Privacy Policy

Last update: November 26, 2020

At Equator maintaining the privacy of information is very important to us. We provide our customers, through our software-as-a-service solution, a location intelligence, design, and communication platform. In order to provide this service effectively, we collect certain specific information input by users, and we also automatically collect information and data relating to the usage of our services by all our customers. Because we are committed to protecting individual privacy rights and the information our customers provide to us, we have developed this privacy policy. It explains how we will protect personal information and describes how we will use and share it.

This policy is concerned with the protection of personal information only. Personal information includes any data that can be used to identify someone as an individual, including their name, income, personal opinion, interests, home contact information, identification numbers, user IDs, passwords, ethnic origin, and age. Under Canadian law, in a business context, personal information does not include the name, job title, business address, or business telephone number of any employee in an organization.

This policy describes the following practices:

Collecting information

Sharing personal information

Maintaining personal information

This privacy policy may change from time to time to reflect Equator’s internal needs, customer feedback, or changes in applicable privacy legislation. Equator will post all such changes on our website, so please visit this page regularly.

NOTE: Equator’s services are not intended for children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect or maintain any personal information or non-personally-identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18 nor is any part of our website or service directed to children under the age of 18. We will close any accounts used exclusively by such children and will remove and/or delete any personal information we believe was submitted by any child under the age of 18. Our customers are to be solely responsible for any data that they transmit or input to our services concerning children, and for complying with all applicable laws respecting the protection of children and their information.

Collecting information

In order to use the services provided by Equator, customers may be required to provide specific information about themselves, such as names, telephone number and e-mail address. We will always inform our customers when we need information that personally identifies them or their employees, and we will keep this information in strict confidence. Additionally, customers may, on occasion, voluntarily provide Equator with information that can be classified as personal information – all such personal information will be stored and maintained in accordance with this privacy policy; where such personal information relates to the customer’s employees, or other individuals with whom the customer has dealings, it is the customer’s responsibility to obtain such individuals’ consent to the disclosure of their personal information to Equator.

We collect information in the following ways:

As part of customers’ use of Equator’s services

We will require our customers’ name, email, and certain financial account or credit card information, for billing and payment purposes. This information is kept confidential and stored securely by Equator and/or its payment provider.

Equator also reserves the right to monitor data posted through the services, in order to ensure that the use of the services is appropriate, lawful, and in accordance with Equator’s user agreement.

Automatically by Equator’s software and services

Equator’s software and services contain features that automatically collect information from users, such as usage statistics and other tracking information. Although this information does not identify individuals personally, it nevertheless provides certain information that may be considered personal information if used in conjunction with other information, and we therefore treat it as being confidential. Additionally, use of Equator’s website and/or software may result in the collection of technical information such as a computer’s IP address, operating system, browser name/version, the referring web page, requested page, date/time, and sometimes a “cookie” (which can be disabled using browser preferences); such information is used to help us understand the overall usage pattern of our website and software.

As part of the use of Equator’s website

Individuals may have the ability to post information on Equator’s website, such as comments and opinions. Please be advised that any personal information that is voluntarily posted to any public forum or to any area where third parties may legally access it, will NOT be considered confidential in any way, and Equator will not have any obligation to protect it in a secured system or obtain consent to its disclosure, as the person will have made the decision to publicly post it. However, at the applicable individual’s request, Equator will be happy to change it, remove it, or restrict access to it (subject to technical feasibility) in order to protect the integrity of the personal information.

Direct contact of Equator

Customers and business partners often contact us directly. When an individual contacts any Equator employee by telephone, e-mail, in person, or through our website, they will be asked to provide consent to the collection of personal information if their personal information will help us deliver the information, products, or services required.

Response to communications from Equator

From time to time, Equator may invite individuals or customers to provide us with information for specific purposes. We may ask for this information through feedback features on our website or software; we may send out e-mail inviting feedback or offering products and services; or we may ask individuals or customers directly for information concerning support of our products or services. Any personal information provided as part of the response shall be used only for the specific purposes identified.

Information obtained through a third party

Occasionally, Equator will obtain information about individuals from third parties, such as mailing list providers, third party service providers, ISPs, or third party application or account providers. Third-party providers are responsible for obtaining consent for the release of personal information to us from those individuals identified on mailing lists, surveys, or through other collection methods.

Sharing personal information

Subject to any exceptions stated above in the collection of information section, should Equator collect any personal information, we will follow these practices regarding the distribution of that information.

Personal information protection

Equator uses reasonable precautions to protect personal information and store it securely. Access to personal information is restricted to those persons who need it for the purposes for which the information was provided (such as the provision of services), and Equator takes reasonable steps to prevent the unauthorized use or disclosure of personal information.

Equator only uses and discloses personal information if it helps us facilitate the needs of our customers or the individuals to whom the information belongs, improve our products and services, meet legal and regulatory requirements, or — to the limited extent possible — manage our internal business operations. Additionally, if there are any disclosure or use restrictions in the consent to the collection of an individual’s personal information, Equator will abide by those restrictions (subject to the consent exceptions listed below). For example, credit card or financial information provided by a customer will only be used to bill that customer for the services that it has authorized or used, and individual profile information will only be used to match the individual up with the opportunities that are requested.

Equator may combine portions of personal information (including information obtained through the services) with other information into an aggregate form, so that the resulting information no longer personally identifies any individual. We use this information to obtain an overall picture of Equator’s products, services, customer sectors and/or usage patterns, and may disclose this aggregate information to third parties.

We obtain consent

Equator provides personal information to third parties only for purposes to which the applicable individual has consented (for example, we may ask to provide contact information to a third party so that they can resolve issues directly with the affected individual), and we require such third parties to keep such information confidential.

In a few situations, Equator may be required to disclose personal information without the applicable individual’s prior consent. For example, Equator may disclose personal information if we are required to do so by law, or if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to:

comply with law or legal process protect and defend our rights and property, or the rights and property of a third party protect against misuse or unauthorized use of any of Equator’s products, services, or other proprietary materials protect the personal safety of any person allow for a change of ownership of Equator and associated transfer of all personal information to the new owner of Equator – this does not affect the protection of the information under this Privacy Policy Equator will always try to provide the affected individual with prior notice of such disclosure, and to limit such disclosure; however, such notice and limits may not always be possible or reasonable given the circumstances.

Additionally, the nature of the services provided requires the routine use of certain personal information in the provision of the services. Such personal information will only be used to the limited extent necessary to provide the services that the applicable customer has requested, and may include the following uses:

to allow third party suppliers, vendors, contractors and other parties to provide products and services to us or to the customer, or to act on our behalf (this may include, without limitation, our authorization of such third parties to email our users regarding updates, surveys and other inquiries regarding their experience with our service); and

to allow for audits and surveys to, among other things, validate the size and composition of the users of Equator’s services, and understand their experience with Equator’s service.

Maintaining personal information

Equator has established the following practices regarding the maintenance of personal information.

Individuals can request access to their personal information at any time

If, for any reason, an individual wishes to review their personal information that Equator has in its possession, they can contact our Privacy Officer, who will be pleased to provide them with all their personal information that Equator has on file, subject to verification of the identity of the individual to verify that they have the right to make such request and obtain such information.

Individuals can request changes to their personal information at any time

Sometimes, it will be necessary for individuals to update their personal information Equator has on file. For example, if a customer moves or changes credit cards, they must update their information in order to keep receiving the services provided by Equator.

If a customer wishes to make any changes or corrections to their personal information that cannot be done through their account, they may contact our Privacy Officer who will implement the changes. This will help us ensure our records are always up-to-date. Other individuals may also contact our Privacy Officer for assistance. Due to the nature of the Equator services, certain information cannot be deleted or removed (such as information affecting the count of people at a given location on a given date and time), but Equator will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that such information cannot be used to identify a specific individual.

Individuals can opt out of communications at any time

Individuals always have the choice of whether they wish to receive information – such as e-mail updates – from Equator. However, customers need to be aware that if they do choose to opt out of communications respecting products and services provided by Equator, they may not obtain all the benefits we could otherwise provide, such as updates or warnings. Equator will not have any liability for loss of those benefits or any negative effects respecting customers’ use of Equator’s products or services after such opting out of communications.

Individuals can request that personal information be destroyed at any time

A situation may arise where an individual desires to have all of their personal information that is contained in Equator’s records deleted or destroyed. In such an event, please contact our Privacy Officer, who will take care of removing the applicable personal information from all of Equator’s records. However, there may be situations where we are obligated to retain one archival copy of the information to allow us to comply with laws or respond to legal processes, and there are certain situations where information cannot be deleted or removed (such as information affecting the count of people at a given location on a given date and time). We will inform the affected individual of all such situations, make reasonable efforts to anonymize such information without affecting our legal obligations, and will only use any retained personal information to the limited extent necessary to comply with such laws or respond to legal processes.

Contacting our Privacy Officer

Equator welcomes comments about this privacy policy, and we would be happy to assist you by providing additional information.

Please contact our Privacy Officer at:

rebecca (at) equatorstudios (dot) com

This privacy policy supplements any agreements you already have with your employer, such as your Device Lease and Software Usage Agreement, website terms and conditions, and any other agreement. Our privacy policy does not replace the terms of those agreements. By agreeing to those terms and using Equator’s website, products, software and services, you are consenting to the collection and use of your personal information by your employer in accordance with this privacy policy. This policy was written in accordance with the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).