Privacy policy
Version 2026-10-07 · In effect October 7, 2026 · Applies to www.ottawasmallclaims.ca and api.ottawasmallclaims.ca
OttawaSmallClaims.ca is operated by Alexander Salem ("we"), who is responsible for the personal information described here. Privacy questions and requests: privacy@ottawasmallclaims.ca, or 150 Elgin St, 8th Floor, Ottawa ON K2P 1L4 (attention: Privacy).
What we collect, and why
| Information | Why | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Your email address | Your account: sign-in codes, receipts, order updates | You |
| Your name and mailing address, as they appear for you on the document served | Mailing the affidavit; invoices and GST/HST | You |
| Your phone number (optional) | Reaching you about a service | You |
| Your language | Emails in English, French, Spanish or Arabic | You |
| Order details: each recipient’s name, the service address and any second address, options, any custom request, serve-by date or court file number | Performing the service | You |
| Optional details about each recipient: description, photo, phone, vehicle, access and timing notes | Helping the process server find and recognise them | You |
| Documents you upload (court documents) | Serving them, and checking they were issued | You |
| Card billing details | Payment | You, on Stripe’s payment page |
| Payment confirmation (amount, date, Stripe reference) | Accounting, refunds | Stripe |
| Your support requests and our answers | Helping you | You |
| A one-way hash of your IP address | Limiting abuse of sign-in and quotes; never the address itself | Your browser |
| Passkeys you add (optional): a public key, the device’s name, when it was added and last used | Signing in without an emailed code | Your device |
We do not see or store card numbers: Stripe handles them. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies, or advertising trackers. The site sets one cookie, the sign-in session, which is strictly necessary. Visits to our public pages (not your account) are counted with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which sets no cookie and stores nothing on your device: it records the page, the referring page, your browser and device type, your country (derived from your IP address) and page-load times. We use these statistics only in aggregate, never to identify anyone.
The recipient’s information
Orders contain information about each person being served (name, address or addresses, and what the court document says), and any description or photo you choose to add. We use it only to serve the document and prepare the affidavits, as the court process requires: it is seen only by us and the process server, and we protect it like our customers’ information. The descriptions, photos and access notes are deleted with the documents.
Information given for an order is used for that order, and for the orders you link to it, only. We may point out that two of your own orders share a court file number; we never use one customer’s information for another customer’s order.
This includes people we serve at an address in Quebec (for example in Gatineau): we collect their information only in connection with an Ontario Small Claims Court document and handle it the same way. They can ask for a copy or a correction, or raise a concern, at privacy@ottawasmallclaims.ca.
Service providers
We use a few providers to run the service. Each gets only what it needs:
| Provider | For | Where data is stored |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure (Canada Central) | Hosting, database, documents, email sending | Canada (Toronto) |
| Stripe | Payments | Canada and the United States |
| Google Maps Platform | Address suggestions and driving distance: the address you type is sent to Google | United States |
| Cloudflare (Turnstile) | Checking that sign-in and quote requests come from a person: your IP address and technical details of your browser are sent to Cloudflare | United States and other countries |
| Cloudflare (Web Analytics) | Counting visits to our public pages, without cookies: the page viewed, the referring page and technical details of your browser are sent to Cloudflare | United States and other countries |
| Microsoft 365 | Our mailboxes, when you write to us | Canada |
Information handled by providers outside Canada may be accessible to authorities there under their laws.
How long we keep it
| Information | Kept |
|---|---|
| Documents you uploaded, and the recipients’ photos, descriptions and access notes (for every address) | Deleted 90 days after the order is completed or cancelled |
| Unfinished orders (never paid) and their documents | Deleted after 12 months without activity, or when you delete them |
| Paid orders (including the record of each attempt and our copy of the affidavit), invoices, payments and refunds | 6 years, for tax records and in case the service is questioned |
| Your account | Until you ask us to close it (paid-order records are still kept as above) |
| Passkeys | Until you remove them, or close your account |
Emails
Transactional emails (sign-in codes, receipts, order updates) are part of the service. If you start an order and do not finish it, we may send reminders for up to 6 months after your last activity; each reminder has a one-click unsubscribe.
Security
Connections are encrypted (HTTPS). Sign-in codes and sessions are stored only as keyed hashes; documents are in private storage reached only by our systems; access to orders is limited to your account and to the operator, who signs in with a Microsoft work account, and to the operator's own read-only tools, which use a separate credential that cannot change anything. If you add a passkey, we keep only its public key: the private key, and your face or fingerprint, never leave your device.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, correct it, or close your account:
- From your account (Privacy & your data): ask for a copy, which you download once we approve it, or ask to close your account. Your name, phone and language can be corrected in your profile at any time.
- By email, whether or not you have an account (for example, if you are the person being served): privacy@ottawasmallclaims.ca.
We answer within 30 days, at no charge. Information that is the subject of a pending request is kept until the request is closed. Closing an account deletes your profile, passkeys, unpaid orders, uploaded documents and support conversations; records of paid orders are kept 6 years, for tax records. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca).
Changes
We will post any change here, with its date.