your personal information for such purposes.

For the STL to use your personal information, you acknowledge that you have provided your consent, either implied or express, for your information to be used for the purposes for which it was collected.

In some cases, through agreements with partners or service providers, or as required by law, certain information may be collected by third parties and shared with the STL, or vice versa.

Newsletter

We use an email delivery platform to send our newsletters. When subscribing, users must provide the following required information:

• First name 
• Last name 
• Email address 

When you subscribe to the newsletter, the platform collects the following information:

• Email address 
• Date and time of subscription 
• IP address at the time of subscription
• Type of consent obtained 

By enabling the manual or automatic download of images in the newsletter, you acknowledge and accept that an invisible pixel embedded in the newsletter code may be used to collect general information about your interactions with our messages. 

Users who subscribe to STL electronic communications are responsible for configuring the privacy settings of their software or email service, particularly with respect to image downloads, and release the STL from any liability in this regard. 

When a user opens a message and interacts with its content, the platform may collect the following data, in addition to the information provided at the time of subscription: 

• Type of communication received 
• Emails received and opened by the subscriber 
• Date the email was sent and opened 
• Reason for any email delivery failure (bounce) 
• Images and hyperlinks clicked, and the date of each click 
• Platform used and type of device (e.g., Apple smartphone, Android tablet) 
• Answers, if applicable, to questions included in one or more communications 

Only the STL and its email delivery platform provider have access to that data. STL partners do not have access to it under any circumstances. 

Data history is retained for a period defined in STL’s retention schedule following subscriber inactivity, unsubscription, or the detection of an invalid email address. You may request the deletion of the data history associated with your contact profile on our email delivery platform at any time. To do so, please contact our Customer Contact Centre at 450-688-6520.

Customer account

When registering, users must provide the following required information:

• First name 
• Last name 
• Email address 

This action automatically creates a contact record in the STL’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management system), a computerized tool used to manage customer relationships. 

The features available in the customer account require the use of certain personal information. Such features include subscribing to email or SMS alerts and tracking online requests. 

If users choose to use those services, they may provide the personal information required for these features to function properly. For example: 

• Mobile phone number 
• Favourite routes and stops 
• Preferred times for receiving alerts 
• Any information provided when submitting a request (complaint, request, inquiry, or; comment) 

All personal information provided by users in their customer accounts (Account Settings, Favourites, Requests) is synchronized with the users’ contact records in the CRM.

In accordance with the STL’s Digital Tools Terms of Use, users are responsible for protecting their accounts by keeping their passwords confidential, as only they have access to them (at no time do the STL or its web and CRM service providers have access to user passwords).

Deactivating your customer account

You may deactivate your customer account at any time. To do so, sign in to your account on the STLaval.ca website, go to your account settings, and click on Deactivate my account. 

By confirming the deactivation of your account, you will: 

• No longer receive service alerts for your favourite routes and stops 
• No longer be able to track your requests online 
• Continue to receive communications you have consented to (such as newsletters) by email 
• Still be able to access your file and past requests or reports by contacting our Customer Contact Centre 

To request the complete deletion of your STL record, please contact the Customer Contact Centre at 450-688-6520. 

Online contact form

By completing the contact form to submit an online request, users provide information necessary to process their requests. In addition to completing the required fields related to the nature of the request, users must also provide the following information: 

• First name 
• Last name 
• Email address 

To submit the form, users must accept this Privacy Policy by checking the box provided at the bottom of the form. 

All personal information provided as part of the request is recorded in the STL’s CRM and linked to the user’s contact record, which is automatically created when the form is submitted. 

Phone inquiries

When a complaint is submitted by phone to the Customer Contact Centre (450-688-6520), the Customer Service agent records the personal information related to the complaint in the CRM system, including the customer’s first name, last name, and email address, only if the customer verbally agrees to have that information shared with the staff who need it to process the complaint. 

Data collected automatically

Our website uses cookies and tracking pixels. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer, tablet, smartphone or other device when you browse our website. Tracking pixels are third‑party tags embedded in the HTML code of our website. Cookies and pixels primarily collect information about your browsing activity on our website. 

When you visit our website, a banner will appear allowing you to manage your cookie preferences. By default, only cookies essential to the security and proper functioning of the site are enabled; non‑essential cookies remain disabled until you authorize them. You may choose to reject all optional cookies and pixels, accept them entirely, or customize your preferences using the options provided in the cookie management banner. 

At any time, you can delete or disable cookies to prevent them from tracking your online activity. To do so, follow the instructions provided by your browser: 

Google Chrome 
Microsoft Edge 
Mozilla Firefox 
Safari on Mac 

Some basic data is essential for the proper functioning of the site. Other data is optional, such as data used to personalize your experience, collect usage statistics, or target certain advertisements on third‑party platforms such as Google and Facebook.

The following types of information may be collected and used when you visit our website: 

1. Functional cookies 

These cookies are required to ensure the overall performance of the site during your visit, as well as for security purposes. 

Functional cookies provide access to the following information: 

• Analysis of browsing behaviour to distinguish legitimate (human) interactions from abusive interactions (automated software), in order to protect the STL website from bot attacks. This information may be retained for up to 6 months after your visit. 
• Essential information required for the proper functioning of the STL website, such as browser language settings and account login status (customer account). This information is retained only for the duration of your session, until you close your browser window or tab. 

2. Analytics cookies (optional) 

Web analytics is a method of collecting and measuring data to evaluate how users interact with a website. The cookies used for this purpose are optional. 

The STL and its digital service providers use this data for analytical purposes, to produce statistics and reports on how users browse our website. 

For example, this data helps us identify the most visited pages on our site. It can be used to improve content and navigation to better meet user needs, based on their preferences and browsing behaviour. 

For our analytics needs, we use Google Analytics. This tool provides access to the following data: 

• Pages viewed 
• Links clicked 
• Date, time, frequency and duration of visits 
• Traffic sources (how users accessed our site) 
• Geographic location (city, province, country) 
• Type of operating system used (e.g., iOS, Android, Windows) 
• Operating system language (e.g., English, French) 
• Internet service provider 
• IP address 

3. Marketing cookies (optional) 

Used in moderation by the STL, advertising retargeting aims to help people who are most likely to search for information about STL products and services—or who may be interested in STL messages—discover our content more easily. 

The website uses optional marketing cookies to target groups of users who are interested, or likely to be interested, in our messages or content. These techniques are based on browsing behaviour on the Internet and social media. 

They may be used when we configure digital advertising campaigns through platforms such as Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google (Google Ads, Google Discovery, Google Display); or other digital advertising services. 

These cookies are primarily used to create groups of Internet users (known as “advertising audiences”) who share similar interests or behaviours online and on social media. For example, users who have visited our website within the past three months, or audiences with interests similar to those of users who visited our site in the past month. 

Users who have previously interacted with our website or digital content may therefore be more likely to see our digital advertising while browsing the Internet or using social media. 

Marketing cookies may collect the following types of information: 

• IP address 
• Date and time of visit 
• Geolocation 
• Operating system used 
• Screen resolution 
• Type of device used 
• Type of browser or email platform used 
• Browser extensions used 
• Pages visited 
• Links clicked 
• Interactions and browsing behaviour on the website or between the website and other online platforms (other websites, social media, emails) 
• Frequency and duration of visits 
• Traffic sources (how users access our site; e.g., search engines, ads) 
• Time elapsed between opening an email and visiting the website 
• Traffic generated on the website 
• Email opens 

4. Session storage and local storage 

To ensure a better user experience during your visit, the website uses session storage and local storage, which help facilitate the use of the website: 

• Session storage, used by the website and your browser, temporarily stores information related to your current session. This information is essential for the proper functioning of the website, particularly to maintain a stable connection to your customer account (e.g., keeping you signed in during a browsing session). This information is retained only for the duration of your session, until you close your browser window or tab.

• Local storage, used by the website and your browser, helps improve site performance by making it faster and by remembering your preferences from one session to another. It stores information in your browsing history until you manually clear your browser cache to remove this data. To learn how to manage local storage and clear your browser cache, follow the instructions provided by your browser: 

  Google Chrome 
  Microsoft Edge 
  Mozilla Firefox 
  Safari on Mac 

Data collected by social media and other applications 

Social media platforms and mobile applications such as Transit and Chrono have their own privacy policies regarding the use of your data. 

When you interact with the STL through its Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube or LinkedIn accounts, or when you access information about STL services (such as schedules or fares) through mobile applications that are not operated by the STL, you are subject to the privacy policies of those platforms.

Such policies may differ from those of the STL. 

Applicable legislation 

Personal information collected, retained or used by the STL is governed by the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information (CQLR, c. A‑2.1).

Accordingly, individuals have the right to access, and in certain cases to request correction of, the personal information held by the STL. 

Other legislation may also apply, depending on the circumstances. 

Disclosure of information 

The STL does not transfer, sell, rent, exchange, lend or otherwise disclose any personal information collected through electronic means, unless the individual who provided the information has given their consent, or the STL is required to do so by law or by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction. 

Data matching and linking 

When a user creates an account or accesses their profile in the customer account, data may be matched or linked with information already held by the STL about that user, where applicable. 

This process is used to update information related to the customer profile, favourites, requests, or the automated paratransit booking system, as applicable.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 

The STL retains personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Policy and to comply with its legal obligations, including the retention periods set out in its records retention schedule pursuant to the Archives Act (CQLR, c. A-21.1). 

RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 

The STL retains personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Policy and to comply with its legal obligations, including the retention periods set out in its records retention schedule pursuant to the Archives Act (CQLR, c. A-21.1).

Protection of personal information

The STL is committed to: 

• Collecting, using and retaining your personal information only for identified purposes 
• Protecting the confidentiality of personal information through security measures that meet generally accepted industry standards and comply with applicable laws 
• Retaining your personal information only for the period required in connection with the services provided by the STL and in accordance with legal requirements 
• Ensuring that your personal information is not disclosed to third parties unless you have given your consent or disclosure is required by law 
• Allowing you to access or request correction of your personal information in accordance with applicable legislation 
• Ensuring that any service providers retained to collect, manage or use of your personal information adhere to the same privacy protection standards as the STL.

Disclaimer 

This website does not include any designated “secure” areas that allow for a separate and confidential exchange of information between a user’s computer and the STL’s information systems. In general, no data transmission over the Internet can be entirely protected against interception or misuse. 

Although the STL makes every effort to ensure secure access to its Tools and features, it cannot guarantee that information sent to it by email or over the Internet will be received without being tampered with, accessed or intercepted by a third party, or that the integrity or authenticity of such information has not otherwise been compromised. Nor can the STL guarantee that such information will reach its intended destination. 

Notwithstanding the above, while the STL uses generally accepted industry standards to protect the information it receives, it cannot guarantee that such information will not be accessed, obtained, disclosed, altered or destroyed as a result of a breach of its security measures. 

If you have reason to believe that your personal information has been compromised, please call the STL’s Customer Contact Centre without delay at 450‑688‑6520 during business hours (see the Contact Us section of this website).

This is a translated version of the original Politique de confidentialité published in French. In case of a discrepancy between the French version and the English version of the Privacy Policy, the French version prevails.