Privacy policy

The short version

Pourvoo is a public, independent directory of Quebec outfitters (pourvoiries). You can browse the entire site without creating an account or providing any personal information. We never sell your information and never use it for advertising. We collect personal information only when you choose to write to an outfitter through our contact form or send us feedback.

Information we collect

We collect the bare minimum, and only in these seven situations:

• Contact form — when you write to an outfitter through Pourvoo, we collect your name, email address, the content of your message and, if you specify them, the package you're interested in and your travel dates. We forward this to the outfitter you selected, which can reply to you directly. Pourvoo does not send you any email about your inquiry. We keep a copy so the inquiry isn't lost. Every email we send to an outfitter includes a link letting it stop receiving requests at any time, and a link to report a request as spam: the reported sender then cannot write, through Pourvoo, to that email address for 30 days. After a successful send, we remember your name and email address in your browser's local storage on your device, only to prefill the form next time; they are never sent to us unless you submit the form, and clearing your browser data removes them.
• Feedback box — when you send us a comment, we collect the content of your message and, if you choose to provide it, your email address. Leaving your email is optional and consent-based: it is used only to reply to you, and without it your feedback stays anonymous. We also note the page the feedback came from and your device type, to give your comment context. This feedback stays internal to Pourvoo and is not forwarded to anyone.
• Site search — when you use the site search, the text you type is stored together with your visitor cookie id, along with a bit of context: your approximate country and province, your device type (mobile, tablet or desktop), the network provider your connection comes through, how long the search stayed open, and what you selected (if anything). This is used to improve search. Please don't type personal information into it.
• Referral measurement — when you click to visit an outfitter's website, book, call or email them, we record an anonymous count of that action: which outfitter, the type of contact, your approximate country and province, your device type (mobile, tablet or desktop), the network or hosting provider your connection comes through (to tell automated traffic from real visitors), and how you arrived at our site (the referring website or ad campaign, and the page you first landed on). A first-party cookie remembers that arrival so we can attribute the click; it holds no IP address or identity. This lets us show outfitters how many visitors we send them and where they came from. We do not keep your IP address or identity, and this data cannot identify you.
• Anonymous usage statistics — we use PostHog to record which pages you view and to understand certain interactions within pages (for example the site search or the fishing-zone map), as well as to detect technical errors on the site. It is configured without cookies: nothing is stored on your device. So that the same interactions are not counted twice within one visit, a temporary identifier is computed on PostHog's servers from an irreversible fingerprint that is regenerated every day. That identifier cannot identify you, your IP address is not retained, and your visits are not linked from one day to the next. PostHog also honours your browser's Do-Not-Track signal. Our overall traffic figures (visitor counts, repeat visits) instead come from our own first-party technical log, described below — not from PostHog.
• Repeat visits — we place a first-party cookie in your browser holding a random number and the date it was created. That number is not derived from anything about you: it is drawn at random, it identifies a browser rather than a person, and it reveals nothing about you to anyone else. We also record, for each page, the technical string identifying your browser and device (the “user-agent”) and a signal noting whether the page actually ran in a browser — this lets us tell real visitors apart from automated visitors and AI assistants. We use it to see whether visitors come back over the following weeks, and whether those who come back end up contacting an outfitter — in other words, whether the directory is actually doing its job. The cookie expires after at most 400 days, and you can switch it off at any time (see “Opt out of repeat-visit measurement” below). Switching it off takes nothing away from your use of the site.
• Technical anti-abuse data — when you submit the form, your IP address is processed transiently to limit spam, an irreversible hash of your email address is used to cap how many sends one address can trigger, and an anti-bot check (Cloudflare Turnstile) may appear. This data is used only to protect the service.

What we don't collect

To be clear, here is what Pourvoo does not do:

• No accounts, no passwords — browsing requires no sign-up.
• No financial or payment data — bookings and payments happen directly with the outfitter, never on Pourvoo.
• No precise location and no tracking of your movements.
• No advertising cookies and no marketing profiles.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect only to:

• forward your inquiry to the outfitter you selected;
• keep a record of the inquiry so we can follow up and answer your questions;
• prevent spam and abuse of the form;
• show outfitters how many visitors we direct to them, using anonymous counts;
• improve the site using aggregate, anonymous statistics.

Outfitter listing data

Outfitter listings are compiled from public sources (government registries, outfitters’ own websites, open data). They describe businesses, not individuals. An outfitter wishing to correct its listing, add information, or request removal can write to support@pourvoo.ca; we handle such requests promptly.

Our service providers

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information, and we do not share it for any advertising purpose. We rely on a small number of providers, solely to operate the service; each acts on our behalf and is bound by its own privacy commitments:

• Cloudflare — site hosting, anti-bot protection (Turnstile), and email delivery (your request to the outfitter).
• Neon — the database that stores inquiries sent through the contact form, feedback sent through the feedback box (including the optional email you leave with it), the anonymous referral counts, the text of your site searches, and page-visit rows (the page you viewed, the site that referred you, ad campaign labels, your browser's technical identification string, your approximate country and province, your device type, and your network provider).
• Google (Gmail) — an internal copy of each request forwarded to an outfitter is kept in Pourvoo's mailbox, hosted by Google, for support and to follow up on requests. That copy is not covered by the automatic 24-month erasure described below; we delete it on request at support@pourvoo.ca.
• PostHog — anonymous, aggregate usage statistics.

Data retention

We keep inquiries sent through the form in our database for 24 months, after which your name, email address, message content, and the package and dates you specified are erased: all that remains is a de-identified record that a request took place (the outfitter and the date), which no longer names you or lets anyone reach you. That automatic erasure does not cover the internal copy kept in Pourvoo's mailbox (see “Google (Gmail)” above), which we delete on request. To honour an outfitter's spam report, we keep an irreversible hash of your email address — never the address itself; it is deleted once its 30 days are over. The hash of an earlier unsubscribe from the follow-up email (a service we have retired) is no longer linked to any request after 24 months. Feedback sent through the feedback box is handled differently: we keep it while we act on it, then delete it. Page-visit records (see “Repeat visits” above) are kept in detail rather than aggregated: 13 months when your browser ran the page, and 90 days in every other case (for example an automated request). Other usage statistics are anonymous and kept in aggregate form. You can ask us to delete information about you at any time at support@pourvoo.ca.

Your rights

Pourvoo is operated from Quebec and complies with Quebec's private-sector privacy law (Law 25) and the federal law (PIPEDA). You have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected;
• request deletion of your information;
• withdraw your consent at any time;
• file a complaint with Quebec's Commission d'accès à l'information if you believe your rights were not respected.

Visitors outside Quebec

The vast majority of our visitors are in Quebec and Canada. If you contact us from the European Union (GDPR) or California (CCPA/CPRA), you have comparable rights — access, correction, deletion, objection — and we honour them the same way, at the same address.

Where your data is processed

Some of our providers process or host data outside Quebec, including in Canada and the United States. These countries may have different laws than ours. Where required, we rely on appropriate contractual safeguards to protect your information.

Children's privacy

Pourvoo is intended for an adult audience and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information about minors. If you believe a child has provided us with information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date above indicates the version in effect. For any significant change, we will make it clear on the site.

Contact us

For any question about this policy or your personal information, write to Pourvoo at support@pourvoo.ca. The person responsible for personal-information protection will respond within a reasonable time, generally within 30 days.