Welcome to Earthnique. This Privacy Policy explains how Earthnique Inc. ("Earthnique," "we," "us," or "our"), a corporation incorporated under the laws of British Columbia, Canada, collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information in connection with the Earthnique online marketplace platform (the "Platform").
Earthnique operates the Platform as a marketplace connecting eco-conscious consumers ("Customers") with sustainable product vendors ("Vendors"). Our registered place of business is in British Columbia, Canada.
This Privacy Policy applies to all individuals who access or use the Platform, including Customers, Vendors, prospective users, and visitors to our website. By creating an account or using the Platform, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Earthnique is committed to protecting personal information in accordance with British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (BC PIPA) as the primary applicable provincial law, and Canada's federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) where applicable. Where the requirements of BC PIPA and PIPEDA overlap or conflict, we apply the standard that affords greater protection to personal information.
Earthnique's foundational principle is that we collect only the personal information necessary to provide and improve our services, and we handle that information with transparency, integrity, and respect for individual privacy rights.
The personal information we collect depends on whether you use the Platform as a Customer or a Vendor, and how you interact with the Platform.
When you register as a Customer or use the Platform, we may collect the following categories of personal information:
When you register as a Vendor or operate a storefront on the Platform, we may collect:
When you visit or use the Platform, we automatically collect certain technical and usage information, including:
⚠ Payment Data — Not Collected from Customers
Earthnique does NOT collect, receive, store, process, or handle Customer payment card numbers (credit or debit), bank account numbers, routing numbers, payment credentials, or any other financial account information in connection with purchases or transactions between Customers and Vendors.
All such transactions occur entirely off the Platform, directly between Customers and Vendors. Earthnique is not a payment intermediary and does not integrate any payment processor for Customer-facing transactions.
Additionally, Earthnique does not collect:
Earthnique uses personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances, and only to the extent necessary to fulfill those purposes. We use personal information for the following purposes:
| Purpose | Description |
|---|---|
| Platform Operation | To create and manage user accounts, operate marketplace features, and maintain the Platform's core functionality. |
| Order Request Fulfillment | To forward Customer Order Requests, including name, contact information, shipping address, and order details, to the relevant Vendor to enable fulfillment. |
| Communications | To send transactional notices (e.g., account registration, order confirmations), respond to support inquiries, and provide Platform-related updates. |
| Vendor Subscription Billing | To process subscription fee payments made by Vendors to Earthnique for access to the Platform. This use applies exclusively to Vendors and does not involve Customer payment data. |
| Platform Improvement | To analyze usage patterns, diagnose technical issues, test new features, and continuously improve the Platform's functionality and user experience. |
| Security and Fraud Prevention | To detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent activity, unauthorized access, and other harmful conduct on the Platform. |
| Legal Compliance | To comply with applicable Canadian laws, regulatory obligations, legal processes, and enforceable governmental requests. |
| Marketing Communications | To send promotional communications, newsletters, and offers about the Platform and its features, with your prior consent. You may withdraw consent at any time as described in Section 10. |
Earthnique does not use Customer personal information to process payments or financial transactions between Customers and Vendors. Earthnique has no role in, and takes no responsibility for, payment arrangements made between Customers and Vendors off the Platform.
We will not use your personal information for a materially different purpose than those identified at the time of collection without first obtaining your consent, subject to limited exceptions permitted under BC PIPA and PIPEDA.
Earthnique collects and uses personal information on the following legal bases, consistent with the accountability and consent principles under BC PIPA and PIPEDA:
Where required by law, we obtain your express or implied consent before collecting, using, or disclosing your personal information. Consent is obtained for optional features (such as marketing communications) and for any collection of personal information beyond what is necessary for core Platform functions. You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions, on reasonable notice to Earthnique.
We process certain personal information as necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations to you — for example, creating and maintaining your account, forwarding Order Requests, and processing Vendor subscription fees.
We may process personal information based on our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your privacy rights. Such legitimate interests include: maintaining Platform security, preventing fraud, analyzing aggregate usage to improve services, and maintaining business records.
We may collect, retain, or disclose personal information as required to comply with applicable Canadian law, including tax law, anti-money-laundering obligations, court orders, or regulatory requirements.
Earthnique does not sell your personal information. We share personal information only in the limited circumstances described below.
When a Customer submits an Order Request through the Platform, Earthnique shares the Customer's name, email address, shipping address, and order details with the Vendor to whom the Order Request is directed.
This sharing is necessary to enable the Vendor to respond to and fulfill the Order Request. By submitting an Order Request, Customers consent to this disclosure.
Vendors are contractually required to use Customer personal information received through the Platform only for the purpose of fulfilling the relevant Order Request. Vendors are expressly prohibited from using Customer data for unrelated marketing, profiling, or any other purpose not directly connected to fulfillment of the Order Request.
We engage trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating the Platform. These providers may process personal information on our behalf and include:
All service providers are subject to written data processing agreements that restrict their use of personal information to the services they provide to Earthnique and require them to maintain appropriate security measures.
We may disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to: (a) comply with a legal obligation, applicable law, court order, or valid governmental or regulatory request; (b) enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements; (c) protect the rights, property, or safety of Earthnique, our users, or the public; or (d) detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues.
In the event of a merger, acquisition, amalgamation, reorganization, financing, or sale of all or a portion of Earthnique's assets, personal information held by Earthnique may be transferred to the successor entity as part of that transaction. Where required by applicable law, we will notify affected users of such a transfer and, where required, obtain consent or provide an opportunity to withdraw personal information.
Earthnique uses the following categories of cookies and similar tracking technologies on the Platform:
| Cookie Type | Purpose | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly Necessary | Essential for the Platform to function (e.g., session management, authentication, security tokens). | Yes — cannot be disabled without impairing Platform functionality. |
| Functional | Remember your preferences and settings to personalize your experience (e.g., language preferences, saved searches). | Optional — disabled without material impact on core functionality. |
| Analytics | Collect aggregated information about how users interact with the Platform to help us improve features and performance. | Optional — requires consent where applicable. |
We may use third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to help us understand Platform usage. These services may collect information about your use of the Platform, including your IP address and pages visited, subject to their own privacy policies. Where such services set cookies or collect data, we will notify you and, where required, obtain your consent.
You may control and manage cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Platform. Where applicable law requires, you will be given the opportunity to consent to or decline non-essential cookies through our cookie preference tool.
Some browsers transmit "Do Not Track" (DNT) signals. At this time, the Platform does not respond to DNT signals in a standardized way, as no industry standard for DNT response has been widely adopted. We will update this section if a standard practice emerges.
Earthnique retains personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required or permitted by applicable law. The following retention periods apply:
| Category of Information | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Customer Account Data | Retained while the account is active. Deleted or anonymized within 90 days of account closure, except where retention is required by law or to resolve outstanding disputes. |
| Vendor Account Data | Retained while the Vendor account is active. Deleted or anonymized within 90 days of account closure, subject to the billing records exception below. |
| Order Request Data | Retained for 3 years from the date of submission, for business records and dispute resolution purposes. |
| Vendor Subscription Billing Records | Retained for 7 years from the date of the transaction, in compliance with Canadian federal and provincial tax law requirements (including the Income Tax Act and BC taxation legislation). |
| Analytics and Usage Data | Retained in aggregated, de-identified form indefinitely. Non-aggregated usage logs retained for a maximum of 12 months. |
| Support and Communications Records | Retained for 2 years from the date of last communication or resolution of the relevant inquiry. |
After the applicable retention period expires, personal information is securely deleted or anonymized in accordance with our data disposal procedures.
Earthnique implements reasonable and appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. These measures include:
While we take data security seriously and apply industry-standard protections, no method of transmission over the Internet and no method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your personal information, and you transmit information to us at your own risk.
In the event of a breach of security safeguards involving your personal information that creates a real risk of significant harm to you, Earthnique will notify you and, where required, report the breach to the applicable Canadian privacy regulator (the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada), in accordance with the notification requirements of BC PIPA and PIPEDA.
The Platform is primarily hosted on servers located in Canada. Earthnique takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is stored within Canada wherever practicable.
Some of our third-party service providers (including analytics, email, and support tool vendors) may store or process personal information in jurisdictions outside of Canada, including in the United States or other countries. The privacy laws of those jurisdictions may differ from those applicable in British Columbia or federally in Canada and may not provide the same level of protection.
Where personal information is transferred to a service provider in another jurisdiction, Earthnique requires that such service providers execute contractual clauses or data processing agreements that impose obligations consistent with applicable Canadian privacy law, including obligations to: protect personal information with appropriate security measures; use personal information only for the specified purpose; and notify Earthnique of any security incidents affecting personal information.
By using the Platform and providing personal information, you acknowledge that your personal information may be transferred to and processed in jurisdictions outside of Canada, subject to the safeguards described above.
Under BC PIPA and PIPEDA, individuals have enforceable rights in respect of their personal information. Earthnique is committed to honoring these rights promptly and transparently.
You have the right to request access to the personal information Earthnique holds about you, including information about how it has been used and to whom it has been disclosed. We will respond to access requests within 30 days of receipt, or notify you if additional time is required under applicable law.
If you believe that personal information Earthnique holds about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated, you have the right to request that we correct it. We will amend the information or, where we disagree with the requested correction, note your request in the record.
Where our processing of your personal information is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time on reasonable notice. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out prior to withdrawal. Please note that withdrawal of consent for certain processing activities (such as essential account operation) may result in the inability to access or use portions of the Platform.
If you believe Earthnique has not handled your personal information in accordance with applicable law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant privacy authority:
To exercise any of your privacy rights, or to make a privacy-related inquiry, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact details in Section 14. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request. In some cases, we may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
The Platform is not directed at, and is not intended for use by, children under the age of 13. Earthnique does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age.
If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take prompt steps to delete that information from our records. Parents or legal guardians who believe that a child under 13 has provided personal information to Earthnique without parental consent are encouraged to contact us at privacy@earthnique.com to request deletion of that information.
The Platform may contain links to Vendor websites, social media pages, or other third-party websites that are not owned or controlled by Earthnique. Earthnique is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of any third-party websites.
When you click a link to a Vendor's external website or choose to transact directly with a Vendor off the Platform, you are leaving the Earthnique Platform and your interactions are governed by the Vendor's own privacy policy and terms of service. Earthnique has no control over, and accepts no responsibility for, the personal information practices of individual Vendors in respect of off-platform transactions.
We strongly encourage you to review the privacy policy of any third-party website or Vendor you visit or transact with before providing personal information.
Earthnique reserves the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the Platform, or applicable law. The updated Privacy Policy will be posted on the Platform with a revised "Last Updated" date at the top of the document.
Where a proposed change is material — meaning it significantly affects how we handle your personal information — we will provide advance notice by email to the address associated with your account, by a prominent notice on the Platform, or by such other means as required by applicable law, prior to the change taking effect.
Your continued use of the Platform following notice of a material change constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the updated Policy, you should discontinue use of the Platform and may request deletion of your account in accordance with Section 10.
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or Earthnique's handling of your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer:
| Organization | Earthnique Inc. |
|---|---|
| Privacy Inquiries | privacy@earthnique.com |
| Mailing Address | Privacy Officer, Earthnique Inc., British Columbia, Canada |
| Response Time | Within 30 days of receipt of your written request |
If you are dissatisfied with Earthnique's response to a privacy complaint or request, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia:
For matters governed by PIPEDA, you may also contact:
