Privacy policy

Futurpreneur privacy policy

Last update: April 4, 2024

Futurpreneur is a national, non-proﬁt organization that provides ﬁnancing, mentoring and support tools to aspiring business owners.

At Futurpreneur, we value your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect your personal information. It also describes the rights you have regarding your personal information. It applies whenever we collect, use or share personal information in interacting with you. Please read it carefully. When you provide us with personal information after being made aware of this Privacy Policy, we assume that you agree with our practices as described in this Privacy Policy.

What we mean by “personal information”?

“Personal information” means information relating to an identifiable individual, whether alone or when combined with other information that can be used to identify that individual. Examples of personal information include contact information, account numbers, or details such as age, internet browsing information, marital status, and financial information. This information can be in any form including paper, electronic or voice recording.

How do we get your permission to use it?

We need your permission to use or disclose the personal information you provide us. How we get your permission depends on the circumstances.

Sometimes we ask for your explicit consent. However, consent may also be implied, meaning we may infer it from the circumstances or from your silence (for example, if you provide us with information after having read this Privacy Policy).
If we want to use your personal information for a purpose that was not stated when we collected it or that is not authorized by law, we will ask for your consent again.

If you provide us with personal information about another person, you are responsible for obtaining that person’s consent.

What personal information do we collect?

We may collect the following types of personal information:

Contact – information that allows us to communicate with or contact you (e.g., address, telephone number, e-mail or other electronic address and fax number).
Identity – information that allows us to identify you (e.g., name, Social Insurance Number (SIN), date of birth, occupation, and government-issued identification).
Background – information that helps us to understand more about you including your skills and experience (e.g., education, work experience)
Financial – information that allows us to determine your creditworthiness and your eligibility or appropriateness for a loan (e.g., employment and financial history with others, personal budget, bank statements, and credit reports).
Transactional – information about how you do business with us (e.g., payment history).
Demographic – information that helps us to understand more about you including how you like to do business (e.g., language and communication preferences, location and demographics).
Usage – information such as the Website pages you visited, the time spent on each Website page, the products or services you viewed or searched on the Website, Website page response times, Website downloads and download errors, and methods used to browse away from the Website.

Technical – information such as location, time-zone setting network information, device type, browser type and version, browser plug-in types and version, operating system and platform, language, standard web log data, and IP address used to connect your computer to the Internet or other similar identifier, or the equipment you use to access or use the Website and usage details.

How do we collect your personal information?

We collect information about you from the following sources:

Information you provided

We collect most of your personal information directly from you on or through your use of our Website or services, for example when you:

register for an account, submit a loan application or contact us by any means, including by phone or email
upload, send, or otherwise transmit a document or other information to us via the Website or any other means, or
interact with our social media accounts (i.e., producing user-generated content).

From third parties

Sometimes, we also collect personal information from other sources such as credit bureaus and references you have provided (e.g., spouses, employers). These sources must be authorized to provide us with this information.

With your consent, we may also enhance our personal information database by combining it with information from external sources. These sources may include publicly available databases, news sources, social media platforms or third-party mobile apps. This helps us manage our business risk and assess individuals’ eligibility for the programs we offer.

Through technological means

Futurpreneur may also use cookies or similar automated technologies to collect usage or technical data. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile phone by our Website. Cookies can be used to make Websites function more efficiently, among other purposes.

We can only read cookies from our Website. You can manage cookie preferences through our cookie consent tool or using your internet browser but doing so may limit or remove certain parts of the Website, certain content, or some of its functionalities.

For more information about our cookie practices, please read our Cookie Policy

Why do we need your personal information?

We use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

Determine eligibility. To verify your identity and determine if you are eligible for a loan or other programs.

Determine viability. To evaluate your business plan and assess your skills and experience in relation to your business idea and its viability.

Communicate with you through mail, email, phone, or other communication channels to address payment issues or other matters.

Provide you with value. To review and analyze your applications, transactions, and other information to understand you and your business. Where applicable, to help promote your business, manage and improve your overall experience with us, including monitoring, reviewing, and enhancing our services and processes.

Improve our website and services. To understand audience sizes and usage patterns on our website, tailor the Website to your preferences and interests, recognize you when you visit the Website multiple times.

Manage our business. To perform our everyday business and operations, such as record keeping or internal reporting, and better understand and manage our activities, including market research and data analysis. We also update your information with credit bureaus and manage risks to operate effectively and meet legal obligations.

Produce statistical data. To derive information that does not identify you or relate to an identifiable individual directly or indirectly. We may use and disclose this information, including demographic and aggregated data.

To whom might we share your personal information?

We may share your personal information with the following categories of third parties:

Category of third party	What they do
Service providers	These are third-party entities that assist in the administration and operation of Futurpreneur’s business.
Partners & mentors	Co-funders, credit bureaus, and organizations aiding in providing funding and services, such as Business Development Bank of Canada Mentors involved in mentoring programs provided by Futurpreneur
Funders	Financial institutions facilitating the disbursement and collection of loan funds.Government institutions for evaluation purposes, bound by privacy laws like Canada’s Privacy Act and Access to Information Act.
Joint accounts holders / representatives	Joint loan holders or those sharing liability in connection with your loan.Representatives acting with proper authorization (e.g., legal guardians, attorneys) or those jointly involved in the loan.

We may otherwise share your personal information:

To protect you	To legal or governmental authorities, next of kin, or appropriate individuals in case of fraud, financial abuse, or illegal activity for protecting the individual’s interests.
To protect us and comply with obligations	To protect Futurpreneur’s rights or interests, enforce agreements (e.g., loan agreements), or comply with legal and regulatory obligations. To ensure the safety of Futurpreneur, its services, users, or third parties, and to comply with legal demands like subpoenas or warrants.

Do we collect personal information from minors?

Our services are intended for entrepreneurs aged 18 to 39 and are not targeted at, marketed to or relevant for any person under 18 years of age. Futurpreneur does not knowingly collect personal information from any person under 18 years of age.

How do we protect your personal information?

At Futurpreneur, we take the protection of your personal information seriously. We make every reasonable effort to prevent unauthorized use, sharing, loss or theft of your information.

Employees and mentors who have access to your information are made aware of the importance of keeping it confidential and are contractually required to do so. We have established the roles and responsibilities of our employees throughout the entire processing cycle of your personal information, from collection to destruction.

Where we use service providers who might have access to your information, we select them carefully and require them to have privacy and security standards that are comparable to ours.

We use contracts and other measures with our service providers to maintain the confidentiality and security of your information and to prevent it from being used for any other purpose.

Where do we keep your personal information?

Futurpreneur, its service providers and other parties to whom we disclose information in accordance with this Privacy Policy may perform activities outside of your province of residence or outside of Canada. As a result, your information may be used, stored and/or accessed in other countries. However, all such information will continue to be governed by this Privacy Policy.

Depending on the nature of your information, we may store it in Futurpreneur’s office and computer systems located in Ontario or the record storage facilities of one of Futurpreneur’s service providers.

If we disclose personal information outside Québec, where privacy laws may differ, we will ensure that your information receives adequate protection, for example through contractual measures.

How long do we keep your personal information?

The length of time we keep your personal information will vary depending on circumstances. We keep your information for as long as we reasonably need it for the purpose for which it was collected. We may also keep it for a longer period if the law requires it. For these reasons, we may keep your information beyond the end of your relationship with us. When your information is no longer required, we securely destroy it.

What are your privacy rights?

Depending on your country or province of residence, you may have the following rights with respect to your personal information.

Accessing your information

You have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to have any concerns you may have over our policies and practices addressed. In addition, you have the right to obtain information regarding our policies and practices with respect to our use of service providers outside Canada.

Keeping your information updated

We take care to keep the information in our records as accurate, complete and up-to-date as necessary for the purposes for which it is used. However, we also rely on you to tell us when your information changes. You may update your personal information online by contacting us using our contact information in the “How to Contact Us” section below.

You may also request the deletion of outdated or inappropriate information or provide written comments. including if:

we collected, used, or disclosed their personal information in contravention of this Privacy Policy or any applicable laws
you choose to withdraw your consent (which we rely on to collect and use your personal information),
if your personal information is no longer necessary for the continued provision of our services to you

Withdrawing your consent

You may withdraw your consent to our use and disclosure of the personal information we collected about you. How this request is handled depends on the situation and the purpose for which it is made. Depending on the situation:

you may be able to withdraw your consent, but we will no longer be able to offer a service that depends on it.
you will not be able to withdraw your consent because the processing of your personal information is necessary or mandatory.

In all cases, we may be required to retain certain personal information to comply with our legal obligations.

To exercise your rights, please contact our Privacy Officer at (see the How to contact us? section). We may ask for proof of identity to verify that we are talking to the right person.

To learn more about your rights under Canadian and Quebec laws, please visit the following links for Canada and Quebec.

Does this Privacy Policy apply to third party links?

The Website may include, integrate, or rely on links, plug-ins, services, social networks, content, or applications of third parties for which we have no control. Your access or use of such links, plug-ins, services, social networks, content, or applications may allow the third-party provider to collect or share information about you, some of which may be personal information. Futurpreneur does not control such third parties’ use of cookies or similar technologies. To know more about how these third parties use such technologies, you should contact the responsible provider directly. Futurpreneur does not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy policies of any such third parties or their compliance or non-compliance with such privacy policies.

Will we update this Privacy Policy?

We may update this Privacy Policy for any reason from time to time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you on our site. The changes will take effect at the time of publication of the notice or any other date indicated in the notice. If you continue to use our Website or services after any such notice, we will consider that you agree with the changes we made. Please refer to the date indicated at the top of this page to find out when this Privacy Policy was last updated.

How to contact us?

To help us meet our commitments to you, Futurpreneur has appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee Futurpreneur’s privacy practices and our compliance with this Privacy Policy. Any comments, questions, complaints or requests regarding your personal information or our policies and practices with respect to your personal information may be directed to privacy@futurpreneur.ca.

You may also call us at 416 408-2923 or send a letter to:

Futurpreneur
ATTN: Privacy Officer
33 Yonge Street, Suite 1100
Toronto, Ontario
M5E 1G4