Privacy Policy
MAINSTREET EQUITY CORPORATION PRIVACY POLICY (EXTERNAL)
Application of this Policy
Mainstreet Equity Corporation (Mainstreet) is committed to protecting your privacy. We use the information we collect about you to facilitate the operation and management of our properties and to provide any services you may request from time to time. We have created this privacy policy (the Policy) in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to protecting the privacy of all of our clients and tenants.
Mainstreet operates a website, www.mainst.biz (the Site) that allows people to locate apartments, houses or other real estate for rent online subject to our Terms & Conditions of Use.
This Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose and safeguard the Personal Information that you or a third party provide on our Site, or through any other interaction with us (the Services). This Policy also describes your rights regarding the Personal Information that we hold about you.
Consent
Directly providing Personal Information or authorizing a third party to provide Personal Information to us signifies your consent to Mainstreet’s collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information in accordance with this Policy. If you provide Personal Information to us about a third party (for example, information of an emergency contact or guarantor) or authorize a third party to disclose Personal Information to us, you agree that you were authorized to do so.
You may withdraw your consent at any time, unless such withdrawal would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation. Your withdrawal may restrict our ability to provide the Services.
Accountability
We have designated a Privacy Officer who is accountable for our compliance with this Policy. The Privacy Officer’s contact information is at the end of this Policy.
Type of Personal Information We Collect
Personal Information means any information that identifies you as an individual, including your name, address, phone number, date of birth, e-mail address and financial information. Personal Information shall be interpreted in a manner that conforms with the minimum requirements of applicable Canadian privacy legislation.
We may collect, store, use, and disclose the following categories of Personal Information, which we need in order to provide you with our Services:
- Contact Information: your first and last name, home address and/or mailing address, email address, phone number (home and cell), reference contact (name, phone number and relationship) and emergency contact (name and phone number);
- Other Identifying Information: driver’s license, official government documents, background and/or criminal background checks, passwords and other security information for authentication and access;
- Demographic Information: age, date of birth, household information, credit reports and employment information (including salary);
- Financial Information: payment and banking information;
- Internet Activity: your IP address, browsing and click history, including information about how you navigate within our Site and our Services, which may include the properties viewed on our Site;
- Preferences: details you may provide to us about your accommodation, such as any special needs including disabilities and health concerns; and
- Video Surveillance Systems: information collected through the use of video surveillance systems, which may be installed in the common areas such as lobbies, hallways and entrances of Mainstreet’s buildings or properties. View our Video Surveillance Policy here.
Purpose of Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
We collect, use and/or disclose Personal Information about you for the following reasons:
- To identify and communicate with you about matters related to our properties and our Services;
- To confirm your identity;
- To establish your eligibility for tenancy;
- To assess your creditworthiness;
- To process payments in accordance with our rental agreement with you;
- To ensure the orderly management of our properties and uphold tenant health and safety;
- To provide you access to our Site and other resident portal applications and facilitate the resident experience, including the management of day-to-day activities such as visitor access and maintenance requests;
- To contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that would be applicable to our Services; and
- To comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
These uses are required for the management and administration of our Services. If we want to use your previously collected Personal Information for a purpose different than those identified to you at the time of collection, we will provide you with notice and, where required by law, obtain your consent before using your Personal Information for a new or unrelated purpose.
Except as otherwise permitted or required by law, your Personal Information will be retained for so long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law.
Categories of Third Parties We Share Personal Information With
We will only disclose your Personal Information to third parties pursuant to the terms of this Policy, if you have otherwise so consented or if required or permitted by law. Personal Information collected about you may be stored and/or processed outside the jurisdiction in which you reside. These jurisdictions have their own laws governing data protection and government access to information. The rules that protect your Personal Information under these laws may be different than your jurisdiction.
When information is stored or processed outside your jurisdiction, it may be subject to the laws of, and accessible by, legal authorities in those other jurisdictions. We ensure that our service providers comply with all applicable privacy laws, and implement contractual clauses imposing obligations on them.
Law Enforcement and Courts
The type of information we are legally required to disclose may relate to government investigations and tax reporting requirements. In some instances, such as a legal proceeding or court order, we may also be required to disclose your Personal Information to authorities and third parties.
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in situations where we are legally permitted to do so, such as in the course of employing reasonable and legal methods to enforce our rights or to investigate suspicion of unlawful activities. We may release certain Personal Information when we believe that such release is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property and safety of ourselves and others.
Parties Related to Your Obligations
We may share Personal Information with third-party service providers who require the information to assist us in establishing, maintaining and managing our relationship with you, including, for example, collection agencies in the event of default for defending and enforcing our legal rights.
Sources of Collecting Personal Information
Personal Information may be collected in a number of ways, including but not limited to: in person, over the phone, by mail, over the Internet (including from our Site, applications or by email) and from third parties. Personal Information collected from third parties may include financial information, demographic information and other identifying information from third party service providers, such as your credit reporting agencies, background check service providers and third-party referrals (if applicable).
Personal Information may be collected in a number of circumstances, including but not limited to when you: send an inquiry to us directly or via third-party advertisers (such as PadMapper, Zillow, Rentals.ca, RentFaster, Apartments.com or Kijiji), complete a rental application form, complete a tenancy rental/lease agreement or submit a maintenance request.
We collect Internet or other electronic activity passively using tools like browser cookies and other similar technologies. This activity is further described in the Cookies section below.
We will make a reasonable effort to ensure that Personal Information we are using or disclosing is accurate and complete. In some cases, we rely on you to ensure that certain information, such as your address or phone number, is current, complete and accurate.
Cookies
Our Site uses “cookies” which enables us to remember you and understand and save your preferences. A cookie is a text file which enables our Site to store information about your activities on our Site. Any Personal Information that is collected by the cookies will be used only on an aggregate basis, which means that Mainstreet takes the identifiers off the information, and uses it for statistical purposes to assist Mainstreet in enhancing your online experience, or to evaluate the success of promotions that Mainstreet may carry on through the Site. If you do not wish to have cookies placed on your computer, you should set your browsers to refuse cookies before using our Services. If you do this, the drawback is that certain features of our Services may not function properly and this may also block cookies for any other website you visit.
We also use analytics providers to help us understand how visitors interact with our Services. These providers, including Google Analytics, use analytics cookies to collect anonymous technical information—such as your IP address, device type, operating system, referring URLs, location and pages visited—and provide us insights into activity on our website. We use that information to improve our user’s experience on our Site. You can find more information about Google’s privacy practices and explanation on how they use data by reviewing Google’s Privacy Policy. You can opt-out of Google Analytics tracking by installing a browser add-on here.
Your Rights
You have the following rights with respect to your Personal Information:
- Access. You can request that we provide you the specific types of Personal Information we collected about you, the categories of Personal Information we collected about you, the categories of sources for that information, and reason why we collected your Personal Information.
- Correction. You can request that we correct inaccurate information we have about you.
- Deletion. You can request that we delete information we collected from you.
We will not discriminate against you for exercising the above rights. If you want to exercise those rights, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information below. We ask that you provide your name, email address, requested action, relationship to Mainstreet and any details about your request. You, your authorized agent, or another person authorized by law may make a request related to your Personal Information. If you have an agent making a request, we will require: a) the agent to provide us your signed permission authorizing the agent to act on your behalf; and b) you to verify their identity directly with you.
We can only honor verified requests. Once we receive your request, we will attempt to verify the request by comparing the information you provide with the details we have on file. Alternatively, we may try to verify your identity by having you send us an email from the account we have on file.
In some cases, applicable law may require us to refuse your request to access, modify or delete your information. If we are unable to respond to your request, we will inform you of the reasons, subject to any legal or regulatory restrictions.
Security Of Personal Information
We are committed to the security of your Personal Information and we take steps to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal and other risks. We store Personal Information in a secure location, accessible by designated staff and we only use it for the purposes for which you provide it, as set out in this Policy.
We routinely review and update our security policies and controls to ensure ongoing Personal Information security. However, no transmission of information over the Internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee that information disclosed through the Internet cannot be intercepted by third parties. We have taken the steps that are reasonably available to us to protect any Personal Information that you have provided to us, including, in its disposal or destruction in due course.
Links To Other Websites And Services
Our Site may include links to other websites, products, or services (External Website) whose privacy practices may differ from our own. When you use a link to an External Website, the privacy policy and data processing disclosures for that External Website govern. We assume no responsibility or liability for the interaction with and activities of an External Website. We seek to protect the integrity of our Services and the safety of our users.
Updates
We may change this Policy from time to time to adapt it to our company, products and services, and legal requirements. If we update this Policy, we will post the revised version on our Site. You can tell if this Policy has changed by checking the effective date that appears at the bottom of this Policy.
Any continued use of our Services after any changes are made to our Policy will mean that you accept the updated Policy.
Contact Us
If you have any concerns regarding our compliance with this Policy, you may address those concerns to our Privacy Office at the address provided below. Complaints concerning your Personal Information are taken seriously and all complaints are investigated.
Any inquiries, complaints or questions regarding this Policy should be directed in writing to our Privacy Officer as follows:
Anthony Lam, Privacy Officer
305 10 Avenue SE
Calgary, AB T2G 0W2
Last Updated: January 30, 2025