Privacy Policy

Introduction

spark*monitoring (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is a media intelligence dashboard service operated by spark*advocacy, a Canadian public affairs firm based in Ottawa, Ontario. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you use the spark*monitoring platform (“Service”), visit our website at sparkmonitoring.ca, or interact with us in any capacity.

We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), and applicable provincial privacy laws including Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (Law 25).

By using our Service, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information we collect

1.1 Information you provide to us

When you interact with spark*monitoring, we may collect the following personal information directly from you:

• Account information: Your name, email address, organization name, and job title.
• Login credentials: Your email address and encrypted password used to access the dashboard.
• Contact form submissions: Your name, email address, organization, and any message content submitted through our contact form.
• Onboarding information: Keywords, topics, brand names, individuals, organizations, and policy areas you wish to monitor.
• Communications: Emails, messages, or other correspondence you send to us in connection with the Service.

1.2 Information collected automatically

When you use the Service or visit our website, we may automatically collect:

• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, dashboard interactions, time spent on the platform, and click patterns.
• Device and browser information: Browser type and version, operating system, screen resolution, and device type.
• Log data: IP address, access times, referring URLs, and server logs.
• Cookies and similar technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies as described in Section 6 of this Policy.

1.3 Information processed on your behalf

In the course of delivering the Service, we ingest and process publicly available information from third-party sources on your behalf, including:

• News articles from Canadian and international media outlets, accessed through news aggregation APIs and RSS feeds.
• Social media posts from public accounts on platforms such as X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.
• Government and legislative data from publicly available Canadian federal government sources.

This publicly sourced content is processed to match your configured keywords and topics. We do not collect private social media data, non-public communications, or information behind authentication walls unless explicitly authorized by the account holder.

2. How we use your information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide and operate the Service: Setting up and configuring your dashboard, processing keyword matches, generating sentiment analysis, delivering AI-powered briefings, and sending email digests.
• To communicate with you: Responding to inquiries, sending service-related emails, and providing onboarding support.
• To improve the Service: Analyzing usage patterns to improve dashboard features, performance, and user experience.
• To ensure security: Detecting and preventing unauthorized access, fraud, or abuse of the platform.
• To comply with legal obligations: Meeting our obligations under applicable Canadian federal and provincial laws.

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

3. AI processing and sentiment analysis

spark*monitoring uses artificial intelligence services provided by Anthropic (Claude API) to perform sentiment analysis and content summarization. When content is sent to the AI provider for processing:

• Only the text content of publicly available articles and posts is transmitted.
• Your personal information (name, email, organization) is not transmitted to the AI provider.
• AI processing is performed via API calls and content is not retained by the AI provider for training purposes.

You may manually override AI-generated sentiment scores at any time through the dashboard interface.

4. How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information with service providers who process data on our behalf, including cloud hosting, AI processing, email delivery, and news data providers. All are contractually obligated to protect your information.

5. Data storage, retention, and security

5.1 Data storage

Your data is stored on cloud infrastructure with appropriate security measures. Some data processing by third-party service providers may involve the transmission of data to servers located outside of Canada. In all such cases, only publicly available content or de-identified data is transmitted.

5.2 Data retention

• Active accounts: Retained for the duration of your subscription.
• After cancellation: Account data retained for 90 days, then permanently deleted.
• Contact form submissions: Retained for up to 24 months.
• Server logs: Retained for up to 12 months.

5.3 Security measures

We implement industry-standard security measures including encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest, password hashing (bcrypt), access controls via JWT authentication, and regular security reviews.

6. Cookies and tracking technologies

Our website and dashboard use essential cookies for authentication and session management, functional cookies for layout preferences, and analytics cookies to improve performance. We do not use cookies for advertising or cross-site tracking.

7. Your privacy rights

Under PIPEDA and applicable provincial privacy legislation, you have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information, and to withdraw consent. To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@sparkmonitoring.ca. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Email communications and CASL compliance

spark*monitoring only sends emails to registered account holders with express consent. You may adjust your email preferences at any time through the dashboard settings. Each non-transactional email includes an unsubscribe mechanism.

9. Children's privacy

spark*monitoring is a business-to-business service and is not directed at individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

Privacy inquiries: privacy@sparkmonitoring.ca
Website: sparkmonitoring.ca

spark*monitoring is operated by spark*advocacy, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on our website and, where appropriate, by email notification. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.