Effective 28 July 2026
Privacy policy
What we collect, why we collect it, who else touches it, and how to make us delete it. Written for a marketing agency in British Columbia, because that is what we are.
We collect what you send us through the audit form or the booking calendar, plus ordinary web analytics. We use it to reply to you and to deliver services. We do not sell it, we do not share it with advertisers, and we do not run health-related or sensitive-category ad targeting. Our stack is Canadian-operated but our processors store data in the United States. You can ask us for a copy of anything we hold about you, or ask us to delete it, by emailing omar@digitalhandshakemedia.com. We will respond within 30 days.
1. Who this covers
Digital Handshake Media (“we,” “us,” “our”) is a marketing agency based in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. This policy covers this website and the services we provide to clients across Canada and the United States.
We handle personal information under Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). Where we send commercial email, we do so under Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Where we work with United States clients, we also observe the applicable state privacy requirements that reach us.
2. What we collect
If you request a free audit
Your name, business name, email address, phone number, the city you serve, and the search terms you tell us you want to rank for. We ask for nothing else, and we do not require access to your Google Business Profile or website in order to run the audit.
If you book a call
Your name, email address, phone number, and whatever you choose to write in the booking notes. Scheduling is handled by LeadConnector (HighLevel), which also records the time and time zone of your appointment.
If you become a client
Business contact details, billing information, and the account access you choose to grant us, typically manager-level access to a Google Business Profile, and sometimes access to a website content management system or analytics property. We ask for the minimum access level that lets us do the work, and we ask you to revoke it when an engagement ends.
Automatically, when anyone visits
Standard web log and analytics data: pages viewed, referring source, approximate location derived from IP address, browser and device type, and session timing. This is used in aggregate to understand which pages are useful.
What we do not collect
We do not process payments on this website, so we never see or store credit card numbers. We do not collect shipping addresses. We do not knowingly collect health information, and we do not build or buy health-related advertising audiences. A point that matters because we work with medical and dental clients, where that kind of targeting is both a privacy problem and a professional-advertising problem.
3. Why we collect it
- To reply to your enquiry and to prepare and deliver a requested audit.
- To schedule and hold the assessment call.
- To deliver contracted services and report on them.
- To invoice, and to keep the records our accountants and tax obligations require.
- To understand, in aggregate, which parts of this website are useful.
We do not use your information for any purpose materially different from the one you gave it for without asking you first.
4. Consent, and how to withdraw it
When you submit a form or book a call, you are consenting to us using that information to respond. You can withdraw consent at any time by replying to any message from us or emailing omar@digitalhandshakemedia.com, subject to any legal or contractual records we are required to keep. Withdrawing consent for marketing does not end an active service agreement, and ending an agreement does not by itself delete records we are required to retain.
5. Commercial email and CASL
If you contact us, we will reply, and we may send one follow-up. If you do not respond, that is the end of it. We do not add enquiry contacts to a newsletter list without asking. Every commercial message we send identifies us, includes working contact information, and carries a functioning unsubscribe mechanism, as CASL requires. We do not buy contact lists and we do not send cold commercial email to addresses harvested from the web.
6. Who else touches your information
We use third-party providers to operate. They process information on our behalf and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.
| Provider | What it handles | Where data is stored |
|---|---|---|
| LeadConnector / HighLevel | Booking calendar, enquiry forms, client communication records | United States |
| Google (Analytics, Business Profile, Workspace) | Website analytics, client profile management, email | United States and globally |
| Rank tracking and geo-grid platform | Client ranking and heat-map data, which is business data rather than personal information | United States |
| Website hosting and CDN | Serving this website, server logs | United States and globally |
| Accounting and payment providers | Invoicing and payment records for clients | Canada and the United States |
Cross-border transfer. Because several of these providers operate in the United States, your information may be stored or processed there and may be accessible to United States authorities under the laws of that country. If that is a problem for your organisation, tell us before you send us anything and we will discuss what is workable.
We may also disclose information where we are legally required to (to comply with a subpoena, court order or other lawful demand) or where necessary to establish or defend a legal claim. We do not sell personal information, and we do not disclose it to third parties for their own marketing.
7. Cookies and analytics
This website uses cookies for basic functionality and for aggregate analytics. You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings; the site works without them. We do not run behavioural advertising pixels on this website, and we do not build remarketing audiences from visitors to it. If that changes, this section changes first.
We do not currently alter our data collection in response to a browser Do Not Track signal, because there is no consistent standard for interpreting one. We collect little enough that it makes limited practical difference.
8. Client account access
Where a client grants us access to a Google Business Profile, website or analytics property, we treat those credentials as confidential. We request the lowest access level that allows the work, we do not share credentials outside the people delivering your engagement, and we ask you to remove our access when an engagement ends. Any personal information belonging to your customers that we encounter through that access remains yours; we do not extract, copy or reuse it.
9. How long we keep it
- Enquiries that do not become clients: up to 24 months, then deleted.
- Audit requests: the audit and its underlying data, up to 24 months.
- Client records: for the duration of the engagement and for as long afterwards as tax, accounting and limitation-period obligations require, generally seven years for financial records.
- Analytics: retained in aggregate.
10. How we protect it
Access is limited to the people who need it. Accounts are protected with multi-factor authentication where the platform supports it. Credentials are not shared over unencrypted channels. No safeguard is absolute, and we will not pretend otherwise: if a breach occurs that creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as PIPEDA requires.
11. Your rights
You can ask us to:
- Tell you what personal information we hold about you and how it has been used.
- Correct anything inaccurate.
- Delete it, subject to records we are legally required to keep.
- Stop sending you commercial messages.
Email omar@digitalhandshakemedia.com and we will respond within 30 days, at no charge. If you are not satisfied with how we have handled a privacy question, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, note that your information will be transferred outside that area, including to Canada and the United States, as described above.
12. Children
This website and our services are directed at businesses, not at individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have, contact us and we will delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The effective date at the top of this page is the date of the current version. Material changes will be flagged here rather than made quietly.
14. Contact
Omar Alocozy is responsible for privacy questions at Digital Handshake Media.
Email omar@digitalhandshakemedia.com · Phone 778-200-8644
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
See also our Terms of Service, who we are, and how the work is done.