Privacy policy

1. Who we are

This policy explains how HDCE inc. (“HDCE”, “we”) collects, uses, discloses, retains and protects the personal information obtained through its website www.hdce.ca and its forms.

The processing of data that our clients entrust to us as part of our services (hosting, cloud, cybersecurity, development) is governed by our terms and conditions and by the agreements entered into with them.

2. Person in charge of the protection of personal information

The person in charge of the protection of personal information ensures compliance with this policy and responds to your questions and requests.

3. Information collected through our forms

We only collect the information you choose to send us through the site’s forms. Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*); all other fields are optional.

• Contact, callback, demo, quote, support and other requests (“Contact us” window): name, email, phone (required for a callback request), company, industry (callback request) and message.
• Provisioning request (Self-Provisioning): the same contact details, plus the configuration you selected (solution, options and estimated price).
• Project submission (AI Product, Startup & IT Team, Commercial project): name, company, email, phone and the project information you decide to provide (stage, description, needs, team size, target market, evidence of demand, timeline).
• Partnership request: name, company, email, phone, partnership type and description.

Each request also includes, added automatically, the address of the page from which it was sent, the site language, and the date and time it was sent.

When you submit a form, this information is sent over an encrypted connection (HTTPS) to HDCE’s form service (formapi.hdce.ca), which forwards it to the HDCE team’s mailbox (support@hdce.ca).

If this automatic submission fails, the site opens your own email application with a pre-filled message addressed to support@hdce.ca. The message is only sent if you choose to send it; it then goes through your own email provider, under that provider’s terms, before being received by HDCE.

The forms include an anti-spam field that is invisible to visitors: it is used only to block automated submissions and collects no information about you.

Please do not send us sensitive information (health information, social insurance number, banking details, passwords): it is not needed to process your request.

4. Information collected automatically

Like most web servers, the servers hosting the site automatically record technical logs for each visit: IP address, date and time, page or file requested, and browser and operating system type (user agent).

These logs are used solely to keep the site secure and running properly. We do not use them to profile you or to identify you, unless this is necessary to investigate a security incident or required by law.

5. Cookies and trackers

The site uses no cookies, whether from HDCE or from a third party. It includes no audience analytics tool, no advertising pixel and no other tracker, and stores no data in your browser’s local storage. No cookie consent banner is therefore needed.

The site loads no resources (fonts, scripts, maps or videos) from third-party servers. The LinkedIn, Facebook and X icons in the footer are plain links: no content from these networks is loaded unless you click them.

The site uses no technology that allows you to be identified, located or profiled.

6. Purposes of use

We use the information collected solely to:

• process and respond to your request (callback, quote, demo, provisioning, support, partnership or project);
• communicate with you about that request and, where applicable, prepare a proposal for you;
• keep the site and forms secure, prevent abuse and diagnose technical problems.

We do not use your information for commercial prospecting or newsletters without your separate consent, and we never sell or rent it to anyone.

7. Consent

By completing and submitting a form, you consent to HDCE collecting and using the information provided for the purposes described in section 6. If we wish to use it for any other purpose, we will ask for your consent, except where the law provides otherwise.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by writing to the person in charge (section 2), subject to applicable legal or contractual restrictions. Withdrawing consent may, however, prevent us from following up on your request.

The site is intended for businesses and organizations; it is not directed at persons under 14 years of age.

8. Legal framework and limits

HDCE processes personal information in accordance with Quebec’s Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, as amended by Law 25, and, where it applies, Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

• We only collect the information necessary for the stated purposes.
• We do not disclose your information to any third party without your consent, except where the law permits or requires it (for example, a court order).
• No decision based exclusively on automated processing is made about you using the information collected by the site.

9. Who has access to your information

Only HDCE staff members who need your information to process your request (support, technical and sales teams) have access to it.

The site, the form service and HDCE’s email system run on infrastructure operated by HDCE: we use no external provider to receive, host or process the information collected by the site.

10. Where your information is stored

The information collected by the site is hosted and stored within HDCE’s infrastructure, in its data centres in Quebec (Canada). HDCE does not communicate it outside Quebec.

Should this change, HDCE would first conduct the privacy impact assessment required by law and update this policy. Only the fallback submission through your own email application (section 3) goes through a provider you have chosen yourself.

11. Retention period

We retain personal information for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, after which it is destroyed or anonymized, subject to the retention periods provided by law.

If your request leads to a business relationship with HDCE, the information relevant to that relationship is then retained in accordance with the terms of the agreement entered into.

12. Security measures

We protect your information with reasonable security measures suited to its sensitivity:

• encryption of exchanges between your browser and our servers (HTTPS/TLS);
• access restricted to authorized persons only, with access controls;
• hosting in HDCE’s data centres, which have physical and logical security measures;
• protection of the forms against automated submissions and monitoring of our systems.

Since no security measure is infallible, we encourage you not to send sensitive information through the forms.

13. Your rights

Subject to the conditions set out in the law, you may:

• access the personal information we hold about you and obtain a copy;
• have inaccurate, incomplete or equivocal information corrected;
• withdraw your consent to its use or disclosure;
• be informed of the information collected, the purposes for which it is used, who has access to it and how long it is retained;
• where the law so provides, obtain the computerized information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used technological format, or have it transferred to a person or organization you designate (portability);
• where the conditions set out in the law are met, ask that we cease disseminating information about you or that any hyperlink attached to your name be de-indexed (de-indexing).

To exercise these rights, write to the person in charge of the protection of personal information (section 2). We may ask you to confirm your identity, and we will respond in writing within 30 days of receiving your request.

14. Confidentiality incidents

In the event of a confidentiality incident (unauthorized access, use or disclosure, or loss of personal information), HDCE promptly takes reasonable measures to reduce the risk of harm and to prevent new incidents of the same nature.

If the incident presents a risk of serious injury, HDCE promptly notifies the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec and the persons concerned. HDCE keeps a register of confidentiality incidents.

If you believe an incident affects your information, contact the person in charge (section 2) without delay.

15. Questions and complaints

For any question or complaint about the protection of your personal information, please first contact the person in charge (section 2): we will handle your request diligently.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec: www.cai.gouv.qc.ca (new tab).

16. Links to other sites

The site contains links to other sites, including our LinkedIn, Facebook and X pages, other HDCE sites (cyber.hdce.ca, backup.hdce.ca) and the TeamViewer and ESET downloads offered on the Support page. These sites have their own privacy practices and policies; this policy applies only to the www.hdce.ca website.

17. Changes to this policy

We may amend this policy, in particular to reflect a change in our practices or in the law. The version in effect is always published on this page, with its last updated date.