Privacy Policy

We are a small local IT team. We collect only what we need to help you, we keep it safe, and we never sell it. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have.

This policy follows British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and, where it applies, Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Human Touch IT ("HTIT", "we", "us") is a family-owned IT services business in the Comox Valley, British Columbia, owned by André Onofre and Alice Souza.

Privacy contact: André Onofre · [email protected] · +1 250-792-0190

Business hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10 AM to 7 PM PT. Closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

When you contact us: (contact form, Free IT Assessment form, email, phone, text or WhatsApp): your name, email address, phone number, business name if you give one, and your message. We use this to reply, understand what you need and prepare a quote.

When you buy an ebook: your name, email address and the details of your Interac e-Transfer. We use these to confirm payment and email you the PDF.

When you book a session or service: your name, contact details, the time you booked, and the details needed to send you a payment link and a receipt. We do not store full card numbers; payment providers handle those.

When we provide IT support: information we see or need while fixing things, for example device names, user accounts and error messages. We look only at what the job needs, and we ask before accessing your screen.

Monitoring and security tools (clients with a service agreement only): if you sign up for managed IT, we may install the NinjaOne management agent and Bitdefender GravityZone security software on your devices. These tools collect device information (hardware, software, updates and security alerts) so we can keep your systems healthy and safe. Remote sessions happen only with your permission. We never install these tools without a signed agreement.

AI agents and chatbots we build for you: before we connect any AI tool to your data, we agree in writing on exactly which data it may use. Our AI agents are designed to support your team, not replace it, and they hand conversations to a real person when needed.

Newsletter: if you sign up, we use your email address to send tips and news. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and we follow Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).

Our website shows a cookie banner. If you click Accept, we use:

• GoDaddy website analytics (our website platform) to count visits and see which pages are useful.
• Google Ads (and, if enabled, Google Analytics) to understand how people find us and to measure whether our ads work, for example whether someone who clicked an ad later sent us a message, called us or started a WhatsApp chat.

These tools may use cookies and similar technologies. They tell us how the site is used, not who you are by name.

Your choices:

• Click Decline on the cookie banner, or clear cookies in your browser at any time.
• Manage Google ad personalization at myadcenter.google.com.
• Install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
• Use your browser's privacy settings to block or delete cookies.

We never sell your personal information.

We share it only with service providers that help us run the business, and only as much as they need. These include our website host (GoDaddy), email and file storage (Microsoft 365), IT management and security tools (NinjaOne and Bitdefender), messaging (WhatsApp, if you choose to contact us that way), payment processors, and Google (advertising and analytics). They must protect your information and use it only to provide their service to us.

Some of these providers store data outside Canada, for example in the United States. There, it may be subject to local laws, including lawful access by authorities.

We may also share information when the law requires it.

• Inquiries that do not become work: about 2 years, then deleted.
• Client and billing records: at least 6 years, as required for Canadian tax purposes.
• Monitoring data from NinjaOne and Bitdefender: agents are removed and device data is deleted within 30 days after the service ends, unless you ask us to keep a copy.

We use business-grade accounts with multi-factor authentication, encrypted connections, and access limited to the people who need it (André Onofre and Alice Souza). We apply the same security practices we recommend to our clients.

You can ask us to:

• see the personal information we hold about you;
• correct it if it is wrong;
• delete it when we no longer need it (unless the law requires us to keep it);
• withdraw consent, for example to unsubscribe from emails. This may limit the services we can offer.

Email [email protected]. We will reply within 30 business days, as BC law requires, and usually much sooner.

If a privacy breach creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will tell you as soon as possible. Where required, we will also report it to the Privacy Commissioner.

Please talk to us first; we would like to make it right. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (oipc.bc.ca) or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca).

If we update this policy, we will post the new version on this page with a new effective date.

Human Touch IT · Comox Valley (Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland), BC, Canada

Phone and WhatsApp: +1 250-792-0190 · Email: [email protected]

Business hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10 AM to 7 PM PT. Closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Related: Terms of Use and Service