Privacy Policy

About Us

Build The Firm Co. is a Canadian business education company serving accounting and bookkeeping firm owners. Our products and services include self-paced online courses, a course bundle, and done-for-you consulting services including speaking engagements. Our website is located at buildthefirmco.com and our course platform is located at courses.buildthefirmco.com.

For the purposes of applicable Canadian privacy legislation, Build The Firm Co. is the organization responsible for the personal information we collect, use, and disclose.

Applicable Privacy Legislation

We collect and handle personal information in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy law, including:

• Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which governs the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by private-sector organizations in Alberta;
• The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which applies to federally regulated commercial activities and to interprovincial transfers of personal information; and
• Any other applicable provincial, territorial, or federal privacy legislation.

We are committed to upholding the core privacy principles of accountability, transparency, consent, limited collection, limited use and disclosure, accuracy, safeguards, openness, individual access, and compliance with applicable law.

Personal Information We Collect

We collect personal information only to the extent necessary to provide our services and communicate with you.

Information You Provide Directly

• Name, email address, and billing address provided at checkout or through website forms;
• Payment information submitted at checkout, which is processed by our third-party payment processor (we do not store your full payment card details on our systems);
• Business name, province or territory, and professional context provided in inquiry, intake, or application forms;
• Information submitted through our speaking inquiry or consulting inquiry forms, including event details and organizational context;
• Communications you send us by email or through our website contact forms;
• Your name and email address when subscribing to our newsletter or joining a course waitlist.

Information Collected Automatically

• IP address, browser type, device type, and operating system;
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked, and referring URLs;
• Geographic location data at the country or province level;
• Interaction and engagement data collected through cookies and analytics tools.

Information from Third-Party Platforms

We use third-party platforms to host our website, deliver our courses, and manage our communications. These platforms may collect personal information on our behalf in accordance with their own privacy policies. We take reasonable steps to ensure that our third-party service providers handle personal information appropriately and only for the purposes we specify.

How We Use Your Personal Information

We use personal information for the following purposes:

• To process your course enrollment or consulting engagement and to provide access to the services you have purchased;
• To communicate with you about your enrollment, purchase, or inquiry, including confirmation emails, onboarding materials, and course access information;
• To send you course-related notifications, updates, and operational messages necessary for delivering the services;
• To send marketing and educational communications, including our newsletter, where you have opted in or where we have a legitimate interest in contacting you as a current or former client. You may unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time;
• To calculate and apply the correct Canadian sales taxes (GST, HST, PST, or QST) at checkout based on your billing address, in accordance with applicable federal and provincial tax legislation;
• To respond to inquiries submitted through our website, including speaking and consulting requests;
• To manage our waitlists for upcoming courses or services;
• To improve our website, course content, and services through analytics, feedback, and usage data;
• To detect and prevent fraud, unauthorized access, and violations of our Terms and Conditions;
• To meet our legal, regulatory, tax, and accounting obligations.

We do not use your personal information for purposes beyond those described above without first obtaining your consent, unless otherwise required or permitted by applicable law.

Consent

We collect personal information with your knowledge and consent. Consent may be expressed (for example, completing a purchase or submitting an inquiry form) or implied by the context of your interaction with us.

By completing a purchase, submitting a form, or subscribing to our newsletter, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Policy.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to support functionality, analytics, and marketing. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit our website.

Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential cookies: Required for the website to function correctly, including session management, cart functionality, and checkout.
• Analytics cookies: Used to understand how visitors interact with our website, including pages visited, time on site, and traffic sources. We use tools such as Google Analytics for this purpose.
• Marketing cookies: Used to measure the effectiveness of our promotional activity, where applicable.

You may disable or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Disabling essential cookies may affect the functionality of our website. Our third-party course platform may also set its own cookies when you access course content, in accordance with its own cookie policy.

Third-Party Service Providers

We share personal information with trusted third-party service providers only as necessary to operate our business and deliver our services. These providers are required to handle your personal information securely and solely for the purposes we specify. Our current service providers include platforms for:

• Website hosting and marketing pages (Squarespace);
• Course delivery and student management (Kajabi);
• Payment processing;
• Email marketing and communication automation;
• Website analytics and performance monitoring;
• Workflow automation and integrations (e.g., Zapier).

Disclosure of Personal Information

We may disclose personal information in the following limited circumstances:

• To our third-party service providers, as described in Section 7, for the purpose of delivering our services;
• Where required or authorized by law, regulation, court order, or government authority;
• To protect the rights, property, or safety of Build The Firm Co., our clients, or the public, where required or permitted by applicable law;
• In connection with the sale, merger, or transfer of all or part of our business, provided any successor agrees to protect personal information in a manner consistent with this Policy;
• With your express consent, for any other purpose not described in this Policy.

We do not disclose personal information for purposes other than those listed above without first obtaining consent, unless otherwise permitted by law.

Data Retention

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

• Course enrollment records and purchase history are retained for the duration of your course access and for a minimum of seven (7) years following your purchase, to support our tax, accounting, and legal obligations;
• Consulting engagement records are retained for a minimum of seven (7) years from the date the engagement is completed;
• Email marketing and newsletter subscription data is retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion;
• Inquiry and waitlist form submissions are retained for a period of two (2) years from the date of submission, or until the matter is resolved;
• Website analytics data is retained in accordance with the policies of our analytics service providers.

When personal information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is securely destroyed, deleted, or de-identified.

Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you;
• Request correction of any personal information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date;
• Withdraw your consent for certain uses of your personal information, subject to legal and contractual limitations;
• Unsubscribe from our marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link included in any marketing communication;
• Request deletion of your personal information, subject to our legal retention obligations;
• Ask questions about our privacy practices and how your information is being used.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided in Section 14. We will respond to requests within a reasonable period of time and in accordance with our obligations under applicable law.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may file a complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (oipc.ab.ca) or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca).

Safeguards

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, loss, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encrypted connections (HTTPS) for our website and course platforms;
• Access controls that limit who within our organization can access personal information;
• Use of reputable third-party platforms that maintain their own security controls and certifications.

No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable precautions, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information. If you have reason to believe that your personal information has been accessed or disclosed without authorization, please contact us immediately.

Cross-Border Transfers

Some of our third-party service providers are located outside of Canada, including in the United States. As a result, your personal information may be transferred to and processed in jurisdictions with privacy laws that differ from those in Alberta or Canada.

Where personal information is transferred outside Canada, we take reasonable steps to ensure it receives a comparable level of protection, including through contractual safeguards with our service providers. By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal information may be processed outside of Canada.

Children's Privacy

Our website and services are intended for adults and are not directed at individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal information from a minor, please contact us immediately and we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

Updates to This Policy

We reserve the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time. We will post the revised Policy on our website with an updated effective date. If we make material changes to how we collect or use personal information, we will take reasonable steps to notify affected individuals. Your continued use of our website or services following the posting of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Policy.

Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Alberta and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Any disputes arising in connection with this Policy shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Alberta.

Contact Information

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding your personal information or this Privacy Policy, please contact us. We will respond to all privacy-related inquiries within a reasonable period of time.