Privacy
The website and helpline are resources that you can use anonymously.
If you choose to self-refer to the Talking for Change therapy program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH”), you will need to complete the referral form. This part of the program is not anonymous, as it requires that you provide identifying information about yourself. For information about how we manage the personal health information you provide CAMH in your self-referral, please read our standard Privacy Notice found here.
Our website and chat feature are best used with one of the following browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome (standard mode only). The site is also functional on Tor (standard and private mode).
Privacy and Confidentiality of Your Information
Talking for Change offers support via an anonymous helpline with the option of chat, letter, email and/or phone functions for individuals looking for support and help with their sexual interest in children and/or their concerns about offending involving a child. However, if you choose to communicate with us using mail or your personal email address, then you will or may be identifiable to CAMH. In that case, CAMH will manage the information in the same way that we would other personal health information, as outlined in the standard Privacy Notice found here.
CAMH recognizes that the information about individuals who use this website is sensitive and deserves to be treated with respect and that privacy must be protected. When it comes to collecting, using or disclosing your information, we take measures to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the information is protected in accordance with privacy best practices and privacy legislation.
If you use our chat feature, your IP address is available for the duration of the chat (to make the chat possible) and is not kept following the close of the chat.
CAMH Privacy Notice
Privacy. Your Right. Our Responsibility.
You have the right to know how CAMH may collect, use and share your information.
When you use the helpline, we do not ask for your name or other information that directly identifies you. We collect your IP address in order to enable the chat messaging function. We also collect information about what sections of the website are accessed, as well as information provided in chat and voice messages and pre- and post-chat surveys. This is done in order to evaluate Talking for Change. If you choose to share information that directly identifies you in a chat, then CAMH will destroy the identifiers unless there is a Duty to Report (see below).
Information that you provide on this website, and about your use of the website, is kept private and secure. It is destroyed, retained and/or stored in accordance with CAMH’s retention policies.
When using this website, CAMH may collect, use and share anonymous information for the following reasons:
- to provide you with a real-time person to chat with
- to plan, manage, evaluate and administer this website and its services
- for feedback surveys
- for research (with the prior approval of CAMH’s Research Ethics Board)
- for teaching
- for statistical and other reports to our program funders (note that only aggregate information is shared, e.g., the number of helpline interactions, visits to the website, number of self-referrals)
Our Duty to Report
If you give us information that can identify you or someone else and we learn about a situation that is considered dangerous to you or another person, we are legally obligated to report that information to someone who can prevent harm and ensure people are safe. This is part of our “duty to report”.
We have a duty to report, for example, in the following situations:
- If you tell us that you are planning to hurt yourself, and you have given us identifying information
- If you tell us that you are planning to hurt someone else, and you have given us identifying information
- If we suspect that a child has experienced or may be at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect, and is in need of protection
Please note that there may be other situations where CAMH is required by law to disclose information (for example, in response to a court order, summons, or subpoena).
Access to Information and Other Questions
Because we do not retain identifying information about your use of the website, we do not have the ability to provide subsequent access to specific information about you or your use of the website. However, if you have general questions or concerns about how information on this website is collected, used, managed or shared, then please, use the email function on this website or contact the CAMH Information and Privacy Office at privacy@camh.ca.