YOUR PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT

1. Introduction

Helmsman Management Ltd. (“Helmsman,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of all individuals who visit our website at www.helmsmangroup.ca (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, with whom we share it, and the choices you have regarding your information.

By using our Site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our Site.

2. Who We Are and How to Contact Us

Helmsman Management Ltd. is the organization responsible for your personal information collected through this Site.

Mailing Address:  400 – 602 Broughton Street, Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 1C7
Email:  info@helmsmangroup.ca
Phone:  250-999-9859

For any questions, concerns, or requests regarding your personal information, please contact us using the information above.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you use the contact form on our Site, we collect the following information:

• Your name
• Your email address
• The content of your message

 We only collect information that you voluntarily provide. We do not require you to create an account or provide any information beyond what is needed to respond to your inquiry.

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our Site, certain technical information is collected automatically through cookies and similar tracking technologies. This includes:

• IP address (anonymized where possible)
• Browser type and version
• Device type and operating system
• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• Referring website or URL
• Date and time of your visit

This information is collected through Google Analytics (via the Google Site Kit plugin) and is used to help us understand how visitors use our Site so we can improve it. See Section 6 for more details on cookies and how to control them.

3.3 Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect:

• Payment or financial information
• Government identification numbers
• Sensitive personal information (health, religion, political views, etc.)
• Information from children under the age of 13

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

To respond to your inquiries:  When you submit our contact form, we use your name, email address, and message content solely to respond to your inquiry or request.

To improve our Site:  Aggregated and anonymized analytics data helps us understand visitor behaviour, identify technical issues, and enhance the content and functionality of our Site.

To comply with legal obligations:  We may use or disclose your information as required by applicable law or regulation.

We do not use your personal information for marketing or advertising purposes, and we do not sell your personal information to any third party.

5. Legal Basis for Processing Your Information

We collect and process your personal information on the following legal grounds:

• Consent: Where you have voluntarily provided your information by submitting our contact form, or where you have consented to analytics cookies.
• Legitimate Interests: We have a legitimate interest in understanding how our Site is used in order to improve it, provided this interest is not overridden by your privacy rights.
• Legal Obligation: We may process your information where required to comply with applicable Canadian privacy legislation, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, where applicable, Quebec’s Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector (Law 25).

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

6.1 What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They help websites remember your preferences and gather information about how you use the site.

6.2 Cookies We Use

Our Site uses the following types of cookies:

Essential / Functional Cookies:  These are necessary for the basic operation of our Site (e.g., maintaining your session). These cookies do not require your consent.

Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics / GA4):  We use Google Analytics (via Google Site Kit) to collect anonymized data about how visitors use our Site. Google Analytics uses cookies to track metrics such as page views, session duration, and traffic sources. This data is aggregated and does not identify you personally.

6.3 Managing Cookies

You can control and manage cookies in several ways:

• Browser settings: Most web browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies through their settings. Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our Site.
• Google Analytics opt-out: You can prevent Google Analytics from collecting your data by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, available at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

For more information about cookies and how to manage them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

7. Third-Party Services and Data Sharing

7.1 Google Analytics (GA4)

We use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google LLC, to understand how our Site is used. Google may process your data on servers located outside of Canada, including in the United States. Google’s data processing is governed by its Privacy Policy, available at https://policies.google.com/privacy. We have configured Google Analytics to anonymize IP addresses where possible.

7.2 Email Service Provider

When you submit the contact form, your name, email address, and message are transmitted to and stored within our email system. We use standard email services to receive and manage inquiries. Your information is not used by our email provider for any purpose other than transmitting and delivering your message to us.

7.3 WordPress and Site Plugins

Our Site is built on WordPress and uses a number of plugins to support its operation, including security (Wordfence), performance (WP Rocket), backup (UpdraftPlus), and spam filtering (Akismet) tools. These plugins may process limited technical information (such as IP addresses) in the course of their normal operation. We do not share your personal contact information with these service providers beyond what is necessary for the operation of the Site.

7.4 No Sale of Personal Information

We do not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information to any third party for commercial purposes.

7.5 Legal Disclosure

We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law, regulation, court order, or other governmental authority, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Helmsman, our clients, or others.

8. Data Retention

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

• Contact form submissions (name, email, message) are retained for a reasonable period to manage ongoing correspondence and are deleted when no longer needed.
• Analytics data collected through Google Analytics is retained in accordance with Google’s data retention settings, which we have configured to a maximum of 14 months.

Once your information is no longer needed, we will securely delete or de-identify it.

9. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right of Access: You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Correction: You may request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to Deletion: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to any legal retention obligations.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.
• Right to Complain: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the applicable privacy regulator. In Canada, this is the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (www.priv.gc.ca). Residents of Quebec may also contact the Commission d’accès à l’information (www.cai.quebec.ca).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@helmsmangroup.ca or by mail at the address in Section 2. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

10. Information for International Visitors

Our Site is operated from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and is primarily intended for a Canadian audience. If you are visiting from the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), please be aware that your personal information may be transferred to and processed in Canada, which the European Commission has recognized as providing adequate data protection.

If you are an EU/EEA resident and submit our contact form, your personal information will be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You may have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the right to object to processing and the right to data portability. Please contact us to exercise these rights.

11. Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, or loss. Our Site uses HTTPS encryption for data transmitted between your browser and our server, and we use Wordfence Security to help protect against malicious activity.

While we take these precautions, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, and we encourage you to exercise caution when submitting personal information online.

12. Children’s Privacy

Our Site is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

13. Links to Other Websites

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

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable legislation. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Your continued use of our Site after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

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

Helmsman Management Ltd.

400 – 602 Broughton Street
Victoria, British Columbia  V8W 1C7
Email: info@helmsmangroup.ca
Phone: 250-999-9859