Privacy Policy and Personal-Information Protection – NauticSMART
Effective date: 24 May 2025
This Policy explains how NauticSMART inc. (“NauticSMART,” “we,” “us” or “our”) collects, uses, stores, shares and protects your personal information when you access our mobile or web application, our websites or our services (collectively, the “Service”).
This Policy is designed to meet the requirements of:
- Québec’s Law 25 (An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information);
- Canada’s PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act);
- Applicable U.S. laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA (“CCPA/CPRA”); and
- The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
1. Personal-information officer
The Chief Executive Officer of NauticSMART acts as the Personal-Information Officer (“PIO”) as required by Law 25 and may delegate all or part of that role.
Contact information: privacy@nauticsmart.com | NauticSMART, a trademark of Cogni6 Inc., 134A Chemin de la Tourterelle, Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury (Québec) CANADA G3C 1N4.
2. Scope
This Policy applies to “personal information” and “personal data” within the meaning of the above-mentioned laws, collected from:
- end-users of our application;
- visitors to our website;
- people who otherwise interact with us (e.g., support, newsletters).
3. Categories of data collected
| Category | Examples | Main purposes |
| Identity | first and last name, language, internal IDs | Account creation, personalisation |
| Contact details | email, phone (optional) | Communication, two-factor authentication |
| Payment data | last four digits of card, processor token | Processing the subscription (Stripe) |
| Usage data | modules viewed, progress, technical logs | Product improvement, security |
| Approximate location | country/province inferred from IP | Legal compliance, statistics |
We do not knowingly collect sensitive data under the GDPR or CPRA (e.g., health, biometrics).
4. Legal bases and purposes
| Purpose | GDPR legal basis | PIPEDA principle | CCPA/CPRA basis |
| Provide the Service (account creation, subscription fulfilment) | Contract performance | Identified purpose & implied consent | Business purpose, categories A–F |
| Billing, fraud prevention | Legitimate interest | Use limitation | Business purpose |
| Email marketing | Explicit consent (Art. 6 (1)(a)) | Valid consent | Opt-in / Opt-out |
| Internal analytics | Legitimate interest | Transparency | Business purpose |
| Legal obligations (e.g., tax) | Legal obligation | Legal obligation | Statutory exemptions |
5. Consent and transparency
- Informed consent: before or at the time of collection we state the purposes, means and rights available, in accordance with Law 25.
- You may withdraw consent at any time without retroactive effect, unless a law requires retention.
- EEA users may object to processing based on legitimate interest; California residents may opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of their information.
6. Cookies and similar technologies
We use functional, analytics and performance cookies. A consent banner appears on your first visit in jurisdictions where required (GDPR, ePrivacy, CPRA). You can manage preferences in the privacy centre.
7. Data disclosures
We do not sell personal information. Disclosures are limited to:
| Recipient | Role | Country / safeguards |
| Payment processor (Stripe) | Transaction processing | USA – 2021 Standard Contractual Clauses |
| Cloud host (AWS Canada Central) | Infrastructure & backup | Canada |
| Analytics provider (self-hosted Matomo) | Usage statistics | Canada |
| Legal / accounting advisers | Compliance | Canada / EU, as applicable |
Transfers outside Canada/EU are governed by Standard Contractual Clauses or Binding Corporate Rules, as appropriate.
8. Retention
- Account data: while your subscription is active, then 2 years after closure for evidentiary and billing purposes;
- Technical logs: 12 months;
- Tax documents: 7 years (CRA and Québec Civil Code requirements).
Periods may be extended in case of litigation or legal obligation.
9. Security
Proportionate measures: TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 at rest, internal MFA, annual audits, least-privilege access policies.
10. Your rights
| Jurisdiction | Key rights |
| Québec (Law 25) | Access, rectification, consent withdrawal, cessation of dissemination, portability (Sept 2024) |
| Canada (PIPEDA) | Access, rectification, withdrawal, complaint to OPC |
| EU/EEA (GDPR) | Access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, automated decisions |
| California (CPRA) | Access, correction, deletion, portability, restrict sensitive data, opt-out of sale/sharing, non-discrimination |
To exercise your rights: privacy@nauticsmart.com or in-app form. ID verification may be required. Response time: 30 days (Canada/Québec) or 45 days (CPRA), extendable where permitted.
11. Children
The Service is not intended for persons under 16. We do not knowingly collect children’s data. Parents may request deletion.
12. Automated decisions
No decision with significant effect is taken solely by automated means. We will inform you and offer human review if this changes.
13. External links
Third-party sites accessible from our Service have independent privacy practices. NauticSMART is not responsible for them.
14. Updates
We may modify this Policy to reflect legal or functional changes. Material changes will be announced at least 30 days in advance via (i) in-app notice and/or (ii) email.
15. Contact
NauticSMART inc.
Attn: Personal-Information Officer
134A Chemin de la Tourterelle, Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury (Québec) Canada G3C 1N4
privacy@nauticsmart.com
If your request is not satisfactorily resolved, you may contact:
- the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec;
- the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada;
- your supervisory authority in the EEA; or
- the California Privacy Protection Agency.
NauticSMART Subscription Agreement and Terms of Use
Last updated: 24 May 2025
This document is a legally binding contract between NauticSMART inc. (“NauticSMART,” “we,” “us,” “our”) and you (“you,” “the user”) regarding your access to and use of the NauticSMART mobile and web application (the “Application”), including the purchase and renewal of a monthly or annual subscription (the “Service”). By creating an account, clicking “I accept,” or using the Application, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these terms.
1. Definitions
- Account: user profile created in the Application;
- Subscription: paid monthly or annual access to the Service;
- Subscription Period: the time covered by a payment (one month or twelve months, as chosen);
- Automatic Renewal: the Subscription renews at the then-current rate unless cancelled beforehand;
- Content: any information, data, text, image or other material viewed, generated or uploaded in the Application.
2. Acceptance and changes
NauticSMART may amend these terms, including prices, by notifying you by email or via the Application at least 30 days before the change takes effect, in compliance with Québec consumer-protection legislation.
3. Service description
The Application provides interactive nautical-learning modules, planning tools and improvement resources for pleasure-craft owners. It does not issue official certification and does not relieve users of their responsibility to comply with applicable nautical laws and regulations.
4. Account creation and accuracy
You must be 16 years or older and provide truthful information. You agree to keep your data up to date and to protect your credentials.
5. Subscription plans
| Plan | Access | Pricing |
| Monthly | 30 rolling days | Price shown at checkout |
| Annual | 12 consecutive months | Price shown at checkout |
Prices are shown before taxes and payable in the indicated currency.
6. Billing, taxes and payments
Payments are processed through a secure third-party processor. Applicable taxes (GST, QST or others) are added. You authorise NauticSMART to charge the amount to the payment method you provide.
7. Automatic renewal
Unless cancelled before the end of the Subscription Period, your Subscription automatically renews for the same duration; the stored card will be charged at the then-current rate. You will receive a clear reminder of the renewal date and amount at least 3 days and no more than 30 days beforehand, as required by Canadian and Québec law.
8. Cancellation and withdrawal right
8.1 User cancellation
You may cancel your Subscription at any time in Account > Subscription; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current Subscription Period, with no refund of the current period except where mandatory law provides otherwise.
8.2 Québec withdrawal right
If you are a consumer domiciled in Québec, you may cancel an internet contract within 7 days of receiving the contract summary, under section 54.1 of the Québec Consumer Protection Act.
8.3 NauticSMART cancellation
We may suspend or terminate your Account immediately for breach of these terms, fraud or Service abuse. No refund is due if termination is due to your misconduct.
9. Refund policy
Payments are non-refundable, except: (i) total Service outage for more than 72 consecutive hours solely due to NauticSMART; or (ii) situations required by mandatory law.
10. Price changes
Any price change will be communicated at least 30 days in advance. If you do not accept the change, you must cancel before it takes effect.
11. Licence of use
NauticSMART grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Application for private use. Any unauthorised commercial use is prohibited.
12. Intellectual property
All rights in the Application, educational content, trademarks and databases belong to NauticSMART or its licensors. You must not:
- copy, modify or create derivative works;
- reverse-engineer or attempt to obtain source code;
- remove copyright notices.
13. User content
You retain rights to Content you upload, but grant NauticSMART a worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, reproduce and display it in the normal operation of the Service.
14. Acceptable use
You must not:
- use the Application for illegal activity;
- disrupt the Service (viruses, scraping, overloading);
- impersonate others or post defamatory, obscene or unlawful Content.
15. Availability, maintenance, updates
NauticSMART aims for high availability but does not guarantee uninterrupted service. Features may be changed, bugs fixed or updates deployed that alter user experience.
16. Disclaimer of warranties
The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” NauticSMART gives no express or implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose or expected results. Some jurisdictions do not allow exclusion of implied warranties; those exclusions may not fully apply to you.
17. Limitation of liability
Except for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, NauticSMART’s total liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of: (i) the amounts you paid in the 12 months prior to the event; or (ii) CAD 100. NauticSMART is not liable for indirect, data or profit losses.
18. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify NauticSMART for third-party claims arising from: (a) your non-compliant use of the Service; (b) your breach of these terms; or (c) your infringement of others’ rights.
19. Personal information
Collection and processing of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy accessible in the Application. You have access and rectification rights under Québec’s Law 25.
20. Transfer and assignment
You may not assign this contract without NauticSMART’s written consent. NauticSMART may assign it in a merger, acquisition or corporate reorganisation upon notice.
21. Force majeure
NauticSMART is not liable for delays or non-performance caused by force majeure (e.g., natural disasters, labour disputes, network failure).
22. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of Québec and applicable federal laws of Canada. Unsettled disputes will be submitted to the courts of the judicial district of Montréal, Québec.
23. Electronic communications
By using the Application, you consent to receive all contractual communications electronically (email, in-app notices).
24. Final provisions
If any clause is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain in full force. Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
Contact
NauticSMART, a trademark of Cogni6 Inc.
134A Chemin de la Tourterelle
Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury (Québec) CANADA G3C 1N4
info@nauticsmart.com