Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 27, 2026

Policy version: 2026-03-27-v1

1. Introduction

SearchStrata ("we", "us", or "our") operates the SearchStrata platform at searchstrata.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information in compliance with British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA, SBC 2003, c. 63), Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and the Strata Property Act (SBC 1998, c. 43).

2. Privacy Officer

In accordance with PIPA s. 4, we have designated a Privacy Officer responsible for our compliance with privacy legislation. For any privacy-related inquiries, requests to access or correct your personal information, or complaints, contact:

Privacy Officer
SearchStrata
Email: privacy@searchstrata.com

3. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of personal information, each for a specific identified purpose (PIPA s. 11):

  • Account information: Name, email address, and authentication data provided through our sign-up process via Clerk. Purpose: To create and manage your account, authenticate access, and communicate service updates.
  • Uploaded strata documents: Document packages (PDFs, ZIPs) you upload for analysis. These may contain personal information of strata lot owners, including names, unit numbers, financial contributions, and voting records. Purpose: To provide AI-powered document analysis as described in the service.
  • Usage data: Pages visited, features used, and interaction patterns collected through Google Analytics. Purpose: To improve our platform and user experience.
  • Payment information: Billing details processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your full credit card number. Purpose: To process transactions and manage subscriptions.
  • Consent records: Records of when and how you provided or withdrew consent. Purpose: To demonstrate compliance with PIPA consent requirements.

4. Consent

In accordance with PIPA ss. 6-8, we obtain your express consent before:

  • Collecting your personal information during account registration.
  • Processing uploaded documents using AI services (including text extraction, embedding generation, and AI-powered analysis).
  • Sharing data with third-party service providers necessary to operate the platform.

Withdrawal of consent (PIPA s. 9): You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer or through your account settings. We will inform you of the consequences of withdrawal, which may include inability to use certain features of the Service. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing performed before withdrawal.

5. Strata Documents and Third-Party Personal Information

Strata document packages (minutes, financial statements, Form B information certificates, depreciation reports, etc.) routinely contain personal information of other strata lot owners. Under the Strata Property Act s. 36, certain documents are available to owners and purchasers, but this does not remove PIPA obligations regarding the personal information contained within them.

By uploading strata documents, you represent that:

  • You obtained the documents through lawful means (e.g., as a strata lot owner, prospective purchaser with a Form B request, or authorized real estate professional).
  • You understand these documents may contain personal information of other individuals.
  • You acknowledge that SearchStrata will process these documents solely for the purpose of providing you with analysis and will not use the personal information of third parties for any other purpose.

We implement technical safeguards to minimize exposure of third-party personal information, including limiting AI analysis to aggregate patterns rather than individual-level data where possible.

6. How We Use Your Information

We use personal information only for the purposes identified at or before the time of collection (PIPA s. 11):

  • To provide and maintain our document analysis service, including AI-powered reports, summaries, and question answering.
  • To process your transactions and manage your subscription.
  • To improve our platform, features, and user experience.
  • To communicate with you about your account or service updates.
  • To comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms of service.

We will not use your personal information for a purpose other than those identified without obtaining your further consent (PIPA s. 12).

7. Data Storage and Security

In accordance with PIPA s. 34, we protect personal information with security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information:

  • Data residency: All document storage is on AWS infrastructure in Canadian regions (ca-central-1, Montreal).
  • Encryption in transit: All data transmitted over TLS 1.2+.
  • Encryption at rest: AES-256 server-side encryption on all stored documents.
  • Access controls: Role-based access with per-request ownership verification. Users can only access their own documents.
  • Audit logging: All document access, uploads, and processing events are logged with timestamps and IP addresses.
  • Presigned URLs: Temporary download links expire after 15 minutes.
  • Database security: Row-level security enabled on all tables; SSL-encrypted database connections.

8. Third-Party Service Providers

We disclose personal information to the following third-party service providers solely for the purposes of operating our platform (PIPA s. 18). Each provider processes data under contractual obligations to protect your information:

  • Clerk: Authentication and user management. Processes: email, name, authentication tokens.
  • Stripe: Payment processing and subscription management. Processes: billing information, transaction records.
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS): Document storage (S3, ca-central-1), text extraction (Textract), and AI embeddings (Bedrock). Processes: uploaded documents, extracted text.
  • Anthropic: AI-powered document analysis and question answering. Processes: document text content for analysis. Anthropic does not retain submitted data for model training per their commercial terms.
  • Google Analytics: Anonymous usage analytics. Processes: anonymized interaction data.
  • Google Maps Platform: Address autocomplete and property images. Processes: property addresses.

We do not sell your personal information to any third party. We do not disclose personal information for purposes unrelated to providing the Service.

9. Data Retention and Disposal

In accordance with PIPA s. 35, we retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected:

  • Active accounts: Account information and documents are retained while your account is active.
  • Document retention period: Uploaded documents are assigned a default retention period of 2 years from the upload date, aligned with the Strata Property Act s. 35 record-keeping requirements. You may delete documents at any time before expiry.
  • Automatic purge: Documents past their retention date are automatically and permanently deleted from both our database and file storage.
  • Account deletion: When you delete your account, all associated data (documents, reports, conversations, consent records) is permanently removed within 30 days from our systems and third-party storage.
  • Audit logs: Retained for 7 years as required for regulatory compliance and dispute resolution.

10. Your Rights Under PIPA

Under PIPA, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

  • Right of access (s. 23): Request a copy of all personal information we hold about you. You can export your data at any time from your account settings or via our data export API.
  • Right of correction (s. 24): Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
  • Right to withdraw consent (s. 9): Withdraw your consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions.
  • Right to deletion: Request deletion of your personal information. You can delete individual properties and documents from your dashboard, or delete your entire account.
  • Right to complain (s. 46): File a complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) if you believe we have contravened PIPA.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@searchstrata.com. We will respond within 30 business days as required by PIPA s. 28.

11. Breach Notification

In the event of a privacy breach involving your personal information that poses a real risk of significant harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) as required by PIPA s. 29.1. Notification will include the nature of the breach, the personal information involved, steps we have taken to mitigate harm, and recommended actions you can take to protect yourself.

12. Cookies

We use essential cookies required for authentication and session management. We also use Google Analytics cookies to understand how visitors interact with our platform. You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may prevent you from using authenticated features of the Service.

13. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email and/or by posting a prominent notice on the Service before the changes take effect. Where required by PIPA, we will obtain fresh consent for any new purposes of collection, use, or disclosure. Each version of this policy is identified by a version number for consent tracking purposes. Your continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@searchstrata.com.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia:
www.oipc.bc.ca
Phone: 250-387-5629