Windrose is operated from Montréal, Québec, Canada. This policy describes what personal information Windrose collects, why, how it is protected, and the rights you have under Québec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (commonly known as Law 25) and Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
Windrose is a commercial data intelligence product operated by Dr. Adrian Hernandez-del-Valle, PhD, based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Windrose publishes independent reliability assessments of Environment and Climate Change Canada's precipitation monitoring network and provides related reports and subscriptions to institutional clients.
In this policy, "we," "us," and "Windrose" refer to the operator described above. "You" refers to any visitor to windrose.news or any person who contacts us by email or other means.
In accordance with Law 25, the person responsible for the protection of personal information at Windrose is:
Dr. Adrian Hernandez-del-Valle, PhD
Privacy Officer, Windrose
Email: adrian@windrose.news
Location: Montréal, Québec, Canada
You may contact the Privacy Officer at any time to exercise the rights described in Section 8, to ask questions about this policy, or to file a complaint. We aim to respond to requests within 30 days, as required by Law 25.
We collect only the personal information necessary for the operation of Windrose. The categories are summarised below.
| Category | Examples | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Contact information | Name, email address, organisation, role, content of your message | Provided by you when you email us or request a report |
| Website analytics | IP address (anonymised), device type, browser, pages viewed, referring site, approximate location (city-level), session duration | Collected automatically via Google Analytics 4, only if you consent |
| Technical logs | Standard web server logs maintained by GitHub Pages (our hosting provider) | Collected automatically by our hosting infrastructure |
Windrose does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 14. Windrose does not use personal information for automated decision-making or profiling in a way that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
We use personal information for the following specific purposes only:
We will not use your personal information for any new purpose that is materially different from the ones above without first obtaining your consent.
Our processing is based on your consent (for analytics) and on the performance of a pre-contractual or contractual relationship (for replying to your inquiries and delivering services), as well as our legitimate interest in running and improving a small commercial operation.
Analytics are loaded only after you click "Accept" on the consent banner. You may
withdraw consent at any time by clearing your browser's site data for
windrose.news or by emailing the Privacy Officer. Withdrawal of consent
does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Windrose uses a minimal number of browser storage items:
localStorage entry that records whether you accepted or declined analytics, so you are not asked again on every visit. This is strictly functional and is set regardless of your analytics choice._ga, _ga_*) — set only if you accept analytics. These identify returning visitors in aggregate and typically expire after two years. When consent is declined, Google Analytics runs in "Consent Mode" with all storage denied and transmits only anonymised, cookieless signals.You can block or delete cookies and local storage through your browser's settings. Doing so will not impair your ability to read the site.
Windrose does not sell or rent personal information. We share personal information only with the following categories of service providers, strictly to operate the site and the business:
windrose.news via GitHub Pages. Servers are located in the United States. Subject to GitHub's privacy practices.International transfer notice (Law 25, Section 17).
Some of the providers above store and process personal information outside Québec, principally in the United States. We have assessed these transfers and consider them to offer a level of protection equivalent to that applicable in Québec, taking into account contractual safeguards and the aggregated, non-sensitive nature of the data involved (primarily business contact details and anonymised analytics). If you wish to discuss this assessment, please contact the Privacy Officer.
We may also disclose personal information if required to do so by law, a court order, or a valid request from a competent authority.
Under Law 25 and PIPEDA, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:
To exercise any of these rights, email the Privacy Officer at adrian@windrose.news. We may ask you for information sufficient to confirm your identity. We will respond within 30 days. There is no fee, except in cases permitted by law (for example, manifestly excessive requests), in which case we will inform you of the amount in advance.
| Category | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Email correspondence (inquiries that do not become clients) | Up to 24 months, then deleted |
| Client contact and engagement records | Duration of the engagement plus 7 years, for tax and legal record-keeping obligations under Québec and Canadian law |
| Invoices and accounting records | 7 years (as required by the Canada Revenue Agency and Revenu Québec) |
| Google Analytics data | 14 months (the default and minimum retention we have configured) |
| Web server logs (GitHub Pages) | Per GitHub's own retention policies |
When a retention period ends, we delete or anonymise the information.
We apply reasonable security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information and the nature of a small commercial operation, including:
windrose.news.In the event of a confidentiality incident (privacy breach) presenting a risk of serious injury, Windrose will notify the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec (CAI) and affected individuals without delay, as required by Law 25.
If you believe your rights have not been respected, please first contact the Privacy Officer at adrian@windrose.news so we can try to resolve the matter directly.
You also have the right to file a complaint with the supervisory authorities:
We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify clients directly by email. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
For any question, request, or concern regarding this policy or your personal information, please contact:
Dr. Adrian Hernandez-del-Valle, PhD
Privacy Officer — Windrose
Email: adrian@windrose.news
Montréal, Québec, Canada