Terms of Use – 9-8-8 Website, Related Microsites and Social Media Channels

Last updated: November 30, 2023

These terms of use (“Terms”) govern your use of and access to the 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline’s (“9-8-8”) website at https://998.ca (the “Site”) and related microsites operated by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH“ or “We”); and your interaction with CAMH on 9-8-8 social media channels, which includes but is not limited to Meta, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, as part of 9-8-8 (collectively defined as the “9-8-8 Communication Platforms”).

The Terms also govern the materials displayed or made available through the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms by CAMH, including without limitations, content, information, articles, posts, blogs, opinions, photographs, images, illustrations, reports, data, databases, graphics, interfaces, text, and files (“Content”).

To read the terms of service governing the use of text messaging and calls to 9-8-8, please click here https://988.ca/terms.

Please read these Terms carefully before using or accessing the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content as they contain important information regarding your use of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content, and your legal rights, remedies, and obligations. By using or accessing the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and its Content, you agree to the Terms described below.

The Terms create a legal agreement between you and CAMH. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not access or use the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and its Content.

1. General Terms of Use

1.1 9-8-8’s Site, Microsites and Social Media Channels

Site and Microsites. We provide this Site to support the mission of 9-8-8. Any related microsites will be accessible from the Site by a hyperlink, and the microsites will also contain a link to these Terms.

Social Media Channels. CAMH uses social media channels to interact with users and share Content to facilitate the access to 9-8-8 information and the promotion/marketing of 9-8-8. You acknowledge and agree that the social media channels that are used by CAMH and its agents are provided by third party service providers, which have their own terms of use, privacy policies and other policies and procedures (“Social Media Terms”).

Your use of any social media channels to engage with CAMH and its agents is in part governed by third-party service providers’ Social Media Terms. CAMH has no control or affiliation with social media channels providers and their Social Media Terms. Prior to using the social media channels to interact with CAMH; view or access Content; or upload Submitted Content (defined below in Section 1.6), you should review any Social Media Terms prior to agreeing to use the social media channels.

1.2 Content on 9-8-8 Communication Platforms

CAMH provides Content on the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms to the public that is accessible and current at the time of posting. However, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, and including without limitation any implied representations or warranties of merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose, or the accuracy, quality, completeness, timeliness, appropriateness, or sustainability of the Content.

Right to Update Content. CAMH assume no obligation to update the Content or advise on further developments concerning the topics mentioned in the Content. In addition, CAMH reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to add, remove or modify any Content on the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms. We also reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to correct any errors or omissions to any part of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms but have no duty to do so.

Use of the Content. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content.

1.3 Not Medical Advice

The Content on the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms is for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should always seek the immediate or timely advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. You should never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read or seen on the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms, including the Content as described above.

1.4 Not Emergency Care

The 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content is not to be relied on for any medical or other emergencies at any time and under any circumstances.

If you have tried to seriously hurt yourself or end your life within the last few hours, please call 9-1-1 right away or go to your nearest emergency department.

1.5 Ownership and Permitted Use

Unless otherwise specified in these Terms, the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content and all associated copyright is owned by CAMH (and third-party service providers, where applicable) and is protected by intellectual property laws.

Your use of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms does not transfer to you any ownership or other rights in the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms or its Content.

Users of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms are granted a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use (display or print) the Content for lawful, personal, and non-commercial use only, provided the Content is not modified, and all intellectual property rights, and other proprietary notices are retained. You may not otherwise copy, publish, reproduce, modify, upload, post, transmit or distribute any of the Content in any manner or form without the prior consent of an authorized representative of CAMH. Certain words, phrases, names, designs, or logos used on the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms may constitute trademarks, service marks or trade names of CAMH or other entities. No rights are granted to users of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms in or to such trademarks, service marks or trade names.

“Use” of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms collectively includes but is not limited to accessing or using the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms to use, view, access, or download Content; to submit, post or upload your Submitted Content (defined below in Section 1.6); and to interact with CAMH and its agents on social media channels.

1.6 User Conduct

Submitted Content. You acknowledge that all information, text, images, audio, video, designs, names, logos, trademarks, data, code or other information, material or content submitted by any user including yourself, whether publicly or privately posted, emailed, transmitted, uploaded, or otherwise submitted to CAMH via the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms (collectively the “Submitted Content”) is the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated.

You acknowledge and agree that you are entirely responsible for all of your Submitted Content that you post, email, transmit, upload, or otherwise submit via the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms including without limitation the accuracy of the Submitted Content.

No liability for Submitted Content or other Users. We do not control the Submitted Content posted via the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and, as such, do not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of such Submitted Content. Under no circumstances will CAMH be liable in any way for any loss, damage or injury related to, or arising as a result of any Submitted Content, including but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Submitted Content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Submitted Content posted, e-mailed, transmitted, uploaded, or otherwise submitted to the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms.

Please be aware that what is posted by you on 9-8-8 Communication Platforms can remain online for many years to come.

We will only use Submitted Content posted or uploaded on 9-8-8’s social media channels if we have notified you and receive prior permission to do so.

We encourage you to exercise caution when sharing any personal information on 9-8-8 Communication Platforms. We ask that you do not share any sensitive information such as your medical records, address, and financial information on the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms.  Unless otherwise requested as part of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms (e.g. providing your email to CAMH to inquire about 9-8-8), please do not disclose personal information.

Views of other Users of 9-8-8 Communication Platforms. The views and opinions expressed on 9-8-8 Communication Platforms by users reflect the thoughts of those users and not those of CAMH.

By using the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms, you agree not to post, email, transmit, upload, or otherwise submit any Submitted Content that:

• is offensive as determined by CAMH, in our sole discretion, including, without limitation, content that promotes racism, sexism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
• harasses or advocates harassment of or harm to another person;
• involves the transmission of “junk mail”, “chain letters”, or unsolicited mass mailing or “spamming”;
• promotes information that is false, misleading, illegal or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory, or libellous;
• infringes any intellectual property right or other proprietary rights of any party including, without limitation, promoting an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person’s copyrighted work, such as providing pirated computer programs or links to them, providing information to circumvent manufacture-installed copy-protect devices;
• contains restricted or password only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to or from another accessible page);
• displays pornographic or sexually explicit material of any kind;
• provides material that exploits people under the age of 18 in a sexual or violent manner, or solicits personal information from anyone under the age of 18;
• provides instructional information about illegal activities such as making or buying illegal weapons, violating someone’s privacy, or providing or creating computer viruses;
• solicits passwords or personal identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes from other users;
• you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information);
• engages in commercial activities and/or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, and pyramid schemes, without CAMH’s prior written consent; and
• contains or will contain any disabling mechanism or protection feature designed to prevent its use, including any clock, timer, counter, computer virus, worm, software lock, drop dead device, Trojan horse routine, trap door, time bomb or any other codes, designs, routines or instructions that may be used to access, modify, replicate, distort, delete, damage or disable the Content, any services related to 9-8-8, and 9-8-8 Communication Platforms.

We shall have the right, without further notice to you, to monitor, censor, edit, and/or remove any Submitted Content that violates the Terms or is otherwise objectionable, in our sole and unfettered discretion.

We reserve the right to access, use, preserve and disclose any Submitted Content or any other information that we obtain in connection with 9-8-8 Communication Platforms as we reasonably believe is necessary to: (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process, subpoena or governmental request; (ii) enforce these Terms, including investigation of potential violations of it; (iii) detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; (iv) protect our rights, property or personal safety of our users and/or the public; or (v) respond to your user support requests.

1.7 Links

Third Party Links. The 9-8-8 Communication Platforms may contain links to other websites, and social media channels that are not under the ownership or operation of CAMH.  We do not control, recommend or endorse and are not responsible for those sites and social media channels or their content, products, advertisements, services, terms and conditions, or privacy policies. If you use third party sites and social media channels, you do so at your own risk and you are subject to the privacy policy, terms of use and any other agreement associated with or specific to that website or social media channel.

Downloading material from certain websites and social media channels may risk infringing intellectual property rights or introducing viruses into your computer system or devices. You should take notice when you leave 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and read the privacy policies and terms of use of these other sites and social media channels.

No Endorsements.  Unless expressly stated, CAMH does not recommend or endorse any particular brand of products, services, procedures, or other information that may appear from time to time on 9-8-8 Communication Platforms. For clarity, on any social media channels, CAMH’s decision to follow, “like” or subscribe to another social media account does not imply an endorsement of that account, channel, page, or site, and neither does sharing (re-tweeting, reposting, or linking) content from a user or social media channel.

1.8 Viruses

Inaccurate or incomplete copies of the Content could be produced as a result of internet difficulties, transmissions issues or technical issues.  You acknowledge that viruses on your computer and personal devices and/or other potentially destructive programs could be downloaded from the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms inadvertently by you in the course of using the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms.

CAMH shall not be responsible or liable for any destructive/harmful software or computer viruses that may infect or impact the use of your computer equipment or other property as a result of your access to or use of 9-8-8 Communication Platforms or as a result of you downloading any Content from 9-8-8 Communication Platforms.  CAMH recommends that you install appropriate anti-virus or other protective software.

2. Privacy and Personal Information

The following information addresses privacy as it relates to users of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms.

CAMH is committed to maintaining the confidentiality and security of all individuals who use the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms. We value your trust and understand that this requires that we be transparent and accountable about how we handle the information you choose to share with us. We do not trade, rent, or sell the information of our users.

Whenever we collect personal information from you on 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and whenever personal information is created as a result of your interactions with us on social media channels (e.g., sending us a direct message), we will comply with CAMH’s privacy policy:  https://www.camh.ca/en/terms-of-use.

You acknowledge and agree that social media channels have their own privacy policies and may also collect and use personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies and procedures, which are usually posted on their sites or platforms.

2.1 Information submitted to and collected by CAMH

Information submitted via 9-8-8 Communication Platforms will be directed to CAMH:

• feedback and questions about 9-8-8, 9-8-8 Communication Platforms, and Content;
• media inquiries; and
• comments and messages on 9-8-8 social media channels.

3. Limitation of Liability

Use at Your Own Risk.  CAMH and its directors, officers, employees, representatives, privileged health care practitioners, volunteers, service providers, agents, sub-contractors, or any other entities with whom CAMH contract with (collectively the “Representatives”) are not responsible for any decisions or actions, or results of the decisions or actions that you or a third party makes while, as a result of your use, and access to the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content. This includes whether you or a third party choose to seek or not seek professional care, health care or to modify or terminate specific treatment that you or the third party are currently receiving based on the Content available on the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms. You and/or the third party are responsible for all decisions and actions you and/or the third party may or may not make during and after using the 9-8-8 Communication Platform or Content and assume all risk related to those decisions and actions.

CAMH and its Representatives shall have no liability for any losses or damages of arising out of (1) actions taken by you or a third party, or not taken by you or a third party; (2) the service levels or unavailability of the 9-8-8 Communication Platform; (3) your use or access to the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content; (4) your reliance on the Content; (5) access, use and reliance on the links from the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms;  (6) your Submitted Content; (7) your breach of these Terms; (8) your violation of the law; (9) claims asserted by third parties that you are in breach of these Terms; and (10) your use of social media channels and third-party websites operated by third-party providers.

You acknowledge that the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content are provided on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis; and that any use of or reliance on 9-8-8 Communication Platforms or any Content shall be at your sole risk. CAMH and its Representatives expressly disclaim all warranties or representations of any kind, whether expressed or implied, and make no warranty or representation that the 9-8-8 Communication Platform and Content will: (A) meet your requirements; (B) be available, uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; or (C) meet your expectations.

The foregoing disclaimers of liability apply to all damages or injuries, including those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect or delay in operation or transmission, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, or any other cause of action.

Without limiting the foregoing, in no event shall CAMH and its Representatives be liable for any direct, special, incidental, consequential, punitive exemplary, or indirect damages (including without limitation, damages for loss of profits/business, interruption, loss of business information or otherwise) in connection with any claims, loss, damage, action, suit or other proceeding arising under or out of these Terms, even if CAMH has been advised of the possibility of such damages, whether the action is based on contract, tort, infringement of intellectual property rights or otherwise.

4. General

Compliance with Applicable Laws. You will comply with all applicable laws (including provincial and federal laws of Canada) when using and accessing the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content.

Entire Agreement. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between CAMH and the users of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content.

Independent Parties. CAMH and the users are independent parties and nothing in these Terms shall give rise to an employment, partnership, or agency relationship between you and CAMH.

Assignment. You may not assign your rights under these Terms without prior written approval of CAMH.

Waiver and Severability of Terms. The failure of CAMH to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction or arbitrator to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court or arbitrator should endeavour to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms remain in full force and effect.

Governing Law. These Terms are governed by the laws of Ontario, Canada and these laws apply to your use of 9-8-8 Communication Platform and Content, notwithstanding your domicile, residency, or physical location. Any dispute between you and CAMH which cannot be resolved will be referred to the courts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and to no other place.  You agree to be bound by the laws of Ontario.

5. Changes to the Terms

We reserve the right in our sole discretion to add, remove, modify, or otherwise change the Terms at any time and without notice. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting. Your continued use of the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and/or Content following the posting of any such changes will mean you accept the changes. If any change to the Terms is unacceptable to you in whole or in part, please stop using the 9-8-8 Communication Platforms and Content.

6. Contact Us – Questions or Feedback

If you have any questions or feedback about these Terms, please reach out to us via the contact form on the Site: https://988.ca/contact-us.