Privacy Policy

Who we are and what this policy covers

This Privacy Policy explains how ChefX Academy and ChefX Consulting ("ChefX", "we", "us" or "our") collect, use, disclose and protect personal information. It applies to chefxacademy.com and its pages, our contact and booking forms, and the emails, text messages, WhatsApp messages and calls you exchange with us.

We are based in London, Ontario, and we handle personal information in line with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). The policy is built around PIPEDA's 10 fair information principles.

If you are a business client, how we handle your own customers' data for marketing or receptionist services you buy from us is also covered by your written service agreement (see Section 12).

1. Accountability and our Privacy Officer

ChefX is responsible for the personal information under our control, including information we pass to service providers to process for us. We have named a Privacy Officer who is accountable for our compliance with this policy:

2. What we collect, and why (identifying purposes)

We tell you why we collect information at or before the time we collect it. We collect only what we need for these purposes.

Information you give us

• Contact and booking forms: your name, email, phone number, restaurant or business name, city, the service you're interested in, your preferred call time and your message. We use this to reply to you, book and hold your free call or demo, and prepare for it.
• Marketing consent: whether you ticked the optional box to receive our emails and texts, and the date, time and page where you did so. We keep this as a record of your consent.
• Emails, texts, WhatsApp messages and calls: what you send us and our replies, so we can respond and keep a record of our conversation.
• Clients and students: if you hire us or enrol in a course, the details needed to deliver the work, invoice you and keep business records, such as billing contacts, project information and course records. [Confirm payment method/processor, if any, e.g. e-transfer, Stripe, Square]

Information collected automatically

• Server logs: like most websites, our web host records technical data such as your IP address, browser type, pages requested and the date and time, for security and to keep the site working.
• Google Fonts: our pages load fonts from Google's servers, so your browser sends your IP address and browser information to Google when a page loads. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• Cookies, analytics and ad pixels: as of the effective date, this website does not use Google Analytics, the Meta (Facebook) Pixel, Google Ads tags or other advertising trackers, and our own pages do not set cookies. When our GoHighLevel booking form or calendar is added to the site, GoHighLevel may set cookies that it needs for the form or calendar to work. If we add analytics or advertising tools later, we will update this policy before doing so and, where required, ask for your consent.

Links to other services

Our site links to WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Google Maps and ChefX Realty (chefxrealty.ca). When you click those links, the other service's own privacy policy applies.

[Confirm: if calls to our phone number are answered or recorded by an AI receptionist or call-recording tool, describe it here and tell callers at the start of the call]

3. Consent

We collect, use and disclose personal information with your knowledge and consent, except where the law allows otherwise. When you send us a form, email or message asking about our services, you consent to us using your details to respond and follow up on that request (implied consent). Ticking the optional marketing box is express consent to receive our newsletters, tips and offers (see Section 11).

You can withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contract limits and reasonable notice. If you withdraw consent, we may not be able to provide some services. Marketing consent is never a condition of booking a call or buying a service.

4. Limiting collection

We only collect the information needed for the purposes described above, and we collect it fairly and lawfully. Please don't send us sensitive information we haven't asked for, such as health, banking or government ID details, through our forms or messages.

5. Limiting use, disclosure and retention

We use and disclose personal information only for the purposes we collected it for, unless you consent otherwise or the law requires or permits it. We do not sell or rent your personal information.

Service providers

We share information with trusted providers who help us run our business, under contracts or terms that require them to protect it and use it only for the services they provide to us:

• GoHighLevel (HighLevel, Inc., United States): our customer-relationship (CRM) platform for forms, booking calendars, contact records, and sending emails and text messages.
• Web hosting: our website host ([Confirm: Namecheap]).
• Email: our business email provider ([Confirm email provider, e.g. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365]).
• Messaging: WhatsApp (Meta Platforms), if you choose to message us there.
• Professional advisers such as accountants and lawyers, where needed.

Storage outside Canada

Some of these providers, including GoHighLevel, store and process information in the United States and possibly other countries. While it is there, your information is protected by contract but is also subject to the laws of that country, and may be accessed by its courts, law enforcement and national security authorities.

Other disclosures

We may disclose information if the law requires it, to protect our rights or someone's safety, or as part of a sale or reorganization of our business, in which case the buyer must protect it as this policy describes.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries and leads who don't become clients: up to [e.g. 24 months] after our last contact, then deleted or anonymized.
• Client and student records: for as long as needed to deliver the service and then as required for tax and business records (generally 6 years under Canadian tax rules).
• Consent and unsubscribe records: as long as needed to prove consent and honour your unsubscribe request, which means we keep your email or number on a do-not-contact list.

6. Accuracy

We try to keep personal information accurate, complete and up to date for the purposes it's used for. Please let us know if your details change.

7. Safeguards and breach notification

We protect personal information with safeguards suited to its sensitivity, including password-protected and access-limited accounts, two-factor authentication where available, encrypted (HTTPS) connections, and limiting staff access to people who need it.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a breach of security safeguards involving your personal information creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and report it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as soon as feasible, as PIPEDA requires. We also keep a record of every breach of security safeguards.

8. Openness

This policy is publicly available on our website, and you can ask us for a copy at any time. We will answer questions about our privacy practices in plain language.

9. Your right to access and correct your information

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, how it has been used, and who it has been disclosed to. Email info@chefxacademy.com with the subject "Privacy request". We may need to confirm your identity first.

We will respond within 30 days, or tell you if we need more time as the law allows. Access is free or at minimal cost, and we will tell you of any cost in advance. If we can't give you access to some information, we'll explain why, unless the law prevents it. If information is inaccurate or incomplete, we'll correct it and, where appropriate, let anyone we shared it with know.

10. Questions, concerns and complaints

If you have a question or concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer (Section 1). We will look into every complaint and, if it is justified, take steps to fix it, including changing our practices if needed.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: priv.gc.ca, or toll-free at 1-800-282-1376.

11. Email and text messages (CASL)

We follow Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) for commercial electronic messages, which include emails, texts and direct messages that promote our services.

• Express consent: we only send newsletters, tips and offers if you opt in, for example by ticking the unticked marketing box on our forms, or where CASL otherwise allows (for example, implied consent for up to 2 years after you buy from us, or up to 6 months after you send us an enquiry). We keep a record of when and how you gave consent.
• Replies to your request: emails, texts or calls that answer your enquiry, confirm or remind you about a booking, or deliver a service you bought are not marketing messages and don't need marketing consent.
• Sender identification: every message we send identifies us and includes our mailing address and a way to contact us:

How to unsubscribe or withdraw consent

• Click the unsubscribe link included in every marketing email we send;
• Reply STOP to any text message;
• Email info@chefxacademy.com with the subject "Unsubscribe"; or
• Tell us on WhatsApp or by phone.

Unsubscribing is free, and we will act on your request within 10 business days, as CASL requires, usually much sooner. You'll still get messages we need to send about services you've bought, such as invoices or booking confirmations.

12. Client customer data we handle for you

When restaurants hire us for marketing, loyalty, email/SMS or AI receptionist services, we may handle their customers' personal information. In that case we act on the client's behalf and follow their instructions and our written agreement. The client is responsible for having the consent CASL and privacy law require to contact its customers, and we will help put compliant opt-in and unsubscribe tools in place.

13. Children

Our website and services are intended for adults and businesses. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through this website. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it. For course students under the age of majority, we collect information only with a parent's or guardian's consent.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We'll post the updated version on this page with a new "Last updated" date. If we make significant changes, such as using your information for a new purpose, we'll tell you more prominently and ask for your consent where required.

15. Contact us

For privacy questions, access requests or to unsubscribe: