Privacy policy
The short version: we collect only what you type into our forms, we share it only with the business(es) you are asking to reach, and we never sell it.
- What we collect
- Only what you type into our forms: your name, phone number, email address, and your message. We do not collect anything else about you, and browsing the directory requires no account and no personal information.
- Why we collect it
- To do the one thing you asked: connect you with a business. A quote request is passed to the business you chose. A request for us to find you a pro is read by our team, who match you with a suitable local business based on your job and area and pass your request to that business. A listing or claim request is used to review and update the directory.
- Only the business you chose, or the one our team matches you with. Nothing is sold or rented. Resend delivers notification emails and Sanity stores a private follow-up record; both process the information on our behalf as service providers.
- Analytics
- We use privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics (Vercel Web Analytics) to count page views. It does not identify you, does not track you across sites, and sets no advertising cookies. There is no ad tracking on this site. With your permission, we also use Google Analytics; see Cookies and your choices below.
- Counts we show to businesses
We keep a running total per listing of how many times its page was viewed, how often the phone number or website link was tapped, and how many quote requests it received, and we show those totals to the business when it claims its listing.
These are counters only. We do not store who viewed a page, when, or from where, and nothing in them can be traced back to you.
- Business listings
Listings are compiled from publicly available business information: the company’s own website, public directories, and public review pages. That means a business can appear here without having submitted anything, and we only publish business contact details, never anyone’s personal information.
If a listing is yours, you can have it corrected or removed at any time, or claim it and manage the details yourself. We verify that a request comes from the business before acting on it.
- Retention and your rights
- We keep lead emails and private follow-up records only as long as needed to route and follow up on your request. Under Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA), you can ask what information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Use the contact form, or the listing removal form if it is about a business listing, and we will act on it promptly.
- Who runs this site
- Ottawa Service Directory is operated by Velogics, an Ottawa-based web design, local SEO, and custom software company serving home service businesses. Questions about this policy can be sent through the contact form.
Cookies and analytics
We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are used. It sets its own cookies (_ga and _ga_<ID>) and records the pages you view, your approximate location and your device and browser. It never receives your name, email address, phone number or the contents of your messages, and we do not use it for advertising. Google processes this information on servers in the United States.
We also use Microsoft Clarity to see how people use the site: where they click, how far they scroll, and where they get stuck. It records a playback of the mouse movement and clicks in a visit, and it sets its own cookies to recognise a returning visit.
All text is masked before it leaves your browser, so anything you type into a form — your name, phone number, email address or message — is never recorded and never visible to us in a playback. Microsoft processes this information on its own servers; see the Microsoft Privacy Statement and Clarity’s documentation.
You can switch it off for every site you visit using your browser’s own controls, or by installing Google’s Analytics opt-out add-on.
If you sign in to manage a business listing, a sign-in cookie keeps you signed in; it is necessary for that account to work.