Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

SR&ED Directory ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website sred-directory.ca and use our services.

By using our Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the site.

2. Information We Collect

Personal Information

We may collect personally identifiable information, including but not limited to:

• Name and contact information (email address, phone number)
• Business information (company name, address, website)
• Account credentials (email address)
• Payment information (processed securely through Stripe)
• Professional information (services offered, industries served)

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information:

• IP address and browser type
• Device information and operating system
• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website addresses
• Click patterns and search queries

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and maintain our directory service
• Process your account registration and manage your profile
• Process payments and send billing information
• Send administrative information (service updates, security alerts)
• Respond to your inquiries and provide customer support
• Improve our website and services
• Monitor usage patterns and analyze trends
• Protect against fraudulent or unauthorized activity
• Comply with legal obligations

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We may share your information in the following situations:

Public Profile Information

If you are a listed consultant, your business information (firm name, location, services, industries, contact details) will be publicly displayed in our directory. This is the core purpose of our service.

Third-Party Review Data (Google Business Profiles)

Our Service may display reviews and ratings from Google Business Profiles on firm listing pages. This information includes:

• Reviewer names and profile photos (as publicly shared on Google)
• Review text and star ratings (as provided by Google)
• Reviewer profile URLs (links to their Google profiles)

This information is sourced from Google using Google's official APIs and is considered publicly available information. By displaying these reviews, we are republishing content that reviewers have already made public on Google. We do not modify, verify, or endorse this content.

If you are a consultant and are concerned about your Google Business Profile reviews being displayed on our site, you may request that we opt-out of displaying your Google reviews. Please reach out through our contact form.

If you are a reviewer and are concerned about your review being displayed on our site, you may request removal through our contact form, or you may remove the review directly from your Google profile, in which case it will be removed from our display on the next sync cycle.

Service Providers

We may share information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf:

• Payment processing (Stripe)
• Email delivery (Postmark)
• Hosting and infrastructure (Vercel, Supabase)
• Analytics services

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., court order, government agency).

Business Transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

5. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
• Email-based passwordless authentication
• Regular security assessments
• Access controls and authentication
• Secure data storage with reputable providers

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and store certain information. Cookies are small data files placed on your device.

Types of cookies we use:

• Essential cookies: Required for the website to function properly
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our website
• Preference cookies: Remember your settings and preferences

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some features of our Service may not function properly without cookies.

7. Your Rights and Choices

You have certain rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal requirements)
• Opt-out: Unsubscribe from marketing communications
• Data portability: Request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format

To exercise these rights, please reach out through our contact form.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

• Active account data: Retained while your account is active
• Closed account data: Deleted within 90 days of account closure
• Payment records: Retained for 7 years for tax and legal purposes
• Analytics data: Aggregated and anonymized after 26 months

9. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for use by children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

10. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than Canada. These countries may have different data protection laws. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

11. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites (e.g., consultant websites). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Please reach out through our contact form.

14. Canadian Privacy Laws

This Privacy Policy is designed to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial privacy legislation. If you are a resident of Quebec, you may have additional rights under Quebec's Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector.