How we
handle your
information.

Who we are

International Christian Voice (ICV) is a Canadian registered charitable organisation founded in 2002, dedicated to defending persecuted Christians and other religious minorities worldwide. Our principal office is in Brampton, Ontario.

For privacy matters under PIPEDA, the organisation acting as the data controller is:

International Christian Voice
Brampton, ON · L6P 2B3
Canada
info@icvcanada.org

Information we collect

We collect only the information necessary to deliver our charitable work. Specifically:

Information you give us directly

• Donation details: name, email, postal address, donation amount, payment method. Tax receipts require a full name and mailing address.
• Newsletter signup: name and email address.
• Contact form / inquiries: name, email, the message you write, and any subject/category you select.
• Cosponsorship or volunteer inquiries: contact details and the information you choose to share about your church, group, or background.
• Refugee sponsorship applications: for refugee applicants and sponsors, we collect the information legally required by the Government of Canada’s Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Information collected automatically

• Server logs: when you visit icvcanada.org, our hosting provider records the standard information any web server logs — IP address, browser type, pages visited, referring URL, and timestamps.
• Analytics: we do not currently run a third-party analytics tracker on icvcanada.org. If we add one in the future, we will update this policy.

What we do not collect

• We do not collect credit card numbers directly. Payment processing happens entirely on CanadaHelps or PayPal — we receive only confirmation of the donation, never card data.
• We do not collect sensitive personal information (race, religion, health) unless you voluntarily share it in a message to us.

How we use your information

PIPEDA requires us to use your information only for the purposes you would reasonably expect when you give it to us. We use information to:

• Process your donation and issue an official tax receipt under Canada Revenue Agency rules.
• Send you the newsletter you signed up for.
• Respond to your message, application, or inquiry.
• Coordinate cosponsorship, volunteering, or refugee sponsorship paperwork.
• Send occasional appeals or updates to donors, with a clear unsubscribe option in every message.
• Keep accurate financial records as required by the Income Tax Act and CRA for charities.
• Comply with legal obligations — for example, government audits or lawful requests from authorities.

We do not use your information for purposes you did not consent to. If we ever want to use it for something new, we will ask first.

Third parties we share with

We share your information only with service providers who help us operate, and only the minimum they need. Each has their own privacy policy, which we link below.

When we may also share information

• With the Government of Canada — specifically IRCC and the RSTP — when required to process refugee sponsorship applications.
• With the Canada Revenue Agency — when required for charity audits or T3010 annual reporting.
• With law enforcement — only in response to a valid legal order (warrant, subpoena, court order).

We never sell or rent your information to anyone, ever.

Cookies & tracking

icvcanada.org itself does not set any first-party tracking cookies. Our pages are static HTML and do not run analytics or advertising trackers.

You may encounter cookies from embedded content:

• YouTube videos embedded on the Shahbaz Bhatti memorial page use YouTube’s privacy-preserving youtube-nocookie.com domain — no cookies are set until you press play.
• When you click a donation button, you are taken to CanadaHelps or PayPal, where their own cookies apply under their respective privacy policies.
• When you submit our contact form, Formspree may set cookies on its own domain.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Doing so will not affect your ability to browse our site.

Your rights under PIPEDA

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act gives you the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: you can ask us what personal information we hold about you. We will respond within 30 days.
• Correction: if any information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, you can ask us to correct it.
• Withdrawal of consent: you can withdraw your consent for us to use your information at any time, subject to legal restrictions (e.g., we must retain donation records for CRA audit purposes).
• Deletion: you can ask us to delete your information. Where we are legally required to retain it (donation records), we will tell you so.
• Complaint: if you are not satisfied with our response, you may file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.

To exercise any of these rights, email info@icvcanada.org.

How long we keep your data

We keep information only as long as we need it for the purpose we collected it — or as long as the law requires.

• Donation records and tax receipts: 7 years, as required by the Canada Revenue Agency for charity record-keeping.
• Newsletter subscriber list: until you unsubscribe. After you unsubscribe, your email is removed from the active list within 30 days.
• Contact form messages: archived for up to 2 years to maintain a record of correspondence, then deleted unless we have a continuing relationship.
• Refugee sponsorship files: retained for the duration of the sponsorship plus the period required by IRCC.
• Volunteer and cosponsor records: as long as you are actively engaged, plus 2 years.

How we protect your data

We take reasonable steps to protect your information, but no online service can promise perfect security. Our safeguards include:

• HTTPS encryption on our entire website — all data is encrypted in transit.
• Trusted processors — CanadaHelps, PayPal, Formspree, and Mailchimp are PCI-DSS and/or SOC 2 compliant.
• Limited internal access — only the staff who need your information can see it.
• No card data on our servers — we never see or store credit card details.
• Secure passwords and account practices for staff accounts on our donation and email platforms.

If we ever become aware of a data breach that affects you, we will notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as required by PIPEDA’s breach reporting rules.

Children’s privacy

Our website is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, please contact us at info@icvcanada.org and we will delete it promptly.

Refugee sponsorship cases sometimes involve information about minors who are part of a sponsored family. That information is handled under the strict confidentiality rules of IRCC and the RSTP, not under this consumer-facing policy.

International data transfers

Some of our service providers are located outside Canada. When your information is transferred to them, it becomes subject to the laws of the country where they operate.

• Formspree, Mailchimp, and PayPal store data on servers in the United States.
• CanadaHelps stores data on servers in Canada.

U.S. law enforcement and government authorities can access information held in the United States under instruments such as the CLOUD Act. By using our services, you consent to your information being transferred to and processed in these jurisdictions.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time — for example, when we change service providers, expand our work, or after legal counsel reviews it.

When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the “Effective date” at the top of this page.
• Post a notice on our homepage for at least 30 days.
• For newsletter subscribers, mention the update in our next newsletter.

If a change materially affects how we use information you already gave us, we will ask for fresh consent before applying the change.

Contact us

Questions, concerns, or requests about your privacy? Reach out directly:

International Christian Voice
Attn: Privacy
Brampton, ON · L6P 2B3
Canada

Email: info@icvcanada.org

If we cannot resolve your concern, you can file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada ↗.