Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are and Who Is Responsible

The organization. WealthScale is published by WealthScale Media Inc. (“WealthScale”, “we”, “us”), 55 Queen St E, Suite 1205, Toronto, ON M5C 1R6. This policy covers personal information we collect through the WealthScale website, through emails you send us and through emails we send you.

Our privacy officer. Sharad Gondaliya is responsible for the protection of personal information at WealthScale Media Inc. He makes sure we follow this policy and the privacy laws that apply to us, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, for Quebec residents, Quebec’s private-sector privacy law as amended by Law 25. Reach him at privacy@wealthscale.ca, or by mail at the address above, marked “Attention: Privacy Officer”.

What we are not. We publish general information only. We are not a bank, investment dealer, adviser or accounting firm, and we never see any account you hold with a provider, so we never need your financial details.

2. Personal Information We Collect

Messages you send us. When you email us, we receive your email address, your name if you give it, your message and any attachments.

Newsletter and rate alerts, when sign-up opens. Sign-up is not open yet. When it opens, we will collect your email address, the lists you choose and a record of your consent: the date, the form used and the wording you agreed to. We will also record whether our emails are delivered, opened or clicked.

Analytics, only after consent. If you accept analytics cookies, our analytics tool records pages viewed, time on each page, the page that referred you, your type of device and browser, and an approximate location such as your city or country.

Server logs. Our hosting servers automatically record each request: your IP address, the date and time, the page requested, your browser and device type, the referring page and any error. We use these logs to keep the site running and secure, not to profile you.

What we do not collect. We do not ask for your social insurance number, account numbers, passwords, tax documents or details of your income, savings or investments. Please never send them. If you do, we will delete them.

Children. WealthScale is written for adults, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please tell our privacy officer and we will delete it.

3. Calculators: Your Inputs Stay in Your Browser

How they work. Every WealthScale calculator, on our calculator pages, account guides, comparison pages and benefit pages, runs inside your own web browser. The numbers you enter, such as your income, contributions, balances or age, are processed on your device. They are not sent to us, and we do not store them.

What your browser may remember. To save typing, your browser may remember your birth year, your province or territory and your income on your own device, so the next calculator can fill them in. We cannot see or retrieve them.

How to remove them. Clearing your browser’s site data for WealthScale removes these details, and private or incognito windows normally delete them when closed. On a shared computer, please clear the site data when you finish.

Analytics. If you have accepted analytics cookies, our analytics may record that a calculator was used, by its name. It never records the values you entered or the result shown.

4. Cookies and Analytics, Only With Your Consent

Essential cookies. Cookies are small files a website places on your device; similar browser storage works the same way. We use a few that the site needs, for example to remember your cookie choice and keep the site secure. They do not track you across other sites.

Analytics cookies, off until you opt in. Analytics cookies are set only if you accept them in our cookie banner. If you decline, or make no choice, the site works the same way. You can change your choice at any time in the site’s cookie settings, or by clearing cookies in your browser.

No advertising cookies. We do not use advertising or retargeting cookies, and we do not let advertising networks track you on WealthScale.

Partner links in future. WealthScale has no partner (affiliate) links today. When they go live, each will carry a visible “Partner link” label, as our advertiser disclosure explains. If you click one, the provider or its partner network may set its own cookies under its own privacy policy. We will not ask providers for your name, contact details or account information.

5. Why We Use Personal Information

We use personal information only for these purposes, for a new purpose you consent to, or as the law requires or permits:

No automated decisions and no selling. We make no decision about you based only on automated processing. We do not profile you for advertising, and we do not sell, rent or trade personal information.

6. Consent and How to Withdraw It

How we get consent. We ask for your express consent before adding you to a mailing list or setting analytics cookies. When you email us, sending the message is your consent for us to use your details to reply.

Withdrawing consent. You can withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal limits:

• Emails: use the unsubscribe link in any email, or write to privacy@wealthscale.ca.
• Analytics: change your choice in the cookie settings, or clear your cookies.
• Calculator details: clear your browser’s site data for WealthScale.
• Anything else: email our privacy officer at privacy@wealthscale.ca.

What withdrawal means. It stops future use for that purpose but does not undo past use. If you withdraw consent to emails, we can no longer send you the newsletter or rate alerts.

7. Emails and Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation

Consent first. We send newsletters, rate alerts and other commercial electronic messages only to people who have given express consent, as Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requires. We do not buy or rent email lists, and we do not share our list with anyone for their own marketing.

What every email includes. Each commercial email names WealthScale Media Inc. as the sender, gives our mailing address and a way to contact us, and includes an unsubscribe link that works without logging in.

Unsubscribing. We act on an unsubscribe request without delay, and within the time CASL allows. Afterwards we keep your address only on a suppression list, so you are not added again by mistake.

Replies are not marketing. A reply to your message, or a confirmation that you have subscribed or unsubscribed, is not a marketing email.

8. Quebec Residents: Your Rights Under Law 25

Person in charge. Sharad Gondaliya, our privacy officer, is the person in charge of the protection of personal information for WealthScale Media Inc. Reach him at privacy@wealthscale.ca, or by mail at 55 Queen St E, Suite 1205, Toronto, ON M5C 1R6.

Your rights. If you live in Quebec, you have the right to:

• Be told why we collect your personal information, how we use it and who in our organization can see it.
• See the personal information we hold about you, and have it corrected if it is wrong, incomplete or unclear.
• Withdraw your consent to its use or disclosure.
• Ask us to stop disseminating your personal information, or to de-index a link attached to your name that gives access to it, where the conditions set by law are met.
• Receive computerized personal information you gave us in a structured, commonly used technological format, or have it sent to a person or organization you name.
• Be told if a decision about you is made only by automated processing. We make no such decisions.

Privacy by default. Any feature that could identify, locate or profile you, such as analytics cookies, is off by default and turns on only if you choose to activate it.

Information sent outside Quebec. Before personal information of a Quebec resident is communicated outside Quebec, we assess whether it will be adequately protected, considering its sensitivity, the purpose of its use, the protection measures in place and the legal framework where it will be held.

If you are not satisfied. You may also contact the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec.

9. Service Providers, Disclosure and Transfers Outside Canada

Service providers. We use outside companies for website hosting and security, email, newsletter delivery once it opens, and analytics with your consent. They receive only the information they need. Our agreements require them to protect it, use it only on our instructions and delete or return it when the service ends.

Transfers outside Canada. Some service providers may be located, or may store or process information, outside Canada, including in the United States. There, it is subject to local laws, and courts, law enforcement or national security authorities may be able to access it. We remain responsible for information we send to a service provider, wherever it is processed.

Other disclosures. We disclose personal information to no one else, except at your request; when the law requires or permits it, such as under a court order or to prevent fraud; or to a buyer of all or part of our business, which must protect it as this policy describes.

Links. WealthScale pages link to other WealthScale pages. The only links that leave the site are credential verification links on our two reviewer profiles and, once live, labelled partner links. Another site’s own privacy policy applies there.

10. How Long We Keep Information

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for its purpose or the law requires, then delete it or make it anonymous.

11. How We Protect Information

Safeguards. Because we never collect financial account details, we hold only contact details, messages, consent records and technical data. We protect them with:

• Encrypted connections (HTTPS) for everything sent to and from the site.
• Access only for people who need it, with strong passwords and two-step sign-in on accounts that can change the site or read messages.
• Written agreements that bind service providers to protect what they handle for us.
• Up-to-date software and regular reviews of who has access.

No system is perfect. No method of sending or storing information is completely secure, so please do not send us sensitive information by email.

Confidentiality incidents. We record every incident involving personal information. If one creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and report it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. For Quebec residents, we will notify you and the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec if an incident presents a risk of serious injury.

12. Access, Correction and Other Requests

How to ask. To see, correct or delete your personal information, or use any other right in this policy, please email privacy@wealthscale.ca or write to our privacy officer at our mailing address. Tell us what you are asking for and the email address you used with us.

Confirming who you are. We may ask you to confirm that you control that email address before we release or change anything.

Our answer. We respond in writing within the time limits set by the privacy law that applies to you, at no charge. If we cannot give you some information, for example because it would reveal someone else’s, we will tell you why and how to challenge our answer. If you show that information is wrong or incomplete, we will correct it.

13. Questions and Complaints

Start with us. If you have a concern about how we handle personal information, please contact our privacy officer at privacy@wealthscale.ca. We will acknowledge your complaint, look into it and tell you what we found and did.

Your right to go further. If you are not satisfied, you have the right to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Quebec residents may also contact the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec.

Other questions. For anything that is not about privacy, such as a correction to a page, please use our contact page.

14. Changes to This Policy

Updates. We may update this policy when our practices, service providers or the law change. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.

Material changes. We will post a notice on WealthScale before a material change takes effect, and tell subscribers by email when it affects their information. We will ask for your consent before using personal information for a new purpose, unless the law allows otherwise.

Related terms. Your use of WealthScale is also covered by our terms of use and disclaimer.