Our Privacy Policy

 

SciVest Capital Management Inc. is committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of personal information that is provided by you to us.

This Privacy Policy sets out the information practices of the firm, including what kind of information is collected, how the information is used and with whom this information might be shared.


1.  Collection and Use of Personal Information

SciVest Capital Management Inc. referred to as “SciVest”, “us”, “our” or “we” reserves the right to collect, maintain and use the personal information of our managed account clients and prospective clients in various ways. We recognize how important privacy is for our current and potential clients and investors, thus we emphasize the importance of appropriate storage and protection of their personal data. Set forth below are our policies (together our “Privacy Policy”) that apply with respect to the personal information we collect from: (i) SciVest clients and prospective clients; (ii) SciVest participants, members, users and such persons' associated persons and representatives; (iii) users of the SciVest website(s) and social media pages; and (iv) any other individuals from whom SciVest collects personal data during the course of its business activities.

2. What is Personal Information?

Personal information includes any information that identifies you as an individual, such as your name, address, contact information, date of birth, financial data, and communication with us regarding your managed account or other inquiries. It may also include government-issued identifiers like your social insurance number or tax identification number. A leak of personal information can expose an individual to a risk of harm by bad actors.

3. Why do we Collect Personal Information?

We collect your personal information for the following reasons:

  • to verify your identity and protect against fraud

  • to fully understand your investment needs and objectives

  • to facilitate, maintain and administer your investments

  • to provide you with, and manage any other services you have requested

  • to comply with securities legislation and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws, where we are required to know our customer which includes collecting personal information about the customer to fulfill Know-Your-Client (KYC) requirements

  • to comply with our other legal and regulatory requirements

  • to conduct marketing activities, such as sending promotional offers or conducting market research; and

  • to enhance user experience by understanding preferences and tailoring content or recommendations.

4. How do we Collect Personal Information? 

Personal information is collected from the following sources, and is for the most part collected directly from you via:

  • forms, questionnaires, agreements, and other submissions to us and/or our service providers (such as custodians) in becoming a client of SciVest

  • meetings, email correspondence, telephone conversations and other interactions with us; and

  • contact information (email, phone number, address, etc.) that you provide to us when you request information or a demo on a product or service, sign up for special offers, enter a contest or complete a survey.

We also collect technical information and transaction data. This may include:

  • Technical information, including your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, or information about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our website, and usage details as well as non-personal details about your online interactions, including the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), clickstream to, through and from our website (including date and time), products you viewed or searched, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), methods used to browse away from the page, email response and interactions, and any phone number used to call our customer service number.

  • We may record telephone or video calls made or received by our agents and employees for quality assurance and security purposes. If you do not want your call to be recorded, please notify the agent on the call. SciVest will only keep recordings of calls for as long as permitted by law.

  • If you receive customer support by telephone from any of SciVest’s business lines, you acknowledge and agree that those support calls may be recorded. If you use Zoom and/or Microsoft Teams to initiate a screenshare with any of SciVest’s customer support teams, you acknowledge and agree that Zoom and/or Microsoft Teams may collect certain information about your location, as well as the timing and your use of its services, in accordance with their respective privacy policy (Zoom's Privacy Policy, Microsoft Privacy Statement – Microsoft privacy).

  • SciVest uses analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, to collect non-personal information in the form of various usage and user metrics when you use our online sites, social media pages and/or services. Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our website. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. You can opt-out of having made your activity on the website available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on (by Google) - Chrome Web Store.

  • Analytics and performance related cookies: we use various web analytics tools (such as Google Analytics, HubSpot, Meta Business Suite) that use cookies on your computer to monitor your browsing patterns and page interactions to help to personalize and improve your user experience. Other analytics tools may also track other types of user metrics similar to Google Analytics as previously described. Please read the privacy policies of all mentioned analytics tools to better understand what is being tracked.

  • Advertising related cookies: we use cookies to serve ads to those who have previously visited our site(s), and to ensure that prospective customers receive incentive offers for which they may be eligible. Our third-party related vendors, and third-party ad servers may use first-party and third-party cookies to track the performance of advertisements, and to collect aggregate data on past visits to our websites, browsing and cross device behaviour.

  • Customer related cookies: cookies are also used to personalize your customer experience. If you have registered a user ID on the website, there are cookies cached when you are within our website that allow us to recognize that you are a returning customer vs. non-customer (but that do not record any of your personal information). Those cookies help us understand if you are logged in, your current and past use of our website, cross device behavior and may allow us to personalize your customer experience or deliver products and personalized services. This personalization may occur even after you have logged out.

  • Web beacons are also referred to as web bugs, pixel tags or clear GIFs. These are usually embedded in a webpage through an image or through HTML in an email and are not always visible to the user. We may use web beacons in emails or on our website to help gather information about you visiting our website, your usage patterns, your interactions with our emails. We may use the information gathered to further personalize contact with you. This personalization may occur after you log out. Any information we transfer through web beacons is encrypted.

5. Use of Personal Information

With regard to clients and prospective clients providing us with your personal information, you consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of that information as described in this policy and in the applicable agreement entered into with us.

In addition, by accessing, visiting or using our website and/or social media pages, you acknowledge your understanding of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the contents of this Privacy Policy, you should not access, visit and/or use the website or social media pages.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties; however, we will disclose your personal information to third parties in connection with the services we provide, including to:

  • service providers who provide financial, custodian, accounting, legal, or tax preparation services

  • service providers we hire to do our data processing or prepare any account statements; and/or

  • taxation and regulatory authorities and agencies, where required or permitted by law.

Such disclosure to third parties will occur:

  • where we have your consent pursuant to the investment management agreement you enter into with us

  • where the third parties are agents or suppliers who assist us in serving you; and/or

  • where we are required or permitted to do so by law, including to taxation authorities and securities regulatory authorities.

Your personal information may be used for marketing and sales purposes such as:

  • informing you about products and services that may be of interest to you (including any new products or services, or the products and services of our affiliates and partners)

  • Using your personal information to determine your eligibility to participate in promotions

  • Contacting you by email, telephone, fax, text message, or any other electronic means; and

  • Using your personal information to conduct research, analysis, modeling, and surveys to improve your experience with us and for product/service development.

By providing us with your contact information, you are consenting to us collecting, using, accessing, disclosing and storing your personal information for communication purposes including responding to any inquiries you make, helping us better understand your needs, and advising you of other products and services that may be of interest to you (including those of select third parties and affiliates).

Clients may withdraw their consent to marketing communications at any time by contacting our privacy officer. You may choose to opt out of specific types of marketing, such as email promotions or product offers, without affecting the core services we provide.

6. How We Handle and Protect Personal Information

We protect your personal information with commercially reasonable safeguards and security measures. We have security standards to protect our systems and personal information against unauthorized access and use and, to that end, restrict access to personal information about clients and investors to those employees and other persons who need to know the information to enable us to provide services to clients and investors. All our employees, agents and suppliers, as part of their agreements with us are bound to maintain the confidentiality of personal information and may not use the information for any unauthorized purpose. We monitor and review our procedures and security measures regularly to ensure that they are being properly administered and that they remain effective and appropriate. When we provide personal information in response to a legal or regulatory inquiry or order, we ensure that the order is valid, and we disclose only the information that is required - otherwise we will seek your consent prior to disclosing any information.

Client personal information is maintained on our networks or on the networks of our service providers. Personal information is also stored in secure off-site storage facilities located within Canada. In some circumstances, data may be stored in secure off-site storage facilities within the United States of America; however, whenever commercially reasonable we use secure facilities located within Canada. Please note that personal information stored in foreign jurisdictions, such as the United States, may be subject to laws that differ from Canadian regulations, including potential access by courts, law enforcement, or national security authorities. We take steps to ensure your data is protected in accordance with applicable laws.

You may access your personal information to verify its accuracy, to withdraw your consent to any of the foregoing collections, uses and/or disclosures being made of your personal information and may update your information by contacting us. Please note that your ability to receive services from us may be impacted should you withdraw your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as outlined above. We only collect personal information that is necessary for us to provide you with the services you have requested, which extends to meeting our related legal and regulatory obligations. We make every reasonable effort to keep client and investor information accurate and up to date. You can help us maintain the accuracy of your information by notifying us of any changes to your personal information. If you find any errors in our information about you, let us know and we will make the corrections. For information that remains in dispute, we will note your opinion in the file.

We follow data minimization principles, meaning we only collect and retain personal information that is necessary for the specific purposes outlined in this policy. This period may extend beyond the end of your relationship with us but only for so long as it is necessary for us to have sufficient information to respond to any issue that may arise at a later date and to meet our legal and regulatory recordkeeping obligations. Once these purposes are fulfilled, we securely dispose of the data, unless legal obligations require otherwise.

Upon request and unless prohibited by law, regulation or self-regulation, you will be given access to your personal information, be informed of its existence, use and disclosure.

7. Social Media Policy

We invite you to engage with us by sharing your thoughts and comments on our social media pages. We are committed to maintaining and respecting your privacy. While we are active on social media, the social media platforms and sites used by us are in no way affiliated with our organization. You should always use care and discretion when using social media platforms. If you engage with our content through social networking websites, plug-ins and applications, we may collect certain information associated with your social media account (e.g., name, username, email address, profile picture, gender). Any personal information you privately share with us through these platforms may be shared with our employees, representatives, affiliates, or third-party service providers. However, you should not share any sensitive personal information with us via social media. The content you comment on or post on our public social media pages is public; meaning anyone who visits our social media pages may see it. When you share information in public comments or posts, you acknowledge and agree that it is not confidential, and that if you are sharing information of another individual, you have their permission. To help maintain your privacy and the privacy of others, we discourage you from sharing any personal information on our social media pages, including sending us personal information through private messages on social media (with the exception of limited personal information which may be required to identify you and contact you).

We reserve the right to remove any posts you make on our social media pages violating our privacy policy. In addition, we reserve the right to remove:

  • sensitive personal information (no personal information should be posted or sent privately to us on our social media pages);

  • personal attacks, or defamatory, abusive, or hateful comments; or

  • spam posts, along with links to any content unrelated to our social media accounts or links to any content that may contain viruses.

8. How to Opt out of Cookies

You can manage your cookie preferences directly through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may impact certain functionalities of our website, including personalized experiences. We use cookies to enhance performance, analyze user behavior, and provide relevant advertisements.

9. Third Party Links

Our website may contain links to external websites. This Privacy Statement only applies to personal information that we collect and use on or through the website. We are not responsible or liable for the content or activities of any linked websites, or for the privacy practices of third parties. We strongly recommend that you review a third party’s privacy policy before disclosing any personal information to the third party. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our website and welcome any feedback you may have about third party websites that are linked through our website.

10. Data Breach

 In the event of a data breach that may result in harm to your personal information, we will notify you and the appropriate regulatory authorities as required by law, outlining the steps we are taking to mitigate any risks.

11. Client Rights Under PIPEDA

As a client, you have the right to request access to your personal information, request corrections, and withdraw your consent to data collection, subject to our legal obligations. If you feel your data rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

12. Questions, Concerns and Complaints

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information, or if you would like access to your personal information that we have on file, you may contact our privacy officer, Dr. John J. Schmitz, at +1 519-679-7979 or contact@scivest.com. You can also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada with privacy-related questions at +1 819-994-5444.

This Privacy Policy may be modified at any time without prior notice to you. When we update our Privacy Policy, we will post the updated version to our website as well as to existing clients’ personal SciVest Client Portal. Your continued access, visitation or use of our website and social media pages will constitute your acceptance of any changes or revisions to this Privacy Policy.