SECTION 1: TERMS OF SERVICE AND LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Welcome to socialiststudies.ca (the “Website”), the official online platform of the Society for Socialist Studies / Société d’études socialistes (SSS). By accessing or using this Website, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please exit the Website immediately.
1. Information Purposes Only (Not Legal or Professional Advice)
All content published on this Website—including academic articles, journal updates, conference programmes, research data, socialist analysis, opinions, and multimedia—is provided strictly for educational, informational, and scholarly advocacy purposes.
No Legal or Professional Advice: Nothing on this Website constitutes formal legal advice, labour relations advice, or professional employment representation. For specific workplace grievances, legal disputes, or academic employment matters, users should consult directly with their respective faculty associations, trade unions, or qualified legal professionals.
No Reliance: While we strive to ensure the accuracy of the scholarly and organizational information provided, the Society for Socialist Studies does not guarantee the completeness, reliability, or timeliness of any content. Your reliance on any information found on this Website is strictly at your own risk.
2. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable Canadian law, the Society for Socialist Studies, its executive executive, officers, committee members, and agents shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of your access to, or inability to access, this Website. This includes, but is not limited to, financial losses, loss of data, system downtime, or errors and omissions in the content.
3. User-Generated Content and Contributor Submissions
If you post comments, submit research abstracts, or contribute multimedia content to the Website:
You grant the Society for Socialist Studies a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to display, archive, and distribute your submitted content across our digital and print communications, including association newsletters, conference archives, and promotional materials.
You represent that your content does not violate any third-party copyrights, academic integrity standards, trademarks, or privacy rights.
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to monitor, edit, or delete any user content that we deem defamatory, unlawful, offensive, discriminatory, or disruptive to academic freedom, critical inquiry, and progressive solidarity, without prior notice.
4. Third-Party Links
Our updates and resources may contain links to external websites, including those of our publishing partners (such as the Socialist Studies / Études socialistes journal), partner academic societies, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, or progressive labour and social movement organizations. The Society for Socialist Studies does not endorse, control, or assume responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites.
5. Governing Law
These Terms of Service shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario (where the Society maintains its official registration) and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any legal actions must be brought exclusively in the courts located in Toronto, Ontario.
6. Modifications
The Society for Socialist Studies reserves the right to update or change these terms at any time without prior notice to reflect changes in our organisational policies, academic affiliations, or legal requirements. Your continued use of the Website constitutes acceptance of the modified terms.
7. Security
We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, disclosure, misuse, alteration, or destruction. However, no method of transmitting or storing data over the Internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information.
SECTION 2: PRIVACY POLICY
Designed to comply with applicable privacy laws, including PIPEDA and GDPR where applicable.
Effective Date: May 23, 2026
At the Society for Socialist Studies, we respect your privacy and are deeply committed to protecting the personal data of our members, conference delegates, researchers, and allies. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information, in compliance with Canadian privacy laws (the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act – PIPEDA) and, where applicable, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
1. Information We Collect
Voluntary Information: We collect your name, email address, institutional or political affiliation, telephone number, and any details you provide only when you explicitly purchase or renew an association membership, submit abstracts or papers, register for the annual Society for Socialist Studies conference, sign up for our newsletter, or submit a contact form.
Automated Information: We automatically collect standard log data, including your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on the Website, via cookies and analytics tools to optimize website accessibility and progressive academic engagement.
2. Lawful Basis for Processing (GDPR Context)
If you are located in or accessing this site from the European Economic Area (EEA), we process your personal data under the following legal bases:
Consent: When you explicitly give us permission (e.g., ticking a box to subscribe to research updates, call-for-papers, or join our mailing lists).
Legitimate Interests: To analyze website traffic, manage academic membership records, maintain infrastructure security, prevent digital abuse, and advance our scientific and educational mission of promoting critical, socialist research and education.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use your information solely to:
Deliver newsletters, call-for-papers notices, conference invitations, and organisational updates.
Manage membership databases, conference registrations, and delegate credentials for our annual general meetings.
Improve Website functionality and user experience for researchers and activists.
Moderate community forums, open-access submission portals, and prevent spam.
The Society for Socialist Studies will never sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties, commercial entities, or corporate employers.
4. Third-Party Services and Data Transfers
We may use trusted third-party tools (such as secure membership management platforms, conference registration processors, Google Analytics, or email broadcast delivery systems). Your data may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside of your home province or country (including within Canada and the United States). We ensure all third-party partners maintain rigorous data protection standards aligned with our progressive and privacy values.
5. Your Data Protection Rights
Depending on your location and membership status, you have the following rights regarding your data:
The Right to Access: You can request copies of the personal data we hold about you.
The Right to Rectification: You can request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
The Right to Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): You can request that we delete your personal data from our mailing lists and active member directories.
The Right to Restrict or Object to Processing: You can object to our processing of your data under certain conditions.
The Right to Data Portability: You can request that we transfer your data to another organisation.
We retain personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required to meet historical record-keeping and archiving standards for our learned society.
6. Cookies
We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience and analyze site traffic. You can choose to reject cookies through your browser settings or via our website cookie banner.
7. Contact Us
To exercise any of your privacy rights, correct your member information, or raise a privacy concern, please contact the Society for Socialist Studies at admin@socialiststudies.ca.
SECTION 3: EXTERNAL LINKS & COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMERS
1. External Links Disclaimer
The Society for Socialist Studies Website (socialiststudies.ca) contains links to external websites—including independent scholarly journals, progressive research institutes, social movement organizations, alternative media outlets, and archive databases—that are not provided, maintained by, or in any way affiliated with our central organization.
Please note that the Society for Socialist Studies does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any information on these external websites. Under no circumstances shall the Society be held liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information obtained through external links.
2. Copyright and Fair Dealing Notice
This Website (socialiststudies.ca) publishes academic commentary, political advocacy, historical socialist archives, and research summaries vital to the public interest and social justice education. Content on this site may contain copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorised by the copyright owner.
We make such material available in an effort to advance the systemic, public, and academic understanding of labour rights, economic democracy, anti-capitalism, imperialism, human rights, environmental justice, and intersectional social movements impacting Canadian and global societies. We believe this constitutes a “fair dealing” of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 29 of the Copyright Act of Canada.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair dealing, you must obtain permission from the original copyright owner.
If you are a copyright owner and believe your work has been used inappropriately on this Website, please contact us immediately so we can address your concerns in accordance with academic integrity and profound respect for progressive creative and scholarly works.