Privacy policy

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how Homeilove.ca (“HomeiLove”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, protects and otherwise handles personal information through our website, mobile applications and related services (collectively, the “Services”). This Privacy Policy applies to consumers, property owners, real estate professionals, agents, brokers, developers, landlords, home service professionals, advertisers, business users and other individuals who use our Services.

For purposes of this Privacy Policy, “you” and “your” mean the individual whose personal information is collected or otherwise handled by us.

Our privacy practices are intended to comply with applicable Canadian privacy legislation, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) where applicable, and substantially similar provincial private-sector privacy legislation, including the privacy laws of Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec where applicable. Which privacy law applies may depend on the nature of the activity, the province or territory involved and whether information is transferred across provincial or international borders.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms of Use and any other privacy notices or consent notices presented to you when you use particular Services.

2. Information We Collect and Obtain

We obtain personal information about you from a variety of sources. This may include information you provide to us directly, information we obtain from other sources, and information we collect automatically when you use our Services.

Information you provide to us. When you register for or participate in certain Services, create an account, submit a property listing, contact another user, seek access to particular content or features, make an enquiry, purchase a service, apply for employment or otherwise correspond with us, we may collect certain types of information from you:

• ❖ Contact information, such as your name, postal address, email address and telephone and/or mobile number;
• ❖ Username, password and account information when you register through our Services;
• ❖ Payment and transaction information when needed to process a purchase, subscription, advertising service or other transaction;
• ❖ Property-related information, such as property address, listing details, photographs, descriptions, pricing, availability and related information you choose to provide;
• ❖ Reviews, comments, feedback, surveys and other information you voluntarily submit;
• ❖ Information contained in enquiries or communications you submit through our “Submit a Request”, “Contact Us” or other communication features;
• ❖ Information you provide when communicating with advertisers, agents, brokers, developers, landlords or other Professionals through our Services; and
• ❖ Other information you choose to provide to us.

If you are a Professional or business user, we may also collect business information, such as business name, professional role, business address, website, professional credentials, licence or registration information and other information relevant to providing or verifying our Services.

Information obtained from other sources. We may obtain personal information about you from publicly available sources, third-party service providers, advertising partners, social media platforms or other sources where permitted by applicable law. This may include:

• ❖ Professional or business information;
• ❖ Information relating to your interactions with advertisements, properties, products or services;
• ❖ Information from a third-party account if you choose to sign in or connect to our Services using a third-party service such as Google, subject to the permissions and privacy settings associated with that service;
• ❖ Information provided by another user where necessary to facilitate an enquiry, transaction, service or communication; and
• ❖ Publicly available information that is reasonably relevant to the purposes for which it is collected.

Information collected by automated means through our Services. We may collect certain information automatically when you visit, access or use our Services, including through cookies, web beacons, pixels, tags, JavaScript, server logs and similar technologies:

• ❖ Your Internet Protocol (IP) address;
• ❖ Device information, including device type, unique identifiers, browser type, operating system, software, language and connection information;
• ❖ Information about your Internet service provider or mobile carrier;
• ❖ Websites or services you visited before or after visiting our Services, where available;
• ❖ Web pages, properties, advertisements and other content you view and links you click on within our Services;
• ❖ Search queries and other interactions with our Services;
• ❖ Viewing behaviour, including content viewed, duration of visits, advertisements displayed and interactions with advertisements;
• ❖ Dates and times you access or use the Services;
• ❖ General location information that may be derived from your IP address; and
• ❖ Precise location information from GPS or similar functionality only where permitted by applicable law and, where required, with your consent.

3. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small files that we or third parties may send to and store on your computer, mobile device, browser or application so that your device or browser can be recognized when you return to our Services.

We may use cookies and similar technologies for purposes such as remembering preferences, maintaining account sessions, understanding how our Services are used, improving functionality, measuring advertising effectiveness, protecting our Services, detecting fraud and providing relevant content or advertising.

Some cookies are necessary for the operation and security of our Services, while others may be used for analytics, personalization or advertising purposes. Where applicable law requires consent before placing or using certain cookies or similar technologies, we will seek that consent in accordance with applicable law.

You may be able to control cookies through your browser or device settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the availability or functionality of some features of our Services.

We, our service providers and certain third parties may also use web beacons, pixels, tags and similar technologies for statistical, analytical, security and advertising purposes. These technologies may collect information about your browser, device, IP address, interactions with our Services and advertisements, subject to applicable law.

4. How We Use the Information We Obtain

We, or service providers acting on our behalf, may use personal information collected from and about you for purposes that are reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances and as otherwise permitted or required by applicable law, including to:

• ❖ Provide, operate, maintain and improve our products and Services;
• ❖ Create and manage online accounts;
• ❖ Process purchases, payments, subscriptions, advertising services and other transactions;
• ❖ Publish and manage property listings and other information submitted by users and Professionals;
• ❖ Facilitate property enquiries and communications between users and third-party property advertisers or service providers;
• ❖ Respond to enquiries, requests, complaints and customer service communications;
• ❖ Send service-related communications, account notices, security notifications and other non-promotional communications;
• ❖ Send promotional or commercial communications where permitted by applicable law and, where required, with your consent;
• ❖ Conduct surveys, promotions, contests, research and similar activities where applicable;
• ❖ Provide technical support;
• ❖ Analyze and improve the performance, functionality, security and user experience of our Services;
• ❖ Understand user interests and preferences and provide relevant content or advertising where permitted by applicable law;
• ❖ Produce aggregated, statistical or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual;
• ❖ Detect, investigate and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents and other unlawful activity;
• ❖ Protect the rights, property, safety and security of HomeiLove, our users and other persons;
• ❖ Comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes and lawful requests from authorities;
• ❖ Establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
• ❖ Manage business operations, accounting, auditing, corporate transactions and other legitimate business activities; and
• ❖ Use personal information for other purposes where we provide notice and obtain consent where required by applicable law.

Interest-Based Advertising

We and certain third-party service providers may use information collected through cookies, pixels, device information and other technologies to understand how users interact with our Services and advertisements and, where permitted by applicable law, to provide advertising that may be relevant to users' interests.

Third-party advertising providers may collect information about your activities on our Services and, where permitted by law, on other websites or applications. These providers may use that information to measure advertising performance, provide contextual or interest-based advertising and improve their services.

Where consent is required under applicable Canadian law for particular advertising technologies or processing activities, we will obtain consent as required. You may also have choices regarding certain advertising technologies through your browser, device or available privacy controls.

5. Information We Share

We may disclose or make personal information available to the following categories of recipients, subject to applicable law and the purposes described in this Privacy Policy:

• ❖ Service Providers. Third parties who provide services on our behalf, such as hosting, cloud storage, payment processing, analytics, communications, customer support, security, fraud prevention and technical services.
• ❖ Property Advertisers and Professionals. Real estate professionals, agents, brokers, developers, landlords, property owners, home service providers and other Professionals where necessary to respond to your enquiry, facilitate a service or provide a feature requested by you.
• ❖ Business Partners. Selected third parties with whom we work to provide particular products, services, promotions or features, where permitted by applicable law.
• ❖ Legal and Regulatory Authorities. Law enforcement agencies, regulators, courts, government authorities or other persons where disclosure is required or permitted by law or is reasonably necessary to comply with a lawful request or legal process.
• ❖ Protection of Our Services and Users. Persons or organizations where disclosure is reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, security incidents, unlawful activity, threats to safety or violations of our Terms of Use.
• ❖ Business Transfers. Parties involved in an actual or proposed merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, sale or transfer of all or part of our business or assets, subject to applicable law.
• ❖ With Your Consent. Third parties where you have directed us to disclose information or provided consent where consent is required.
• ❖ Aggregated or De-identified Information. We may disclose aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual, subject to applicable law.

When we disclose personal information to service providers acting on our behalf, we take reasonable steps appropriate to the circumstances to require the information to be handled in accordance with applicable privacy requirements and for authorized purposes.

6. Your Choices and Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and which privacy law applies, you may have certain rights and choices concerning your personal information.

YOUR CHOICES

You may choose not to provide certain personal information. However, some information may be necessary to create an account, publish a property listing, respond to an enquiry, process a transaction or provide particular features of our Services.

You may unsubscribe from promotional email communications by following the “Unsubscribe” link in the applicable communication or by contacting us at hello@homeilove.ca.

Where we send commercial electronic messages that are subject to Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (“CASL”), we will comply with applicable consent, identification and unsubscribe requirements. Withdrawal of consent to receive promotional communications will not prevent us from sending non-promotional communications that we are legally entitled or required to send.

You may also have choices regarding cookies and similar technologies through your browser or device settings, subject to the functionality of our Services and applicable law.

We may use third-party analytics services on our Services, such as Google Analytics. These services may use cookies, pixels and similar technologies to help us analyze how users interact with our Services.

• ❖ Google Analytics: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

ACCESSING, CORRECTING AND UPDATING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Depending on the applicable privacy law, you may have the right to request access to personal information we hold about you and to request correction of information that is inaccurate or incomplete.

If you have an account, you may be able to review or update certain information through the “My Profile” or “Edit Your Profile” area of our Services.

If you would like to request access to personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate information, ask questions about our handling of your personal information, or exercise another privacy right available to you, please contact us at hello@homeilove.ca.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a privacy request. We will respond to valid requests within the time required by applicable law and may be permitted to refuse or limit a request in certain circumstances. Where we do so, we will provide an explanation to the extent required by law.

Where appropriate and permitted by law, we may charge a reasonable fee for certain requests. We will advise you before applying such a fee where required.

PRIVACY COMPLAINTS

If you have a concern or complaint about our handling of your personal information, please contact us first at hello@homeilove.ca so that we can review and attempt to resolve your concern.

Depending on the applicable law and your location, you may also have the right to bring a complaint to the relevant Canadian privacy regulator, including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the applicable provincial privacy commissioner.

CAREERS

If you submit an application for employment through our Services, we will use the information you provide to process and evaluate your application and to administer our recruitment activities. We may obtain additional information from references or other sources where permitted by applicable law. We may share employment-related information with service providers assisting us with recruitment, human resources, technology or related functions.

7. How We Protect Personal Information

We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information under our control against loss, theft, unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or destruction, taking into account the sensitivity of the information and the purposes for which it is used.

Examples of safeguards may include access controls, authentication procedures, technical security measures, organizational policies and security monitoring. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

If we determine that a breach of security safeguards has occurred involving personal information, we will assess the incident and take steps required by applicable law, which may include notifying affected individuals, regulators or other parties where required.

8. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, to provide our Services, to maintain business and transaction records, to comply with legal, accounting or regulatory requirements, to resolve disputes and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

When personal information is no longer required for these purposes, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete, destroy or de-identify it, subject to technical, legal or regulatory requirements that require us to retain it for a longer period.

9. Transfers of Information

Our Services may be hosted, operated or supported using service providers located in Canada or other countries, including the United States and other jurisdictions.

As a result, personal information collected through our Services may be processed, stored or accessed outside the province or territory in which you reside and outside Canada. Information transferred to another country may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction and may be accessible to courts, law enforcement agencies, regulators or national security authorities in accordance with applicable law.

Where personal information is transferred to service providers outside Canada, we take reasonable steps appropriate to the circumstances to ensure that the information receives an appropriate level of protection and is handled in accordance with our obligations under applicable Canadian privacy law.

By using our Services, you acknowledge that information may be transferred, stored or processed outside your province or territory, subject to applicable law and the protections described in this Privacy Policy.

10. Links to Third-Party Sites, Apps and Services

For your convenience and information, our Services may provide links to third-party websites, applications, products or services that are not operated or controlled by HomeiLove.

These third parties may have their own privacy policies and practices. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing personal information or using their services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, content or handling of personal information by third-party websites, applications or services that we do not control.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Services are not directed toward children who are not legally able to provide consent to the collection, use or disclosure of their personal information under applicable law. We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information from children for purposes that are not permitted by applicable law.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us in circumstances where such collection was not appropriate, please contact us at hello@homeilove.ca so that we can review the matter.

12. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

From time to time, we may change this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our Services, business practices, technology or applicable privacy laws.

Any updated Privacy Policy will be posted on this Site with the revised effective date where appropriate. If a change is material and applicable law requires notice or consent, we will provide such notice or obtain consent as required.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle personal information.

13. How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, our privacy practices, the way we or our service providers handle your personal information, or if you would like to exercise a privacy right, please contact us at hello@homeilove.ca.

If you wish to make a privacy complaint, please provide sufficient information for us to identify the issue and, where applicable, verify your identity. We will review your concern and respond in accordance with applicable law.

If your concern is not resolved, you may have the right to contact the privacy regulator with jurisdiction over your matter, including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the applicable provincial privacy commissioner.

14. Important Information About This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes our general privacy practices and is not intended to limit any rights you may have under applicable Canadian privacy legislation. Where a provision of this Privacy Policy conflicts with a mandatory requirement of applicable law, the mandatory legal requirement will prevail.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to prevent you from exercising a privacy right or making a complaint to a privacy regulator where such right or complaint is available under applicable law.