Last Updated: September 4, 2025
1 WHO WE ARE
2 Hello Search Marketing (“Hello Search Marketing”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a global digital marketing agency operating the website hellosearchmarketing.ca (the “Site”) and related services (collectively, the “Services”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, transfer, and safeguard personal information (“Personal Information” or “Personal Data”) worldwide.
3 SCOPE
4 This Policy applies to:
• Visitors to our Site
• Prospective, current, and former clients
• Newsletter or resource subscribers
• Individuals who communicate with us or interact with our marketing assets
This Policy is intended to account for major global data protection regimes (e.g., GDPR / UK GDPR, Canada PIPEDA, U.S. state privacy laws including California CPRA, Brazil LGPD, Australia Privacy Act & APPs, South Africa POPIA, and other analogous frameworks). Where local law imposes stricter requirements, we will apply those to the relevant data subjects.
3 CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT
a. Information You Provide Voluntarily
• Name, business name, role/title
• Email address
• Postal/billing address (if invoicing or contracting)
• Content of messages, briefs, proposals, questionnaires
• Marketing preferences / consent status
• Optional data supplied for downloads, webinars, or surveys
We do not presently request a phone number unless you elect to provide it.
b. Automatically Collected (Technical / Usage Data)
• IP address (may be Personal Data in some jurisdictions)
• Device, browser type/version, operating system
• Pages viewed, navigation paths, timestamps, referring URLs
• Approximate geolocation (city/region level, derived via IP)
• Cookie identifiers, pixels, tags, analytics IDs
• Log files (access, error, security events)
c. Cookies / Similar Technologies
We may use:
• Strictly necessary (core functionality)
• Performance & analytics (e.g., Google Analytics)
• Functional (preferences)
• Advertising / remarketing (only if actually deployed—remove if not in use)
See Section 10 (Choices).
d. Third-Party Sources
• Business contact data from public professional profiles or directories (B2B context)
• Referrals / partners (where permitted)
• Service provider enrichment tools (if used—remove if not applicable)
e. No Special / Sensitive Categories (Unless Explicitly Provided)
We do not intentionally collect sensitive Personal Data (e.g., health, biometric, union membership) and request you not send it. If you do, you consent to our processing for evaluation and secure deletion or minimization.
4 LEGAL BASES (WHERE REQUIRED)
For jurisdictions requiring a legal basis (e.g., GDPR / UK GDPR, LGPD):
• Consent: Non-essential cookies, newsletters, certain marketing communications.
• Contract: Fulfilling service agreements, proposals, statements of work.
• Legitimate Interests: Site functionality, security, basic analytics, B2B prospecting (balanced against your rights).
• Legal Obligations: Tax, accounting, compliance, defense of claims.
• (Rare) Vital Interests / Public Interest / Legal Claims: Only if necessary.
5 PURPOSES OF USE
We process Personal Information to:
• Operate, maintain, and improve the Site and Services
• Respond to inquiries and deliver proposals or audits
• Provide and manage client engagements
• Send service or transactional communications
• Conduct analytics, performance measurement, and optimization
• Personalize certain content or communications (if implemented)
• Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, or security incidents
• Maintain business and legal records
• Support a merger, acquisition, reorganization, financing, or asset transfer (with safeguards)
• Comply with applicable laws and enforce agreements
6 DATA MINIMIZATION & RETENTION
We retain Personal Information only for:
• The duration needed for stated purposes
• Contractual/statutory limitation periods
• Legal/regulatory record-keeping (e.g., tax)
Illustrative (adjust to actual practice):
• Inquiry / contact form data: up to 24 months of inactivity
• Client project files & contracts: engagement term + up to 7 years
• Analytics data: as configured (e.g., 14–26 months)
• Marketing lists: until you unsubscribe or 24 months of inactivity
We anonymize or securely delete data once no longer needed.
7 DISCLOSURE & SHARING
We do not sell Personal Information for money. We may disclose to:
• Service providers / processors (hosting, analytics, CRM, email marketing, invoicing, security monitoring) under data protection contracts
• Professional advisors (legal, accounting, insurance)
• Law enforcement or regulators (when legally required)
• Successor entities in business transitions (subject to confidentiality)
California / CPRA: “Sharing” for cross-context behavioral advertising applies only if we implement advertising cookies/pixels. If enabled, we will provide an opt-out mechanism (“Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information”).
8 INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
Data may be processed in countries where we or our providers operate (e.g., Canada, United States, EU/EEA, UK, others). Safeguards used (where required):
• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and supplementary measures
• Contractual confidentiality and security obligations
• Risk assessments aligned with applicable law
By providing information, you acknowledge possible cross-border transfers subject to these safeguards.
9 SECURITY
We implement commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures:
• HTTPS/TLS encryption in transit
• Access controls and least privilege
• Administrative account MFA (where supported)
• Regular patching and vulnerability management
• Logical separation of environments (where applicable)
No system is fully secure; residual risk cannot be eliminated.
10 YOUR CHOICES & CONTROLS
• Email Marketing: Unsubscribe via link or contact us.
• Cookies: Adjust browser settings. If deployed, use our consent banner / preference center for non-essential cookies.
• Analytics Opt-Out: Browser add-ons (e.g., Google Analytics opt-out).
• Targeted Ads (if activated): Network/platform opt-outs (Google Ads settings, Meta Ad Preferences) and regional ad industry portals.
• Do Not Track: We currently do not respond to DNT signals due to lack of an accepted standard.
11 RIGHTS BY JURISDICTION
Depending on your location, you may have one or more of these rights (subject to exemptions, verification, and local law):
• Access: Confirm whether we process your Personal Information and obtain a copy.
• Rectification: Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure / Deletion: Request deletion where no longer necessary or consent withdrawn.
• Restriction: Limit processing under certain circumstances.
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing (we will honor marketing objections always).
• Portability: Receive data you provided in a structured, machine-readable format and/or request transfer to another controller where technically feasible.
• Withdraw Consent: For processing based on consent (no effect on prior lawful processing).
• Complaint: Lodge a complaint with a supervisory or regulatory authority.
Regional Notes (non-exhaustive):
• EU/EEA & UK (GDPR / UK GDPR): Full set of rights above.
• Canada (PIPEDA): Access, correction, challenge compliance.
• California (CPRA): Rights to know (categories/specific pieces), delete, correct, opt out of sale/share (if applicable), limit use of sensitive data (not currently collected), non-discrimination.
• Brazil (LGPD): Confirm processing, access, correction, anonymization, deletion, portability, revoke consent, information about sharing.
• Australia (APPs): Access and correction; complaint to OAIC.
• South Africa (POPIA): Access, correction, objection, deletion (subject to grounds).
If a right is not mandated in your jurisdiction, we may voluntarily consider the request for fairness and consistency.
12 EXERCISING RIGHTS
Submit a request by emailing: mailto:hellosearchmarketing@gmail.com with:
Subject: Privacy Rights Request
Include:
• Your name and email used with us
• Country/region (for applying correct framework)
• Right(s) you wish to exercise
• Relevant context (e.g., newsletter subscription, client engagement)
Verification: We may confirm control of your email or request limited additional data to prevent fraudulent requests. We will respond within applicable statutory timeframes (e.g., 30–45 days where mandated) or inform you if more time is required.
13 CHILDREN’S PRIVACY
14 Our Services are not directed to individuals under the age of 16 (or lower age defined by local law). We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children. If you suspect a child provided data, contact us to request deletion.
15 AUTOMATED DECISION-MAKING / PROFILING
16 We do not use automated decision-making producing legal or similarly significant effects. Any analytics or scoring presently used is limited to internal marketing performance evaluation. If we introduce material profiling, we will update this Policy.
17 THIRD-PARTY LINKS & INTEGRATIONS
18 External sites or embedded content (e.g., videos, social media widgets) are governed by their own privacy policies. Review those before interacting.
19 DATA ACCURACY
20 Please keep your information current. Contact us to update inaccuracies.
21 RECORDS & AUDIT
22 We maintain internal logs (where appropriate) of data subject requests, consents, and relevant processing activities to demonstrate compliance with applicable frameworks.
23 POLICY CHANGES
24 We may revise this Policy periodically. The “Last Updated” date reflects the latest version. Continued use of the Site after changes signifies acceptance of the revised Policy. Where legally required, we will provide additional notice (e.g., prominent banner or direct email if you have an active relationship).
25 CONTACT
26 Primary Contact Method: mailto:hellosearchmarketing@gmail.com
27 Website: https://hellosearchmarketing.ca (https://hellosearchmarketing.ca/)
28 Please include “Privacy Inquiry” or “Privacy Rights Request” in the subject line for efficient routing.
29 JURISDICTION-SPECIFIC DISCLOSURES (SUMMARY)
• Canada: For unresolved issues you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
• EU/EEA / UK: You may lodge a complaint with, for example, your local Supervisory Authority or the UK ICO.
• California: If applicable, we will provide methods to submit CPRA requests (email above serves as one method).
• Brazil: You may seek clarification or exercise LGPD rights via our contact email.
• Australia: Complaints may be directed to the OAIC if unresolved.
• South Africa: You may complain to the Information Regulator after contacting us.
21 QUEBEC (LAW 25) NOTE (OPTIONAL – REMOVE IF NOT APPLICABLE)
22 Law 25 requires a person in charge of personal information (default is the highest-ranking officer). If we process Personal Information of Quebec residents, the default responsible individual is the highest-ranking officer of Hello Search Marketing reachable through the contact email above. (If you do not target Quebec, you may remove this note.)
23 GLOSSARY (OPTIONAL)
24 “Controller” / “Responsible Party”: Entity determining purposes and means of processing.
25 “Processor” / “Service Provider”: Third party processing data on our behalf.
26 “Personal Information / Personal Data”: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual.
27 “Processing”: Any operation performed on Personal Information (collection, storage, use, disclosure, etc.).
