Privacy Policy

1.Who We Are

EA Architecture (operating as Elmira Aghsaei Architecture, "EA Architecture," "we," "our," or "us") is an architectural practice based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The principal is Elmira Aghsaei, Architect AIBC.

We are accountable for the personal information in our custody and under our control, including personal information transferred to third parties for processing.

2.Scope of This Policy

This policy applies to personal information that EA Architecture collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects in the course of:

• Operating the website at eadesign.ca and any subdomains
• Responding to inquiries received by email, telephone, online booking, social media, or in person
• Engaging clients, consultants, suppliers, and contractors in connection with architectural services
• Complying with our regulatory obligations as a registered architectural practice in British Columbia

This policy does not apply to personal information about our employees in their employment capacity, which is governed by separate internal policy.

3.Applicable Law

We comply with:

• The federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), where it applies to our activities
• British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which governs the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by private-sector organizations in BC
• Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) in respect of commercial electronic messages
• Any other applicable Canadian, provincial, or municipal law

Where federal and provincial law apply concurrently, we follow the standard that provides the greater protection to the individual.

4.Definitions

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. It does not include business contact information used solely to communicate with an individual in their professional capacity (name, title, business address, business phone, business email).

Sensitive personal information means personal information that, by virtue of its nature, the context of collection, or both, requires heightened protection. Examples include financial information, health information, and information about minors.

Processing means any operation performed on personal information, including collection, recording, organization, storage, retrieval, use, disclosure, and destruction.

5.Personal Information We Collect

We collect only the personal information reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.

5.1 Information you provide directly

We collect personal information you provide when you contact us, book a consultation, or engage our services. This may include:

• Your name and preferred form of address
• Email address, telephone number, and mailing address
• Project address and property details
• Information about your household, family, or organization, where relevant to the brief
• Project budget, financing arrangements, and payment information
• Photographs, drawings, surveys, and other materials you choose to share
• Correspondence you send us

5.2 Information collected automatically

When you visit eadesign.ca, our hosting and analytics infrastructure may collect:

• IP address (which is treated as personal information under Canadian law)
• Browser type, operating system, and device characteristics
• Referring URL and the pages you view on our site
• Date, time, and duration of your visit
• Approximate geographic location derived from your IP address

5.3 Information from third parties

We may receive personal information from:

• Calendly, when you book a consultation through their platform
• Referrers, when an existing client, colleague, or partner introduces you to us
• Public registries and professional bodies, when verifying credentials or coordinating regulated work
• Project consultants and contractors, when collaboration on a shared project requires it

6.Purposes of Collection

We collect, use, and disclose personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances. Our purposes are:

• To respond to inquiries and provide information about our services
• To schedule and conduct consultations
• To enter into and perform a client services agreement
• To deliver architectural services, including design, documentation, and construction administration
• To coordinate with project consultants, contractors, and authorities having jurisdiction
• To invoice for services and process payments
• To maintain project records as required by AIBC and applicable law
• To comply with legal, regulatory, professional, and tax obligations
• To protect our legal rights and interests, including in the event of a dispute
• To improve the website and our services through aggregated, de-identified analytics
• To send commercial electronic messages where you have consented and not withdrawn consent

We will not use personal information for new purposes without your consent unless the new use is required or permitted by law.

7.Lawful Basis and Consent

Under BC PIPA and PIPEDA, we collect, use, and disclose personal information on the basis of:

• Express consent, which we seek for sensitive information, marketing communications, and other uses where express consent is required
• Implied consent, where the purpose of collection is obvious from the circumstances and a reasonable person would consider the consent voluntary (for example, providing your contact information when sending us a project inquiry)
• Deemed consent, where applicable under PIPA section 8
• Legal authority or requirement, where law authorizes or requires collection, use, or disclosure without consent (for example, compliance with a court order)

You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. To withdraw consent, contact us using the details in Section 14. Withdrawal may affect our ability to provide services to you, and we will explain any such consequence before withdrawal takes effect.

8.Disclosure to Third Parties

We disclose personal information only as set out in this policy. We do not sell personal information. We do not rent, trade, or otherwise commercialize personal information.

We may disclose personal information to:

• Project consultants (structural, mechanical, electrical, civil, code, geotechnical, environmental, landscape, and other disciplines) where their input is required for your project
• Authorities having jurisdiction, including municipal building, planning, and permitting departments, where required by the regulatory process
• Contractors and tradespeople engaged to construct or install elements of your project
• Professional advisors, including legal, accounting, and insurance professionals, where their advice or service is required
• Service providers who support our operations under written agreement, including cloud storage, email, scheduling, accounting, and document management providers
• Successors, in the event of a sale, merger, or restructuring of our practice, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections
• Other parties, where required or permitted by law, including in response to a lawful subpoena, warrant, court order, or regulatory request

We require third parties to whom we transfer personal information for processing to provide a comparable level of protection to the standard set out in this policy.

9.Cross-Border Transfers

Some of our service providers store or process personal information outside of British Columbia or Canada, including in the United States. This includes:

• Calendly, which is based in the United States and processes consultation booking information
• Email and cloud productivity services, which may store data on servers located outside Canada
• Analytics services, which may transmit usage data to servers located outside Canada

When personal information is transferred to a jurisdiction outside Canada, that information may be accessible to the courts, law enforcement agencies, and national security authorities of that jurisdiction under their domestic laws. We use service providers with appropriate security and contractual safeguards, but we cannot guarantee that foreign legal processes will not apply.

By using our website or services, you acknowledge this cross-border transfer.

10.Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law or professional obligation.

• Inquiry and consultation records: retained for up to 24 months from the last contact, unless a client engagement results
• Active client project records: retained for the duration of the engagement and for the period required by AIBC professional standards and the BC Limitation Act
• Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by the Canada Revenue Agency, currently six years from the end of the relevant tax year
• Website analytics data: retained in aggregated form; identifiable IP-level data is retained for no longer than 14 months
• Email correspondence: retained for the duration of the business relationship plus the limitation period applicable to the matter

When personal information is no longer required, we destroy it securely, render it anonymous, or return it to the individual where appropriate.

11.Security Safeguards

We protect personal information through reasonable physical, organizational, and technological safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. These include:

• Access controls and authentication on devices and accounts holding client information
• Encryption in transit (TLS/HTTPS) for all communication with the website
• Encryption at rest for cloud-stored client files where the service provider supports it
• Limited internal access on a need-to-know basis
• Confidentiality obligations with all service providers and consultants
• Secure destruction protocols for paper and electronic records at end of retention

No method of transmission or storage is fully secure. In the event of a privacy breach involving a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) and/or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) where required by law.

12.Your Rights

Subject to applicable exceptions in PIPA and PIPEDA, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correction of personal information that is inaccurate or incomplete
• Withdraw consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information, subject to legal or contractual restrictions
• Receive an account of how your personal information has been used and to whom it has been disclosed
• Make a complaint about our handling of your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 14. We will respond to a verifiable request within 30 days, or notify you within that period if we require an extension permitted by law.

We may charge a minimal fee to cover the cost of producing access requests, in accordance with PIPA. We will notify you of any fee in advance.

In limited circumstances we may refuse a request, including where disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual, where the information is protected by legal privilege, or where the request is frivolous or vexatious. If we refuse, we will explain why and inform you of your right to make a complaint.

13.Children’s Privacy

Our website and services are directed to adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you believe we have collected personal information from a child, contact us using the details in Section 14 and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

14.How to Contact Us

The individual responsible for our compliance with this policy is:

15.How to Make a Complaint

If you have a concern about our handling of your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer first. We are committed to investigating and resolving privacy complaints in a timely manner.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact:

16.Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. The "last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be communicated to active clients directly, and to website visitors through a prominent notice on the site for at least 30 days following the change.

Continued use of our website or services after a change to this policy constitutes acknowledgement of the revised policy, to the extent permitted by law.