Privacy Policy

Chinook Auto Sales ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and safeguard your personal information in accordance with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).

1. Who We Are

Chinook Auto Sales is an AMVIC-licensed used motor vehicle dealer operating at 2011 50 St SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2B 1M6, Canada.

Privacy Officer: Our Privacy Officer is responsible for compliance with this policy and applicable privacy laws.

• Email: chinookautosales@live.ca (subject: "Privacy Officer")
• Phone: (403) 235-0123
• Mail: Privacy Officer, Chinook Auto Sales, 2011 50 St SE, Calgary, AB T2B 1M6

2. The Ten Privacy Principles

Our handling of personal information is guided by the ten Fair Information Principles set out in PIPEDA: (1) Accountability, (2) Identifying Purposes, (3) Consent, (4) Limiting Collection, (5) Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention, (6) Accuracy, (7) Safeguards, (8) Openness, (9) Individual Access, and (10) Challenging Compliance. The remainder of this policy describes how we apply these principles.

3. Information We Collect

We collect personal information only when you voluntarily provide it, including when you:

• Submit a vehicle inquiry, contact, or test-drive request form
• Apply for financing or pre-approval
• Request a trade-in estimate
• Request a Carfax vehicle history report
• Contact us by phone, email, text, or in person
• Browse our website (limited technical data — see Section 9)

Categories of personal information we may collect include:

• Identification: name, date of birth, mailing address, phone, email
• Vehicle preferences: body type, budget, financing options, trade-in details
• Financial & employment information (only when you apply for financing): employment status, employer, job title, monthly income, residential history
• Transaction records: vehicles purchased, purchase price, financing terms
• Communications: records of our correspondence with you

We do not request your Social Insurance Number (SIN) on this website. If a lender requires it during financing, it will be collected directly by them or with your separate written consent.

4. Why We Collect It (Identified Purposes)

We collect, use, and disclose personal information only for the following identified purposes:

• Responding to your inquiries and scheduling appointments
• Processing financing pre-approvals and submitting applications to lenders you authorize
• Appraising and acquiring trade-in vehicles
• Completing and documenting vehicle sale transactions
• Providing post-sale support, service reminders, and warranty administration
• Sending marketing communications (only with your express consent)
• Detecting and preventing fraud
• Complying with legal, regulatory, and AMVIC obligations

5. Consent

We obtain your consent before collecting, using, or disclosing your personal information, except where otherwise permitted or required by law. Consent may be:

• Express — when you check a consent box on a form, sign a financing application, or otherwise clearly indicate your agreement.
• Implied — when you voluntarily provide information for an obvious purpose (e.g., calling us to ask about a vehicle).

You may withdraw consent for non-essential uses at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer. Withdrawal may affect our ability to provide certain services (for example, we cannot process a financing application without the required financial information). For commercial electronic messages, you can also use the one-click unsubscribe link in any marketing email.

6. Sharing & Disclosure

We share personal information only as necessary for the purposes above, with:

• Lending partners and credit bureaus — to process financing applications you authorize
• Insurance providers — at your request, to facilitate vehicle insurance
• Government agencies and AMVIC — as required by Alberta's motor vehicle dealer regulations
• Service providers — including our website hosting and database backend (Lovable Cloud, infrastructure may be located in the United States), email delivery (Resend), website analytics (Google Analytics), and Carfax (vehicle history reports)
• Professional advisors — accountants, auditors, lawyers
• Law enforcement or regulators — where required by law, court order, or to protect our rights

We do not sell your personal information.

Cross-border transfers: Some of our service providers store or process data on servers located outside Canada (including in the United States). When this occurs, your information may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions, including lawful access by foreign authorities. We require all service providers to maintain comparable safeguards through contractual commitments.

7. Retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law:

• Sale & financing records: minimum 7 years (AMVIC, CRA, and lender requirements)
• Inquiries that did not result in a sale: up to 24 months, then deleted or de-identified
• Marketing list: until you unsubscribe or request deletion
• Trade-in estimates: up to 12 months

8. Safeguards

We protect personal information using physical, organizational, and technical safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity, including:

• Encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) for all website data
• Encryption at rest for our customer database
• Role-based access controls — only authorized staff can view customer records
• Locked storage of paper documents at our dealership
• Staff training on privacy and confidentiality

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. In the unlikely event of a breach involving real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta as required by law.

9. Cookies, Analytics & Online Tracking

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Essential cookies are required for the site to function. Analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4) are loaded only after you grant consent via our cookie banner.

• Essential: session, security, form state — always active
• Analytics (optional): Google Analytics 4 with anonymized IP — used to understand site traffic and improve our content

You can withdraw analytics consent at any time by clearing your browser's site data or by enabling "Do Not Track." You may also disable cookies in your browser settings, though this may affect site functionality.

10. Your Rights

Under PIPEDA and Alberta's PIPA, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• Withdraw consent for non-essential collection, use, or disclosure (subject to legal or contractual restrictions)
• Be informed of how your information is being handled
• Challenge our compliance with this policy or applicable privacy laws

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer in writing. We will respond within 30 days, as required by law. We may charge a minimal fee for very large or repeated access requests, and we will notify you in advance.

11. Filing a Complaint

If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy concern, you may file a complaint with:

• Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta
  410, 9925 109 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T5K 2J8 — 1-888-878-4044 — oipc.ab.ca
• Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, QC K1A 1H3 — 1-800-282-1376 — priv.gc.ca

12. Anti-Spam (CASL)

We send commercial electronic messages (marketing emails) only to recipients who have given express or implied consent under CASL. Every marketing email identifies us, includes our physical address, and provides a one-click unsubscribe link that we honour within 10 business days. Transactional messages related to active inquiries, financing applications, or vehicle purchases are not subject to unsubscribe and may continue for as long as reasonably necessary.

13. Children

Our website and services are not directed to individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe a minor has provided personal information to us, please contact our Privacy Officer and we will delete it.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be highlighted on our home page or notified by email where appropriate. Continued use of our website or services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Quebec Residents — Law 25 (Loi 25)

If you reside in Quebec, you have additional rights under An Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (Law 25), including the right to be informed of automated decision-making, data portability, and de-indexing of personal information causing serious injury.

• Person in charge of the protection of personal information: our Privacy Officer (contact details in Section 16) acts as the person in charge under Law 25.
• Cross-border transfers: see Section 6. We assess each transfer to ensure your information receives adequate protection.
• Cookies and trackers: non-essential analytics and marketing cookies fire only after you provide explicit consent through our cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time by clearing your browser storage or contacting our Privacy Officer.
• French-language service: sur demande, nous communiquerons avec les résidents du Québec en français au sujet de la présente politique et de leurs renseignements personnels. Écrivez à chinookautosales@live.ca.

16. Contact Us

For privacy questions, access requests, or to withdraw consent: