Last updated: September 16, 2026
Coastal Comfort Property Watch (“Coastal Comfort”, “we”, “us”) is an owner-operated Home Watch business serving Parksville, Qualicum Beach and the surrounding Oceanside area of British Columbia. We respect your privacy and handle personal information in accordance with British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). This policy explains what we collect, why, how we protect it, and the choices and rights you have.
Our privacy officer
Sarah Kettner, owner of Coastal Comfort, is responsible for our compliance with PIPA. Questions, requests and concerns can be directed to Sarah at info@coastalcomfortpropertywatch.ca or 250-918-8213.
What personal information we collect
We collect only the information we reasonably need to provide Home Watch services. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:
- Contact details — your name, phone number, email address and mailing address.
- Property information — the location and type of your property, its features and systems, and your service priorities.
- Travel and scheduling information — the dates you expect to be away and your preferred visit schedule.
- Emergency and authorized contacts — people and trades you authorize us to contact about your property.
- Insurance-related information — visit frequency or other conditions required by your insurer, where you choose to share them.
- Access information — keys, alarm codes and lockbox details, collected only after you become a client and through secure arrangements agreed with you.
- Visit records — dated visit reports, notes and photographs of your property.
- Billing information — invoices and payment records.
- Website information — details you submit through our consultation form, and limited technical information described under “Our website” below.
Please do not send alarm codes, lockbox combinations or other sensitive access details by email or through our website form. We will arrange a secure way to share them during your consultation.
Why we collect it
- To respond to your enquiries and schedule a property consultation.
- To prepare your Client Service Plan and quote.
- To carry out scheduled visits, document what we observe and keep you informed.
- To contact you, or the people you have authorized, if we observe a concern.
- To coordinate authorized next steps, such as arranging access for a contractor you have approved.
- To invoice for our services and keep business records.
- To meet our legal, insurance and regulatory obligations.
We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information, and we do not use it for purposes unrelated to our services without your consent.
Consent
We collect, use and disclose personal information with your consent, except where PIPA authorizes or requires us to do otherwise. When you voluntarily provide information for an obvious purpose—for example, sending us your contact details so we can reply—your consent is implied for that purpose. We will ask for your express consent before using your information for a new purpose.
You may withdraw or change your consent at any time by giving us reasonable notice. If withdrawing consent means we can no longer provide some or all of our services, we will explain the consequences first.
When we share information
We share personal information only as needed to provide our services or as permitted or required by law, including with:
- emergency contacts, contractors or trades you have authorized us to involve;
- emergency services, where there is an urgent risk to people or property;
- your insurer, if you ask us to provide visit records;
- service providers who support our business, such as website hosting, email, accounting and cloud storage providers, who may only use the information to provide their services to us; and
- legal or government authorities, where required by law.
Some of our service providers may store or process information outside British Columbia or Canada. Where this occurs, the information may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions. We choose reputable providers and take reasonable steps to ensure your information is protected.
How we protect your information
We use reasonable security arrangements to protect personal information against unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal, including:
- Physical safeguards — client keys are coded rather than labelled with names or addresses and are stored securely, separately from client records.
- Administrative safeguards — access details are known only to the people who need them to provide your service.
- Technical safeguards — password-protected devices and accounts, multi-factor authentication where available, encrypted website connections (HTTPS) and website security monitoring.
If we become aware of a privacy breach involving your personal information, we will act promptly to contain it, assess the risk, and notify you and any other appropriate parties where the breach could reasonably create a risk of harm.
How long we keep information
We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described above or as required for legal, tax or insurance reasons. If we use your information to make a decision that directly affects you, we keep it for at least one year after that decision so you have a reasonable opportunity to request access to it. When a client relationship ends, we return keys and securely destroy access codes and other information we no longer need.
Our website
- Consultation form — information you submit is sent to us by email and stored in our website system so we can respond. Please share only what is needed to start the conversation.
- Cookies — our website uses cookies that are necessary for it to function and secure it. Where non-essential cookies are used, we ask for your choice through our cookie banner, and you can change your preferences at any time.
- Security and server logs — our hosting and security tools automatically record technical information such as IP address, browser type and pages requested, to protect the site from spam and attacks.
- Links — our website may link to other websites, which have their own privacy practices.
Your rights: access and correction
You may ask, in writing, to see the personal information we hold about you, how it has been used, and to whom it has been disclosed. We will respond within 30 business days, or explain if we need an extension permitted under PIPA. We may charge a minimal fee to cover the cost of providing copies, and will tell you the estimated fee in advance. In limited cases PIPA allows or requires us to refuse access; if so, we will explain why.
If you believe information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you may ask us to correct it. To make a request, contact our privacy officer using the details above.
Questions and complaints
If you have a question or concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact Sarah first—we will do our best to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC
PO Box 9038, Stn. Prov. Govt., Victoria, BC V8W 9A4
Phone: 250-387-5629 · Toll-free (via Service BC): 1-800-663-7867
Email: info@oipc.bc.ca · www.oipc.bc.ca
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be posted on this page with its “last updated” date.