Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 October 2026

This policy describes how the Township Fire Alerts platform — the township websites and the Township Fire Alerts mobile app — collects, uses and protects personal information about residents who use it.

The platform is operated by Snowmaan Software Inc., 53 Community Rd, Napanee, Ontario, Canada. Snowmaan Software Inc. acts as the service provider on behalf of each participating municipality. The municipality whose site you are using is the institution responsible for the information collected through it.

1. What we collect

We collect only the information you give us. What that is depends on what you use.

If you subscribe to alerts

• Email address, so we can send you the alerts you asked for.
• Subscription preferences — which alert categories you opted into.
• Verification timestamps recording when you confirmed your email and any unsubscribe events.

If you install the mobile app

• Push-notification tokens, if you enable notifications. These are opaque identifiers issued by Apple or Google and cannot be used to identify you outside our system.
• Your selected township, stored on your device so the app shows the right information.

If you apply for a burn permit

A burn permit application necessarily contains more than an email address. When you submit one we collect:

• Your name, and your email address.
• Your telephone number, if you choose to give one.
• The property address where the burn will take place.
• Details of the planned burn — the type of burn, what is being burned, and the earliest and latest dates.
• The permit record itself — its number, status, any conditions attached by the fire department, and the reason if an application is declined.

What we do not do

We do not track you across the web, use third-party advertising networks, build advertising profiles, or sell or rent your information to anyone.

2. Why we collect it

• Alert information is used solely to deliver the public-safety alerts you asked for — burn bans, fire-index changes and notices from your township.
• Burn permit information is used to process your application, to notify you of the decision, and to let your fire department contact you about the burn or confirm your permit if asked.

Neither is used for any other purpose.

3. Where it lives

Information is stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted in Canada and is encrypted in transit and at rest. Daily backups are kept in Canada. Email is delivered through our email provider; push notifications are delivered through Apple’s APNs and Google’s FCM.

4. Who can see it

• Authorized administrators of your municipality, through the admin console. Burn permit applications are visible to the fire department administrators of that township only.
• Snowmaan Software Inc. support staff, only when diagnosing a specific technical issue, and only with logged, time-limited access.

Each township’s data is kept separate; one township’s administrators cannot see another township’s residents or permits. We do not share your information with any other third party, except where we are required to by law.

5. How long we keep it

• Alert subscriptions: we keep your email address until you unsubscribe, then delete it from active systems within 30 days and from backups within 90 days. You can unsubscribe with one click in any alert email.
• Burn permits: permit records are retained by your municipality under its own records-retention schedule, because they form part of the fire department’s operational record. Ask your township for its retention period.

6. Your rights

Under the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, for information held by an Ontario municipality, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), you have the right to access, correct and request deletion of your personal information.

To exercise these rights, contact your township’s fire department, or write to us at sales@snowmaan.ca and we will pass your request on. If your concern cannot be resolved, you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario for information held by a municipality.

7. Security

We use HTTPS for every connection, require authentication for administrative accounts, and log administrative actions. If a security breach affects your information we will notify your municipality within 72 hours, and the municipality will notify affected residents and the relevant privacy commissioner as required by law.

8. Children

The platform is intended for adult residents. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

9. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. For material changes affecting how we use your information, we will notify subscribers by email before the change takes effect.

10. Contact

Snowmaan Software Inc.
53 Community Rd, Napanee, Ontario, Canada
sales@snowmaan.ca

For emergencies, call 911.