- Product Responsibility
Product Responsability
"Bell services are contributing to society, which includes having to address new challenges such as child pornography or the invasion of privacy."
Ron Nielsen, a parent and also Director of Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships - Alcan Inc.
"I have kept my old cell phones in a box and I don't dare put them in recycling. Bell could take back old phones and redistribute them."
Danielle Lussier, Chef d'équipe, groupe de coordination - développement durable, Direction de l'environnement - Ville de Montréal
RESPECT FOR PRIVACY
The Bell Code of Fair Information Practices and Customer Privacy Policy spell out the commitments of the Bell Canada companies and the rights of customers regarding the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information in compliance with Canada's private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
The Bell Privacy Policy and Code apply to the Bell companies including Bell Canada, Bell Mobility, Bell ExpressVuT, and Bell Distribution. In addition to the Bell Privacy Policy and Code, the Bell companies may also be subject to the requirements of applicable legislation, tariffs and regulations and the orders of any court or other lawful authority.
Each year, we ensure that our employees sign a Code of Business Conduct that requires the safeguarding and proper use of customer personal information. We also place strict controls on the protection and use of personal information within our systems and web sites and ensure that our employees are trained to respect customer privacy at all times. We are proactive with regard to privacy protection, reviewing our policies on the retention of information and working to improve the accuracy of the customer information we collect.
Privacy ranking
In 2005, Bell scored top marks in privacy by the following organizations:
- Toronto-based Nymity Inc. ranked Bell among the top 20 Canadian companies with the best privacy policies in the country in a new index. Bell ranked as the best overall and as having the best privacy policy among the telcos.
- The Carlson Marketing Group of Canada ranked Bell first among 10 Canadian companies as the most trusted for privacy. Participants ranked Bell high for protecting personal customer information and for honouring its privacy commitments, hallmarks of a trustworthy company.
- The Customer Respect Group, an international research and consulting firm that focuses on how corporations treat their online customers, ranked Bell first in North America and gave us an 'excellent' rating among telecommunications companies.
CONSUMER PROTECTION
We have developed the Bell Code of Conduct for Electronic Commerce to ensure that customers' interactions with us over the Internet are secure and private, and to ensure that consumers can make fully informed choices when transacting business online. This Code puts into practice the Canadian Principles for Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, which have been developed jointly by government, consumer groups and business to encourage safe shopping on the Internet.
Bell Canada is working with other businesses, consumer groups and government representatives to promote the implementation of the Canadian Consumer Protection Principles by all online firms in Canada.
INTERNET AND NETWORK SECURITY
In 2005, Bell joined other industry leaders to create the Forum for Information Security in Canada (FISIC) which will be a focal point for research initiatives into information security. Bell is providing the use of Bell University Laboratories (BUL) and a portion of BUL's $4 million annual budget to help researchers understand and address the most critical issues threatening Canada's cyber infrastructure and affecting Canadian businesses and the public.
Bell IP customers continue to receive the highest in network security from our state-of-the-art Bell Security Solution Centre. Using advanced detection systems a team of technicians and security specialists monitor our IP network and services 24/7, 365 days a year for breaches of security and work actively to prevent malicious intrusions from impacting our customers.
MANAGING CONTENT
We offer a number of options to assist our customers to block access to unsuitable web and satellite TV content in their homes.
For the Internet we provide online help, reviews of parental control software that filter inappropriate Internet content, education on using the Internet, and password management to limit access to the Internet from a member's account. Tools such as the Content Advisor and Freedom allow parents to filter the kind of content that is being accessed on their computers.
BellExpressVuT customers may customize their family viewing by restricting access to channels that they consider unsuitable for their children, using the password protected Parental Lock Feature.
CYBER SAFETY
There is broad consensus that protecting children from sexual exploitation on the Internet and bringing those who victimize children to justice requires a collaborative approach by law enforcement, industry and non-governmental organizations. The long term solution rests in industry alliances with organizations dedicated to fighting this activity and close cooperation with public authorities.
Cybertip.ca
One such collaborative effort was the launch of Cybertip.ca, a tip-line for reporting online child exploitation. Bell Canada's recent contribution of $700,000 over three years will help to secure the ongoing financial viability of the program and has been instrumental in enabling the service to expand Canada-wide. Most importantly, Cybertip.ca will allow concerned Canadians to actively engage in the fight against online sexual predators who threaten the safety of children.
Since Cybertip.ca was officially launched in January 2005, 7,013 reports have been fielded from across Canada and around the world, a 430% increase over the previous year.
Since the service started as a pilot project in 2002, 9,145 public reports have been received by Cybertip.ca resulting in 17 arrests, 972 web sites shut down and 700 ongoing investigations.
Be Web Aware
The Be Web Aware initiative is a national, bilingual, public education program promoting Internet safety. It includes public service announcements through television, radio, print and outdoor advertising that direct parents to a comprehensive Be Web Aware site. The site contains information and tools to help parents teach their children how to handle the potential risks associated with going online.
Web tools for safer surfing
Bell SympaticoT offers security features such as parental controls and pop-up blockers to help parents provide a safer Internet experience for their children.
Canadian Task Force on SPAM
Bell's Assistant General Counsel, Regulatory Law and Policy, was appointed to the Canadian Task Force on SPAM in 2004. The joint government, private sector and consumer anti-spam efforts include public awareness, industry and marketing best practices, enforcement and legislation, and international collaboration. The report of the task force was delivered to the Minister of Industry in May 2005.
Bell's efforts to combat SPAM
Bell's own anti-SPAM activities include proactive customer education and communication, industry collaboration and network-based measures as well as PC-level, wireless-level and e-mail based measures.
- In 2005, Bell SympaticoT processed an average of 45 million messages a day, of which approximately 37.5 million -or more than 80% - were filtered out per day as unwanted SPAM messages. And, up to 150,000 messages per day were blocked because they contained viruses.
- Stop Spam Here: Developed by the Canadian Task Force on SPAM, Bell supports this website offering excellent tips for fighting SPAM and staying safe on the Internet.
- Bell Sympatico's http://pcsafety.sympatico.msn.ca pages provide information to help users protect themselves, their computers and e-mail addresses from scams, viruses, SPAM and offensive content.
- We work with ISPs in North America and around the world and various international working groups to share learnings and implement anti-SPAM best practices.
- Bell Canada is a founding member of the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (www.maawg.org), a global organization that works to address messaging abuse by focusing on technology, industry collaboration and public policy initiatives.
- We are involved in the Global Infrastructure Alliance on Internet Safety program (GIAIS).
Bell Customer E-mail Policy
We're committed to protecting our subscribers' online safety. We take the necessary steps to block fraudulent messages and practices such as "phishing" in which Internet users are deceived into disclosing their credit card or banking information.
Bell's Customer E-mail Policy outlines the types of information our e-mails might contain so that customers can recognize fraudulent messages.
CELLULAR TAKE-BACK
Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative (MPPI)
The Basel Convention/United Nations Environment Programme has invited Bell Canada to join the Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative (MPPI), the first invitation of its kind extended to a Canadian wireless carrier. The MPPI is a public-private partnership to promote the environmentally sound management of used and end-of-life mobile phones. Established in 2002 MPPI's membership includes leading mobile phone manufactures and government representatives from 158 countries.
In 2005, Bell Canada, Vodafone, and France Telecom became the first three wireless carriers to become permanent members of the MPPI.
Recycle, Reuse, Redial Program
In 2003, we launched Recycle, Reuse, Redial under which customers can bring back their used cellular phones to any one of over 400 drop-off locations in the provinces of Québec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The locations also accept other items for recycling like pagers, wireline phones, PDAs, accessories and batteries.
The program reduces landfill waste by recycling old phones from any manufacturer, and reusing phones through resale and refurbishment.
60,308 used cellular phones (18.1 metric tons) were collected in 2005, which represents an increase of 19% over last year. Those units with remaining functional life were sent to a refurbishing facility where they were checked over and purged of all data. The units were then redistributed to be sold or recycled.
KEY OBJECTIVE: Increase take-back of used cellular phones by 50%, by 2007
- In the last two years 1,779 refurbished cellular phones were donated to more than 130 women's shelters in Ontario, Québec, Alberta and B.C. In addition, for the same period, 3,490 units were donated to the 2nd Stage Program, which supports women leaving the shelters to start a new life. The phones were supported with unlimited local airtime, call display and 911 access.
More info on Women's Shelter Programs
Other products
In addition to the collection of 18.1 metric tons of used cellular phones, we also collected the following products in 2005:
| Products (metric tons) | |
|---|---|
| Batteries from cellular phones | 6.9 |
| Accessories and chargers | 13.1 |
| Modems | 59.0 |
| Telephone sets (landline) | 141.0 |
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
The safety and security of our customers is a top priority. Cellular phone manufacturers test their products to ensure they meet Health Canada's Safety Code 6 radio frequency (RF) emission requirements which are among the most stringent in the world. At Bell, we ensure all our cellular sites and antennas are well below legal exposure limits.
Bell funds research on EMFs through industry associations such as the Cellular Telephone Industry Association and the Canadian Wireless Telephone Association and through independent third parties. Bell also monitors scientific findings related to cellular phone health issues and follows the guidance on EMFs of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other leading health organizations.
The January 2005 updated Stewart Report on the possible health effects of mobile phone technology, including base stations, concluded that "there is no hard evidence to suggest that mobile phone technologies put the health of the general population at risk."
The WHO advises that "RF field levels around base stations are not considered a health risk". For more information on WHO guidance and fact sheets, see WHO.
RESPONSIBLE DRIVING
Bell Mobility has long worked to inform and educate consumers about road safety and responsible driving. Some of the activities have included joint production of an educational video for driving schools across Canada, national public service announcements, and bringing researchers together for the first ever international conference on driver distraction.
In 2005, in collaboration with the wireless industry and its partners, Bell Mobility continued to help motorists use their wireless handsets safely and responsibly through initiatives including:
- Distribution of guidelines for responsible use of wireless communications.
- Promotion of the use of hands-free devices.
- Voice dialing functionality for all customers either through the handset or as a network feature.
- Information in bill inserts, on bill envelopes and on bell.ca.
Also in 2005, Bell Mobility and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), launched the Focus on Driving campaign aimed at promoting good driving habits and encouraging the responsible use of wireless devices while driving. Driving guidelines and a web-based awareness quiz were two tools launched during the campaign.
Finally, Bell Mobility continues to support a number of initiatives directly related to responsible driving, such as those of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, Smart Risk and the Ontario Community Council on Impaired Driving.
