Privacy Policy

1. About Childcare Finder

Childcare Finder is an online marketplace designed to help parents and guardians find childcare providers and help childcare providers advertise their services.

Childcare Finder does not provide childcare services directly. We provide an online platform that allows parents, guardians, and childcare providers to connect.

2. Personal information we collect

We may collect personal information when you create an account, browse the Platform, create a listing, contact another user, purchase a subscription, submit a form, communicate with us, or otherwise use Childcare Finder.

The information we collect may include:

• Your name.
• Email address.
• Phone number.
• City, province, and general location.
• Account login information.
• Profile information.
• Provider business name.
• Provider service details.
• Provider address or service area.
• Photos, descriptions, and listing content.
• Parent or guardian childcare needs.
• Child-related information that you choose to provide, such as child age range, care schedule, start date, preferred location, and type of care needed.
• Messages and communications sent through the Platform.
• Subscription and billing details.
• Payment status and transaction records.
• Reviews, ratings, feedback, or reports.
• Device information, IP address, browser type, and usage information.
• Any other information you choose to provide.

We do not intentionally require users to provide highly sensitive information unless it is necessary for the operation of the Platform or voluntarily provided by the user.

3. Children’s information

Childcare Finder is intended for use by adults, including parents, guardians, and childcare providers. Children are not permitted to create accounts or use the Platform directly.

Parents and guardians may choose to provide limited information about a child for the purpose of finding childcare, such as age, schedule, care needs, or preferred start date.

Users should not post unnecessary sensitive information about children, including full names, exact birthdates, health details, school details, personal identification numbers, or other information that is not needed to find childcare.

If we become aware that a child has created an account or provided personal information without appropriate consent, we may delete that information and suspend the account.

4. How we collect information

We may collect information directly from you when you:

• Create an account.
• Create or edit a profile or listing.
• Post a childcare request.
• Purchase or manage a subscription.
• Send messages through the Platform.
• Contact us for support.
• Submit forms, feedback, reviews, or reports.
• Use or browse the Platform.

We may also collect information automatically through cookies, analytics tools, log files, and similar technologies.

5. How we use personal information

Childcare Finder may use personal information to:

• Create and manage user accounts.
• Allow childcare providers to create and manage listings.
• Allow parents and guardians to search for childcare providers.
• Allow users to contact and communicate with each other.
• Process subscriptions, payments, billing, renewals, and cancellations.
• Verify payment status and access rights.
• Display provider listings, parent requests, profiles, reviews, and other user content.
• Improve search results, filters, recommendations, and user experience.
• Provide customer support.
• Respond to questions, complaints, reports, and safety concerns.
• Monitor, prevent, and address misuse, fraud, spam, abuse, or unsafe activity.
• Enforce our Terms of Service and other policies.
• Send service-related notices, account updates, billing notices, and important platform communications.
• Send marketing emails or promotional messages, where permitted by law.
• Analyze usage, improve the Platform, and develop new features.
• Comply with legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, safety, and law enforcement obligations.

6. Legal basis and consent

By using Childcare Finder and providing personal information, you consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.

Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information for specific purposes.

You may withdraw your consent where permitted by law. However, withdrawing consent may limit your ability to use certain features of the Platform.

7. Information shared with other users

Certain information you provide may be visible to other users.

For childcare providers, this may include:

• Provider name or business name.
• Service area or location.
• Description of childcare services.
• Photos and listing details.
• Hours, rates, age groups, availability, and program information.
• Reviews or ratings, if available.

For parents or guardians, this may include:

• Information included in a childcare request.
• General location or preferred service area.
• Childcare schedule, start date, and care preferences.
• Messages sent to providers.

Users should only share information they are comfortable making available to other users.

8. Messages and communications

Childcare Finder may allow users to communicate through the Platform.

Messages may be stored, reviewed, or accessed where necessary to operate the Platform, provide support, enforce our Terms of Service, investigate misuse, respond to safety concerns, comply with legal obligations, or protect users and the Platform.

Users are responsible for the information they choose to share in messages.

9. Payments and subscriptions

Childcare Finder may collect payment-related information for subscriptions, provider listings, parent access, featured listings, or other paid features.

Payments may be processed by third-party payment providers, such as Stripe or another payment processor. Childcare Finder may receive limited payment information, such as payment status, transaction records, subscription plan, billing email, last four digits of a payment card, and payment dates.

We do not intend to store full credit card numbers directly on our own systems.

Payment processors may collect, use, and store payment information according to their own terms and privacy policies.

10. Third-party service providers

We may share personal information with third-party service providers that help us operate Childcare Finder.

These service providers may include:

• Website hosting providers.
• Marketplace platform providers.
• Payment processors.
• Email and communication providers.
• Analytics providers.
• Customer support tools.
• Security and fraud prevention services.
• Cloud storage providers.
• Marketing and advertising tools.
• Professional advisors, such as lawyers, accountants, or consultants.

We only share information with service providers where reasonably necessary for them to provide services to us or where otherwise permitted by law.

11. Legal and safety disclosures

We may disclose personal information if we believe it is reasonably necessary to:

• Comply with a law, regulation, court order, subpoena, or legal process.
• Respond to lawful requests from government, regulatory, or law enforcement authorities.
• Enforce our Terms of Service or other policies.
• Protect the rights, safety, property, or security of Childcare Finder, users, children, families, providers, or the public.
• Investigate fraud, abuse, spam, security incidents, or unsafe activity.
• Report safety concerns or suspected harm where required or permitted by law.

12. Business transfers

If Childcare Finder is involved in a merger, acquisition, sale, financing, restructuring, transfer of assets, or similar business transaction, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

If this happens, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information remains protected.

13. Cookies and analytics

Childcare Finder may use cookies, pixels, analytics tools, and similar technologies to:

• Keep users logged in.
• Remember preferences.
• Improve website performance.
• Understand how users use the Platform.
• Measure traffic and engagement.
• Detect security issues.
• Support marketing and advertising.

You may be able to adjust your browser settings to block or delete cookies. However, some parts of the Platform may not work properly without cookies.

14. Marketing communications

We may send marketing emails, promotional messages, updates, or newsletters where permitted by law.

You may unsubscribe from marketing emails by using the unsubscribe link in the email or contacting us.

Even if you unsubscribe from marketing messages, we may still send important service-related messages, such as account notices, payment notices, security alerts, policy updates, or support messages.

15. How we protect personal information

We use reasonable physical, technical, and organizational safeguards to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, loss, theft, misuse, or alteration.

However, no website, platform, database, or internet transmission is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Users are responsible for keeping their account login information confidential and for notifying us if they believe their account has been accessed without permission.

16. Retention of personal information

We keep personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

We may retain information to:

• Provide the Platform.
• Maintain account records.
• Process payments and subscriptions.
• Resolve disputes.
• Enforce our Terms of Service.
• Meet legal, tax, accounting, or reporting obligations.
• Address safety, fraud, or security concerns.

When personal information is no longer needed, we will delete, anonymize, or securely store it according to our retention practices.

17. Accessing and correcting your information

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you, subject to legal limits.

You may also request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.

To make a request, contact us using the contact information listed at the end of this Privacy Policy.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

18. Deleting your account

You may request deletion of your account by contacting us.

If your account is deleted, we may still retain certain information where required or permitted by law, including information needed for legal compliance, payment records, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, safety concerns, or enforcement of our Terms of Service.

Some content that has already been shared with other users, such as messages or reviews, may not be fully removable from their accounts or records.

19. International storage and transfers

Childcare Finder may use service providers located in Canada, the United States, or other countries.

As a result, personal information may be stored or processed outside your province or country of residence. When personal information is processed outside Canada, it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction.

By using the Platform, you understand that your personal information may be transferred to and processed in other jurisdictions.

20. User responsibilities

Users are responsible for protecting the privacy of others.

You agree not to misuse personal information obtained through the Platform. This includes contact details, childcare information, provider information, parent information, child-related information, messages, or other private information.

You must not collect, copy, sell, publish, share, harass, spam, or misuse another user’s personal information.

21. Privacy of childcare providers

Childcare providers should carefully choose what information they include in public listings.

If a daycare is operated from a home address, providers should consider whether they want to show the exact address publicly or only show a general service area until they choose to share more information with a parent or guardian.

Providers are responsible for ensuring that their listings do not disclose private information about children, families, staff, assistants, or other individuals without permission.

22. Privacy of parents and guardians

Parents and guardians should avoid sharing unnecessary sensitive information about themselves or their children.

Parents should only provide information that is reasonably needed to find childcare, such as general location, child age range, schedule, start date, and care preferences.

Parents should not post full names of children, exact birthdates, medical information, school names, custody information, or other sensitive details unless necessary and shared privately with a trusted provider.

23. Privacy breaches

If we become aware of a privacy or security incident involving personal information, we will take reasonable steps to assess and respond to the incident.

Where required by law, we may notify affected users, regulators, or other appropriate parties.

24. Links to third-party websites

The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, services, tools, or resources.

Childcare Finder is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or policies of third-party websites or services.

You should review the privacy policies of any third-party services you use.

25. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

If we make changes, we will post the updated Privacy Policy on the Platform and update the “Last Updated” date.

Your continued use of the Platform after changes are posted means you accept the updated Privacy Policy.

26. Contact us