Privacy Policy for Lakeside Home Inspections

Lakeside Home Inspections ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit our website (https://www.lakesidehomeinspections.ca) or use our services.

This policy applies to all visitors, users, and others who access or use our website and services.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:

• Submit an inquiry or request a home inspection through our contact or booking forms
• Sign up for our newsletter or communications
• Contact us by email, phone, or through our website

This may include your name, email address, phone number, property address, and any other details you choose to provide.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

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

• Device and browser information (browser type, operating system, device type)
• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URLs
• Interaction data (clicks, scrolls, form submissions)

1.3 Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and hold certain information. We use the following tools:

• Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager – We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website. We have implemented Google Consent Mode V2. When you do not provide consent for analytics cookies, we only collect limited, aggregated, and anonymized data.
• Google Data Sharing Settings – If we have enabled certain data sharing settings in Google Analytics (also known as the "Data Sharing Setting"), Google and Lakeside Home Inspections act as independent controllers for the personal data shared under those settings. In such cases, Google may use the data to improve its own products and services. We remain responsible for obtaining appropriate consent and providing transparency to users. For more information on how Google processes data in this context, please see Google’s documentation on the Measurement Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms and Google’s privacy information for sites and apps.
• Granular Location and Device Data – We have enabled granular location and device data collection in Google Analytics. This allows collection of city-level location metadata and granular device details to support regional analytics and privacy-compliant measurement.
• Google Signals and Ads Personalization – We have enabled Google Signals in our Google Analytics property, limited to users located in Canada. This feature associates session data with Google account information from signed-in users and enables enhanced demographics, interests data, and audience features. We have implemented appropriate consent mechanisms and disclosures for this feature in accordance with applicable policies.
• User-Provided Data Collection – We have enabled User-provided data collection (including User-ID) to improve measurement accuracy and enable enhanced capabilities with our Google Ads integrations. For this feature:
  • Only first-party data voluntarily provided by users is collected.
  • Any personally identifiable information (such as email addresses or phone numbers) is hashed (using SHA256) before being sent to Google.
  • We obtain separate, explicit consent from users for the collection and use of this data, as required by Google’s User-provided data collection policy. This consent is independent of our general analytics consent settings.
  • Use of this data complies with Google’s Measurement Protocol, SDK, and User ID policies, as well as the Google Analytics Advertising Features Policy where applicable.
• Microsoft Clarity – We partner with Microsoft Clarity to capture how visitors use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session recordings. This data helps us understand user behavior, improve website usability, optimize our services, and enhance the overall user experience. We use first-party and third-party cookies along with other tracking technologies for these purposes. IP addresses are masked before processing, and we do not collect personally identifiable information (such as names or email addresses) through Clarity. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses data, please see the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To provide, operate, and maintain our home inspection services
• To respond to your inquiries and booking requests
• To improve our website, services, and user experience
• To analyze website traffic and user behavior (using Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity)
• To send you important information about your inspection or our services
• To comply with legal obligations

3. Legal Basis for Processing (PIPEDA)

As a Canadian business, we process personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). We collect, use, and disclose personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, and we obtain meaningful consent where required.

4. Sharing and Disclosure of Information

4.1 Service Providers (Data Processors)

We share information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website and providing our services. These include:

• Google (Analytics & Tag Manager) – Acts as our data processor for website analytics. We do not send personally identifiable information to Google Analytics.
• Microsoft (Clarity) – Processes behavioral data for website improvement purposes.
• Webflow – Our website hosting and infrastructure provider.

4.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.

4.3 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

5. Data Retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.

6. Your Rights Under PIPEDA

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access – You can request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction – You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Withdrawal of Consent – You can withdraw your consent to our collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information at any time (subject to legal or contractual restrictions).
• Complaint – You can file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information below.

7. Cookies and Your Choices

You can control cookies through your browser settings. You can also manage your consent preferences through our cookie banner. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

Because we use Google Consent Mode V2, even when you do not consent to analytics cookies, limited aggregated data may still be collected in a privacy-preserving way.

8. Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your personal information. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your data but cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children's Privacy

Our website and services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.

10. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of your personal information, please contact us:

Lakeside Home Inspections
Email: lakesidehi@rogers.com
Phone: +1 (905) 409-0498

For privacy-related inquiries, you may also contact our Privacy Officer at the email address above.