Privacy policy

Last updated: October 22, 2026

This policy explains what personal information Refuge Animalier (refugeanimalier.ca) collects, why, who it is shared with and how to exercise your rights, in line with Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (Law 25).

1. Who we are

Refuge Animalier is an independent directory of services for dogs and cats in Quebec (vets, groomers, boarding, dog parks, stores, breeders, trainers, shelters). The person in charge of personal information protection can be reached at info.refugeanimalier@gmail.com.

2. Information we collect

"Add my business" form: business name, service type, city, address, phone, website, hours, description and the email of the person making the request. This is used to verify and publish the listing and to write to you (acknowledgement, publication confirmation).

Featured listing (paid subscription): payment is handled by PayPal. We never see or keep your card number; we only receive the subscription ID, its status, the date it is paid until and the payer's email.

Browsing: if you accept cookies, Google Analytics measures aggregated data (page views, visit length, approximate origin, device type).

Public listings: the business details shown (name, address, phone, website, hours) are business information from public sources (official websites, OpenStreetMap) or supplied by the business. If you are self-employed (for example a home-based groomer) and the address shown is your home address, write to us: we will remove it and show only your city.

3. Cookies and advertising

This site measures its audience with Google Analytics and may display advertising (Google AdSense) in the future. These services use cookies.

On your first visit, a banner asks you to accept or decline them. If you decline, no audience measurement is done and the ads shown are not personalized. If you accept, Google and its partners may use cookies to show ads based on your visits to this and other sites. You can change your mind at any time with the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of every page.

You can also manage personalized advertising in Google's ad settings (adssettings.google.com) or see "How Google uses data from sites that use its services" (policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites).

4. Why we use this information

To verify, publish and update listings; to answer your messages; to activate and manage featured listings; to measure and improve the site; and to fund the site (featured listings and, possibly, advertising). We do not sell your personal information.

5. Who we share it with

We use providers that process information for us: Supabase (database), Vercel (site hosting), Resend (email delivery), PayPal (payments), Google (Analytics and, if advertising is enabled, AdSense). Some of them are located outside Quebec, including in the United States, so your information may be processed there. Before entrusting them with information, we assessed the protection they offer (privacy impact assessment), and they are bound by contract.

6. How long we keep it

Requests are kept as long as needed to process and publish the listing, then as long as the listing is online. Payment records are kept as long as tax laws require (usually 6 years). You can ask for your other information to be deleted at any time.

7. Your rights

You can ask for access to the information we hold about you, its correction, its removal, its transfer in a structured technological format (portability) or the removal of a listing, and withdraw your consent at any time, by writing to info.refugeanimalier@gmail.com. We reply within 30 days. You may also file a complaint with the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec (cai.gouv.qc.ca).

8. Security

Exchanges with the site are encrypted (HTTPS). Access to request data is restricted and protected. No measure is perfect: we keep a register of privacy incidents and, if an incident presents a risk of serious harm, we notify the people concerned and the Commission d'accès à l'information, as required by law.

9. Children

The site is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information about children.

10. Links to other sites

Listings contain links to business websites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices.

11. Person in charge and governance

The person in charge of the protection of personal information is the person who operates Refuge Animalier. They ensure this policy is followed, approve retention and destruction rules, handle access and correction requests and complaints (reply within 30 days), and keep the incident register. Contact: info.refugeanimalier@gmail.com, with the subject "Personal information".

12. Changes

This policy may be updated. The date of the last update appears at the top of the page.