Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Local Skilled Trades is a Canadian online directory that connects homeowners with licensed and insured tradespeople. Our platform is operated from Canada and all data processing takes place within Canada or in jurisdictions with comparable privacy protections.

Privacy Officer Contact:
Email: info@localskilledtrades.com

2. Information we collect

2a. Information you provide directly

• Account registration: name, email address, password (stored as a secure hash).
• Business listings: business name, trade category, service areas, phone number, website URL, years in business, and a business description.
• Verification documents: trade licence numbers, certificate of insurance, submitted voluntarily by tradespeople seeking a Verified badge.
• Reviews: written content and star ratings submitted by users.
• Communications: messages you send through contact forms or directly to our support team.

2b. Information collected automatically

• Log data: IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, and timestamps.
• Cookies and similar technologies: session cookies (required for login), preference cookies, and analytics cookies. See Section 6 for details.
• Device information: screen resolution, device type (desktop/mobile), and language setting.

2c. Payment information

Payments for sponsorship plans are processed by Stripe, Inc. We do not store your credit card number, CVV, or full card details on our servers. Stripe operates under PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance. We receive only a payment confirmation token and your billing postal code for fraud prevention.

3. How we use your information

We use personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected or as permitted by law:

• To create and manage your account.
• To display business profiles and search results to homeowners.
• To verify trade licences and insurance certificates submitted by tradespeople.
• To publish and moderate reviews.
• To process payments for sponsorship plans.
• To send transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset, payment receipts).
• To send optional service updates and product announcements. You may opt out at any time.
• To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, spam, and policy violations.
• To improve and personalise the platform through aggregated, anonymised analytics.
• To comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes.

4. Legal basis for processing

Under PIPEDA, we collect and use personal information only with your knowledge and consent, except where the law permits otherwise (e.g., for fraud prevention or legal compliance). Consent may be express (you tick a box or submit a form) or implied (you voluntarily provide information as part of a transaction). You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions, by contacting our Privacy Officer.

5. Information sharing and disclosure

We share personal information only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers: we engage trusted vendors to operate the platform, including:
  • Supabase - database hosting (Canada/US)
  • Vercel - hosting, edge functions, and geolocation (your approximate city is inferred from your IP address by Vercel's edge network to show local search results - no IP is sent to any other third party for this purpose)
  • Stripe - payment processing (PCI-DSS Level 1)
  • Resend - transactional email delivery
  • Google - reCAPTCHA bot protection (interaction data sent to Google); Google Analytics 4 and Google AdSense (only loaded after you grant cookie consent, see Section 6)
  All parties access only the minimum data necessary and are contractually bound to keep it confidential.
• Public profile data: business name, service areas, reviews, and verification status are displayed publicly on the platform as intended by the tradesperson who created the listing.
• Legal requirements: we may disclose information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental authority, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public.
• Business transfers: in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, personal information may be transferred to the acquiring entity, subject to the same privacy protections.

6. Cookies

We use the following types of cookies:

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies will prevent you from signing in. Disabling analytics cookies will not affect your use of the platform.

7. Data retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy or as required by law:

• Account data is retained while your account is active. After account deletion, data is purged within 30 days, except where retention is required for legal or tax purposes (typically up to 7 years for financial records).
• Reviews remain on the platform after account deletion, attributed to "Anonymous User", unless the reviewer requests full removal.
• Server logs are automatically deleted after 90 days.

8. Your rights

Under PIPEDA and applicable provincial laws, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Withdraw consent to our use of your personal information (subject to legal obligations).
• Request deletion of your account and associated data.
• Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) at priv.gc.ca if you believe we have mishandled your personal information.

To exercise any of these rights, please email info@localskilledtrades.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Security

We implement industry-standard safeguards including TLS encryption for all data in transit, bcrypt password hashing, role-based access controls, and regular security reviews. No method of electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a breach that poses a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and the OPC as required by law.

10. Children's privacy

Our platform is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will post a notice on the platform and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the platform after the effective date of changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact: