Privacy

How we look after your information.

Last updated 15 September 2026.

Niagara Brunch Socials (“Brunch at 1”, “we”, “us”) is a small members-only brunch club in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and how we protect it. We follow Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). In a small town, trust is everything, and we treat your information accordingly.

1. What we collect

When you apply for membership, we collect:

• Identity and contact: your first and last name, email address, and, if you choose to give it, a mobile or WhatsApp number.
• Profile photo: a clear, recent photo of you. This is required.
• About you: your occupation, the kinds of brunches that interest you, and anything you choose to tell us in the “about you” field.
• Account security: a password, which we store only as a one-way hash, and the IP address used at signup.

When you reserve a seat, our payment processor Stripe collects your payment details directly. We never see or store your full card number.

When you use the site, we set a session cookie so you stay signed in and a security cookie that protects forms against forgery. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

2. Your photo

We require a photo for the security and comfort of our members. It allows our host to confirm that the person who arrives at the table is the person who applied. Your photo:

• is seen only by the host reviewing applications and running gatherings;
• is never shown to other members, published on the site, posted on social media, or used in any marketing;
• is never sold, rented or shared with any third party;
• is stored on our server behind access controls, not in a public gallery;
• is deleted when your membership ends or your application is declined, as described in section 6.

3. How we use your information

• To review your application and decide on membership.
• To run gatherings: confirming identity, reserving seats, and sending event details.
• To contact you about your membership and upcoming gatherings by email. Your mobile or WhatsApp number, if provided, is used only for last-minute, same-day event updates — never for marketing.
• To keep the club safe, including reviewing conduct concerns and preventing misuse of accounts.
• To comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for profiling or automated decision-making. Membership decisions are made by a person.

4. Email and consent

By applying, you consent to receive emails about your application, your membership and our gatherings. This is the core of what the club does, so we cannot run your membership without it. Any newsletter or optional communication will include an unsubscribe link, in keeping with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Unsubscribing from optional email does not affect essential membership messages.

5. Who we share information with

Only where necessary to run the club:

• Venues: the number of guests and, where a venue requires it, first names for the reservation. We do not share your contact details, photo or profile with venues.
• Stripe: to process deposits, under Stripe’s own privacy policy.
• Our hosting provider: which stores our server and data in Canada or the United States and processes it only on our instructions.
• Authorities: if required by law or to protect the safety of a member.

Other members see only what you share with them in person. Nothing from your profile is visible to other members through the site.

6. How long we keep information

• Declined applications: deleted, including the photo, within 90 days of the decision.
• Active members: retained while your membership is active.
• Ended memberships: your photo is deleted within 30 days of your membership ending. Basic records (name, email, dates of membership, deposit history) are kept for up to seven years where required for accounting, then deleted.

7. How we protect it

The site is served over HTTPS. Passwords are hashed, never stored in plain text. Sessions use secure, HttpOnly cookies. Member data and photos are held in a database and directory that are not publicly accessible, and access is limited to the host. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps appropriate to a club of our size and will notify affected members and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada of any breach that creates a real risk of significant harm, as the law requires.

8. Your rights

You may at any time ask us to:

• show you the personal information we hold about you;
• correct anything that is inaccurate;
• delete your account and information, subject to the retention periods above;
• withdraw consent, which may mean we can no longer offer you membership.

Email brunchat1niagara at gmail dot com and we will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.

9. Children

The club is for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 19, and we will delete any such information we become aware of.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the club develops. Changes will be posted here with a new “last updated” date, and material changes will be emailed to members.

Contact

Privacy questions or requests: brunchat1niagara at gmail dot com. Our host is the person responsible for privacy at Niagara Brunch Socials.