Privacy Policy

Who we are

Northern Search & Recovery Dogs Society ("NSRDS", "we", "us") is a volunteer non-profit society based in Northern British Columbia. We provide human remains detection canine services to families, law enforcement and communities. You can reach us at info@northernsearchdogs.com or250-617-1518.

The short version

We collect only what you choose to send us through this website. We do not sell it, we do not share it for marketing, and we do not use advertising or analytics trackers. Much of what people send us concerns a missing or deceased person, and we treat it with the seriousness that deserves.

What we collect

Information you give us. When you submit a form on this site we receive the fields you complete — typically your name, email address, and message, and optionally your phone number, the capacity in which you are contacting us, a general location, and an investigating agency or file number.

Information we do not collect. This is a static website. We do not set cookies, we do not run analytics, we do not fingerprint your device, and we do not have accounts or logins. Nothing tracks you across other websites.

Our hosting provider processes standard technical request data (such as IP address and browser type) in order to serve the site securely and to mitigate abuse. We do not use that data to identify individuals.

Sensitive information

Enquiries to a human remains detection society frequently include details about a missing or deceased person, an ongoing investigation, or a family's circumstances. Please send only what you are comfortable sending. You do not need to disclose medical details, investigative theories or identifying information about third parties in order to make an initial enquiry — a brief message is enough to start a conversation.

How we use it

• To respond to your enquiry.
• To assess whether a canine search is an appropriate resource in your situation.
• To coordinate a deployment with the agency holding jurisdiction, where a search proceeds.
• To keep an internal record of enquiries and deployments.

We do not use your information to send newsletters or fundraising appeals.

Who sees it

Form submissions are delivered to the society's monitored inbox and are read by the volunteers responsible for enquiries. We disclose your information outside the society only:

• to the investigating agency (for example the RCMP, a municipal police service, or the BC Coroners Service), where that is necessary to progress a search and you have asked us to assist;
• where you have asked or agreed that we do so; or
• where we are required to by law, including a court order or lawful demand.

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers.

Service providers

We use third parties to operate the site and receive form submissions. They process data on our behalf and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes:

• Cloudflare — website hosting and content delivery.
• Basin — form submission handling and spam filtering.
• Email provider — delivery and storage of the society's mailbox.

These providers may process or store data outside Canada, including in the United States. Where that happens, the information may be accessible to foreign courts and law enforcement under the laws of that jurisdiction.

How long we keep it

General enquiries are retained while they are useful and then deleted. Records relating to an actual search or deployment are kept for as long as they may be needed for the associated investigation, and because a cold case can reopen years later. If you would like your enquiry deleted, contact us and we will do so unless we are required to retain it.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS and form submissions are transmitted encrypted. We limit access to enquiries to the volunteers who need it. No system is perfectly secure, and email in particular is not a confidential channel — if a matter is highly sensitive, please call us rather than writing it down.

Your rights

Under British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act, you may ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it if it is wrong, and withdraw consent to our continued use of it. Contact info@northernsearchdogs.com and we will respond within a reasonable time. If you are not satisfied with our response you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.

Children

This site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. Material changes will be noted here rather than made quietly.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or about information we hold, can go toinfo@northernsearchdogs.com or 250-617-1518.