Effective Date: May 1, 2024
Muskoka Lakes Real Estate Limited Brokerage Online Privacy Statement
Muskoka Lakes Real Estate Limited Brokerage (collectively, “Muskoka Lakes Real Estate Limited Brokerage” “we,” “our,” or “us”) are committed to privacy and to transparency in our information practices. This Privacy Notice describes how we collect, use, disclose, and otherwise process the personal information described in this Privacy Notice, as well as the rights and choices individuals have regarding such personal information. This Privacy Notice applies to the extent we process personal data on our own behalf, as a controller or business.
1. SCOPE OF THIS PRIVACY NOTICE
This Privacy Notice applies to our collection, use, disclosure, and other processing of personal information related to:
- Our website that display or link to this Privacy Notice and our other services, products, and technology solutions (collectively, the “ Services ”).
- Former, current, and prospective clients, brokers, independent agents, real estate professionals, and customers.
- Other individuals who use our Services, whose personal information we receive related to the Services, or who otherwise interact or communicate with us related to our Services or our business.
Our collection, use, disclosure, and processing of personal information about individuals will vary depending upon the circumstances. This Privacy Notice is intended to describe our overall privacy and data protection practices.
Not covered by this Privacy Notice. This Privacy Notice does not apply to our employees and non-employee workers.
Additional privacy notices. In some cases, different or additional notices about our data collection and processing practices may be provided and apply to our processing of certain personal information. The additional notice will control to the extent there is a conflict with this Privacy Notice, with respect to your personal information that is subject to that notice.
2. OUR COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Generally, we collect your personal information on a voluntary basis. However, if you decline to provide certain personal information that is marked mandatory, you may not be able to access certain Services or we may be unable to fully respond to your inquiry.
We may collect personal information directly from individuals, automatically related to the use of the Services, and in some cases, from third parties (such as social networks, platform providers, payment processors, data providers, and operators of certain third- party services that we use). In some cases (such as where required by law), we ask for your consent or give you certain choices prior to collecting or using certain personal information.
Information we collect directly. We collect information that you provide to us when you: create an account with us or register to use certain Services; submit a webform to us or otherwise contact us; participate in surveys or promotions; register for events that we sponsor; or, submit information about real estate interests and preferences (e.g., search criteria for new home purchases). This personal information we may collect generally includes:
- Contact information and profile data: such as your name, address, email and other contact information, as well as any personal data you post or submit, such as demographics, preferences, or that you otherwise submit to us through your account.
- Real estate and property information: information about past and present property purchases, sales and listings (such as address, price, photos, and property details) and other information you provide such as real estate searches and preferences, whether you plan on buying or selling real estate, home search criteria and preferences, language preferences, household members, information about financing for the purchase of real estate, co-owners, and other information related to the purchase or sale of real estate.
- Payment and purchase information: in some circumstances, we may collect purchase and payment information in order to process payments to or from you, such as your credit card number, direct deposit or financial account number, billing address, and other account information.
- Communications and interactions: when you email, call, or otherwise communicate with us and with members of our team, we collect and maintain a record of your contact details, communications and our responses. We also maintain records, communications and information that you post in chat sessions, forums and in other areas of the Services, as well as on our social media channels, and information you provide to us related to any customer support requests.
- Other information: in some cases, we may collect personal information, such as driver’s license, SSN, tax IDs, and other government identifiers. For example, where necessary to establish or verify your identity, complete a transaction or comply with a legal obligation. This information is considered sensitive personal information under certain privacy laws. We do not sell or share this information or use it for marketing purposes.
3. PURPOSES AND LEGAL BASIS FOR OUR PROCESSING
- Performance of contract: as necessary to enter into or carry out the performance of our contract with you.
- Compliance with laws: for compliance with legal obligations and/or defense against legal claims, including those in the area of labor and employment law, social security, data protection, tax, and corporate compliance laws.
- Our legitimate interests: in furtherance of our legitimate business interests including, for example:
- Performance of contracts with franchisees and other parties
- Implementation and operation of global support (e.g., IT) services for our business operations
- Customer relationship management and improving our Services, including marketing and analytics
- Marketing and advertising
- Fraud prevention, including misuse of company IT systems or money laundering
- Internal investigations
- Mergers, acquisitions, and reorganization, and other business transactions
- With your consent: in some cases, we rely on your consent to collect and process your personal information.
Purposes of collection and processing. We use, disclose and otherwise process the personal information (described above) that we collect, for the purposes set forth below.
In general, we use the personal information we collect in order to respond to your request and provide you with the Services or information you have requested. This may include, for example, if you have requested information about property listings or to be connected with buyer or seller agents to assist you with home searches and real estate transactions, we may collect and disclose information about you and your request in order to facilitate communications among you, independent real estate professionals, our affiliated entities, and other users of the Services. If you express an interest in a listing or request information, we may send you information in response to your request and we may share your information so that a broker or agent can respond to your request.
We may also process the personal information (described above) that we collect, for the following business and commercial purposes:
- Providing support and related services: to operate our Services; to communicate with you about your access to and use of our Services; to respond to your inquiries; to provide troubleshooting, fulfill your requests, and provide technical support; and for other customer service and support purposes. (Legal basis: performance of our contract with you; and our legitimate interests)
- Analyzing and improving our business: including to better understand how users access and use our Services, to evaluate and improve our Services and business operations, and to develop new features, offerings, and services; to conduct surveys, and other evaluations, such as customer satisfaction surveys; and for other research and analytical purposes. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests)
- Personalizing content and experiences: including to provide or recommend features, content, social connections, and referrals; tailor content we send or display on our Services; to offer location customization and personalized help and instructions; and to otherwise personalize your experiences. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests and/or with your consent)
- Advertising, marketing and promotional purposes: including to reach you with more relevant ads and to evaluate, measure, and improve the effectiveness of our ad campaigns; to send you newsletters, offers, or other information we think may interest you; to contact you about our Services or information we think may interest you; to administer surveys, promotions and contests; to share information of new home sales and enable other businesses to contact you about products and services you may be interested in, such as home warranties. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests and/or with your consent)
- Securing and protecting our business: including to protect and secure our business operations, assets, Services, network and information and technology resources; to investigate, prevent, detect and take action regarding fraud, unauthorized access, situations involving potential threats to the rights or safety of any person or third party, or other unauthorized activities or misconduct. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests and/or compliance with laws)
- Defending our legal rights: including to manage and respond to actual and potential legal disputes and claims, and to otherwise establish, defend or protect our rights or interests, including in the context of anticipated or actual litigation with third parties. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests and/or compliance with laws)
- Planning and facilitating business transactions: related to any actual or contemplated merger, acquisition, asset sale or transfer, financing, bankruptcy or restructuring of all or part of our business. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests and/or compliance with laws)
- Auditing, reporting, corporate governance, and internal operations: including relating to financial, tax and accounting; audits and assessments of our operations; quality control and training; privacy, security and financial controls; risk, and compliance with legal obligations; and our general business, record keeping and legal functions. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests and/or compliance with laws)
- Complying with legal obligations: including to comply with the law, our legal obligations and legal process, warrants, subpoenas, court orders, and regulatory or law enforcement requests. (Legal basis: our legitimate interests and/or compliance with laws)
4. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We may disclose the personal information we collect to third parties, as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above and as otherwise directed or consented to by you, which may include:
- Service providers: to third-party service providers who use this information to perform services for us, such as hosting providers, auditors, advisors, consultants, and customer service and support providers.
- Business transfers: as part of any actual or contemplated merger, sale, and transfer of our assets, acquisition, financing or restructuring of all or part of our business, bankruptcy or similar event; and prior to the completion of such a transfer, where necessary for due diligence or to plan for the transfer, such as to lenders, auditors, and third-party advisors, such attorneys and consultants, where permitted by law.
- Legally required: where we are required to do so by law or legal process (e.g., to law enforcement, courts or others, or in response to a subpoena or court order).
- Protect our rights: where we believe it necessary to respond to claims asserted against us or, comply with legal process (e.g., subpoenas or warrants), enforce or administer our agreements and terms, for fraud prevention, risk assessment, investigation, and to protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our clients and customers or others. including personal information, related to litigation and other legal claims or proceedings in which we are involved, as well as for our internal accounting, auditing, compliance, recordkeeping, and legal functions
Access, amendment and deletion. Under applicable privacy laws, you may have the right to request to review, make amendments, have deleted or otherwise exercise your rights over your personal information that we hold, subject to certain legal limitations and requirements. If you are subject to such a privacy law, you may submit a request to us related to your personal information.
We will process in accordance with and where required by applicable law, and with respect to your personal information that is linked or linkable to the email that you use to send us your request and the verifiable information provided by you as a part of your request. We will take steps to verify your identity before implementing your request.
Please note that we may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes and/or to complete any transactions that you began prior to requesting a change or deletion. There may also be residual information that will remain within our databases and other records, which will not be removed. We may not always be able to fully address your request, for example if it would impact the duty of confidentiality we owe to others, or if we are legally entitled to deal with the request in a different way.