Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Hootenanny is operated by Egregius Digital, a sole proprietorship in Alberta, Canada. We handle personal information in accordance with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), and Canada's anti-spam law (CASL). This policy explains what we collect, why, and your choices.

2. Who this covers

This policy applies to two groups:

• people with accounts — whatever the reason you created one (to host events, to upload photos, and so on);
• people without accounts — visitors to our website and guests who RSVP to an event.

3. What we collect

Account information

Your email address and, if you sign in with Google or Apple, the identifier and email they provide. We also keep basic security records such as sign-in timestamps.

Event and RSVP information

When you create an event or RSVP, we collect what you enter: event details; your name; adult/child headcounts; an optional email; a message; and what you're bringing.

Photos

Photos you upload to a paid album, plus basic technical details (dimensions, file size). We strip location/EXIF metadata from photos during processing.

You keep ownership of the photos you upload — see the Terms of Service for the limited license you grant. Because an album is shared, the host and anyone with access to it can view, download, and keep the photos you add, so only upload what you're comfortable sharing.

Usage and analytics

With your consent, Google Analytics (GA4) and related cookies collect standard usage data (pages viewed, device/browser, approximate region) to help us understand and improve the Service. See Cookies & analytics below.

4. How we use your information

• to run your events — RSVPs, headcounts, contributions, reminders, and calendars;
• to operate the photo album and scan uploads for safety;
• to send transactional emails (RSVP confirmations, manage links, receipts);
• to process album purchases (through Paddle — see below);
• to secure the Service, prevent abuse, and meet legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information, and we don't show third-party ads on the website.

5. Consent

We rely on your consent to collect and use your personal information. You provide it by creating an account, submitting an RSVP, accepting our Terms of Service, or choosing "Accept" on the cookie banner. You can withdraw consent at any time — decline analytics cookies, stop using the Service, delete your event or account, or contact us — subject to legal or contractual limits.

6. Cookies & analytics

We use Google Analytics (GA4), which sets cookies, only after you accept on our cookie banner. If you decline, no analytics cookies are set. You can change your choice any time, clear cookies in your browser, or use Google's opt-out add-on. We use essential cookies/local storage needed to keep you signed in and remember your cookie choice; those don't require consent.

7. Who we share it with

We share personal information only with service providers that help us run Hootenanny:

• Google Firebase / Google Cloud — database, authentication, hosting, file storage;
• Paddle — payments and as Merchant of Record for album purchases;
• Resend — sending transactional email;
• Google Analytics — website analytics (with consent);
• Google Cloud Vision — automated photo safety scanning.

Event information is shown to the host and other guests according to the host's visibility settings. We may also disclose information where required by law, to respond to lawful requests, or to protect people from harm (including reporting illegal content). We don't sell data to advertisers or data brokers.

8. Payments

Album purchases are handled by Paddle as Merchant of Record. We do not collect or store your card number or billing address — Paddle does. We keep only limited purchase metadata (such as which album, status, and expiry).

9. Where your information is stored

Your data is stored primarily in Google Cloud's Canadian region (Toronto/Montréal). Some processing — for example authentication and analytics — may occur outside Canada, including in the United States, where data may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions.

10. How long we keep it

• Events you host: kept while your account is active, so you keep your history. Deleting an event or your account removes it entirely, including its guest list, contributions and photos.
• RSVPs you made to someone else's event: when you delete your account we remove your email address and unlink the RSVP from your account, so we no longer hold a way to contact or re-identify you. Your name and reply stay on that host's guest list, along with anything you offered to bring and any photos you added to their album. That list is the host's own record of who came to their gathering, and we don't rewrite it on request — in the same way we don't delete a photo someone else took because you appear in it. If you'd like a host to remove you from their event, ask them directly, or contact us and we'll help.
• Photos: automatically deleted when the album expires (7 or 90 days from the event), or sooner if you or the host delete them. Access ends at expiry; any residual copies are permanently purged within about 72 hours.
• Event cover image: the one exception to album expiry. The cover image the host chooses for an event stays with the event page (it's visible to anyone with the invite link) until the host removes it or deletes the event or their account.
• Records we're required to keep (e.g., transaction and legal/compliance records) are retained as long as the law requires.

11. Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit, access controls, short-lived signed links for photos, and logging. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep your data safe.

12. Photos and safety

Uploaded photos are automatically scanned for unsafe content (Google Cloud Vision SafeSearch) and we strip location/EXIF metadata. We do not use facial recognition. Content that appears to be illegal — especially any child sexual abuse material — is removed and reported to the authorities.

13. Children

You must be at least 13 to hold an account, and purchases require the age of majority (or a parent/guardian's consent). Hootenanny isn't directed to children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. Because events and photos can involve children, the person uploading is responsible for having a parent or guardian's consent to include images of minors. If you believe a child's information is here, contact us and we'll remove it.

14. Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you can access, correct, or delete your personal information and withdraw consent. Hosts can edit or delete events; you can delete your account at any time.

One limit worth stating plainly: information you gave to a host — your name on their guest list, what you offered to bring, photos you added to their album — forms that host's record of their own gathering, and deleting your account doesn't erase it (see "How long we keep it" above). We remove your email address and the link to your account. If you want a host to take you off their event entirely, ask them directly, or contact us and we'll help.

To make a request, email admin@egregius.tech.

15. Breach notification

If a privacy or security incident creates a real risk of significant harm, we'll notify the appropriate regulator and affected individuals as required by PIPEDA and Alberta PIPA.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy and will post the new version here with an updated effective date and version number. For material changes we'll provide notice and, where appropriate, ask you to re-accept.

17. Contact

Questions or requests? Egregius Digital, Alberta, Canada — admin@egregius.tech. If you have an unresolved concern, you may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.