Privacy policy
Website Cookie & Privacy Policy Statement
Last Updated: December 2024
First North Consulting Inc., its affiliates, contractors, and consultants or similar entities that are managed by or associated with any of them (together referred to as “First North”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) are committed to protecting the Personal Information we collect, use and disclose during the delivery of our services, the operation of websites owned and operated by First North (including any and all pages whether available publicly or requiring a password to access them, the “Website”).
Our privacy policies and practices have been designed to comply with the privacy legislation applicable in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Our collection, use and sharing of your information is only based on your permission, or as permitted by applicable laws. This Website Cookie & Privacy Policy Statement (this “Privacy Statement”) sets forth the privacy principles, procedures and safeguards we use to protect Personal Information. This Privacy Statement should be read in conjunction with the Terms of Service for the Website.
Please note that this Privacy Statement applies only to information collected through our Website and not to information collected offline, or in relation to the delivery of services provided through First North (“Services”).
Location of Data
First North head office is located in Canada and use service providers located in Canada and the United States. This Website is hosted by Squarespace on servers located in the United States. If you subscribe to our newsletter [or provide personal information through the “Contact Us” section of this Website], your information will be processed and stored on Microsoft infrastructure located in Canada or United States.
Your Personal Information may be transferred outside of Canada and may be subject to the privacy laws applicable in those jurisdictions and/or to lawful access by U.S. or foreign courts, law enforcement or other government authorities.
Please review Squarespace’s Privacy Policy and view Microsoft’s privacy policy for more information. First North may, from time to time, change its data storage, communications, client relationship management platform and/or other providers without notice.
Your Consent and Agreement to the Terms of Use
By accessing this Website, you agree and consent to the collection, use, retention, and disclosure of your Personal Information (defined below) as set out in this Privacy Statement. If you do not want First North to collect, use, retain, or disclose your Personal Information in the way identified in this Privacy Statement, you should not use this Website.
Personal Information
This Privacy Statement covers our collection through the Website, use, and disclosure of any information about identifiable individuals or that can be used to identify individuals (“Personal Information”). Personal information is NOT: (a) information about a corporation or other non-individual legal person, or (b) a name, title, or contact information that identifies someone in their business, professional, or official capacity, even if they conduct their business from home. We collect Personal Information directly from you when you access our website, contact us via email, sign up for email alerts, or otherwise provide it to us.
Identifying Uses & Purposes
First North will only collect, use, retain or disclose Personal Information that is necessary to fulfill the purpose of the collection. First North uses and/or discloses Personal Information:
to send Electronic Communications (defined below).
when you register for newsletters, events, or webinars, for the purposes of administering such newsletters, events, or webinars, including with any third-party sponsors or co-sponsors.
to comply with any laws, regulations, court orders, subpoenas, or any other legal process or investigation (including law enforcement investigations and proceedings) and to protect ourselves from harm or to enforce our rights or defend ourselves.
to respond to an agent or other representative authorized by the individual to make inquiries on their behalf.
This Website is hosted by Squarespace. Squarespace collects personal data when you visit this Website, including:
Information about your browser, network and device
Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website
Web pages you view while on this website
Your IP address
Squarespace needs the data to run this Website, and to protect and improve its platform and services. Squarespace analyzes the data in a de-personalized form.
This Website also serves font files from and renders fonts using Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts. To properly display this Website, these third-parties may receive personal information about you, including:
Information about your browser, network, or device
Information about this Website and the page you’re viewing on it
Your IP address
Web servers may record in logs information such as your device type, operating system type, device advertising identifier, browser type, domain, and other system settings, as well as the language your system uses and the country and time zone where your device is located. The web server logs also may record the address of the web page that referred you to our Website, the IP address (and associated city and province for the IP address) of the device you use to connect to the Internet, and data about your interaction with our Website, such as which pages you visit.
De-Identified or Anonymous Data
First North and/or its third-party service providers may generate anonymous or de-identified information data from the use of the Website. First North use such information to create comparative statistical benchmarking reports across groups or sectors, to improve our operations, products and services and for the purposes of business planning or financial modelling. De-identified data or anonymous data is the property of First North and may be disclosed to third parties, in our sole discretion.
Cookies & Other Trackers
Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.
This Website, including third-party service providers who host and provide technology, use cookies and similar technologies. For information about viewing the cookies dropped on your device by our web hosting provider, visit the Cookies Sqaurespace uses.
These necessary and required cookies are always used, which allow Squarespace, our hosting platform, to securely serve this website to you.
These analytics and performance cookies are used on this website only when you acknowledge our cookie banner. This Website uses analytics and performance cookies to view site traffic, activity, and other data.
First North may receive reports based on the use of these technologies from these companies on an individual and aggregated basis.
You may be able to instruct your browser, by changing its option, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the online services you visit. You may also remove persistent cookies by following your web browser’s help file directions.
Squarespace and our other service providers may also use “pixel tags,” “web beacons,” “clear GIFs,” or similar means in connection with our site and HTML-formatted e-mail messages to, among other things, track the actions of users, to determine the success of campaigns and to compile aggregate statistics about Website usage and response rates. This information is collected anonymously, in a manner that does not personally identify you.
Analytics
This website collects personal data to power our site analytics, including:
Information about your browser, network, and device
Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website
Your IP address
This information may also include details about your use of this website, including:
Clicks
Internal links
Pages visited
Scrolling
Searches
Timestamps
We share this information with Squarespace, our website analytics provider, to learn about site traffic and activity.
Consent
First North will collect, use, retain and/or disclose your Personal Information based on your consent, which may be explicit (e.g., where you must tick a box to indicate your consent) or implicit, where the reason for the collection is obvious and voluntary (e.g., to respond to you by email or to send you communications that you have subscribed for). You may withdraw your consent to the use of your Personal Information at any time by contacting us using the contact information provided in the “Contact” section below. We won’t delete data that we’re required or permitted by law to retain.
Consent to Electronic Communications
First North makes available educational material through the Website. First North may use your email address and other contact information that you provide for the purposes of providing you with information, newsletters, invitations, offers, surveys and other communications in relation to the Services that First North offers (collectively, “Electronic Communications”).
You can unsubscribe from Electronic Communications at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of each email. Alternatively, you can opt out of receiving email marketing Electronic Communications by contacting us using the contact information provided in the “Contact” section below. Please note that you may continue to receive transactional or Service-related communications from us even if you unsubscribe from marketing communications.
Disclosure
First North will not sell, rent, trade or otherwise disclose your Personal Information to any third-parties for any purpose other than those specified in this Privacy Statement, the Terms of Service or disclosed at the time of collection, unless we obtain your consent to do so. First North may disclose Personal Information among its affiliates or with contractors, consultants, or similar entities, as necessary for the purpose of delivering Services or responding to your request for Services or information.
Your personal information may be transferred (or otherwise made available) to third-parties that provide services to First North on our behalf. Third-party services include, but are not limited to, technology services, webhosting, email distribution, client relationship management systems, and cloud storage services. Generally, our third-party service providers do not have the right to use the Personal Information beyond what is necessary for them to provide the services to us or on our behalf.
First North may disclose Personal Information for the purposes set forth under “Identifying Uses & Purposes” above, and where there is a lawful basis for doing so and it is reasonably necessary:
to enforce our Terms of Service or other terms, conditions or agreements.
to protect our operations or clients, for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims and to investigate or prevent cybercrime or fraud, or in connection with an emergency that warrants use or disclosure of the information.
in connection with a corporate reorganization, merger, or sale, and/or change of control.
Retention
First North retains Personal Information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purpose or as permitted or required by law, which may extend beyond the termination of our relationship with you. We may retain certain information as necessary for legitimate business purposes, or if permitted or required by law. All retained Personal Information will remain subject to the terms of this Privacy Statement. When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to retain your Personal Information, we will delete it, anonymize it, or securely store it until deletion is possible.
Individual Access
Subject to limited exceptions under applicable law, you have the right to access the Personal Information we hold about you in order to verify your Personal Information. You may request access to, make corrections to, or delete the Personal Information we hold about you at any time, subject to limited exception. If we are not able to comply with your request, we will provide reasons for not complying. We may request certain Personal Information from you when you make such a request in order to verify your identity. Upon written request, we will provide you with a list of entities (e.g., third-party service providers) to which we have disclosed your Personal Information, if applicable.
Accuracy
First North relies on you to ensure that the Personal Information you provide to us while using the Services is as accurate, complete and up-to-date as necessary for the purposes for which it is provided. If you require assistance correcting or updating your Personal Information, please contact us using the contact information provided in the “Contact” section below.
Security Measures
We have taken reasonable technical, administrative, physical and organizational security measures to protect Personal Information against unintentional or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized access, and any other unlawful or unauthorized forms of processing under applicable law. Even so, it is important to remember that First North cannot guarantee that our system is 100% secure. There is always a risk using electronic communications and sharing information of any kind online.
Social Media Accounts
First North operates various social media accounts. Although not collected by First North, please note that in accessing social networks, you may be sent cookies or trackers from these third-party websites. We do not control the setting of these plugins/cookies and First North has no knowledge of the content of the data transmitted to these social networks or of how they individually use such data. If you choose to like, share or otherwise interact with First North though social media, all such interactions will be subject to the terms and conditions as well as the privacy policies of such social media companies.
Third Party Websites or Services
It’s important to guard your privacy when you are online. If our Services contain links to other websites, this Privacy Statement does not govern those websites. Whether we have posted those links or other organizations or individuals have, you should read their Privacy Statements and make an informed decision about whether you want to use those websites or services.
Data Subjects in the European Union and UK
First North generally processes Personal Information with an individual’s consent, to fulfill contracts, and to pursue our legitimate business interests as described in this Privacy Statement. Data subjects located in the EU and UK have certain rights under European and UK law (including under the General Data Protection Regulation) with respect to Personal Information, including the right to request access to, obtain, correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of Personal Information. For more information or to exercise your rights related to your Personal Information, please contact us using the contact information provided in the “Contact” section below.
Notice to California Residents
California consumers have a right to knowledge, access, and deletion of their personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act. California consumers also have a right to opt out of the sale of their personal information by a business and a right not to be discriminated against for exercising their California privacy rights. First North does not sell the personal information of California consumers and does not discriminate in response to privacy rights requests.
First North and Children
First North does not knowingly or intentionally collect Personal Information from individuals who are under the age of 18. If we discover that Personal Information from individuals under the age of 18 has been collected, we will remove that information as soon as possible.
Changes to these Terms of Use
First North may change this Privacy Statement at any time without notice. The updated Privacy Statement will be effective on the date that it is posted on the Website. Your continued use of the Website after any changes are posted will constitute your acceptance of those changes and your consent and agreement with them.
Questions and Complaints
When contacting First North regarding any issue, please do not include any Personal Information (other than your contact information) in the subject line or in the content of your message. Note that email is not a secure method for transmitting information. You may send your privacy-related questions, concerns or complaints to our Chief Operating Officer which is responsible for ensuring our compliance with this Privacy Statement and privacy laws.
Attention First North Consulting Privacy Office
181 Bay St. Suite #1800
Toronto, ON M5J 2T9
First North will reply to complaints within 30 calendar days of receipt. If our Privacy Officer is unable to resolve your concern, you may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the appropriate authority in your province, state or country.