Privacy starts by collecting less.

01

Start with the name you want us to use

When you first ask us for support, you only need to provide a name and at least one contact method that you consider safe and that we can actually use to reach you. You may choose email, phone, WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal. The message is optional. You may use an alias or any name you want us to use. We will not ask for your legal name, date of birth, government ID number, immigration status or home address on this form.

We handle your information in accordance with B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), including sections 7(2), 10 and 11. We collect only what we need to provide initial support, explain why we are collecting it and never make unnecessary information a condition of service. You can still receive a response and initial support if you use an alias or choose not to share information we do not need.

02

How website forms and email work

• Cloudflare processes the form and anti-spam check. The volunteer application and support request forms are saved as an official record in the society’s Cloudflare D1 database (bewater-portal) and given an application number. The email that follows is only a notification.
• The notification email contains the application number and form type. It does not repeat your message or your contact details; a designated person has to sign in to the admin portal to read those. The contact form, membership form and volunteer activity log are still delivered as a plain-text email to the society’s fixed Gmail inbox.
• We do not store the anti-spam token, your IP address or your browser details with the application.
• Forms do not accept attachments and do not automatically send a copy to the person who submitted the form.
• Only people authorized to handle the related enquiry, application or safety matter may access it.

We keep information only while the stated purpose continues or a legal or practical business need requires it. PIPA s.35(2) requires destruction or removal of identifying links once the purpose is complete and legal or business retention is no longer necessary. If information is used to make a decision that directly affects an individual, PIPA s.35(1) may require the related information to be retained for at least one year.

03

The Q&A assistant does not use generative AI

The temporary Q&A assistant matches a question to answers already published on this website. It does not send the question to an AI provider, email the conversation or create a chat-transcript database. The conversation is not saved as chat history when you leave or reload the page.

Cloudflare processes the request so the answer can be returned. The website code does not write the question to a database or application log. Ask general questions only and do not enter names or other personal details. Use the support form for help with your own situation.

04

The Be Water plugin creates unpublished governance drafts

• The public template tool reads static resolution templates and does not access personal information.
• After an authorized administrator approves OAuth access, the draft tool receives only the title, exact document text, signer names, optional signer email addresses, validity duration and assent text that ChatGPT or Codex submits to it. Be Water does not receive the rest of the chat through this tool.
• Drafts are stored in Cloudflare D1 for administrator review and the later signing record. OAuth authorization codes and tokens are stored only as SHA-256 hashes.
• The plugin cannot publish a draft, send signing links or sign for anyone. An authorized Be Water administrator must review and publish each draft manually.

05

The member register is a statutory record

Membership is separate from support. After the Board accepts an application, the Societies Act requires the member register to contain the member’s name and the contact information that member provides, and prohibits any other information from being kept in the register. We protect that information under British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act.

06

Volunteer information is collected in stages

PIPA includes volunteers in its definition of employee. The first application asks for the name you want us to use, your email address and a phone number; telling us why you want to volunteer is optional. We use the contact details to follow up on the application. We discuss interests, availability and role-specific requirements after making contact. References, emergency contacts, driving information, credentials and background checks are explained and collected later only when a particular role genuinely requires them.

07

The volunteer portal does store your records in a database

If you create an account, Be Water stores your sign-in details, your profile, your relationship with the society and the volunteer activities you record in the same Cloudflare D1 database, bewater-portal. An account is only created if you open one yourself; submitting a public form does not create one.

Passwords are never stored. The sign-in system keeps a one-way hash that cannot be turned back into your password. Confirmation and password-reset links work once and expire in one hour.

• Your profile holds the name you ask us to use, your preferred language and the contact method you choose. It does not have to be your legal name.
• Volunteer entries hold a date, a number of minutes and your description of the work. A service user may use their real name, usual name, nickname or a code. Contact details do not have to be stored in the portal.
• You can see, edit and cancel your own entries. Cancelling keeps the record and stops it counting towards your hours, so the society’s reporting history stays honest.
• You cannot see any other volunteer’s records, and the portal shows no ranking, no leaderboard and no dollar value.
• The portal does not create a formal support application or case-management file. A volunteer activity description may still include case details about the work completed. Asking for help never creates an account or profile for you.

08

Website metrics are limited to public-page visibility

Public information pages send a same-site pageview event so the society can understand page traffic, approximate country, region and city, referring site, campaign tags, device category, browser category and viewport bucket. During early launch, the society may also keep per-visit public-page diagnostics for up to 30 days.

The metrics endpoint does not store raw IP addresses, raw User-Agent strings, cookies, account identifiers, full URL query strings, free text or session recordings. It may store a daily server-side IP hash and a coarse network prefix for source analysis. It is not loaded on support, contact, membership, volunteer, portal, admin, signing or internal operational pages.

Microsoft Clarity session replay is not loaded by default. Search Console DNS ownership verification and sitemap submission do not add session-replay code to this website.

09

Access, correction, withdrawal and complaints

You may ask to access or correct personal information held by the society, withdraw consent where the law permits withdrawal, or make a privacy complaint. We may need enough information to confirm that a record concerns you and to locate it. Statutory retention periods and other lawful exceptions still apply.