1. Introduction

Cottage Rules is operated by ROBERTSON INNOVATION GROUP ("Cottage Rules", "we", "our", or "us"). We provide a web-based platform for cottage and vacation property owners to organize, preserve, and share property information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and safeguard personal information when you use Cottage Rules.

We aim to handle personal information in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), where applicable.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account and Profile Information

• Name, email address, account credentials, role, and account preferences
• Information you provide during onboarding or when managing your account

2.2 Cottage and Property Information

• Property name, description, address or general location, and postal code
• Guest instructions, maintenance instructions, seasonal tasks, house rules, emergency information, and local recommendations
• Appliance details, manuals, model or serial information, and related property records
• Reservation or booking information that you choose to store in the Service

2.3 User Content and Uploaded Files

• Text, photographs, videos, PDFs, manuals, handwritten-note images, and other files you upload
• Information contained in those files, which may include personal information about you or other people

2.4 Payment and Transaction Information

Payments are processed by Stripe. We may receive transaction identifiers, purchase status, subscription tier, renewal or cancellation status, and limited billing information. We do not store full credit card numbers.

2.5 Newsletter and Communications Information

• Email address, name, subscription status, preferences, and consent records
• Newsletter delivery, open, and click information where those features are enabled
• Customer support inquiries and other communications with us

2.6 Automatically Collected Information

• IP address and general location information
• Browser, device, operating system, and session information
• Usage events such as pages viewed, features used, and product interactions
• Cookies and similar technologies used for authentication, preferences, security, and analytics

3. How We Use Information

We use information to:

• Create and manage accounts and provide Cottage Rules features
• Store, organize, display, and share content at your direction
• Provide AI-assisted writing, document extraction, image or note extraction, and related automation features
• Process payments, manage subscriptions, gift purchases, and account entitlements
• Provide weather, fire-risk, calendar, reservation, or other contextual product features
• Send account, security, billing, onboarding, and other service-related communications
• Send marketing newsletters only where we have appropriate consent or another lawful basis
• Respond to support requests and troubleshoot the Service
• Understand product usage, improve features, and protect against abuse, fraud, and security threats
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our agreements

4. Artificial Intelligence Features

Cottage Rules includes optional AI-assisted features that can help rewrite instructions, extract information from PDFs, interpret uploaded images or handwritten notes, and organize content. When you use these features, the content you submit may be processed by our technology providers to generate the requested result.

AI systems can produce inaccurate, incomplete, or unexpected results. You should review AI-generated or AI-extracted content before publishing it or relying on it. Do not submit unnecessary sensitive personal information, passwords, access codes, financial information, health information, or other highly sensitive information through AI features.

Our service providers may process information in accordance with their contractual terms and privacy obligations. Cottage Rules does not sell your personal information.

5. Sharing and Disclosure

5.1 Shared Guides and Public Links

When you create a share link or QR code, the information you choose to publish can be viewed by anyone who has that link. A recipient may forward the link to others. You are responsible for deciding what information is appropriate to include in a guest-facing or shared guide and for avoiding unnecessary sensitive information.

5.2 Service Providers

We use service providers to operate Cottage Rules. Depending on the feature, these providers may support:

• Application hosting, databases, authentication, storage, and infrastructure, including Base44
• AI processing and document or image extraction
• Payment processing, including Stripe
• Email delivery and newsletter operations
• Analytics, monitoring, security, weather, and related technical services

5.3 Legal and Business Requirements

We may disclose information where required by law, to respond to lawful requests, to protect users or the Service, to investigate fraud or security incidents, or as part of a legitimate corporate transaction such as a merger, financing, acquisition, or sale of assets, subject to applicable legal requirements.

6. Marketing Communications

Creating a Cottage Rules account does not automatically subscribe you to marketing newsletters. Where we ask for marketing consent, the choice is optional and separate from acceptance of the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in a marketing email or the subscription management tools provided by Cottage Rules.

We may still send non-promotional messages that are necessary to operate your account, such as verification, security, billing, subscription, service, and support communications.

7. Data Storage, International Processing, and Security

Cottage Rules and its service providers may store or process information in Canada, the United States, and other jurisdictions where our providers operate. Information processed outside Canada may be subject to the laws and lawful-access requirements of those jurisdictions.

We and our service providers use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information, including access controls, secure authentication, encryption where supported, logging, monitoring, and infrastructure security measures. No system can guarantee absolute security.

We maintain processes for responding to privacy and security incidents and will provide notifications or reports where required by applicable law.

8. Retention and Deletion

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy or as required by law. Retention periods vary by type of information.

• Account and cottage content is generally retained while your account is active
• Deleted account data may remain temporarily in backups or logs before being removed or overwritten
• Billing, transaction, tax, fraud-prevention, and legal records may be retained for longer where required
• Unsubscribe and consent records may be retained to honour your communication choices and demonstrate compliance

Where appropriate, information may be anonymized instead of deleted. You may contact us to request deletion, subject to legal and operational limitations.

9. Your Privacy Rights

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct inaccurate information, withdraw consent where consent is the basis for processing, or request deletion of information that we are not required to retain.

To make a request, contact the Privacy Officer at cottagerulesapp@gmail.com. We may need to verify your identity before completing a request.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for authentication, session management, preferences, security, and product analytics. You can control some cookies through your browser settings, although blocking necessary cookies may prevent parts of the Service from working properly.

11. Children's Privacy

Cottage Rules accounts are intended for adults who have the legal capacity to enter into a contract. We do not knowingly create accounts for children. Shared guest guides may be viewed by guests without an account. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us improperly, please contact us.

12. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Cottage Rules evolves. If a change is material, we may provide notice by email, through the Service, or by another appropriate method. The date at the top of this Policy shows when it was last updated.

13. Privacy Officer and Contact Information

Privacy Officer, ROBERTSON INNOVATION GROUP
Operating as Cottage Rules
69 Robertson Cres, Kitchener, ON, Canada
Email: cottagerulesapp@gmail.com

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or another applicable privacy regulator.