Important Notices

Questions or comments regarding this policy may be directed to the National Energy Board (NEB) ai webmaster@neb-one.gc.ca.

Index

Materials on this Web site were produced and/or compiled by the National Energy Board (NEB) for the purpose of providing users with direct access to information and services offered by the NEB.

The materials on this site are covered by the provisions of the Copyright Act, by Canadian laws, policies, regulations and international agreements. Such provisions serve to identify the information source and, in specific instances, to prohibit reproduction of materials without written permission.

Non-commercial Reproduction

All rights reserved. Permission is granted to electronically copy and to print the information on this site for personal, internal and public non-commercial use only. The information may be reproduced, in part or in whole and by any means, without charge or further permission from the National Energy Board (NEB).

Commercial Reproduction

Reproduction of multiple copies of materials on this site, in whole or in part, for the purposes of commercial redistribution is prohibited except with written permission from the Government of Canada's copyright administrator, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC). Through the permission-granting process, PWGSC helps to ensure that individuals / organizations wishing to reproduce Government of Canada materials for commercial purposes have access to the most accurate, up-to-date versions. To obtain permission to reproduce materials on this site for commercial purposes, please go to PWGSC's Applying for Copyright Clearance on Government of Canada Works page or contact:

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Publishing and Depository Services
350 Albert Street, 4^th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0S5

Third-party Documents

All rights reserved. Permission is granted to electronically copy and to print in hard copy for internal use only. Some of the materials and graphical elements found on the National Energy Board Web site are subject to copyrights held by other organizations. In such cases, some restrictions on the reproduction of materials or graphical elements may apply and it may be necessary to seek permission from the rights holder prior to reproducing the material. No part of this information may be reproduced, modified, or redistributed in any form or by any means, for any purposes other than those noted above (including sales), without the prior written permission of these organizations.

Disclaimer

Some of the information on this Web site has been provided by external sources. The National Energy Board (NEB) is not responsible for the quality, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose of products or services available on external sites and listed or described on the site; nor is the NEB responsible for the accuracy, reliability, or currency of the information contained on the Web site and supplied by external sources.

Changes may from time to time be made to the information referred to on this Web site; these changes may or may not be incorporated into any new version of the Web site. Be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution. Data can also quickly become out-of-date. It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any information on this Web site, and that the originator of the data or information may be contacted with any questions regarding the current state of the data and appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, we encourage you to report them to the NEB at:

Hyperlinks

Links to Other Sites

The National Energy Board (NEB) Web site contains links to third party sites. The NEB provides these links only as a service and convenience to our visitors. We take no responsibility for the content at third party sites and a link to them in no way implies an endorsement or recommendation of the products, services or information found there.

A third party site may have a privacy policy different from that of the NEB Web site and may provide less security than the NEB Web site. The NEB disclaims all liability with regard to your access to linked Web sites. When you link to sites external to the NEB Web site, you do so at your own risk.

The NEB makes every effort to ensure that our links to third party Web sites lead to content that is accessible and available in both official languages. However, that is not always feasible or possible. Users should be aware that information offered by non-NEB sites that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and to which the NEB links, may be available only in the language(s) used by the sites in question.

The NEB reserves the right to regularly review and re-evaluate any and all links and reserves the right to terminate any link without prior notification.

Requesting a Link to a Third Party Site

Requests for hosting links to third party sites should be directed to the Webmaster (webmaster@neb-one.gc.ca).

The first priority and main consideration for any link included in our Links section is that it is a National Energy Board (NEB) Web site, product or service; a sponsored/partnered/member site; included in the Industry Portfolio; a Government of Canada Web site; or directly related to the NEB's mandate.

Guidelines for Linking to the NEB Web site

We have no objection to third party Web sites providing links to the National Energy Board (NEB) Web site. We ask only that Webmasters follow these simple guidelines: In addition to linking to a specific page within the NEB Web site, consider offering a link to the home page; The NEB discourages the use of frames and inlined content and requests that NEB content not be displayed in a frame or presented inline at third party sites; Links to NEB pages should be periodically checked to ensure their integrity.

Official Languages

The National Energy Board (NEB) respects the Official Languages Act and relevant Treasury Board policies. However, some material on these pages originates with organizations not subject to the Official Languages Act and is made available on this site in the language in which it was written.

Privacy Statement

The National Energy Board (NEB), and the Government of Canada as a whole, are committed to respecting the personal privacy of people who visit federal Web sites. This section summarizes the Web site privacy policy and practices of the NEB.

If you have any questions or comments about our privacy policy and practices, about how we administer the Privacy Act, or if you are not satisfied that we have adequately respected your privacy, you are encouraged to contact the NEB's Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator by telephone at 1-800-899-1265 or by facsimile at 1-877-288-8803. You can also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada by calling 1-800-282-1376.

The NEB does not automatically gather any personal information (such as your name, phone number, email address, or street address) when you visit our Web site, unless otherwise stated. If you choose to provide us with personal information, we use that information to respond to your message and/or process it in order to execute our mandate. There are several ways that you can provide us with personal information, for example, by telephoning or sending letter mail to the NEB; by sending an email to the Webmaster (webmaster@neb-one.gc.ca), Publications (publications@neb-one.gc.ca) or directly to an NEB staff person; or by filling out a secure Web form. In the context of a regulatory hearing, the information you submit is part of the public record and, as a result , is publicly accessible.

Like most Web sites our servers automatically collect and store Web site information that is used as a source of statistical information. These statistics help us make our site more useful to visitors by identifying pages of most and least interest to visitors, determining minimum technical specifications, assessing system performance, etc. This statistical information IS NOT shared with anyone beyond the Web site support staff, except when required by a security investigation.

Public Record

The Privacy Act governs how the NEB collects, uses and discloses personal information. However, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) governs how much of the public collects, uses and discloses personal information, including personal information that is available on the NEB's Web site.

The Board, established by the National Energy Board Act, is a quasi-judicial tribunal which collects, uses and discloses personal information in the context of an NEB proceeding. The Board will collect, use and disclose that personal information for the purpose of the Proceeding.

Please note that the Regulations Specifying Publicly Available Information state that personal information, as defined in PIPEDA, that appears in a record or document of a quasi-judicial body is publicly available provided that the collection, use and disclosure of that personal information relate directly to the purpose for which the information appears in the record or document. Personal information in a quasi-judicial record or document may therefore be considered publicly available personal information for the purpose of collection, use and disclosure without consent under section 7 of PIPEDA.

Although email is common and widely used today, it is not secure. We ask that you do not transmit personal information to us using unsecured email because we cannot ensure that your email message is secure or received by us. Your email could be intercepted and/or comprised during its transmission from your browser without your or the NEB's knowledge. We can only ensure the protection of information that is entered on secured portions of our Web site e.g. Regulatory Documents, Submit a Document [HTML] and My Account.

If you choose to send us an e-mail message containing your request/comments with personal information, we may forward your message, by e-mail, to other NEB employees or federal government employees who may be better able to respond to your request. We do not disclose the information to any party inside or outside the federal government unless authorized by law e.g. public record or in the course of a security investigation.

Secure Web Forms

Whenever you conduct online transactions with the NEB, we use 128-bit secure socket layer protocol (SSL) to ensure that your information is encrypted for transmission between your computer and our Web servers. This ensures that computer hackers and other Internet users cannot view or alter the data being transmitted. This is one of the most secure forms of encryption available in North America and is a typical requirement for Web-based services - such as online banking or shopping - where securing personal information is a priority. Access to our Web servers is limited to Web browsers that meet our security standards.

Any information you provide is only disclosed to NEB staff that will process your transaction, according to any of the legislation governed by the NEB. We do not disclose the information to any party inside or outside the federal government unless authorized by law e.g. public record or in the course of a security investigation.

My Account and Epass

Access to epass enabled applications is limited to Web browsers that meet epass security standards. For more information about epass, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions page on Epass Canada. Note: a new window will open to display this link.

This technology offers an even greater level of security and integrity than the SSL encryption used to secure Web forms. The NEB uses My Account to authenticate epass users before granting access to its epass enabled applications. For more information about My Account, please consult the My Account User Guide [PDF: 592 KB].

Unauthorized use of NEB Web sites

This NEB's Web site is part of the Government of Canada's computer system. The NEB uses appropriate hardware and software to monitor Web and network traffic for security purposes to ensure it remains available to all users and to protect information in the system. By accessing this Web site, you are expressly consenting to these monitoring activities.

Unauthorized attempts to defeat or circumvent security features, to use the system for other than intended purposes, to deny service to authorized users, to access, obtain, alter, damage, or destroy information, or otherwise to interfere with the system or its operation is prohibited. Evidence of such acts may be disclosed to law enforcement authorities and result in criminal prosecution. For example:

Section 403 of the Criminal Code of Canada makes it an offence to impersonate another person for advantage, property gain or disadvantage of another person.

Section 430 (1.1) makes it an offence to obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the lawful use of data.

What is a Cookie?

A "Cookie" is a small piece of information sent to your computer by a Web site and used by your browser. It contains settings (such as language preference) to help you use our services. There are two types of cookies: "Session Cookies" and "Persistent Cookies".

What is a Session Cookie?

A "Session Cookie" is used only during the browser session. It expires when the user closes the browser and it is not stored on your hard-drive.

What is a Persistent Cookie?

A "Persistent Cookie" is placed on your computer and will remain on your hard drive for a specific period of time, unless you remove it. Some Web sites use persistent cookies to store information that can be used when you visit the site again.

So what's the concern?

Some Web sites have used persistent cookies to build up a profile of your Internet usage, typically for marketing purposes. Persistent cookies make it possible for companies selling products over the Web to track patterns of repeat customers and offer them special promotions. These cookies are stored on a users computer without the user's consent or knowledge and this may be viewed as an invasion of privacy.

In order to protect your privacy, the NEB asks for your consent whenever a persistent cookie is used. The forms under Submit a Document is the only place on the NEB Web site with the option to save contact information in a persistent cookie. You must check the box to create a persistent cookie. The next time you enter the form it will automatically complete the contact information based on the last information provided and stored in the persistent cookie. If you no longer want this feature, simply uncheck the box and the persistent cookie will be expired.

Check box to save contact information so it appears automatically next time you use the form. (Your browser must be set to accept cookies.)

What does the NEB use?

Like with many Web sites, the cookies help us to establish a secure session between you and us. Using cookies for this purpose does not put your computer or personal information at risk. We do not store any personal information in the cookies.

"Session Cookies" are also used in order to support operational requirements of certain Web applications, Web forms, and My Account services. The cookie is used as a session management method, and only people with a valid cookie in their browser can transact business on these pages.

What does the cookie contain?

The cookie contains session information (e.g. session ID, IP) which could be used to trace back to an individual in the course of a security investigation, but no personally identifying information (e.g. name). That means that someone examining your cookie would not be able to enter the Web site as you or know anything about you.

What if I want to refuse cookies?

If you configure your browser to refuse cookies, you cannot use certain parts of the NEB Web site where session cookies are required (e.g. Regulatory Documents, Submit a Document and My Account). You can contact us to determine the appropriate alternate, non-electronic, service channel.

However, most browsers can be set to accept a range of options, from accepting no cookies to accepting only session cookies, to allowing all cookies. Some browsers can also be configured to alert you before a cookie is to be placed on your machine and ask if you wish to accept it or not.

To determine how you can enable or disable cookies and activate any special alerts, click on the "Help" option in your Web browser toolbar and search the help index using the word "cookies".

There are also inexpensive software programs available that can help you manage your cookies and enable you to easily turn them on or off and to delete them. These features are often part of programs designed to allow easy and safe deletion of applications and files on your computer.

Web Browser Security

What is SSL

Encryption uses a mathematical formula and an encryption key to scramble information so that an unauthorized person cannot understand the information. The scrambled information is decoded - or converted back - into the original format using the same mathematical formula and a decryption key so an authorized person can understand it. While the information is encrypted, it cannot be viewed.

When you send data using 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, the data is broken down into small, separate packages of information called blocks. SSL then encrypts each block. These encrypted blocks are sent over the Internet as individual network packets, and are individually addressed. Once all the packets have reached the safety of our secure Web server, they are reassembled and decrypted.

Checking your Browser for SSL

Once a secure session has been established, a padlock

or key

icon will appear in the bottom right corner of your browser window. This shows that data is being encrypted. However, to determine what level of encryption your browser provides, you have to check your browser's properties.

Internet Explorer

Open Internet Explorer and click the "Help" menu item. Then select "About Internet Explorer". This window will tell you the version of browser you are using and the level of security you have. If the "cipher strength" is not 128-bit, you should upgrade your browser.

Netscape

If there is a padlock

icon , it means you are using 128-bit encryption. If there is no padlock icon, it means that you have 40-bit encryption software and you should upgrade to 128-bit encryption.