How participant and website information is handled

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to Kaizen Strategic AI Inc. and the information collected through kaizenstrategic.ai, related forms, email communication, and the Northern BC AI Readiness Census 2026. It is written for practical alignment with Canadian and British Columbia private-sector privacy expectations, including PIPEDA where applicable and British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act.

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you use the site or census, we may collect:

• Organization profile information, such as organization size, sector, region, AI usage stage, and risk context.
• Census answers, readiness score, pillar scores, selected Northern BC context factors, and recommendation output.
• Business contact information submitted with a census response, including contact name, organization, email address, phone number, and follow-up notes.
• Contact form submissions, including name, organization, email address, phone number, service area, message, email status, and moderation or follow-up records.
• Article comment submissions, including display name, private email address, comment text, and moderation records.
• Website and technical information, such as browser type, device information, basic analytics, and error logs.
• Saved progress stored in your browser if you use the save-progress feature.

3. Information you should not submit

The census is designed for readiness benchmarking, not for receiving confidential operational records. Please do not submit client files, employee records, health information, passwords, payment information, trade secrets, detailed safety incidents, or other sensitive personal or confidential information.

4. How we use information

Kaizen Strategic AI may use information to:

• Generate readiness scores, recommendations, and participant summaries.
• Respond to inquiries and provide requested follow-up.
• Review, moderate, and publish article comments when appropriate. Comment emails are used for moderation context and are not displayed publicly.
• Build aggregated Northern BC AI readiness benchmarks, reports, and research insights.
• Improve the census, website, service design, training material, and governance guidance.
• Maintain security, troubleshoot issues, and meet legal or administrative obligations.

5. Aggregated reporting

Census responses may be combined with other responses to produce regional benchmark findings, such as average readiness scores, common barriers, industry patterns, and governance gaps. Public reporting is intended to use aggregated or de-identified information. We do not intend to publish names, emails, or identifiable participant details without permission.

6. Consent and choices

Participation in the census is voluntary. You can view your score in the browser without submitting business contact details. To submit the response for follow-up, email delivery, or benchmark inclusion, business contact fields are required. You can ask us to correct, delete, or stop using contact information for follow-up. If a response has already been aggregated into a benchmark in a way that no longer identifies you, it may not be possible to remove it from aggregate reporting.

7. AI-assisted review

Kaizen Strategic AI may use AI-assisted tools to help summarize themes, identify patterns, draft recommendations, or improve service delivery. We aim to avoid entering identifiable participant information, confidential client information, or sensitive personal information into public AI tools unless appropriate controls and permissions are in place.

8. Sharing and service providers

We do not sell participant information. We may share limited information with service providers that help operate the website, host data, send email, manage forms, analyze site performance, or provide business support. We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect rights or security, or with your consent.

9. Storage and safeguards

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards for the size and nature of the service. These may include limiting access, using reputable service providers, keeping only information needed for the stated purposes, and separating public benchmark findings from identifiable participant details where practical.

The save-progress feature stores census progress in your own browser. Other people with access to the same device or browser profile may be able to see saved progress.

10. Retention

We keep identifiable information only as long as reasonably needed for the census, follow-up, reporting, service delivery, legal obligations, or legitimate business purposes. We may retain de-identified or aggregated benchmark data for longer because it no longer identifies an individual participant.

11. Access, correction, and questions

You may ask to access, correct, or delete personal information we hold about you, subject to legal and practical limits. Contact Kaizen Strategic AI at info@kaizenstrategic.ai.

12. Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy as the census, website, services, or legal requirements change. The effective date above shows when this version was last updated.