Privacy Policy

Look, We're Not Here to Collect Your Life Story

At Silva Rithen Quinth Architects, we're pretty straightforward about this stuff. We only collect what we actually need to work with you - nothing more, nothing less. Been doing architecture for years now, and honestly, the less paperwork involved, the better for everyone.

This page lays out how we handle your information when you reach out to us or work with us on projects. We've tried to keep it readable instead of burying you in legal jargon that'd put anyone to sleep.

What Info We Actually Collect

When you contact us or start a project, we'll need some basics - your name, email, phone number, and property details. That's pretty much it for the essentials. If we're doing a full residential or commercial build, yeah, we'll need more specifics about your site, but that comes later in the process.

Our website might collect some technical stuff too - IP addresses, browser types, that sort of thing. It's pretty standard for understanding how people use the site and keeping things secure. We're not exactly tracking your every move or anything creepy like that.

How We Use Your Information

Here's the thing - we use your info to actually do our job. Shocking, right? We need it to respond to your inquiries, develop design proposals, coordinate with contractors and engineers, handle permits, and keep you updated throughout the project.

Sometimes we'll send updates about sustainable building practices or new services we're offering, but only if you've shown interest. You can opt out anytime - just shoot us an email. We won't take it personally.

For project work, we might share relevant details with our trusted partners - structural engineers, landscape architects, contractors we've worked with for years. They need certain info to do their part, but they're bound by confidentiality agreements. We don't just hand your information to random people.

Keeping Your Data Safe

We take reasonable precautions to protect your information. Our systems are secured, we use encrypted connections for sensitive communications, and we limit access to your data within our team. Only people who actually need it for your project can see it.

That said, nothing's 100% bulletproof online - anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. We do our best with industry-standard security measures, but we can't guarantee absolute security. It's just being honest about the reality of digital information.

Cookies and Website Tracking

Yeah, we use cookies - not the chocolate chip kind, unfortunately. These are small files that help our website remember you and understand how visitors navigate the site. They're pretty basic and mostly help us make the site work better.

You can disable cookies in your browser if you want, though some features might not work as smoothly. We're not using them for anything sketchy - mainly just analytics to see which pages get the most traffic and whether our portfolio projects are getting attention.

Your Rights and Choices

Under Canadian privacy laws (we're based in Toronto), you've got rights regarding your personal information. You can ask to see what data we have on you, request corrections if something's wrong, or ask us to delete it entirely - though if we're mid-project, that might complicate things a bit.

Just get in touch with us through the contact info below if you want to exercise any of these rights. We'll handle it promptly - usually within a few business days unless it's something particularly complex.

How Long We Keep Your Info

For active projects, we keep your information as long as we're working together and for several years after completion. This is partly for legal reasons - building codes, warranties, potential liability stuff. Also, it's helpful when past clients come back for renovations or additions down the road.

If you just sent an inquiry and we never ended up working together, we'll typically keep that for about a year or two, then clear it out. No point hoarding old emails forever.

Third-Party Links

Sometimes we link to other websites - suppliers, building material manufacturers, sustainability resources, that kind of thing. Once you click through to their sites, they've got their own privacy policies. We can't control what they do, so check out their policies if you're concerned.

Changes to This Policy

We might update this privacy policy occasionally - laws change, our practices evolve, technology moves forward. When we make significant changes, we'll update the date at the top and let active clients know directly.

It's worth checking back here once in a while if you're curious, but we're not gonna make dramatic changes without good reason. We're architects, not a tech startup pivoting every quarter.

Questions? Just Ask

If something in here doesn't make sense or you've got specific privacy concerns, don't hesitate to reach out. We'd rather answer your questions directly than have you wondering about how we handle your information.