1. Introduction
AdvisorShield.ca ("AdvisorShield", "we", "our", or "us") is developing a secure, subscription-based compliance documentation and workflow platform for Canadian life insurance advisors and their firms. It is not yet open to customers.
We are committed to safeguarding personal information in accordance with:
- The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
- Where they apply, Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (as amended by Law 25), Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act and British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act
- Evolving Canadian cybersecurity, data governance, and digital trust standards
This Privacy Policy explains how information is collected, used, stored, retained, and destroyed when you visit this website or use the AdvisorShield platform.
This Policy describes how we handle information about you when you use this website or AdvisorShield. Information about an advisor's clients is handled as described in section 2.
2. Scope & Definitions
This Policy applies to:
- Advisors, firms, agencies, and authorized users ("Users")
- Data uploaded, generated, or processed through the AdvisorShield platform
- System metadata, logs, and security records required for audit and compliance
- Visitors to advisorshield.ca, including those who join the waitlist or write to us
"Personal Information" means information about an identifiable individual as defined under PIPEDA.
When an advisor or firm keeps records about its own clients in AdvisorShield, the firm decides what is collected and why, and we process that information on the firm's behalf and only on its instructions. The firm's own privacy notice applies to those clients. Clients should send requests to see or correct their information, or to withdraw consent, to their advisor's firm; we will help the firm respond.
3. Information We Collect
3.1 Information You Provide Directly
- Account details (name, email address, company, credentials)
- Authentication information, including sign-in through Google or Microsoft if you link those accounts
- Compliance documentation, notes, summaries, uploaded files, and metadata
- Voice recordings and their transcripts
- Communications with AdvisorShield support
3.2 Information Generated by the Platform
- Audit logs, timestamps, workflow events, and activity history
- Document status, versioning, and lifecycle metadata
- Security and access records (IP address, user agent, session data)
3.3 Payment & Subscription Information
- Subscription status, billing cycle, and transaction identifiers
- Payment card data is never stored on AdvisorShield systems and is processed solely by third-party payment processors under PCI-DSS standards
3.4 Website and Waitlist
When you join the waitlist or write to us, we collect your email address and any name, firm, or message you give. We use them only to reply to you and to contact you about AdvisorShield access. Waitlist confirmations are sent through Resend, an email service that may process data outside Canada, and a copy is kept in our Google Workspace mailbox. This website runs on a rented virtual server in the United States, whose web server keeps standard access logs (IP address, browser type, and pages requested) for 180 days for security. To be removed, email info@advisorshield.ca.
4. Purpose of Collection & Use
We collect and process information strictly for the following purposes:
- Providing, maintaining, and securing the AdvisorShield platform
- Generating, organizing, and storing compliance documentation
- Creating verifiable audit trails and evidence of due diligence
- Managing subscriptions, access control, and system entitlements
- Detecting fraud, misuse, or security threats
- Meeting legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations
- Improving platform reliability, performance, and security
We do not use personal information for advertising, resale, or data brokerage.
5. Where Data Is Stored and Processed
The AdvisorShield service is in development and is not yet hosted for customers. Before launch we will state here where application data, files, and backups are stored and how they are encrypted.
The service is built so that access is set by role, and administrative access will be limited to authorized personnel.
We use these service providers, which may process personal information outside Canada, mainly in the United States and, for some providers, in other countries where they or their own suppliers operate:
- OpenRouter, which passes each request to a company that runs the selected model (currently Anthropic's Claude, which OpenRouter may run through Anthropic, Amazon Web Services, or Google Cloud), for AI drafting from advisor notes, the advisor's recorded recommendation, and document text. Before notes and document text are sent, an automated filter masks the SINs, payment-card numbers, and labelled bank-account and health-card numbers it recognizes; it can miss numbers written in unusual ways, and the recorded recommendation is sent as the advisor wrote it
- OpenAI, for transcribing voice recordings (the full recording is sent) and as a fallback for AI drafting
- Resend and Google Workspace, for email
- Our website hosting provider, which runs advisorshield.ca on a server in the United States
- Stripe, for payments, once paid plans open
Information processed outside Canada is subject to the laws of the country where it is processed and may be accessible to that country's courts, law-enforcement, and national-security authorities. For residents of Quebec, this means their information may be communicated outside Quebec.
6. Artificial Intelligence & Automated Processing
AdvisorShield may use automated systems, including AI-assisted tools, to:
- Analyze uploaded documents
- Transcribe voice recordings
- Generate compliance-related summaries or drafts
- Assist in document organization and classification
AI systems do not make regulatory decisions, provide legal advice, or replace professional judgment. Users remain fully responsible for review, validation, and final use of all outputs.
We do not train or fine-tune any AI model on your data. Before the service opens to customers, we will confirm that each AI provider listed in section 5 is bound by terms that do not let it train on what we send, and we will state here how long each provider keeps it.
7. Data Retention & Destruction
7.1 Closed Client Files
Each closed (locked) client file is kept for 7 years from the date it was closed. A firm administrator or supervisor can place a legal hold that keeps a file longer. During that period a locked file cannot be changed or deleted; a correction is recorded as a new, dated record in the same client file, and the original stays as it was.
7.2 When a Subscription Ends
Before launch we will publish what happens to your records when a subscription ends, and how files are deleted at the end of their retention period.
7.3 Website and Waitlist
We keep waitlist sign-ups and messages until you ask us to remove them or we no longer need them to contact you about access.
8. Legal & Regulatory Retention Overrides
Certain data may be retained beyond deletion requests where required by:
- Insurance or securities regulatory obligations
- Anti-money laundering (AML) laws
- Court orders, legal proceedings, or regulator inquiries
Such data is retained only as long as the law, or the retention period described in section 7, requires.
9. Disclosure of Information
We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information.
Disclosure occurs only:
- With your explicit authorization
- To comply with legal or regulatory obligations
- To vetted service providers operating under confidentiality and security agreements
- To protect AdvisorShield's legal rights, platform integrity, or user safety
10. Security Measures
The service is designed with administrative and technical safeguards, including:
- Role-based access controls and least-privilege enforcement
- Immutable audit logging
Before launch we will add our encryption, monitoring, and hosting safeguards here.
If a breach of security safeguards affects personal information we process for a firm, we will notify that firm without undue delay so it can meet its obligations. For information under our own control, such as account data, we will report to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and, where provincial law requires it, to Quebec's Commission d'accès à l'information or the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, and we will notify affected individuals when the law requires it.
No system is immune to risk; however, AdvisorShield applies commercially reasonable and industry-appropriate safeguards.
11. User Responsibilities
Users are responsible for:
- Maintaining secure credentials
- Controlling access within their organization
- Ensuring lawful collection and use of client information
- Telling your clients that their information, including recordings, may be processed outside Canada by our service providers, and getting any consent the law requires before you record a conversation
- Complying with professional and regulatory obligations
AdvisorShield is a compliance support platform, not a guarantor of regulatory outcomes.
12. Your Rights Under Canadian Law
Subject to legal limitations, you may:
- Request access to your personal information
- Request correction of inaccurate data
- Withdraw consent where applicable
- File a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or, where provincial law applies, with Quebec's Commission d'accès à l'information or the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta or British Columbia
Requests may be limited where compliance or legal retention applies. A closed file is never altered: a correction is recorded as a new, dated record in the same client file.
13. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law:
- AdvisorShield disclaims liability for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages
- AdvisorShield is not responsible for regulatory penalties arising from user misuse
- Users acknowledge responsibility for final compliance decisions
14. Policy Updates
This Policy may be updated periodically to reflect:
- Legal or regulatory changes
- Platform enhancements
- Emerging cybersecurity standards
Updates take effect upon posting. Continued use constitutes acceptance.
15. Contact Information
Privacy Officer
AdvisorShield.ca
769 Old York Rd, Unit B
Burlington, ON L7P 4X8
Canada
Phone: 905-320-4123
Email: info@advisorshield.ca