Privacy Policy

What Information We Collect

When you contact us about a project or consultation, we'll typically collect things like your name, email, phone number, and whatever details you share about your project needs. If you're filling out our contact form or sending an inquiry, that's the stuff we're talking about.

Our website also picks up some basic technical info - your IP address, browser type, pages you visit, that sort of thing. This helps us understand how people use our site and whether it's actually working properly on different devices. Nothing invasive, just standard website analytics.

If we end up working together on an actual project, we'll obviously need more detailed information - property details, budget ranges, design preferences, maybe some info about your family or business needs depending on the project scope. That's all part of doing our job right.

How We Use Your Information

Pretty straightforward here - we use your contact info to actually respond to you. Shocking, right? If you've asked us about residential design services or sustainable building solutions, we'll use what you've shared to have an intelligent conversation about your project.

Project-related information gets used for design work, planning, coordinating with contractors and consultants, obtaining permits, and all the other architectural work we do. We might share relevant bits with engineers, builders, or other professionals who need to be involved - but only what's necessary for your project.

Occasionally, we might send updates about our firm, new sustainable building techniques we're excited about, or portfolio additions. You can opt out of this stuff anytime - just let us know and we'll take you off the list, no hard feelings.

The technical data helps us improve the website experience and figure out if something's broken. We're architects, not web developers, so sometimes we need this info to know when things aren't working properly.

Who We Share Information With

We're not selling your email to marketing companies or anything like that. When we share information, it's because your project actually requires it. That means structural engineers, sustainability consultants, contractors, municipal planning departments - the folks who need to be involved to make your building happen.

We use some standard business tools - email services, cloud storage for project files, scheduling software. These providers have their own privacy policies and security measures. We pick reputable companies that take data protection seriously.

If there's ever a legal requirement to disclose information - like a court order or regulatory investigation - we'd have to comply with that. Hasn't happened in our years of practice, but legally we need to mention it.

How We Protect Your Information

We take reasonable precautions to keep your information secure. Our systems are password-protected, we use encrypted connections for sensitive communications, and we don't leave client files sitting around where anyone can access them.

Physical documents in our Toronto office are kept in secure areas. Digital files are backed up regularly and stored on secure servers. Only team members who actually need access to specific project information get it.

That said, no system is 100% bulletproof. We do our best, but we can't guarantee absolute security - nobody honestly can in today's digital world. We just try to be smart about it and stay up to date with best practices.

Your Rights and Choices

You've got rights when it comes to your personal information. You can ask us what we have on file about you, request corrections if something's wrong, or ask us to delete your information (though if we're in the middle of a project together, we'll need to keep project-related stuff until it's done).

Want to opt out of our occasional newsletters or updates? Just reply to any email and let us know, or shoot us a message at info@frosthalquintaris.info. We'll take care of it promptly.

Under Canadian privacy laws (PIPEDA and provincial equivalents), you have the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner if you think we've mishandled your information. We'd prefer you talk to us first so we can sort things out directly, but that option's there if needed.

Cookies and Website Tracking

Our website uses cookies - those little data files that websites store on your browser. We use them for basic stuff like remembering your preferences and understanding how people navigate the site. Nothing creepy or invasive.

We use Google Analytics to see things like how many visitors we get, which pages are popular, and whether people can actually find what they're looking for. This data is anonymized and helps us make the website better.

You can disable cookies in your browser settings if you want, though it might make some parts of the website a bit wonky. Most browsers have pretty good controls for managing this stuff these days.

How Long We Keep Your Information

For project-related information, we're legally required to keep architectural records for specific periods - typically around 10 years after project completion, depending on provincial regulations and professional liability requirements. It's part of being licensed architects in Ontario.

If you reached out but we didn't end up working together, we'll usually keep your inquiry information for a couple years in case you circle back later. After that, if we haven't heard from you, we'll clear it out.

Marketing list information gets reviewed periodically. If someone hasn't engaged with our updates in a few years, we'll remove them - no point cluttering up our systems with outdated contacts.

Third-Party Links

Sometimes we'll link to other websites - maybe a supplier we recommend, a sustainability organization we're involved with, or examples of building materials. Once you click through to another site, you're on their turf and their privacy policy applies, not ours.

We try to link to reputable organizations, but we can't control or be responsible for other sites' privacy practices. Always good to check their policies if you're sharing information with them.

Changes to This Policy

We might update this privacy policy occasionally - maybe because laws change, we adopt new tools, or we realize something could be clearer. When we make significant changes, we'll update the date at the top and might send a note to active clients.

Worth checking back here once in a while if you're curious about how we're handling things. We'll always try to keep this document straightforward and honest rather than burying everything in legal jargon.