Privacy policy
Last updated : August 15th, 2024
Privacy and personal data protection is important for Confia (hereinafter "Confia", "we", “us”, "our" or "ours"). For this reason, we have put in place effective measures to protect the personal information in our possession or that we handle.
This Privacy Policy (the "Policy") explains how we collect, use, disclose, and store personal information that you may provide to us in connection with your use of our website or mobile applications (collectively the "Platforms"), or the services provided by Confia (the “Services”). It also informs you of our commitments in the management and protection of personal information.
By accessing our Platforms or by using our Services, you consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of your personal information in accordance with this Policy. In certain cases, your consent may be “implied”, i.e. that your permission is presumed depending on your action or inaction at the time of the collection, use or sharing of your personal information. If you do not agree with this Policy, please refrain from using our Platforms or using our Services. Of course, some Services can only be offered to you if you provide us with information of this nature; consequently, we may not be able to provide you with these Services if you decide not to provide us with the necessary personal information.
This Policy applies to anyone who communicates or interacts with us, regardless of the method used, whether you are a real estate broker, a customer or someone visiting or using our Platforms or Services. Our employees and those responding to our job offers are subject to a separate privacy policy.
Personal information refers to any information which concerns a person and makes it possible, separately or in combination with other data, to identify them. This may include, for example, your name, email addresses, contact information and any similar information you provide us. Such information is not considered personal information when it is aggregated and cannot be associated with an identifiable individual, either directly or indirectly.
The types of personal information we collect depend on the way you interact with us, as described in the “How is your personal information collected?” section.
Generally, we collect the following types of personal information:
Identifiers and contact details, such as your name, your password, your address, your zip code, your email and your phone number, for example when you register to our Services, create an account with us, when you sign up to receive our newsletters, our offers and promotions, or when you submit an information or a service request.
Information linked to your device or your browsing activities, such as your IP address (if it enables us to identify you as a person), your device identifier, the type of browser, the pages viewed on our Platforms, the ads you clicked on and other similar information that we collect through cookies, web beacons and other automated methods when you access our Platforms or use our Services.
Information related to your interaction with our emails, such as their opening and clicks on links. This information is collected automatically through data collection technologies embedded in our emails, as further described in the “How is your personal information collected?” section.
Information about your real estate project, such as the project type, your budget, the region, the type of property, the characteristics of the property, the number of floors, the value of the property, the dimensions of the lot, the surface area of the land, the construction date and other similar data regarding the characteristics of a property or your needs in connection with your real estate project. This information may be collected from various sources, including from you directly or from third parties, as described in more detail in the “How is your personal information collected?” section.
Demographic and statistical data, including aggregated or statistical data relative to a property or a district in which it is located, such as population density, the accessibility and availability of parks, public transport and other public conveniences. We do not generally use this information to identify you personally.
Any other information you give to us (as detailed in the “How is your personal information collected?” section.
We collect personal information about you from:
you:
when you provide this information to us directly, for example when you register to our Services, create an account with us, when you sign up to receive our newsletters, our offers and promotions, or when you submit an information or a service request; and
when personal information about you is automatically collected as part of your use of our Services or our Platforms.
other affiliated entities forming part of the EspaceProprio group of companies, in particular EspaceProprio, DuProprio and RénoAssistance (together the “Group”), when they provide us with your personal information so as to offer you the Services you are asking for, to conduct marketing activities or for the purposes described in this Policy. In some cases, we receive anonymized or de-identified information for research and analysis purposes, including to understand the interests of users of our Platforms and Services, improve our products, services and features, and develop new ones (as detailed in the “Research and Data Analysis” subsection of the Why do we collect and use your personal information? section).
third parties, when they provide us with personal information about you. Third parties who share your personal information with us include:
Service providers. For example, we may use service providers to analyze how you interact and engage with our Website or our Services, or third parties may help us provide customer support to you.
Advertising partners. We may receive information about you from some of our marketing or promotional service providers related to how you interact with our Platforms, applications, products, services, advertisements, or communications.
Business partners. We may receive information about you from some of our business partners who refer you to our services.
We may also collect data from other third parties and public sources and combine them with other information, including those described in this Policy, so as to provide you with our Services, to improve the user experience and to develop or improve our Services. For example, we may collect Information about a property, such as the year of construction, the value of the property, the surface area and other characteristics of the property from public records held by public organizations, in particular the municipalities, so as to develop and exploit new features linked to our Services. These data are not generally used to identify you personally.
You can request further details about the information we collect from you or someone else who is operating a corporate entity by contacting us at the address indicated in the “How can you contact us?”.
When you visit our Platforms, use our Services, create an account, inquire about our Services or when you communicate or interact with us, you may be asked to voluntarily provide us with certain personal information (such as your name, email address, mailing address and phone number) so that we can communicate with you more efficiently, respond to your inquiry and provide you with the Services you have asked for.
Cookies and other data collection technologies - When you access any of our Platforms, we use a browser feature called a "cookie" and other similar technologies to automatically collect certain information about you, your Internet activity and your activity on our Platforms, such as identifiers that can be used to recognize you or your device over time, the Internet Protocol (IP) address that identifies your computer, the IP address of your Internet service provider, the name and version of your Web browser, the date and time you access the Platforms, the Internet address from which you directly access the Platforms, the operating system used, sections of the Platforms visited, the pages read and images viewed and documents displayed on the Platforms or downloaded from the Platforms. A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that identifies a visitor's browser (but does not necessarily identify the visitor) to our computers each time someone visits our Platforms.
We use cookies and other similar technologies to manage our Platforms and our Services, and to analyze how our Platforms and our Services are used. They also allow us to better understand your interests and provide you with a more personalized online experience, meeting your property needs. You can reset your browser to be notified if you receive a cookie or to decline cookies. However, if you decline cookies, you may not be able to use some of the features of our Platforms.
We also use data collection technologies to better understand how you interact with our emails and to personalize our communications with you. By providing us with your email address, you agree to our use of these technologies in emails you receive from us. If you wish to opt out of email marketing communications, including the use of these data collection technologies, you may do so by contacting us by email at the address listed in the “How can you contact us?” section or by changing your privacy settings in your account.
We also work with advertising partners who collect and use information about your visits on our Platforms in order to present you with advertising that may be of interest to you. Our advertising partners may also install cookies or pixels the moment you click on their advertising messages or links to their websites or services on our Platforms. This Policy does not apply to third party websites or the advertising providers of such third parties.
By using any of our Platforms, you acknowledge that we use essential cookies, and you consent to the use of non-essential cookies, as explained in our Cookie Policy. To better understand how we use cookies and how to block certain types of cookies, please consult our Cookie Policy.
Geolocation – When you use our Platforms, we collect information about your approximate location (city or province), in order to offer you more personalized content. We also collect information about your precise location when you allow either of our Platforms to locate your device.
Telephone recordings and online chat - When you interact with us by telephone or online chat, the conversations may be recorded to ensure the quality of our services, the accuracy of your information and instructions, for training and internal analysis purposes. We will notify you in advance that the conversation may be recorded for these purposes.
We use the personal information collected about you for the following purposes:
to respond to online service requests, questions, or comments that you send to us;
for all purposes necessary for the provision of our Services, such as:
receive and process your application to register for our Services;
monitor the performance and progress of your registration or your real estate project;
to the extent you are a real estate broker recommended by Confia, to match you with our clients;
to the extent you are a client of Confia, to recommend and connect you with a real estate broker recommended by Confia; and
to carry out internal operations necessary for the provision of our Services, including resolving software interruptions and operational issues.
to personalize and improve your experience on our Platforms;
to email you with information about our Services, promotional offers, important updates and real estate content;
to personalize and distribute online advertising content (or other media) and offer you products and services that may be of interest to you based on your preferences, interests or profile. To do this, we use information about your preferences, interests and profile, based on information you provide us as part of our Services, information generated when you interact with us, and statistical and demographic data available to the public. Rest assured that no sensitive information is used for advertising or marketing purposes and, to the extent possible, your information will be de-identified before it is used for these purposes;
to carry out analysis and statistics on our audience, customers and on the use of our Platforms and our Services, in order to better understand the interests and preferences of our customers;
to develop or design new products or services which may interest our customers;
manage, review and improve our Services, including customer service and internal business processes;
to perform analyses of user data in an aggregate and anonymous manner;
to detect security incidents and protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activities;
for any other purpose described in this Policy or that is communicated to you when your personal information is collected;
as required or permitted by the applicable law.
Research and Data analysis - We may use de-identify or anonymize your information by removing your name and other information that could identify you and use it for research and analysis purposes, such as to create general tracking information reports used to study trends and changes linked to the demographics of users of our Platforms or our Services to manage and improve our Platforms and to better understand the interests of our users. De-identified or anonymized information may also be used to improve the products, services and features of Confia or any of the Group’s entities, and to develop new ones. For example, for the market value estimation tool offered by EspaceProprio, EspaceProprio analyzes historical property data (obtained from public sources and Group entities), such as property, land and neighborhood characteristics, in order to improve and to train its machine-learning model and properly estimate a property’s market value. For more details on how data is used as part of the market value estimation tool, please refer to the Additional information on privacy.
Electronic communications - If you provide your email address or telephone number, We may occasionally send you commercial electronic messages in the form of email or SMS, namely, to inform you of our promotions, important updates, to offer you a new service or product or to send you real estate content. At any time, you can unsubscribe from these communications by using the methods indicated in the message or by modifying your privacy settings in your account.
Targeted advertising - By using cookies and other similar technologies, we can offer you advertising that better meets your needs, since it is targeted according to your interests. When you visit or carry out actions on our Platforms, these technologies tell us which pages or sections you are interested in. Using this information, we may subsequently display advertising that meets your interests. When you click on one of these ads, we can also track the response rate of the campaign. For further details on the use of cookies and tracking technologies, please refer to the “Personal information collected automatically” section and to the Cookie Policy.
We may share your personal information with your consent or when required or permitted under applicable law. We may therefore specifically share your personal information with our service providers for the purposes described in this Policy, as described in more detail below.
Disclosures to recommended professionals - Our Services may include referral services to connect you with one or more recommended professionals for your real estate project, including real estate brokers. When you make a service request, we may share your personal information with those professionals. Rest assured that we only disclose the personal information they need to respond to your request.
Disclosure to entities in the Group - We may share your personal information with the entities in the Group to provide you with the Services requested, to obtain a view of all the Services that you have within the entities in the Group, in particular to provide you with a more integrated experience, to personalize and improve the quality and relevance of the Services we offer and to simplify the management of your accounts within the Group, to comply with applicable laws, regulations and requirements, and ensure that your information is consistent, accurate and up to date. In certain cases, we may share de-identified or anonymized information with entities in the Group to develop or improve our Services, for example, new features linked to the purchase, maintenance, renovation, management or sale of properties, or for other study, research or statistical purposes, in which case we take the appropriate steps to protect your privacy and ensure that your information cannot be used to re-identify you. Rest assured that each of the Group's entities implements appropriate control measures to ensure the protection of your personal information, compliance with this Policy as well as compliance with applicable laws, regulations and requirements regarding the protection of personal information.
Disclosures to our service providers - We may share your information with third party suppliers, consultants and other service providers that we employ for the purpose of performing tasks or rendering services on our behalf. These entities include, but are not limited to, our payment processing providers, Web analytics companies, business intelligence service providers, email service providers, and advertising partners.
Disclosures to Desjardins - We may, with the client's consent, share the professional contact information of a real estate broker with a Desjardins mortgage financing representative, so that they can discuss the progress of the project and the needs in terms of customer financing.
Disclosure to government bodies - We may disclose personal information about you to government bodies that are authorized by law to obtain such information, or where we have reasonable grounds to believe that such information may be useful in connection with an investigation of unlawful activity, or to comply with a subpoena, arrest warrant or order of a court, competent person or body requiring the production of information, or to comply with court rules regarding the production of records or information, or to protect our rights and property.
Business transaction - If needed for the purposes of evaluating or concluding a commercial transaction, such as the sale or lease of all or part of the company or its assets or the modification of its legal structure by way of merger or others, we may share personal information with the other party to the transaction in accordance with the legally applicable requirements.
We use service providers and partners located outside of your province and outside of Canada to accomplish certain specific mandates in the normal course of business.
If we need to communicate personal information to these suppliers and partners, we use contractual measures to ensure your personal information is adequately protected when we transfer it to other provinces and countries. However, when your personal information is processed in a jurisdiction other than the one where you live, it may be subject to the law of that foreign jurisdiction, including any law authorizing or requiring the communication of information to government bodies, the courts and the organizations responsible for enforcing the law and for national security in that jurisdiction.
At any time, you can:
request access to your personal information and obtain information on how we collect, use and communicate your personal information, subject to the limits prescribed by the applicable law.
request portability of your personal information.
request to modify or update your personal information, if it is incorrect, incomplete or ambiguous.
request deindexation of your personal information.
To do so, you must complete the online request form.
Your request must contain sufficient detail allowing us to identify the documents or other media containing the personal information in question. We may need to validate your identity and the reason for your request. We will inform you if there are any costs involved in processing your request. In such cases, we will ask for your authorization before proceeding.
Subject to certain exceptions provided by law, you will be able to obtain reasonable access to the personal information we hold about you and you will have the right to question the relevance and accuracy of that information and to have it amended as necessary. You can help Confia maintain the accuracy of your information by notifying Confia of any necessary changes.
You can request the deletion of your personal information either:
by submitting a deletion request via the online form; or
by using the account deletion functionality available in our mobile application when you are connected to your account.
If you make a request to delete your personal information, it will be processed pursuant to applicable laws. We may still retain some of your personal information to comply with its legal and regulatory obligations or if it is still necessary for the purposes for which the company collected it.
You can withdraw or modify your consent on how we use and disclose your personal information by contacting us by email at the address indicated in the “How can you contact us?” section or by modifying your privacy settings in your account, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. If you refuse to provide us with your personal information or to give us the required consents with respect to it, it may be impossible for us to do business with you or provide you with the Services requested.
Electronic communications - At any time, you can have your name removed from our mailing lists for promotional or marketing electronic communications by clicking on the unsubscribe or preference center link shown in each message or by contacting us by email at the address indicated in the “How can you contact us?” section. If you choose to no longer receive promotional or marketing electronic communications, you may continue to receive messages from us for other purposes, in accordance with the applicable laws. For example, we may need to contact you to conclude a transaction, as part of the Services, to respond to your questions or to provide you with information that you have requested.
Cookies and data collection technologies - You can block the use of cookies by activating the setting for this purpose in your browser. You can also block the use of cookies and data collection technologies by modifying your settings in the Cookie Preference Center accessible from your account or on the Platform. For more information on how to block cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.
We keep your personal information for as long as we have a legitimate need to do so. Even if you have stopped doing business with us, we will need to keep certain information because, among other reasons, it is required by law. When this information is no longer needed, it is destroyed or anonymized in accordance with the applicable law, so that you can no longer be directly or indirectly identified. As part of the process of destroying information, we follow strict rules and ensure that no unauthorized person gains access to it.
We may make changes or additions to this Policy at any time, so we encourage you to review it periodically. If we make any changes to this Policy, we will notify you by changing the effective date of this Policy at the top of the page. If we make major changes, you will be notified in compliance with the applicable laws.
If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about the protection of your personal information or our data protection practices, please contact the Privacy Officer by email at privacy@confia.ca.
Please give your name and contact details, the nature of your request or complaint and any other relevant information.