Privacy policy

We collect information that you provide directly to us when you use our platform. This includes:

• Account information: when you create an account, we collect your first name, last name, and email address. We store a securely hashed version of your password. We never store your password in plain text and cannot retrieve it.
• Newsletter subscriptions: when you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address.
• Contact form submissions: when you submit a contact form, we collect your name, email address, organization (if provided), and the content of your message.
• Questionnaire responses: when you complete an accessibility questionnaire through our platform, we collect your responses. These responses may be used to support content creation within the A11YVERSE ecosystem.
• Event-related submissions: when you submit forms related to events hosted or organized through A11YVERSE, we collect the information you provide in those forms, which may include your name, email address, organization, and message.

When you visit our platform, we may automatically collect certain information about your device and usage patterns. This may include your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring website, pages visited, time spent on pages, and general geographic location based on IP address.

We use cookies and similar technologies to collect this information. See the "Cookies and analytics" section below for more detail.

We use the information we collect to operate, maintain, and improve the A11YVERSE platform, provide you with access to your account and its features, send transactional emails related to your account such as welcome messages and password reset links, send newsletters and ecosystem updates you have subscribed to, respond to your inquiries and contact form submissions, understand how our platform is used so we can improve the experience, ensure the security and integrity of our platform, and comply with legal obligations.

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

When you ask the A11YVERSE assistant a question, we send your question, the earlier messages of that conversation, anything you asked it to remember and, when you ask about the page you are on, the text of that page (on private pages, such as My space, only after you say yes, and you can turn this off at any time in the assistant's options) to an AI model run through Microsoft Azure OpenAI. We use a Global Standard deployment from a resource in the Canada East region, which means your questions may be processed in any Azure region, including outside Canada. A11YVERSE stores its data in Canada.

For now, your conversations with the assistant and anything you ask it to remember are kept in your own browser, not on our servers. They are removed from the browser when you sign out. Memory is off unless you turn it on.

The assistant can prepare actions such as registering you for an event or following an organization, but it never does them on its own. Nothing happens until you confirm, and the AI model does not decide whether an action is allowed.

If you use dictation, your browser's speech service, for example Google in Chrome or Microsoft in Edge, recognizes what you say and may process it outside Canada. The microphone listens only after you choose the microphone button, and stops when you finish speaking or choose it again. A11YVERSE does not store audio.

A11YVERSE uses Fathom Analytics to understand how visitors use our platform. Fathom Analytics is a privacy-focused analytics service based in Canada that does not use cookies, does not track individual visitors, and does not collect personal information. Fathom Analytics is compliant with PIPEDA, GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations without requiring a cookie consent banner.

The information collected by Fathom Analytics is limited to aggregate data such as page views, referral sources, browser types, and general geographic regions. This data cannot be used to identify individual visitors.

For more information about how Fathom Analytics handles data, visit their privacy policy at https://usefathom.com/legal/privacy (opens in a new tab).

We use the following third-party services to operate our platform:

• Postmark: for sending transactional and account-related emails. Postmark processes your email address and name to deliver messages on our behalf.
• Microsoft Azure: our platform and its databases are hosted on Microsoft Azure, with data stored in Canada.
• Analytics provider: we use analytics tools to understand platform usage. These tools collect anonymized usage data as described in the "Cookies and analytics" section.
• Microsoft Azure OpenAI: runs the AI model behind the A11YVERSE assistant. It receives the information described in the "The A11YVERSE assistant" section and may process it outside Canada.
• Browser speech services: when you use voice with the assistant, your browser's own speech service, for example Google in Chrome or Microsoft in Edge, recognizes your speech under that provider's terms.

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with our services. If you request deletion of your account, we will remove your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or regulatory purposes.

Newsletter subscription data is retained until you unsubscribe. Contact form submissions are retained for up to 24 months. Questionnaire responses may be retained as part of the platform's content ecosystem, in anonymized or aggregated form where possible.

We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect it. These measures include encrypted password storage using industry-standard hashing algorithms, secure server-side session management with HTTP-only cookies, secure connections using SSL/TLS encryption, and access controls to limit who can access personal data.

While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to maintaining strong protections.

Under Canadian privacy law, you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information, request deletion of your account and associated personal data, withdraw consent for non-essential communications such as newsletters at any time, and file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@a11yverse.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

A11YVERSE is based in Canada, and our platform and its data are hosted on Microsoft Azure in Canada. If you access our platform from outside Canada, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in Canada. Questions to the A11YVERSE assistant, and speech you use with it, may be processed outside Canada, as described in the section "The A11YVERSE assistant". By using our platform, you consent to these transfers, and privacy laws in those places may differ from those in your jurisdiction.

A11YVERSE is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, or legal requirements. When we make changes, we will update the "last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the platform after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us at privacy@a11yverse.com.