1. Who we are
WinTECH Community, also known as Women in Tech Community (“WinTECH”, “we”, “us”), is a non-profit community organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This policy explains how we handle personal information collected through womenintechcommunity.org, our forms, our events and our email.
By using this website or sending us your information, you accept this policy. If you do not accept it, please do not use the forms on the site.
2. Information we collect
What you give us.
| Where | What we ask for |
|---|---|
| Join form | First and last name, email, phone number, LinkedIn profile link, area of expertise, years of experience, current job situation, country, province and a message (optional). We do not ask for your date of birth. |
| Volunteer form | First and last name, email, phone number, area of expertise, years of experience, city, province, country and a message. |
| Partner form | Organization name, industry, your name, email, phone number, city, province and a message. |
| Contact form | Your name, email address, phone number (optional), subject and message. |
| Event registration (event pages) | First and last name, email, phone number, city, country, a message and the event you register for. We email you a confirmation. |
| Newsletter sign-up (page footer) | Your email address. |
| Donations | Your name, email address and the amount. Donations are made through Zeffy, which takes the payment. We never see or store your full card number. |
| Event tickets | Names, email addresses and ticket choices. Tickets to The Brilliance are bought through Zeffy or paid by Interac e-Transfer to our email address, which shows us the sender’s name, email and the amount. |
| Award nominations (closed) | The nominator’s name and contact details, and the nominee’s name, contact details and the reasons for the nomination. We collected 2026 nominations with a Google Form. |
What we collect automatically. Our web server records your IP address, browser type, device, the pages you visit and the time of your visit. We use this to keep the site working and secure. GoDaddy, which hosts the site, also adds its own script to every page; it records your visit and sets cookies (section 11). Our forms and our login page use Cloudflare Turnstile to block spam and bots; it checks information about your browser and device. Our pages load their fonts from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address and browser details. We do not use website analytics or advertising tools of our own. If we add them, we will update this policy first.
3. Why we collect it, and how we use it
- To reply to your messages and run our community, volunteer, program and event activities.
- To process donations and ticket payments.
- To send our newsletter and event news, only if you agreed (section 4).
- To keep the site secure and fix faults.
- To meet legal and tax duties.
We collect only what these purposes need. We do not use your information to make automated decisions about you.
4. Email, consent and unsubscribing
We send newsletters and event news only to people who ticked the sign-up box on our forms. We never tick it for you. We keep a record of when and how you agreed. Every email names WinTECH, gives our contact details and has an unsubscribe link. You can withdraw consent at any time with that link or by writing to us (section 13). This follows Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL).
5. Legal basis for using your information
We rely on your consent (forms and newsletter), on what we need to run the program or event you signed up for, on our legitimate interest in running and securing a community organization, and on legal duties such as keeping donation records. We follow the principles of Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). We offer the same rights to visitors from the European Union, the United Kingdom and California.
6. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with the services that help us run the site and the organization:
| Who | Why |
|---|---|
| Zeffy | Takes donations, sells tickets and takes payments for our events. |
| Our bank | Processes Interac e-Transfer payments sent to our email address. |
| GoDaddy | Hosts our website, domain and email. |
| Cloudflare | Runs Turnstile, which checks that people using our forms and login page are not bots. cloudflare.com/privacypolicy |
| Serves the fonts on our pages (Google Fonts), plays the video on The Brilliance page (YouTube), and provided the Google Form we used for 2026 award nominations. policies.google.com/privacy |
We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or to protect the safety of people or the site. Our pages link to other sites, such as LinkedIn and Instagram. Their privacy policies apply there.
7. Where your information goes
Some services we use, such as GoDaddy, Google and Cloudflare, are in the United States. Your information may be stored there.
8. How we protect it
Our site uses HTTPS. Only the WinTECH team and the people who maintain the site can see stored form entries. Payment details stay with Zeffy. If a breach of our safeguards creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will tell you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as the law requires.
9. How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Community and volunteer records | While you are active, then two years. |
| Partner enquiries and contact messages | Two years. |
| Newsletter email addresses | Until you unsubscribe. |
| Donation and ticket records | Six years, as Canadian tax rules generally require. |
| Server logs | For a limited period set by our hosting provider. |
10. Your rights
You can ask us to show you the personal information we hold about you, correct it, delete it, give you a copy, stop using it for a purpose, or withdraw a consent you gave. We answer within 30 days. We ask you to prove who you are before we release or remove anything. Write to us (section 13). If you are unhappy with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
11. Cookies
Our site uses a few cookies:
- GoDaddy, our host, uses cookies to count visits to the site.
- YouTube uses cookies when you play the video on The Brilliance page. We show it in YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode.
- Zeffy uses a cookie to protect its donation and ticket forms from bots and fraud.
- Team members who log in to manage the site get WordPress login cookies.
We do not set advertising cookies or tracking pixels of our own. You can block cookies in your browser settings, but parts of the site, such as the video and the payment forms, may stop working.
12. Children
This site is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information. Our website forms do not ask your age. Our programs serve women and young girls, so some participants may be under 18: if you are under 18, please ask a parent or guardian before you send us information through this site. If you think a child has sent us information, write to us and we will delete it.
13. Contact us, and changes to this policy
Questions, requests and complaints about privacy go to info@womenintechcommunity.org or +1 437 243 6640. The WinTECH Executive Director’s office is responsible for our privacy practices.
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the latest version, and we will tell newsletter subscribers about changes that affect them.