Privacy Policy

Government Radar (“Government Radar”, “we”, “us”) is a government news monitoring service operated by Cole Kander in Edmonton, Alberta. This policy explains what personal information we collect when you use govradar.ca and our email digests, why we collect it, and the choices you have. We handle personal information in accordance with Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and, where it applies, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

What we collect

• Account information: your email address, your name if you provide it, and your password (stored only in hashed form by our authentication provider). If you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address from Google.
• Your preferences: the jurisdictions, topics and custom keywords you choose, your sort and time zone settings, and similar settings that control your digest.
• Subscription and payment records: your plan, trial and renewal dates, subscription status, and payment records (amount, currency, status and a payment reference). Card details are entered on and stored by Stripe, our payment processor. We never see or store your full card number.
• Email records: which digests and account emails we sent you, when, and whether delivery succeeded.
• Survey responses: if you answer our optional trial survey, your answers and any comments you write.
• Correspondence: anything you send to info@govradar.ca.
• Usage and technical information: we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the public website (pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser type, and how you arrived). Our hosting provider and application also record technical logs, such as error messages and IP addresses, to keep the service secure and working.

The government news releases in your digest are public information published by governments. They are not personal information about you.

Why we use it

• To create and secure your account and let you sign in.
• To build and send your daily digest based on your preferences.
• To manage your free trial, subscription, billing and receipts.
• To send service emails, such as account confirmations, password resets, trial reminders and important changes to the service.
• To answer your questions and support requests.
• To understand how the service is used so we can improve it, using aggregated information where possible.
• To prevent fraud and abuse, and to meet legal, tax and accounting obligations.

We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising. We send commercial email only to people who have signed up for the service or have otherwise consented, in line with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Every non-essential email includes a way to opt out.

Who we share it with

We share personal information only with service providers who help us run Government Radar, and only what they need to do that work:

• Supabase, for our database and user authentication.
• Vercel, for website and application hosting.
• Stripe, for payment processing and subscription billing.
• Resend, for sending email.
• Google, for Google sign-in (if you choose it) and Google Analytics.

We also use Anthropic’s AI service to sort public government news releases into topics. Only the text of those public releases is sent for this purpose. Your account details, preferences and keywords are not.

We may also disclose information if required by law, or as part of a sale or reorganization of the business, in which case this policy would continue to apply to your information.

Where your information is stored

Our service providers may store and process information outside Canada, including in the United States. Information stored in another country is subject to that country’s laws and may be accessible to its courts and authorities. If you have questions about how these providers handle your information, contact us.

Cookies and analytics

We use cookies that are necessary to keep you signed in. We also use Google Analytics cookies to measure how the public website is used. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or install Google’s opt-out browser add-on. Blocking necessary cookies will stop sign-in from working.

AI assistant plugin

Our free plugin for AI assistants (such as Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini) does not require an account and does not receive your conversation. When your assistant uses it, we receive only that request: the search words and filters it sends, plus the standard technical information every website receives (such as IP address and time). We use this only to return public government releases. We don’t save the search words or filters, sell them, or use them to identify you. Our hosting provider keeps short-lived technical logs. Your AI provider’s own privacy policy covers your chat.

How long we keep it

We keep your account information for as long as you have an account. If you ask us to close your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable time, except for records we must keep for legal, tax or accounting reasons (for example, payment records), which we keep only as long as required.

How we protect it

We use reasonable security safeguards for the sensitivity of the information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls on our database, hashed passwords, and limiting access to people and providers who need it. No system is perfectly secure, and if a breach creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and the appropriate privacy regulator as the law requires.

Your choices and rights

• You can view and update your preferences and account details from your dashboard at any time.
• You can unsubscribe from marketing email at any time. We will still send essential service emails, such as receipts and security notices, while you have an account.
• You can ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete your account.
• You can withdraw your consent to our use of your information, subject to legal and contractual limits. If you do, we may not be able to keep providing the service.

To make a request, email info@govradar.ca. We will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Children

Government Radar is a professional service and is not intended for anyone under 18.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make a significant change, we will post the new version here with a new date and, where appropriate, let account holders know by email.

Contact

Privacy questions and requests: info@govradar.ca
Government Radar, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada