CommonWatch FOI privacy policy

1. Corporate identity and application

This policy applies to information under the control of Two Rivers Digital in connection with:

• the CommonWatch FOI pages on the public Two Rivers Digital website at commonwatch.ca and any hosted demonstration we provide;
• product inquiries, demonstrations, procurement, implementation, training and support relating to CommonWatch FOI; and
• other correspondence voluntarily sent to Two Rivers Digital about CommonWatch FOI.

This policy does not govern information controlled by a Customer in the Customer's Microsoft environment. That information is subject to the Customer's policies, agreements and legal obligations. If this policy conflicts with a written agreement between Two Rivers Digital and a Customer, the written agreement governs to the extent of the conflict.

Two Rivers Digital administers this policy in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy and anti-spam law, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act where it applies and Canada's anti-spam legislation.

2. Definitions

Customer means an organization that acquires or evaluates CommonWatch FOI, contracts Two Rivers Digital for related professional services, or requests information about the product.

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual.

Business contact information means a person's name, job title, work address, work email address or work telephone number used to communicate with that person about their work.

Customer data means information stored by a Customer in its own instance of CommonWatch FOI or Microsoft Power Platform. CommonWatch FOI means CommonWatch FOI (formerly named ClearRequest), freedom of information request management by Two Rivers Digital.

3. Customer data and the installed application

CommonWatch FOI is installed in the Microsoft tenant and Dataverse environment selected and controlled by the Customer. Requests, records, letters and audit events are stored in the Customer's Microsoft Dataverse environment and, for the requester portal, its Power Pages site. The base application does not automatically transmit those records to, host them in or store them in a Two Rivers Digital system. The release renderer, customer-authorized support access and configured integrations are described below.

The installed application has no publisher telemetry, Two Rivers Digital analytics service, advertising tracker, external Two Rivers Digital application database or automatic export of Customer data. Installation does not grant Two Rivers Digital access to Customer users, request records or files.

Release renderer. When a Customer asks Two Rivers Digital to connect the independent release renderer, a service in Microsoft Azure (Canada Central) reads each original document that staff queue for release, together with the saved redaction marks, builds an image-only release in memory, writes the release back to the Customer's environment and keeps no copy of the original or the release. It signs in with a managed identity that holds only the CommonWatch FOI Renderer role, and the Customer can remove that role at any time. A Customer may instead host the renderer in its own Azure subscription.

A Customer controls its users, security roles, data location, retention, deletion, backup and privacy obligations. Requests concerning Customer data must be directed to that Customer. Two Rivers Digital cannot access, correct, export or delete Customer data unless the Customer separately provides specific access or information for an authorized service engagement.

If a Customer voluntarily includes personal information in a support request or separately grants access for an authorized service engagement, that information is handled only for the requested service, under the Customer's instructions and the applicable agreement. This is separate from automatic collection through the installed CommonWatch FOI application.

4. Information received directly by Two Rivers Digital

Two Rivers Digital may receive business contact information and correspondence when a person voluntarily contacts us, requests product information or a demonstration, participates in procurement, or works with us on implementation, training or support.

We use that information only to respond to the request; provide and administer the requested product information or services; manage the corresponding business relationship; maintain security; establish, exercise or defend legal rights; and satisfy contractual or legal obligations.

The CommonWatch FOI product page is an information website. Our contact form receives the business contact details and inquiry text that you choose to submit. It is not a way to make an access-to-information request; send those to the institution that holds the records. The hosting provider may automatically process limited network and security information, including IP address, request time, browser information and requested pages, necessary to deliver and protect the website.

Two Rivers Digital demonstrations use fictional requests, requesters and records only. Do not enter real personal information. A hosted demonstration uses a Two Rivers Digital Microsoft environment in Canada; if you take part in it, it may receive your account details, authentication identifiers and the requests and documents you submit, which authorized Two Rivers Digital administrators may access to operate, support and secure the demonstration. Demonstration records may be reset or removed at any time.

5. Consent and lawful authority

Two Rivers Digital obtains consent for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information where consent is required. Consent may be express or implied, depending on the circumstances and the sensitivity of the information. Where required for sensitive information, unexpected uses or disclosures, or meaningful residual risk, we seek express consent. We may handle information without consent where applicable law permits or requires it.

A person may withdraw consent on reasonable notice, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. Withdrawal does not affect handling that occurred lawfully before the withdrawal and may limit our ability to provide a requested service.

For a customer-operated requester portal, the Customer provides its own notice of collection under its access and privacy legislation and decides how requests and records are handled. Contact the institution operating the portal about those decisions.

6. Disclosure and service providers

Two Rivers Digital does not sell, rent or trade personal information. We do not automatically receive Customer data through the installed CommonWatch FOI application and do not use Customer data for advertising, profiling or marketing.

Information received directly by Two Rivers Digital may be disclosed only:

• to service providers acting for us under appropriate confidentiality and security obligations;
• to professional advisers who owe duties of confidentiality;
• as directed or authorized by the Customer or individual concerned;
• in connection with a proposed or completed corporate transaction, subject to applicable legal safeguards; or
• where disclosure is permitted or required by law, legal process, or the protection of people, rights, systems or services.

Microsoft provides the cloud infrastructure used for our website, hosted demonstration, email and business systems and processes information in that capacity. Customer deployments are governed by the Customer's Microsoft agreements, selected regions and configured services. Information handled by us or our service providers may be processed outside the Customer's province or Canada and may be subject to lawful access in those jurisdictions. The product name does not determine data residency.

7. Request records and customer privacy responsibilities

CommonWatch FOI holds what an access office needs to answer requests: requester names and contact details, request descriptions, the records gathered from departments (which can include sensitive personal information about other people), redaction marks and exemptions, letters, fees, searches, consultations, appeals and staff activity.

The Customer determines its lawful authority, configures and validates identity, staff roles and portal permissions, publishes its own notice of collection, approves its retention schedule, and manages its legal duties concerning disclosures, retention and incidents. The base package does not send records to an artificial-intelligence service; text recognition used to search pages runs in the staff member's browser.

8. Cookies, browser storage, email and integrations

Microsoft sign-in and Power Pages use cookies or browser storage for authentication, session management and security. The CommonWatch FOI review desk keeps a staff member's unsaved redaction boxes in that browser until the release is rebuilt or the boxes are removed. The CommonWatch FOI product page and the base application do not install advertising or behavioural-analytics trackers.

Letters are emailed only when the Customer turns on email delivery, and then through the Customer's own Microsoft Exchange Online. CommonWatch FOI uses no third-party email, tracking or marketing service. The Customer must assess any email service, connector, analytics or other integration before enabling it, provide the necessary notices and obtain any required consent.

9. Retention, destruction and safeguards

Business contact information, correspondence, support records and hosted-demo account and test information received directly by Two Rivers Digital may be stored in our Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Dataverse or Power Pages environment. We retain it only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was received and for applicable contractual, legal, accounting or dispute-resolution requirements. It is then securely deleted, destroyed or deidentified, subject to applicable backup rotation and legal preservation requirements. Demonstration records may be reset or removed during evaluation. Customers set and administer their own schedules for requests, records, attachments, audit logs and backups.

Two Rivers Digital uses administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of information under our control. These safeguards include identity and access controls, role-based permissions, encrypted network connections, logging and procedures intended to prevent unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration or loss.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a breach affecting personal information under our control occurs, Two Rivers Digital will investigate, mitigate and provide notices or reports required by applicable law.

10. Access, correction and complaints

Subject to applicable legal exceptions, a person may request access to personal information under the control of Two Rivers Digital, ask how it has been used or disclosed, request correction of inaccurate information, withdraw consent, or make a complaint about our practices. We may take reasonable steps to verify identity before responding.

For information in a Customer's installed CommonWatch FOI application, contact that Customer. Two Rivers Digital does not control those records and cannot process an access, correction, export or deletion request for them without the Customer's authorization. For your hosted-demo account or information you provided directly to us, contact our Privacy Officer using the details below.

If a concern is not resolved after contacting us, a person may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or another privacy regulator with jurisdiction.

11. Canada's anti-spam legislation

Two Rivers Digital sends commercial electronic messages only with consent or another lawful basis. A commercial message sent by us will identify the sender and include a practical unsubscribe method where required by law. We process unsubscribe requests without delay and within the period required by law.

Two Rivers Digital does not use information entered in CommonWatch FOI for marketing.

12. Third-party services, changes and governing law

Our website may link to third-party websites or services. Two Rivers Digital does not control and is not responsible for their privacy practices.

We may amend this policy from time to time. The revised policy will be posted on this page with a new effective date. Material changes affecting an active Customer relationship may also be communicated to the applicable business contact. Where a new purpose or disclosure requires fresh consent or other lawful authority, posting an updated policy does not replace that requirement.

This policy is interpreted under the applicable laws of Canada and Manitoba. It does not create rights or obligations beyond those provided by applicable law or a binding written agreement.

13. Corporate information and Privacy Officer

Questions, requests and complaints concerning information under the control of Two Rivers Digital should be sent to: