Privacy and Personal Information Protection Policy

Introduction and scope

GROUPE ACO is a consulting firm founded in Canada in 2009. We support and provide consulting services to public and private organisations.

We are committed to adhering to strict ethical standards when processing personal information (PI) necessary for the provision of our consulting services.

The purpose of this Policy is to inform you of our practices regarding the protection of PI and to help you understand how we collect, use, disclose and retain your information. By providing us with your PI through our website, forms, email, in person or by telephone, you consent to its processing in accordance with this Policy.

This Policy does not apply to third-party websites that can be accessed by clicking on links on our website. GROUPE ACO is not responsible for these third-party websites.

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Collection of Personal Information (PI)

 

A. What PI do we collect?

We collect and process the types of PI necessary to provide our services, including:

• Professional and/or personal contact information: First name, last name, address(es), email address(es), date of birth and telephone number(s).

• Biographical and professional information: Job title, employer name, professional background, photos, and video or audio content.

• Marketing and communication information: Communication preferences, comments and survey responses.

• Billing information: Billing address, bank account information or payment details.

• Service-related information: Details about services we have provided to you or information produced in connection with our consulting mandates.

• Recruitment information: Curriculum vitae, education, professional background and details of professional affiliations.

• Technical information: Details of visits to our websites, your interaction with our advertising, and information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies.

• Special categories (if relevant and with consent): Including racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, or sexual orientation.

Please note that if you provide us with personal information about other individuals (such as your directors, officers, or shareholders), you must ensure that you have duly notified them and obtained their consent.

 

B. How do we collect your PI?

We collect your PI from you and during our interactions, including:

• When you register for events, training courses and newsletters.

• During the provision of consulting services to you.

• From publicly available information (public platforms, website).

• From forms on our website and social media accounts.

 

C. Minors (under 14 years of age)

We do not knowingly collect PI from children or other individuals under the age of 14. If we learn that we have collected personal information from minors without parental consent, we will take steps to delete it.

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Use of Personal Information

We may use personal information for the following purposes:

• Provision of services and conduct of business: To administer and perform our advisory services and obligations under any agreement between you and us.

• Marketing and business development: To provide details about our new advisory services, information about developments within our organisation, and invitations to seminars or events.

• Website operation: To facilitate the use of our websites and ensure that the content is relevant and effective for your device.

• Research and development: Conducting analyses to better understand our clients' requirements and develop our services and offerings.

• Recruitment: Processing job applications and assessing the suitability of candidates for GROUPE ACO.

• Legal Compliance and Protection: To meet our legal, regulatory or risk management obligations, prevent fraud, conduct background checks and enforce our rights.

• Reorganisation of the Organisation: To transfer PD to an applicable third party in the event of any reorganisation, merger or transfer (with protection and security guaranteed).

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Sharing and Disclosure of Personal Information

We may share your PI with certain third parties, including the following:

• Third-party service providers and/or partners: Those who provide us with application development, hosting, maintenance, analytics, database and other necessary services. We limit the information provided to what is reasonably necessary and contractually require them to maintain confidentiality.

• Government authorities and law enforcement agencies: When required by law (in response to an order, subpoena or search warrant).

• The purchaser, successor or assignee: In connection with any merger, acquisition, sale of assets or similar transaction.

GROUPE ACO uses third-party sites, such as Google and Facebook, to promote its content and offers.

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Retention and Security of Personal Information

 

A. Retention

We will only retain personal information for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy and to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. We may anonymise PI for use in serious and legitimate purposes (e.g., retention of information required for possible tax inspection, statistics).

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B. Location and Transfers Outside Quebec

We store PI in our filing cabinets or on appropriate computer platforms. We do not transfer information outside Quebec.

 

C. Security

We maintain appropriate physical, technical and administrative safeguards to protect personal information from destruction, loss or unauthorized access. However, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you have reason to believe that personal information has been compromised, please contact us. If a privacy incident occurs, we will notify you as soon as possible.

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Your Rights Regarding Personal Information

In accordance with applicable data protection laws, you have the following rights:

• Access: The right to request whether we are processing information and, if so, to access it.

• Accuracy and Rectification: Right to request that any incomplete or inaccurate personal information be corrected.

• De-indexing/Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Right to request that their personal information no longer be disseminated or that any hyperlink associated with their name be de-indexed if such dissemination causes them harm or contravenes the law.

• Right to be informed: Right to be informed when you are the subject of a decision based solely on automated processing or when identification, location or profiling technology is used, and of the means available to activate these functions.

• Right to lodge a complaint: With the data protection supervisory authority (in Quebec, the Commission d'accès à l'information).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us as indicated in the 'How to contact us' section.​

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Use of cookies and similar technologies

For detailed information about the cookies we use, please refer to our Cookie Policy below, which is part of this Privacy Policy.

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A. Consent

By using our website, you consent to the use of cookies. You may withdraw your consent at any time by following the opt-out instructions below.

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B. Disabling cookies

You can disable cookies using your browser controls. If you do not accept the use of these cookies, some services will not function as well.

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C. Types of cookies used

The categories of cookies used by GROUPE ACO and its suppliers are:

1. Strictly necessary: Essential for browsing the website.

2. Performance: Analyse how our visitors use our websites (e.g., Google Analytics).

3. Website functionality: Remember the choices you make (username, language) for a personalized experience.

4. Targeting: Collect information about your browsing habits and are used to better target advertising based on you and your interests.

You can disable Google's use of cookies by using their Ads Preferences Manager service.

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How to contact us?

If you have any questions, comments or complaints about this Privacy Policy, or to exercise your rights, please contact our Privacy Officer:

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Privacy Officer

Dieudonné Ella Oyono

Email: d.oyono@groupeaco.com

Telephone: +1-514-623-0136

Postal address: GROUPE ACO, 1393 Saint-Jean Baptiste Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

 

Policy Updates

We may change the content of our websites and how we use cookies without notice, so our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy may be updated from time to time in the future.

This policy was last updated on 25 October 2025.