SM-Compare is committed to protecting the privacy of Canadians. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial privacy legislation.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use collected information for the following purposes:
Platform operation: To provide, maintain, and improve our services, including trust score calculations, review management, and provider comparisonsCommunication: To send you account notifications, service updates, and respond to your inquiriesPersonalization: To customize your experience, including relevant provider recommendations and search resultsAnalytics: To understand usage patterns, improve our platform, and develop new featuresTrust verification: To verify provider credentials, regulatory compliance, and review authenticityLegal compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processesSecurity: To detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, and security issues
We will not use your personal information for purposes materially different from those described above without your consent.
3. Information Sharing
We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following circumstances:
With providers: When you request a quote or contact a provider, we share your name, email, and message content with that providerService providers: We use trusted third-party services for hosting, analytics, email delivery, and payment processing. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your dataRegulatory verification: We may share provider information with regulatory bodies for trust score verification purposesLegal requirements: We may disclose information when required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of SM-Compare, our users, or the publicBusiness transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transactionAggregated data: We may share aggregated, de-identified data that cannot reasonably identify you for research, analytics, or business purposes4. Canadian Privacy Rights (PIPEDA)
SM-Compare is committed to complying with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial privacy legislation.
Your rights under PIPEDA include:
Right of access: You may request access to the personal information we hold about you. We will respond to your request within 30 days.Right to correction: You may request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.Right to withdraw consent: You may withdraw your consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions.Right to file a complaint: You may file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.
Our PIPEDA principles:
Accountability: We have designated a Privacy Officer responsible for compliance.Identifying purposes: We identify the purposes for collecting personal information at or before the time of collection.Consent: We obtain meaningful consent for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information.Limiting collection: We collect only the personal information necessary for identified purposes.Limiting use, disclosure, and retention: We do not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, and we retain it only as long as necessary.Accuracy: We keep personal information as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as necessary.Safeguards: We protect personal information with appropriate security measures.Openness: We make information about our policies and practices readily available.Individual access: We provide individuals with access to their personal information upon request.Challenging compliance: You may challenge our compliance with these principles.5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. Specific retention periods:
Account data: Retained while account is active; deleted within 90 days of account closure upon requestReview content: Retained indefinitely as part of the public record unless removal is requested and approvedTransaction records: Retained for 7 years as required by Canadian tax and business regulationsAnalytics data: Aggregated and de-identified after 24 monthsCommunication records: Retained for 3 years after last interactionServer logs: Retained for 12 months for security and debugging purposes
You may request deletion of your personal information at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer. We will process your request in accordance with PIPEDA requirements and applicable legal obligations.
6. Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:
Encryption: All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS 1.3. Sensitive data at rest is encrypted using AES-256.Access controls: Access to personal information is restricted to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis.Infrastructure: Our services are hosted on secure cloud infrastructure within Canadian data centres (Ontario, Canada).Monitoring: We employ continuous security monitoring, intrusion detection, and regular security audits.Incident response: We maintain a data breach response plan and will notify affected individuals and the Privacy Commissioner as required by PIPEDA.
While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. We encourage you to use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication on your account.