data privacy policy

Table of Contents

1. What does this policy apply to?
2. What is "personal information"?
3. What personal information do we collect?
4. How is your personal information collected?
5. For what purposes do we use your personal information?
6. For what purposes do we use cookies?
7. How to manage cookies?
8. With whom do we share your personal information?
9. How long do we retain your personal information?
10. Where is your personal information stored?
11. How do we protect the confidentiality of your personal information?
12. Updates to the Policy
13. Your rights
14. Complaint handling
15. Contact us
16. Additional information for individuals within the European Union

This data privacy policy (the "Policy") applies to all personal information that we collect or that you transmit to us via our website at www.groupe-alphard.com (the "Site") of Groupe Alphard Inc. The practices described in this Policy do not apply to other websites that you may visit via hyperlinks available on our Site. Information collected or transmitted on these external sites is governed by their own privacy policies. For example, external sites such as job portals or third-party service providers have their independent privacy policies, which you are encouraged to review when accessing their services.

For the purposes of this Policy, "personal information" means any data about an individual that allows them to be identified, directly or indirectly. Examples include but are not limited to:

  • Full name and contact details such as email address and phone number.
  • Identifiers such as IP addresses when linked to an individual.
  • Sensitive data related to health, gender, or biometric information (if applicable).
Note that this definition typically excludes public information under legal provisions or business-related identifiers like professional contact details.

We collect personal information necessary to provide our services, respond to your requests, and for the purposes detailed below. These may include:

  • Contact details: Name, email address, residential address, and phone number, collected when you inquire about services, apply for a job, or act on behalf of your company as a representative.
  • Professional data: Employment history and qualifications for job applications, collected via direct submissions or third-party platforms such as recruitment agencies.
  • Cookies and analytics: Behavioral data from tools like Google Analytics, enabling us to understand website interaction and enhance the user experience.
  • Transaction data: Billing or subscription information where services involve monetary transactions.

Nous collectons généralement vos informations personnelles avec votre consentement, sauf dans certains cas, comme ceux liés aux usagers de l’Union européenne (voir la section « Informations additionnelles pour les usagers de l’Union européenne »). Des exceptions peuvent également s’appliquer si la loi le permet (par exemple, pour nous conformer à nos obligations légales ou pour établir, exercer ou défendre une action en justice). Vos informations personnelles sont recueillies de plusieurs façons, notamment :

  • Cookies indispensables au fonctionnement de notre site Web.
  • Cookies de Google Analytics, utilisés à des fins statistiques.
Vous avez le droit de refuser la collecte, l’utilisation et la divulgation de vos informations personnelles. Cependant, veuillez noter que le refus de fournir ces renseignements peut vous empêcher d’utiliser certaines fonctionnalités du Site, car ils sont essentiels à la prestation des services demandés.

We use your personal information for the purposes described in this section. If we need to use it for other purposes, we will first ask for your consent.

a. For limited and specific purposes
  • Ensure the delivery of our services: Prepare a service offer requested by your company.
  • Manage our business activities: Improve our business strategies, detect fraud, and other illegal activities.
  • Process job applications: Evaluate your application if you apply to Groupe Alphard.
  • Enhance your customer experience during your visit to our website, tailor content, and advertising to your interests.
  • Perform commercial prospecting actions: Send you offers, news, or any other information about our products and services.
  • Maintain a secure environment: Protect collected information and ensure a trusted environment.
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations: Adhere to applicable laws and manage any potential disputes.
  • Achieve other goals permitted or required by law: Protect the security of information and comply with legal obligations.
b. To communicate with you

If you have consented to receive communications, Groupe Alphard Inc. may send you newsletters, emails, text messages, and other communications about our products and services. You can unsubscribe at any time via the unsubscribe link in our messages or by contacting us. However, please note that we may still inform you of critical updates or technical issues related to the Site.

c. Use for secondary purposes

We may also anonymize your personal information to:

  • Create statistical data: Improve the Site, review user interests, or train machine learning algorithms.
  • Share with third-party partners: These anonymized data may be shared with our partners, without including information that identifies you.

We use your personal information for the purposes described in this section. If we need to use it for other purposes, we will first ask for your consent.

a. For limited and specific purposes
  • Ensure the delivery of our services: Prepare a service offer requested by your company.
  • Manage our business activities: Improve our business strategies, detect fraud, and other illegal activities.
  • Process job applications: Evaluate your application if you apply to Groupe Alphard.
  • Enhance your customer experience during your visit to our website, tailor content, and advertising to your interests.
  • Perform commercial prospecting actions: Send you offers, news, or any other information about our products and services.
  • Maintain a secure environment: Protect collected information and ensure a trusted environment.
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations: Adhere to applicable laws and manage any potential disputes.
  • Achieve other goals permitted or required by law: Protect the security of information and comply with legal obligations.
b. To communicate with you

If you have consented to receive communications, Groupe Alphard Inc. may send you newsletters, emails, text messages, and other communications about our products and services. You can unsubscribe at any time via the unsubscribe link in our messages or by contacting us. However, please note that we may still inform you of critical updates or technical issues related to the Site.

c. Use for secondary purposes

We may also anonymize your personal information to:

  • Create statistical data: Improve the Site, review user interests, or train machine learning algorithms.
  • Share with third-party partners: These anonymized data may be shared with our partners, without including information that identifies you.

When you browse our website, cookies and invisible pixels may be placed on your device (computer, tablet, or phone). A cookie is a small text file that records information during your visit. We use these cookies for various purposes:

a. Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential for the operation of our website. They enable basic actions, such as navigating between pages without losing previous actions from your session.

b. Non-essential cookies

If you have given your consent, we also use:

  • Functionality cookies: These remember your preferences (such as your language or region) to enhance your experience on the Site.
  • Analytics cookies: These help us understand how you use our website. For instance, with Google Analytics, we collect anonymized data about the pages visited and the time spent on the site. This information is displayed as statistics and cannot identify you personally. You can disable these cookies here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
c. Storage and security of information

Information collected via cookies may be stored on servers outside Canada, subject to the laws of those countries. Cookies help us improve our website and facilitate your access. You can configure your browser to refuse cookies, but this may affect certain functionalities of the Site.

Except for strictly necessary cookies, we will only place cookies on your devices with your consent. These cookies will be retained for a maximum of 24 months from their placement. After this period, we will request your consent again. You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. However, please note that refusing cookies may limit certain functionalities of the Site and communications. For more information on managing and disabling non-essential cookies, visit: https://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

Your personal information will never be sold or marketed without your consent. However, we share it in the following cases:

    a. Our employees

    Only authorized personnel of Groupe Alphard Inc. can access your personal information, and only when necessary for managing our business relationship or fulfilling our legal obligations.

    b. Our strategic partners

    We share your personal information with partners when this disclosure is required to achieve the purposes. This includes:

  • Alboréa Inc.: Responsible for Groupe Alphard's web development.
  • Service providers: For example, hosting services managed by external IT providers.
  • Third parties via cookies: Third parties may collect your personal information on our site via cookies, subject to your consent.
  • c. Disclosure to third parties without your consent

    In some cases, we share your information without your consent, particularly:

  • With legal authorities or bodies responsible for preventing, detecting, or repressing offenses.
  • With public bodies in the exercise of their duties.
  • In emergencies threatening the life, health, or safety of an individual.
  • For debt collection.
  • For more details, you can consult the articles of the law here: www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/

    d. In the context of business transfers

    Your personal information may be shared without your authorization during commercial transactions (mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, etc.). In these cases, it may be shared with the third parties involved as part of due diligence.

    e. For other purposes with your consent

    When you have expressly consented, your personal information may be shared with other third parties. For instance, there may be specific cases where additional conditions apply, and through those, we clearly indicate that specific third parties process your personal information.

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was collected, or to comply with legal obligations. Once this period has elapsed, the information will either be destroyed or anonymized, in accordance with our retention schedule and applicable legislation.

To determine the retention period, we consider several factors, such as the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information, the potential risks of unauthorized use, and legal or regulatory requirements.

If you would like to know more about how long we retain your personal information, please feel free to contact us using the details provided in the "Contact Us" section.

The personal information we collect is stored in secure systems. We strive to store your personal information in Quebec or, when this is not possible, elsewhere in Canada. However, there are cases where information is stored on servers located outside Canada, including in the United States.

We also work with agents and service providers abroad. In all cases, we are committed to protecting your personal information, whether it is stored in Canada, the United States, or elsewhere. We limit access to it strictly to necessary tasks and strive to implement contractual agreements to ensure a level of protection at least equivalent to that in force in Quebec, including robust and effective security measures.

If you have any questions about the storage or transfer of your personal information, please feel free to contact us.

a. Through a personal information management program

We have implemented a comprehensive personal information management program to ensure its confidentiality and security. This program includes internal policies and procedures to regulate the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and destruction of personal information, as well as to manage complaints, information security, and data governance at Groupe Alphard Inc. The collection of your personal information through our website complies with the requirements of this program.

b. With necessary and appropriate security measures

We take administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, sharing, or alteration. These measures include:

  • Restricted access to physical offices and records.
  • Limiting access to personal information to authorized employees and agents only.
  • Storing archive documents with reliable third parties in secure facilities.
  • Using firewalls, passwords, and file encryption for online activities.
  • Implementing security protocols such as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), encrypted communications, network monitoring software, IDs, passwords, and two-step authentication.

We use these measures to minimize the risks of loss, theft, unauthorized access, or misuse of personal information. Our goal is to prevent any privacy incidents.

c. Children's privacy

Our website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 unless a parent or legal guardian has consented. If you believe that information has been collected without consent, please contact us via the "Contact Us" section.

Groupe Alphard Inc. may modify, update, or revise this Policy at any time. The update date indicates the last modification. We encourage you to regularly review the Policy to stay informed of any changes. In case of significant changes, we will notify you during your next visit to our website. The Policy and any related agreements will be available on our site. By continuing to browse our website, you accept the revised terms, if applicable.

Under applicable personal information protection laws, you have certain rights, such as the following:

  • Privacy protection: Your personal information is protected.
  • Access: You can access the personal information we hold about you.
  • Rectification: You can request corrections to your information if it is incomplete, inaccurate, or collected without authorization.
  • De-indexing: You can request the de-indexing or re-indexing of your information.
  • Portability: You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured format.
  • Erasure: You can request the deletion of your personal information.
  • Unsubscription: You can remove your email address from our mailing list.
  • Withdrawal of consent: You can withdraw your consent at any time. Note that anonymous information, which does not allow identification, may be retained even after your consent is withdrawn.

Here are the steps for processing a complaint:

    a. Reception
  • To file a complaint, send a written request to the Personal Information Protection Officer (contact details available at the end of this policy). Please include your name, contact information (including a phone number), and details of your complaint. If the information provided is insufficient, we may request additional details to evaluate your request.
  • b. Processing

    Groupe Alphard Inc. is committed to handling each complaint confidentially.

  • Response time: We will respond within 30 days of receiving your complaint or any additional required information. The response will be sent via email, explaining whether the handling of the information complies with our policy and applicable legislation.
  • Extension of the deadline: If we cannot respond within this timeframe, we will inform you of the reasons for the extension, the status of the process, and the time required to provide a definitive response.

Each complaint is documented in a separate file, containing the complaint, the analysis, and the response provided.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may file a complaint with the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec or any other oversight body concerning personal information protection. However, we encourage you to wait for the conclusion of our internal process before proceeding.

For any inquiries, please refer to the "Contact Us" section.

For any questions, requests, comments, or complaints regarding your personal information, please contact our Personal Information Protection Officer:

  • Groupe Alphard Inc.
    Ms. Marina Villarroel
    Director of Administrative Services and Business Development
    Address: 301-5570, Casgrain Avenue, Suite 301, Montreal, QC, H2T 1X9, Canada
  • Email: Loi25@alphard.com

The table below outlines the purposes for which we process your personal information and, for each, the legal basis that legitimizes the processing under European law. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on different legal bases to process the same personal information for different purposes.

We process your personal information for the purposes and on the legal bases outlined below:

PURPOSES LEGAL BASIS
The processing is carried out under our legitimate interest to ensure effective communication with users of our products and services. The processing is carried out under our legitimate interest to ensure effective communication with users of our products and services.
Operate and improve our site. The processing is carried out under our legitimate interest to optimize our tools and solutions to better meet the needs of our Site users and prospects.
Enhance your customer experience during your visit to our website, tailor content and advertising to your interests. The processing is carried out based on your consent.
Carry out commercial prospecting actions to send you offers, news, or any other relevant information about the products and services we offer in the energy storage field. The processing is carried out based on your consent.
Communicate information about changes to our website. The processing is necessary depending on the case: (i) to comply with legal obligations (e.g., updates required to maintain the Site’s compliance), or (ii) to perform a contract with you.
Maintain a secure and trustworthy environment. The processing is carried out under our legitimate interest to ensure compliance with applicable laws, enforce our Terms of Use, prevent fraud, improve security, and ensure the proper performance of our Site.
Comply with legal and regulatory obligations applicable to us. The processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations to which we are subject.
Manage any potential or actual dispute with you or third parties. The processing is carried out under our legitimate interest to defend our interests, including through legal proceedings.