This Privacy Policy explains how BuzzLayer (buzzlayer.org), owned and operated by Northern Beacon Media Inc., handles your personal information when you visit our site, read our journalism, or contact us. We have written this page in plain language so you can understand your rights and our responsibilities under Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). If you have any questions at any point, please reach out to our privacy team at privacy@buzzlayer.org.
What personal data does BuzzLayer collect about me?
We collect only the personal information that you voluntarily provide or that is necessary to operate our website and deliver our journalism. This includes your name and email address if you subscribe to our newsletter via /about-us/newsletter/, submit a news tip through /about-us/tip-us/, or contact us at info@buzzlayer.org. We also collect technical data such as your IP address, browser type, and pages visited through cookies and similar technologies, as described in our Cookie Policy. We never collect sensitive data like health or financial information unless you explicitly provide it in a message to us, and we will only use it for the purpose you intended.
When you comment on articles or engage with our editorial team, we may collect your name and contact details. Our fact-checking team, led by Priya Sharma at priya.sharma@buzzlayer.org, may also retain correspondence related to source verification. In all cases, we collect only what is reasonably needed to serve you and improve our coverage of Canadian technology, innovation, and public-interest stories.
Why do you collect my data and how long do you keep it?
We collect your data for specific, identified purposes: to send you our newsletter, respond to your inquiries, process tips and corrections, improve our website, and comply with legal obligations. Each purpose is clearly explained at the point of collection, and we never use your information for anything incompatible with those purposes. For example, if you subscribe to our newsletter, we use your email only to deliver that newsletter and related updates about our journalism.
We retain your personal data only as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by Canadian law. Newsletter subscriber data is kept until you unsubscribe. Correspondence with our editorial team, including tips sent to tips@buzzlayer.org, is retained for up to two years after the matter is resolved. Technical logs are anonymized after 12 months. When data is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymize it. Our Standards & Fact-Checking Lead, Priya Sharma, oversees these retention schedules to ensure compliance with PIPEDA.
Do you share my data with anyone? Do you sell it?
We never sell your personal data to anyone. That is a firm commitment from Northern Beacon Media Inc. and our Editor-in-Chief, Alex Nguyen. We share your information only with trusted service providers who help us operate the site, such as our email delivery platform and web hosting provider, and only under contracts that require them to protect your data and use it solely for our instructions. We may also disclose information if required by law, such as a court order or regulatory request from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Our commercial partnerships, including display advertising and affiliate links, are governed by strict agreements that prohibit partners from accessing your personal data unless you explicitly consent. Sponsored content is clearly labelled, and affiliate links are disclosed as per our Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure. No commercial relationship ever determines our editorial conclusions, as stated in our Ownership & Funding page.
What are my rights over my personal data?
Under PIPEDA, you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, request corrections if it is inaccurate, and withdraw your consent to our collection or use of your data at any time. You can exercise these rights by emailing our privacy team at privacy@buzzlayer.org. We will respond to your request within 30 days, as required by law. If you withdraw consent, we will stop using your data for the purpose you originally agreed to, though we may need to retain certain records for legal or administrative reasons.
You also have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe we have mishandled your information. You can reach them at https://www.priv.gc.ca/. We encourage you to contact us first at privacy@buzzlayer.org so we can resolve any concerns directly. Our Complaints Procedure outlines the steps we follow to address privacy issues.
How this works in practice
Imagine you send a news tip to our newsdesk at newsdesk@buzzlayer.org about a new Canadian startup. You include your name, email, and phone number. Our Startups & Innovation Correspondent, Chris O’Brien, reviews your tip. Under this policy, we use your contact details only to follow up with you about the tip and to verify the information. We do not add you to any marketing lists or share your details with the startup. After two years, if the story is no longer active, we delete your correspondence. If you later decide you do not want us to keep your data, you email privacy@buzzlayer.org and we remove it within 30 days, unless we need to retain a record for legal reasons. That is how we apply PIPEDA principles to real interactions.
Who is responsible for my data at BuzzLayer?
The data controller for all personal information collected through BuzzLayer is Northern Beacon Media Inc., an Ontario corporation registered under number 1003194827, with its registered office at Unit 12, 95 King Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1G4, Canada. Our Editor-in-Chief, Alex Nguyen, has overall responsibility for editorial standards and privacy practices, and can be reached at alex.nguyen@buzzlayer.org or +1 416 555 0220. Day-to-day privacy operations are managed by our privacy team at privacy@buzzlayer.org, which works closely with our Standards & Fact-Checking Lead, Priya Sharma.
We are committed to transparency about how we operate. You can learn more about our ownership and funding model on our Ownership & Funding page, and about our editorial standards on our Editorial Policy page. Our AI & Automation Policy explains how we use digital tools while ensuring human editorial judgement always prevails. For any privacy-related questions, please contact us directly.
In short
BuzzLayer and Northern Beacon Media Inc. collect only the personal information you choose to share, use it only for the purposes you expect, and never sell it. You have full control over your data through our privacy team at privacy@buzzlayer.org, and you can always escalate concerns to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. We are here to earn your trust every day through clear, accountable journalism.