Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

A Better Way Technology Group (“the Group”, “we”, “us” or “our”) directs five service lines and develops new ventures through a seven-stage lifecycle: Idea, Planning, Prototype, MVP, Systemization, Passoff and Govern/Sell.

The Group operates through various legal entities in Canada and the United States, which are responsible for the personal information described in this policy. Conrad Brodeur acts as an agent of the companies in the Group. To reach an agent of the companies in the Group:

• Canadian address: #110 4914 – 50 Ave, Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada · 403-879-6728
• United States address: 32 N Gould St, Sheridan, WY 82801 · 509-381-3920
• General enquiries: hello@betterway.group
• Privacy questions and requests: conrad@betterway.group

Because the Group operates in both Canada and the United States, we handle personal information in line with the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and, for residents of Quebec, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector as amended by Law 25. For residents of the United States, we extend the rights described in section 10 consistent with US state privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA).

2. What this policy covers

This policy applies to personal information we handle when you:

• visit betterway.group;
• email us, or speak with us about a service, partnership or venture; and
• engage us as a client, partner or collaborator.

Each venture or service line may publish its own privacy policy for its own website and services. Where it does, that policy applies to that site or service.

3. Information we collect

a. Information you send us

This website has no contact forms, booking widgets or sign-up forms. You reach us by email. When you do, we receive your name, email address, any other contact details you include, and the content of your message and attachments.

b. Engagement and venture information

Business development work runs on sensitive material. When you engage us, or discuss a possible engagement, you may share:

• business plans, strategy documents, pitch materials and venture concepts;
• financial statements, forecasts, cap tables and ownership details;
• customer, supplier and market data, which may contain personal information about other people;
• access credentials for systems, accounts and tools; and
• names, roles and contact details of founders, staff, advisers and other stakeholders.

We treat all of this as confidential. Access is limited to the people working on your engagement, and we use it only for that engagement. When you give us personal information about other people, such as your customers or staff, we handle it on your behalf and you are responsible for having the authority to share it with us.

c. Billing information

For clients, we keep the details needed to invoice and account for our work: names, business name, billing address, invoices and payment records.

d. Information collected automatically

When you visit the site, our hosting and security provider, Cloudflare, processes technical data such as your IP address, browser type, device type, the pages requested, the referring address and timestamps. This is needed to deliver the site and protect it from abuse.

If, and only if, you opt in to analytics through our cookie banner, we also collect aggregate, cookieless usage statistics (see section 5).

4. How we use information

We use personal information only for the purpose it was shared for, or a purpose a reasonable person would expect:

• To respond to you and continue conversations you start.
• To deliver engagements: strategy, planning, prototypes and MVPs, systemizing operations, and preparing a business for hand-off or sale.
• To run the business: invoicing, accounting, record keeping and managing our relationship with you.
• To keep the site secure and prevent fraud or abuse.
• To improve the site, using aggregate analytics, if you have opted in.
• To meet legal obligations, including tax, accounting and regulatory requirements.

We do not use automated decision-making to make decisions about you, we do not build profiles of visitors, and we do not use your information for targeted or cross-context behavioural advertising. If we want to use your information for a new purpose, we will ask for your consent first unless the law permits otherwise.

5. Cookies and analytics

We keep tracking to a minimum. There are no advertising pixels on this site, and our fonts are hosted on our own site, so loading a page does not send your details to a font provider.

Analytics are off until you opt in. We use two privacy-focused analytics tools, Umami and Cloudflare Web Analytics. Both are cookieless and report aggregate statistics, such as page views and referring sites, without identifying you. Neither loads unless you choose to allow analytics in our cookie banner.

Privacy signals are respected. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) or Do Not Track signal, we treat it as a choice to opt out and do not load analytics.

You can change your mind at any time using the “Cookie settings” link in the site footer. You can also clear or block cookies in your browser settings; the site will still work.

6. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for targeted or cross-context behavioural advertising. We have not done so in the past twelve months. We disclose personal information only in these limited cases:

• Service providers who help us run the business, such as website hosting and security, email, file storage, analytics (if you opt in), accounting and banking. They may use the information only to provide their service to us, under confidentiality and security obligations.
• Professional advisers, such as lawyers and accountants, who are bound by confidentiality.
• People you ask us to work with on your engagement, such as your other advisers, partners or a prospective buyer you introduce, with your direction or consent.
• Business transactions. When a venture is handed off or sold, or if our business is reorganized or sold, personal information connected with it may be disclosed to the other party. Before completion, the recipient must agree to use it only for the transaction and to protect it; afterwards, it may use it only for the purposes for which it was originally collected.
• Legal requirements. When required by law, a court order or a lawful request from authorities, or to protect our rights, property or safety, or that of others.

7. Where information is stored

The Group is based in, and operates from, both Canada and the United States, and our service providers, including our hosting, security and analytics providers, operate in both countries. Personal information may therefore be stored or processed in either country. Information held in a country is subject to that country’s laws and may be accessible to its courts, law enforcement and national security authorities.

Notice to Quebec residents: your personal information may be communicated outside Quebec. Before doing so, we assess whether it will receive adequate protection, taking into account its sensitivity, the purpose of the transfer, the safeguards in place and the legal framework where it will be held, and we put written safeguards in place with the recipient.

8. Keeping information secure

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards suited to the sensitivity of the information, including access limited to people who need it for your engagement, encrypted connections to this site, and careful handling of the credentials you entrust to us. Confidential venture materials such as business plans, financials, cap tables and customer data are never used outside the engagement they were shared for.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please avoid sending passwords or other credentials in an ordinary email; we will arrange a safer way to share them.

9. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected for, or as the law requires:

• Enquiries and correspondence: 2 years after our last contact.
• Engagement and venture records: for the length of the engagement, plus 2 years.
• Billing and accounting records: 7 years, to meet tax and accounting requirements.
• Cloudflare request logs: according to Cloudflare’s retention policy, typically about 30 days.
• Your cookie consent record (bwg_consent): 12 months.

If information was used to make a decision about you, we keep it long enough for you to request access to it. When a retention period ends, we securely delete the information or anonymize it so it can no longer identify you.

10. Your privacy rights

a. Everyone in Canada

Under PIPEDA and Alberta’s PIPA, you may:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request access to it;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• withdraw your consent, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice (withdrawing may affect our ability to continue working with you); and
• ask us to delete your information, unless we must keep it by law or to complete an existing obligation.

We respond within 30 days. If we need more time, or cannot fulfil a request, we will tell you why, within that period and as the law allows.

b. Quebec residents

In addition to the rights above, under Quebec’s Law 25 you may:

• receive computerized personal information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used technological format, or have it sent to another organization (data portability);
• ask us to stop disseminating your personal information, or to de-index any hyperlink attached to your name that gives access to it, where the dissemination contravenes the law or a court order or causes you serious injury; and
• be informed about the personal information we hold and how it is used.

We do not make decisions about you based exclusively on automated processing, and we do not use technology that identifies, locates or profiles you. The person in charge of the protection of personal information is Conrad Brodeur, on behalf of the companies in the Group, reachable at conrad@betterway.group. We respond to Quebec requests within 30 days.

c. United States residents

If you live in the United States, including in a state with a comprehensive privacy law such as California, you may:

• know what personal information we collect, use and disclose, and access a copy of it;
• correct inaccurate personal information;
• delete personal information, subject to legal exceptions; and
• appeal our decision if we decline your request.

We do not sell personal information, share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, or use it for targeted advertising or profiling, so there is nothing to opt out of; we honour Global Privacy Control signals regardless. We do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. We respond within 45 days, and may extend that once by a further 45 days where reasonably necessary, with notice.

d. How to make a request

Email conrad@betterway.group and tell us what you would like us to do. We may need to verify your identity before acting, using information we already hold, and we will only use the details you give us for that purpose. An authorized agent may make a request for you with your signed permission. Requests are free unless they are manifestly excessive, in which case we will tell you the cost before proceeding.

Appeals: if we decline a request, you can appeal by replying to our decision with the subject line “Privacy appeal”. We will respond in writing within the time required by the law that applies to you, explaining the outcome and how to contact your regulator if you remain unsatisfied.

11. Privacy breaches

If a breach of security safeguards involving your personal information creates a real risk of significant harm (or, in Quebec, a risk of serious injury), we will notify you and the relevant regulators without unreasonable delay, including, as applicable, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta and Quebec’s Commission d’accès à l’information. For US residents, we will give the notices required by the applicable state breach notification laws. Our notice will describe what happened, the information involved, what we are doing about it, and steps you can take to protect yourself. We keep a record of every breach as the law requires.

12. Age requirement

This website and our services are intended for people 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our practices or the law change. When we do, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we use personal information you have already given us, we will let you know and, where required, ask for your consent.

14. Contact and complaints

For questions, concerns or privacy requests, contact the person responsible for privacy.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to:

• the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: priv.gc.ca;
• the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta: oipc.ab.ca;
• Quebec’s Commission d’accès à l’information: cai.gouv.qc.ca; or
• in the United States, the privacy regulator or attorney general of your state.