Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Zavia GIS Consulting (“Zavia GIS”, “we”, “our”) is a sole-practitioner consulting practice based in Ontario, Canada, providing preliminary desktop GIS screening and mapping services to property owners, realtors, builders, and environmental consultants across the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.

For questions about this Privacy Policy or about personal information we hold about you, contact: info@zaviagis.com.

2. What information we collect

We collect personal information only when you voluntarily provide it to us. Specifically:

• Contact form submissions: name, email address, property or project location, and the message you send us. Optional fields if you choose to complete them: phone number, project type, and timeline.
• Email correspondence: if you email us directly at info@zaviagis.com, we receive your email address and the contents of your message.
• Lead-magnet downloads: if we offer a downloadable resource that requires an email address, we collect that email address and the date of download.

We do not collect or store sensitive personal information such as social insurance numbers, government IDs, financial account numbers, health information, or biometric data.

3. Why we collect it

We collect personal information for the following purposes:

• To respond to your inquiry or request for a quote.
• To prepare and deliver any GIS screening or mapping services you engage us for.
• To send you the resource you requested (e.g., a downloadable guide).
• To maintain records of our communications and engagements for legitimate business purposes.

We do not use your personal information for marketing emails unless you have given explicit consent (e.g., by checking an opt-in box).

4. Consent

By submitting our contact form, emailing us, or otherwise providing your personal information to us, you consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of that information as described in this Privacy Policy. You may withdraw your consent at any time by emailing info@zaviagis.com, subject to legal or contractual restrictions.

5. Where your information is stored

Our website and contact form are hosted on Netlify, Inc., a service provider with infrastructure in the United States. Contact form submissions are stored on Netlify’s servers and may also be processed in the United States. By submitting our contact form, you understand and agree that your personal information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, and may be subject to U.S. laws including lawful access by U.S. government authorities.

Email sent to info@zaviagis.com is processed by our email service provider, which may also store messages outside Canada.

6. Who we share it with

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information. We share personal information only:

• With our service providers (web hosting, email, payment processing) strictly as needed to operate the business.
• If required by law or by lawful request from a government authority.
• With your express consent (for example, if you ask us to refer your project to another professional).

7. How long we keep it

We retain personal information only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, or as required by Canadian tax, contract, or legal recordkeeping rules. Typical retention periods:

• Inquiry messages with no follow-up engagement: deleted within 12 months.
• Client engagement records: retained for at least 7 years to meet Canadian tax recordkeeping requirements, then deleted.
• Lead-magnet email addresses: retained while still relevant; deleted on request.

8. Your rights (Canadian visitors)

Under Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we hold about you.
• Access that information.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate information.
• Withdraw your consent for future use (subject to legal or contractual restrictions).
• Ask us to delete your information, where reasonable.
• Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

To exercise any of these rights, email info@zaviagis.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Visitors from the EU, UK, and EEA (GDPR)

If you are visiting from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction covered by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the following additional terms apply to our processing of your personal data.

Data Controller

Zavia GIS Consulting is the data controller for personal data submitted through this Site. Contact: info@zaviagis.com. We do not currently have an appointed EU representative; if you are an EU/UK data subject and need to reach us, please use the email above and we will respond within 30 days.

Legal basis for processing

• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): for sending you the requested lead-magnet PDF, for any future marketing emails, and for non-essential cookies.
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): for responding to your inquiry and operating the Site securely. Our legitimate interest is responding to people who contact us about our services. You may object to this processing at any time by emailing us.
• Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b)): for personal data needed to deliver a service you have engaged us for.

Your rights under GDPR

In addition to the rights listed in section 8, GDPR gives you the following rights:

• Right of access — obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) — ask us to delete your personal data, subject to lawful exceptions.
• Right to restrict processing — ask us to limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability — receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object — object to processing based on our legitimate interests, or to direct marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent — where we rely on consent, withdraw it at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.
• Right to lodge a complaint — with your local supervisory authority (e.g. ICO in the UK, or the relevant EU data-protection authority).

To exercise any GDPR right, email info@zaviagis.com. We will respond within 30 days. Identity verification may be required to protect your data.

International transfers

As noted in section 5, our hosting (Netlify) is US-based. Where personal data of EU/UK residents is transferred to the United States, we rely on Netlify’s adherence to relevant data-transfer frameworks (Standard Contractual Clauses and equivalent safeguards) as required by Articles 44–49 of the GDPR. You can request more information about our transfer safeguards by emailing us.

Retention

We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Policy or as required by law. See section 7 for typical retention periods.

Automated decision-making

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

10. Cookies, analytics, and tracking

Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar storage technologies:

• Strictly necessary: the contact form and cookie-consent state use local browser storage. These are not optional.
• Google Tag Manager (GTM-PR28KRL8): we load Google Tag Manager so we can deploy analytics and measurement tags through a single managed container. GTM itself does not set tracking cookies, but the tags it loads (for example, Google Analytics 4) may set first-party cookies in your browser. We use this data only in aggregate — to understand traffic sources, page paths, and overall site performance — not to identify individual visitors.
• No advertising or remarketing cookies are set at this time. We do not use Facebook Pixel, Google Ads remarketing tags, or third-party advertising trackers.

The site also loads Google Fonts (Inter and JetBrains Mono) from Google’s content delivery network. Google may log IP addresses as part of standard CDN operation. We do not control or have access to those logs.

You can opt out of any cookies that are not strictly necessary by selecting “Necessary only” on the cookie banner shown on your first visit. You can also block Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics at the browser level using your browser’s privacy settings, an extension such as Privacy Badger or uBlock Origin, or the official Google Analytics opt-out add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

If we add additional analytics, advertising, or remarketing tools in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy and, where required by law, request your consent.

11. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against loss, unauthorized access, and improper use. Our website is served over HTTPS with HSTS enforcement. Contact form submissions are transmitted over encrypted connections. We limit access to client data to authorized personnel only. No system is perfectly secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Updates take effect when posted on this page. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent revision. For material changes, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals where possible.

13. Contact

Questions, requests, or complaints related to this Privacy Policy should be directed to: