Data Privacy | Boehringer Ingelheim CA
Data Privacy
Personal Information We Collect and How We Use It
Last Updated: May 2026
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. and Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. (“Boehringer Ingelheim”, “we”, “us”) collect, use, and disclose personal information in the context of different relationships and interactions. The type of information we process and how it is used depends on your relationship with us.
The sections below describe our practices by category.
Content
1.1 Website Visitors and Digital Users
2. Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence
1.1 Website Visitors and Digital Users
Our websites and digital platforms may use technologies that enable us to personalize content, understand website usage, and improve user experience. Where required, our sites include a cookie banner that explains these technologies and gives you control over your choices.
Information we may collect
- Contact information you choose to provide (for example, when submitting inquiries, registering for events, or subscribing to communications).
- Technical and usage information collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies (such as IP address, device and browser information, pages visited, and general location derived from IP).
- Preferences such as language and communication settings.
How we use this information
- To operate, secure, and maintain our websites and digital platforms.
- To respond to inquiries, manage subscriptions, and provide requested information.
- To understand how our websites are used and improve their functionality, primarily through aggregated or de-identified analytics.
- To prevent fraud, misuse, and security incidents.
- To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.
Additional information about cookies and similar technologies, including how to manage your preferences, is available in our Cookies Notice below.
Third-Party Plugins and Embedded Content
Our websites may use third-party plug-ins or embedded content, such as video players (e.g., Vimeo) or social-media integrations. When such content is loaded, the third-party provider may receive technical information from your device, including your IP address, device/browser details, and information about the page you visited. These providers may also set cookies or similar technologies for functionality, analytics, or personalization, subject to your cookie preferences.
You may manage your choices at any time using the cookie-preferences settings available on our websites.
Vimeo: When we display video content through Vimeo, Vimeo may process certain information (including IP address, browser information, device identifiers, and viewing activity) in accordance with its own privacy practices. Vimeo may also set cookies or tracking technologies on your device where permitted by your preferences. For more information, please consult Vimeo’s Privacy Policy.
We do not control how third-party plug-ins handle personal information and encourage you to review their privacy policies.
1.2 Healthcare Professionals (HCPs)
Information we may collect
- Professional contact and business information (such as name, work address, email, telephone number, professional licence number, specialty, and practice details).
- Information provided in the context of medical, scientific, or product-related inquiries.
- Records of professional interactions, events, or programs.
- Information required for compliance, auditing, and regulatory reporting, including pharmacovigilance and product quality activities.
- Usage data related to your use of our digital platforms, your interactions with us, preferred methods of communications.
How we use this information
- To respond to medical and scientific inquiries and provide product-related information.
- To support professional engagement, education, events, and related activities.
- To meet pharmacovigilance, product safety, and regulatory reporting obligations.
- To comply with legal, audit, transparency, and corporate governance requirements.
- To administer contractual and professional relationships.
- To verify your identity and eligibility for access to HCP-restricted platforms, including validating professional credentials through a trusted third-party identity provider. We receive only the information needed to confirm your eligibility.
- Personalize your experience when interacting with Boehringer Ingelheim.
1.3 External Stakeholders and Advocacy Representatives
This category includes individuals who interact with us in a professional or advisory capacity outside of patient care, including individuals affiliated with patient advocacy organizations, advisory groups, speakers, consultants, and other external stakeholders who provide expert or lived-experience perspectives.
Information we may collect
- Identification and contact information.
- Professional or organizational affiliation.
- Contracting, payment, and tax-related information (where applicable).
- Information voluntarily shared in connection with advisory activities, meetings, speaking engagements, or feedback initiatives.
How we use this information
- To engage external stakeholders and incorporate patient and community perspectives into our activities.
- To support disease awareness initiatives, educational materials, and service improvement.
- To administer advisory boards, meetings, engagements, and related communications.
- To manage contracts, honoraria, expense reimbursements, and payments.
- To comply with legal, regulatory, audit, and transparency obligations.
Where possible, we limit the personal information collected to what is necessary for these purposes and avoid collecting health or treatment information unless required and appropriate in the specific context.
1.4 Business Contacts, Vendors, and Suppliers
Information we may collect
- Business contact details and professional role information.
- Financial and payment information necessary to administer contractual relationships.
- Due diligence or compliance information, where required by law.
How we use this information
- To source, contract with, and manage vendors, suppliers, and business partners.
- To process payments and administer commercial relationships.
- To conduct audits, ensure security, and manage business continuity.
To comply with legal, regulatory, and governance obligations.
How patient data is handled
We do not collect, access, or receive identifiable patient personal information in connection with patient support programs or clinical trials.
- Patient support programs are administered by independent third-party program administrators responsible for patient personal information and program-specific notices. Boehringer Ingelheim may receive only de-identified and/or aggregated program information for program oversight, quality monitoring, and improvement.
- In clinical trials, participant information is collected and managed by investigators, institutions, and contract research organizations in accordance with law, ethics approvals, and protocols. Boehringer Ingelheim receives coded, anonymized, or aggregated data as permitted.
2. Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. and Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. may use artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools and systems to support certain business activities, such as improving operational efficiency, supporting compliance, enhancing digital services, and analysing information at scale. Our use of AI is guided by established internal responsible AI principles and applicable legal and ethical standards.
Our Responsible AI Principles
Where AI is used in connection with our activities, including where it may process personal information, we apply the following guiding principles:
- Accountability – We maintain clear human accountability and governance over AI systems, including defined roles and responsibilities for design, deployment and use.
- Human Oversight – AI systems are used to support, not replace, human judgement. Meaningful human oversight is maintained over critical or consequential decisions.
- Fairness – We seek to design and use AI systems in ways that avoid unfair bias or discriminatory outcomes. Where limitations or risks are identified, we take appropriate mitigation measures.
- Transparency – We endeavour to be transparent about the use of AI, including providing appropriate information about how AI-supported processes operate and their limitations.
- Reliability and Safety – AI systems are subject to testing, monitoring and lifecycle controls to ensure they perform as intended and do not pose unreasonable risks to individuals, health, safety, property or the environment.
- Protection of Personal Information and Security – AI systems are designed and deployed in compliance with applicable privacy and data protection laws, using appropriate technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information.
- Awareness and Training – Individuals involved in the development, deployment or use of AI systems receive appropriate guidance and training to ensure responsible and lawful use.
Use of AI and Personal Information
Where AI is used to collect, analyse or otherwise process personal information:
- such use will be limited to clearly defined and legitimate purposes;
- personal information will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy legislation; and
- AI will not be used to make fully automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals, unless permitted by law and accompanied by appropriate safeguards.
Notification to Individuals
Where required by law or where appropriate in the circumstances, we will inform individuals if AI is used in a material way to process their personal information, including through this Privacy Policy, contextual notices, or other communications. This information may include the purpose of the AI use and any meaningful impact on how personal information is processed.
Your Rights
Individuals retain the same rights of access, correction, consent withdrawal and complaint outlined in this Privacy Policy in relation to personal information processed using AI systems.
For questions about our use of AI or how it relates to your personal information, you may contact our Chief Privacy Officer using the contact details set out below.
3. Your Privacy Rights
You have the right to access, correct, and control how we use your personal information, subject to legal and contractual limitations.
Access and correction
You may request access to your personal information and request correction of information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date. We may decline or limit access where required or permitted by law, including where disclosure would reveal another individual’s information or where records are subject to a legal hold.
Withdrawal of consent and deletion
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time. You may also request deletion of your personal information where legally permitted. We may retain information where required to comply with legal obligations, such as regulatory record-keeping or legal holds.
De-indexing and limiting disclosure
In limited circumstances and where required by law, you may ask us to cease sharing your personal information or to de-index links associated with your name. Requests will be assessed in context and balanced against legal obligations and the rights of others.
Data portability (Quebec only)
If you are located in Québec, you may request a copy of the computerized personal information that we collected from you in a structured, commonly used technological format. You may also ask us to send this information to another organization authorized to receive it, unless this would create serious practical difficulties. We will respond within the timeframes required by law and inform you of any limits that may apply.
How to exercise your rights
You may submit a request by contacting our Chief Privacy Officer (see “Contact Us”). We will verify your identity, respond within timelines required by law, and explain any lawful limitation that prevents us from fulfilling a request. For Patient Support Programs or clinical trials, please contact the program administrator, study site, or CRO named in the applicable notice.
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. will investigate all complaints made to the Chief Privacy Officer regarding our compliance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws. Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. will take appropriate measures to amend its policies and practices should that be necessary or appropriate.
4. Consent
We obtain meaningful consent using a layered, user-centric approach that highlights key elements (what we collect, with whom we share, for what purposes, and any material risks) and offers clear choices. Consent is ongoing and may be withdrawn at any time, subject to legal or contractual limits.
Except as required or permitted by law and as provided below, Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. will obtain your consent for the use and disclosure of your personal information. The form of consent may vary depending on the circumstances and the type of information being requested. Consent can be express (express consent may be oral, in writing or electronic), implied (such as when you provide your name and address in order for us to send you products or information you have requested) and may be given by your authorized representative (such as a legal guardian).
Where appropriate, we provide just in time notices at the point of collection and obtain any required consent through in context mechanisms (such as checkboxes or preference settings), rather than relying solely on this Privacy Policy.
When determining the appropriate form of consent, we consider the sensitivity of the personal information, the reasons we are collecting it, and the reasonable expectations of the person giving the consent.
Where information is sensitive or uses fall outside reasonable expectations, we will obtain express consent.
We only collect personal information about you (information that could be used to identify you) when you voluntarily provide it to us by using our websites or mobile applications or by voluntarily disclosing the information. You may choose not to give us personal information when we ask you for it. If you decide not to give us your personal information, it may restrict our ability to provide you with the services that you have requested.
For website visitors, please see our “Website Visitors & Digital Users” section and our Cookies Notice section for details about cookies and similar technologies, including those that may involve identification, localisation or profiling functions and how you can manage your preferences.
Where we rely on service providers (including those outside your province or outside Canada) to process personal information on our behalf, we remain accountable and require contractual safeguards that provide a comparable level of protection.
In certain circumstances, as permitted or required by law, we may collect, use or disclose your personal information without your knowledge or consent. These circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) information that is publicly available; (ii) where collection or use is clearly in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way; (iii) to investigate a breach of an agreement or a contravention of law; (iv) for the purposes of detecting, suppressing or preventing fraud; (v) to act in response to an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual; or (vi) to comply with a subpoena, court order or warrant.
Consent Withdrawal
You may at any time withdraw your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information (Refer to the “Contact Us” section for how to do so). If you withdraw your consent, we will delete your personal information in a timely manner except as required by law. However, withdrawing your consent may limit or prevent access to certain services.
In some cases, we are obliged to keep your personal information to comply with legal requirements and statutory retention periods (e.g. pharmacovigilance), or to otherwise be in compliance with legal holds / court orders which prevent us from deleting your personal information. In such a case, we will ensure that your data will only be used to comply with those obligations and not for other purposes.
We retain personal information only as long as needed to fulfil the purposes described or to meet legal and regulatory requirements. When it is no longer required, information is securely deleted, anonymised, or aggregated. Information subject to a legal hold or mandatory retention will be retained as required by law.
We use and disclose personal information only for the purposes we identified (or as required by law), unless we obtain fresh consent for a new purpose.
We collect only the personal information needed for the purposes we identify at or before collection and by fair and lawful means.
How we minimise, use, disclose and retain personal information
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. will not use your personal information without your consent for purposes other than those for which it was collected or other than in accordance with applicable laws.
Personal information will be retained only as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected or to meet legal, regulatory, audit or business requirements, after which it will be securely deleted, anonymized or aggregated in accordance with our retention schedule.
Websites and mobile applications on which this Privacy Policy appears are not designed to be accessed or used by children under the age of 16 years. Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. does not knowingly collect personal information from children on its websites or mobile applications.
Where permitted by law, we may de-identify or aggregate personal information so that it no longer identifies an individual. We use such information for purposes including analyses, reporting, program oversight, research, and improving our products, services, and operations. We do not attempt to re-identify de-identified or aggregated information.
How we protect personal information (including service providers and cross-border processing)
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. uses a variety of physical, organizational and technological measures to keep your personal information safe. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet or data storage system can be guaranteed as 100% secure. Any transmission is at your own risk.
Confidentiality incidents and breach notification: If we experience a confidentiality incident or breach of security safeguards involving personal information, we will assess the real risk of significant harm (per PIPEDA) and/or risk of serious injury (per Québec Law 25), notify the appropriate regulator(s) and affected individuals where required, and maintain incident records as required by law.
You have the right to access, correct, and control how we use your personal information, subject to legal and contractual limitations.
We may share your personal information with regulators, governments and law enforcement authorities; service providers; and Boehringer Ingelheim affiliated Companies.
We may transfer personal information outside Canada or your province for processing. When your information is processed in another jurisdiction, it may be accessible to courts, law enforcement and national security authorities in that jurisdiction. Regardless of location, we remain accountable and require contractual and other safeguards to ensure a comparable level of protection.
5. Cookies Notice
- We use cookies and similar technologies to operate our websites, understand how they are used, and (if enabled) tailor content or advertising.
- Depending on the website, you may manage your choices through a Cookies Preference Centre or via a cookie banner and your browser settings.
- Some embedded content (such as Vimeo videos) may load cookies or similar technologies from third-party providers, subject to your cookie preferences.
- Where required, we seek meaningful consent and provide clear information about identification, localisation, or profiling functions.
- This notice applies to Canadian websites only; practices may differ on other country sites.
What are cookies and similar technologies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. Similar technologies—including pixels, tags, SDKs and local storage—are also used to enable website functionality, remember preferences, and measure performance. Embedded content or plug-ins (e.g., Vimeo video players) may also rely on similar technologies such as pixels or scripts.
Categories of cookies we may use
- Strictly Necessary: Session identifiers, security tokens and preference records. Required for core site functionality, security, and privacy preferences. Some of our HCP restricted websites use third party authentication tools, which set strictly necessary cookies to enable secure login and session management; these cookies are required for the site to function and cannot be disabled.
- Functional: Remember user choices such as language or region.
- Analytics / Measurement: Page views, device or browser information and approximate location derived from IP address. Help us understand how our websites are used so we can improve performance and content. These cookies may send behavioural data (page views, click-events, approximate location from IP, device/browser characteristics) to approved analytics partners or our Customer Data Platform (Treasure Data) to help us understand content performance and user interactions.
- Advertising / Profiling (if applicable): Advertising identifiers, pixel events and inferred interests for campaign measurement or targeting. Used to deliver interest-based advertising, retargeting, or cross-site tracking. These may involve identification, localisation or profiling functions and require enhanced transparency and user choice. Advertising cookies may be set by our advertising partners (e.g., Google, Meta, LinkedIn) and used to build a profile of your interests and show you more relevant ads on other websites. These rely on unique identifiers tied to your device or browser.
Cookies - How we obtain consent
Boehringer Ingelheim Canada uses different cookie-consent models depending on the website and whether advertising or profiling technologies are present.
Websites using advertising/profiling cookies or third-party plug-ins with tracking functions provide a Cookie Preference Centre and require express consent.
Some websites without advertising/profiling technologies use a simplified banner.
You may change or withdraw your cookie choices at any time.
Cookies - Vendors and partners
- Treasure Data: We use Treasure Data as our Customer Data Platform to unify and analyse certain website interaction data collected through cookies or similar technologies. This may include page views, device information, or interaction events generated through our tagging framework. The platform helps us understand website performance, create aggregated audience insights, and support personalization or measurement activities (where applicable).
- Adobe Analytics: a web analytics service provided by Adobe Systems Software Ireland Limited ("Adobe"). Adobe Analytics uses cookies on behalf of Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. to analyze traffic and usage patterns. The IP address collected by the cookies is made anonymous before it is geolocated. In addition, it is replaced by a generic IP address. Adobe will not associate your IP address with other information held by Adobe. You can prevent Adobe from collecting and using information (cookies and IP address) by using your options at http://www.adobe.com/privacy/opt-out.html.
- Vimeo (embedded video player): When Vimeo videos are embedded, Vimeo may place cookies or similar technologies to enable playback, analytics, security, and product improvement. Vimeo may receive IP address, device/browser information, and video interaction events. Vimeo may process this information outside Canada.
- Advertising partners: Meta / Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Google Ads / Remarketing Tags - Used only where confirmed and subject to user choice controls.
Some vendors may process information outside Canada. Boehringer Ingelheim remains accountable and requires contractual safeguards.
Managing your choices
Users may manage cookies by using the Cookies Preference Centre (where available) or adjusting browser or device settings. Blocking certain cookies may affect website functionality. Some BI Canada sites provide a full Cookie Preference Centre; others use a simplified banner in cases where no advertising/profiling cookies are used.
Retention and data minimisation
Cookie-derived information is retained only for as long as necessary to achieve the purposes described or to meet legal requirements. When no longer required, data is deleted, anonymised, or aggregated. Vendor-specific retention periods should be confirmed with the applicable Vendor.
Email and unsubscribe choices
If you do not wish to receive promotional email from us, you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the promotional email.
Our commercial electronic messages comply with Canada’s Anti‑Spam Legislation (CASL), including consent, sender identification and a functional unsubscribe that is honoured within 10 business days.
6. Updates to this policy
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time.
If changes materially affect how we handle personal information, we will provide additional notice where required by law.
Please look at the “LAST UPDATED” legend at the top of this page to see when this Privacy Policy was last updated.
7. How to contact us
Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd./Ltée. / Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Canada Inc. – Chief Privacy Officer
5180 South Service Road, Burlington, Ontario, Canada L7L 5H4
Telephone: 1-800-263-5103
Email: zrburchiefprivacyofficer@boehringer-ingelheim.com
If you are located in Québec, you may also contact the Commission d’accès à l’information (CAI). For federally regulated matters, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC).