Privacy Policy
The short version
- We collect what we need to run Plaineos for your business, and nothing more.
- We never sell personal information, and we don't use your store's data for advertising.
- Data about your customers and staff belongs to your business. We hold it for you and use it only to provide the service.
- Our staff can see inside your account only when you allow it, or when the law or a security problem requires it.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete your information by writing to privacy@plaineos.com.
1. Who we are
Plaineos is a point of sale service run by Plaineos ("Plaineos", "we", "us"), a business based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. You can reach us at privacy@plaineos.com.
This policy explains how we handle personal information on plaineos.com, in the Plaineos apps, and when you contact us. We follow Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and the provincial privacy laws that apply where our customers operate, such as Quebec's Law 25.
2. Two kinds of information
Information about our customers (we decide how it's used)
When a business signs up, we collect information about the business and the people who manage the account. We are responsible for this information.
Information a business stores in Plaineos (the business decides)
Businesses use Plaineos to record sales, staff, schedules, loyalty members, gift cards and other store records. Some of this is personal information about their staff and their own customers. For this information, the business is in charge. We process it only on the business's instructions, to provide the service. If you are a shopper or employee of a store that uses Plaineos, please contact that store about your information. We will help them answer you.
3. What we collect
| Information | Examples | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account details | Business name, owner name, email, phone, province, number of stores, the web address name you choose | To create and run your account and contact you about it |
| Sign-in details | Email or username, an encrypted password, device and till sign-in records | To keep your account secure |
| Billing details | Plan, invoices, payment status. Card numbers are handled by our payment provider, not stored by us. | To bill you |
| Store data you enter | Products, sales, staff records and schedules, loyalty and gift card customers | To provide the service to your business |
| Support conversations | Emails, messages to the in-app help, and what you share with us | To answer you and improve the service |
| Technical information | Browser type, device, IP address, error logs, pages used in the app | To keep Plaineos secure, working and fast |
| Website enquiries | Your email and what you write when you ask for early access | To reply to you |
We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. Plaineos is a service for businesses.
4. How we use it
- To provide, secure and support Plaineos, including backups and fixing problems.
- To bill you and keep business and tax records.
- To send service emails, such as receipts, security alerts, end-of-day reports you've turned on, and changes to our terms.
- To send news about Plaineos, only if you've agreed. You can unsubscribe at any time, as Canada's anti-spam law (CASL) requires.
- To understand how the service is used, in summary form, so we can improve it.
- To meet legal duties and protect against fraud or misuse.
We never sell personal information, and we never use a business's store data to advertise to its customers or to anyone else.
5. Built-in help powered by AI
If your plan includes the built-in help, the questions you type are sent to an AI provider to produce an answer. We send only what's needed to answer the question. We choose providers whose business terms do not allow them to use it to train their models. Please don't type customers' personal details into the help box.
6. Who we share it with
We use trusted service providers to run Plaineos. They may handle personal information only to provide their service to us, under contracts that require them to protect it.
| Provider | What for |
|---|---|
| Google Cloud and Firebase | Hosting, database, sign-in, backups |
| Cloudflare | Domain and website security |
| Email providers (such as Google and Cloudflare) | Sending service emails and receipts |
| Google (Gmail) | Our own email and support inbox |
| Anthropic | The built-in AI help, if your plan includes it |
| Payment processor (once paid plans start) | Billing your subscription |
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect the safety or rights of people or of Plaineos, or as part of a sale or merger of our business, in which case the new owner must protect it as this policy says.
7. Where it's stored
Our main database and servers are run by Google Cloud (Firebase) in North America. Some of our providers may process information in other countries, including the United States. When that happens, the information may be accessed by the courts or authorities of that country under its laws. We choose providers that protect information to a standard comparable to Canadian law.
8. How we protect it
- Encryption when data travels over the internet and when it is stored.
- Each business's data is kept separate, and the server checks every request against the signed-in business.
- Staff roles control who can see what inside a business.
- Our team can open your account only with your permission, for a support request, or when the law or an urgent security problem requires it.
- Regular backups and monitoring.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach creates a real risk of significant harm, we will tell the affected people and businesses, and report it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as the law requires.
9. How long we keep it
We keep account and store data while your account is active. If you cancel, you can export your data for 30 days. After that we delete it, and it is removed from backups within 90 further days, except records we must keep for tax or legal reasons (usually up to 7 years for billing records).
10. Your choices and rights
You can ask us to:
- tell you what personal information we hold about you and how we use it,
- correct information that is wrong,
- delete your information, or withdraw your consent, subject to legal and contract limits,
- in Quebec, receive your information in a common digital format.
Write to privacy@plaineos.com. We'll reply within 30 days. If we can't help, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or in Quebec to the Commission d'accès à l'information.
11. Cookies
plaineos.com uses only what it needs to work, such as remembering light or dark mode on your device. We don't use advertising cookies. The Plaineos app stores sign-in information on your device to keep you signed in. If we add analytics later, we'll update this policy first.
12. Privacy officer and changes
Our privacy officer is responsible for this policy: the Privacy Officer, Plaineos, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, privacy@plaineos.com.
If we change this policy in an important way, we'll email account owners and post the new date at the top at least 30 days before the change takes effect.