This Privacy Policy explains how BuilderBuzz ("we", "us") collects, uses, discloses and protects personal information when you visit builderbuzz.ca, use our free website check, book a call, or sign in to our client dashboard at app.builderbuzz.ca (together, the "Services").
We are based in Ontario, Canada, and handle personal information in line with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Booking a strategy call: your name, email, phone number, company name, website, service area, trades you work in, estimated annual revenue, how you heard about us, your SEO history and any notes you add.
- Free website check: the website address you enter and, if you ask for the full report, your email address.
- Client dashboard accounts: your name, email, password (stored only in encrypted form by our authentication provider), profile photo if you upload one, and messages you send through the dashboard's support and chat features.
- Billing: your plan and subscription status. Card details are entered directly with our payment processor, Stripe; we never see or store your full card number.
- Emails and calls: anything you choose to tell us when you contact us.
Information collected automatically
- Technical data: when you use the free website check, we store a one-way hashed (scrambled) version of your IP address, your browser's user-agent and the page that referred you, to prevent abuse.
- Analytics: only if you accept analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website (pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser). See section 6.
- Server logs: our hosting providers keep standard logs (such as IP address and time of request) for security and reliability.
Information from connected Google accounts
If you are a client and choose to connect Google Search Console or Google Analytics to your dashboard, we receive access tokens and read-only data about your website's search performance and traffic. See section 5 for how we handle Google user data.
2. How we use your information
- To respond to your enquiries, schedule and hold calls, and prepare for them by reviewing your website and search presence.
- To run the free website check and send you the report you asked for.
- To provide our SEO services and the client dashboard, including rank tracking, reports, site audits and AI-assisted recommendations.
- To manage your account, subscription and payments.
- To send service messages such as booking confirmations, reports and account notices.
- To protect our Services against fraud and abuse, and to meet legal obligations.
- To improve our website and Services, using analytics only where you have consented.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for purposes other than those described here without your consent.
3. Email and consent (CASL)
We only send commercial electronic messages where we have your consent or another basis permitted by CASL, such as an existing business relationship or an enquiry you made. Every marketing email we send identifies BuilderBuzz, includes our mailing address and gives you an easy way to unsubscribe. You can withdraw consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link, replying "unsubscribe", or emailing contactjosh@builderbuzz.ca. Service messages you need for your account, such as booking confirmations and reports, will continue while you are a client.
4. Service providers and where your data is stored
We share personal information only with trusted providers who process it on our behalf, under contracts that require them to protect it:
- Supabase: database, authentication and server functions.
- Netlify: website hosting.
- Stripe: payment processing and billing.
- Resend: sending emails.
- Google: Google Calendar for scheduling calls, Google Analytics (with consent), and Search Console / Analytics connections you authorize.
- DataForSEO: search ranking, keyword and website audit data.
- Anthropic: generating AI-assisted SEO recommendations inside the dashboard. We send it website and search data, not your payment information.
Some of these providers store or process data outside Canada, including in the United States. While it is there, it may be accessible to courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of that country. We may also disclose information if required by law, or as part of a sale or reorganization of our business, subject to this policy.
5. Google user data
When you connect Google Search Console or Google Analytics, we request read-only access and use that data only to show you your website's search and traffic performance, generate your reports and recommendations, and provide our SEO services to you.
BuilderBuzz's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We do not sell Google user data, use it for advertising, or allow humans to read it except with your permission, for security purposes, to comply with the law, or as needed to provide our services to you. You can disconnect Google at any time from your dashboard or from your Google Account permissions page, and we will stop accessing your data.
6. Cookies and analytics
Our website uses only the cookies and local storage it needs to work, such as remembering your cookie choice. The client dashboard stores your sign-in session in your browser so you stay logged in.
With your permission, we use Google Analytics, which sets cookies to measure visits. Analytics only loads after you click "Accept" on our cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link in our website footer, or block cookies in your browser settings.
7. How long we keep information
- Booking and enquiry details: for as long as needed to follow up, and up to 2 years if we don't become a client relationship.
- Free website check results: up to 2 years, then deleted or anonymized.
- Client account and service records: for the length of our relationship plus up to 7 years for tax, accounting and legal purposes.
- Google data connected to your dashboard: until you disconnect it or close your account.
8. How we protect your information
We use encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls limited to people who need the information to do their work, hashed IP addresses for the website check, and providers with strong security practices. No system is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will notify you and the appropriate authorities of any breach as required by law.
9. Your rights and choices
You can ask to access the personal information we hold about you, correct it, or withdraw your consent to our use of it (which may affect what services we can provide). You can also ask us to delete your information where we are not required to keep it. To make a request, email contactjosh@builderbuzz.ca. We will respond within 30 days.
If you are a resident of Quebec or a U.S. state with its own privacy law, you may have additional rights, and we will honour requests made under those laws. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
10. Children
Our Services are for businesses and are not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect their personal information.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our Services change. We will post the new version here with a new "last updated" date, and notify clients of significant changes by email or in the dashboard.
12. Contact us
Our Privacy Officer can be reached at:
BuilderBuzz
Attn: Privacy Officer
12 Arsenault Lane, St. Catharines, Ontario L2P 2H3, Canada
contactjosh@builderbuzz.ca