What data we collect, how we use it, and your rights:
- Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
- Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
- Contact forms
- Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
- Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
- Analytics
We use small pieces of code in our site to help us improve our user-experience and analyze demand, and various trends. These pieces of code are generally provided by third-parties, including Google, Zoho, CJ, and others from time to time. Some (but not all) can identify individual users by IP address.
- Password reset
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where we send your data
- Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
- Your contact information is used to verify your account, and used to process some sales and transactions, and as such is necessarily shared with our financing partners.
Additional information
- How we protect your data – we use all commercially responsible data protection procedures to assure your data is safe, including using SSL, firewalls, secure caching, and secure-off-site server farms.
- Data is backed up daily in a secure, remote location. There are no local copies of your data kept on laptops or removable hard drives.
- Should a data breach occur, we will inform you immediately, freeze your account, and reset all passwords until the source of the breach can be isolated and repaired.
Caching
- This site utilizes caching in order to facilitate a faster response time and better user experience. Caching potentially stores a duplicate copy of every web page that is on display on this site.
- All cache files are temporary, and are never accessed by any third party, except as necessary to obtain technical support from the cache plugin vendor.
- Cache files expire on a schedule set by the site administrator, but may easily be purged by the admin before their natural expiration, if necessary.
What third parties we receive data from
- We receive data from our customers, who are typically financial services providers, who contract us to execute communications programs on their behalf.
- We use one 3rd party communications platform to help us fulfill this obligation. For more information, and to view their Privacy Policy, please click here.
What automated decision making and/or profiling we do with user data
- We score visitor engagement with our content, for the purpose of helping our clients offer you the best possible products at the best possible times and prices.
Industry regulatory disclosure requirements
- Our policy is to not share data provided by visitors to our sites, or web-use statistics to any agency or person unless required or compelled to do so by law or court order.
- We may contact site visitors, or those who have submitted contact information, for the purposes of program management, introducing new products or services, promotions, ascertain customer satisfaction, conduct market research, and other communications related to market offerings and activities of the company, our clients, or our affiliates.
- Due to the nature of our business, it is necessary to receive, process and transmit customer-related names and data, for the purposes of market-potential qualification. We do not divulge client lists or publish case studies with client names. We do not sell or recycle prospect information – whether the data is provided by our clients, or acquired by web or other methods.
Redress
- We comply with all terms of the PIPEDA act and Bill C28/CASL (Canada), and the CAN-SPAM act.
- If you suspect that you may be in our database, and wish to be removed, please contact us via email, or respond to one of our emails (or simply hit “unsubscribe” for immediate removal).
- If you feel that our Privacy Policy can be improved in any way – please contact our Chief Privacy Officer by email.