Privacy Policy

Commitment to Privacy & Canadian Art

Vernissage.ca exists exclusively to support and promote Canadian visual art. We are committed to protecting the personal information of our users across all Canadian provinces and territories. This policy is structured to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial legislation (including Quebec's Law 25).

Information Collection & Analytics

We collect only the information necessary to operate the platform and fulfill our mission.

When you contact us, we collect:

• • Your name and email address (so we can respond to you)
• • The content of your message (to understand your inquiry)
• • Your role or organization type (optional, to route inquiries appropriately)

For site improvement, we collect (anonymously):

• • Pages visited and navigation paths (without personal identifiers)
• • Article share counts (aggregated, not individual)
• • General geographic region (city-level, derived from IP, then discarded)

We do NOT collect:

• • Session recordings or screenshots
• • Behavioral profiles or cross-site tracking
• • Device fingerprints or persistent identifiers
• • Raw IP addresses (we hash them immediately for rate limiting, then discard)

Security & Safeguards

Security is a foundational factor of our operations. We implement rigorous physical, organizational, and technological safeguards, including:

• Encryption: Industry-standard encryption for data in transit and at rest.
• Access Controls: Strict internal protocols to ensure only authorized personnel access sensitive data.
• IP Privacy: IP addresses are cryptographically hashed immediately upon receipt. The original IP is never stored. Hashes are used only to prevent spam and are not linked to your identity.
• Breach Response: In accordance with Canadian law, we maintain a protocol to notify individuals and relevant authorities in the event of a security safeguard breach that poses a real risk of significant harm.

Data Retention

We retain data only as long as needed for its intended purpose:

• Contact submissions: Retained for 2 years to manage ongoing relationships, then deleted unless you become an active partner.
• Analytics data: Aggregated statistics are retained indefinitely. No personal data is included.
• City launch notifications: Email addresses are retained until you unsubscribe or the city launches, whichever comes first.

Use, Disclosure & Retention

We use your information to deliver art discovery services, maintain platform integrity, and perform analytics.

• No Sale of Data: Vernissage.ca does not sell or rent personal information.
• Third-Party Disclosure: Data is shared only with essential service providers (hosting, analytics, payment) under strict confidentiality agreements.
• Purpose Limitation: We use your data only for the purposes for which you provided it.

Your Rights

Under PIPEDA, you have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of any personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Deletion: Request that we delete your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements).
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw your consent to data processing at any time.

Questions About Your Privacy

For any privacy-related questions, to exercise your rights, or to file a complaint, please visit the Contact page.

Policy Updates

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Material changes will be noted at the top of this page with an updated date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.