Privacy Policy

About Gardy Companion

Gardy Companion is a product of GARDY Technologies Inc. (“GARDY”, “we”, “us”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose and protect personal information when people use Gardy Companion (“Companion”), including accounts provided through organizational licences.

1. Information we collect

Account and contact information: account name or chosen display name, email address, account identifiers, preferences and information needed to administer access.

Content you choose to share: text conversations, voice inputs or their transcripts, journal entries, reflections, and memories saved through Companion. Some of this information may be sensitive, including information about emotional wellbeing or health that you voluntarily disclose.

Service and technical information: login and security events, IP address, browser/device information, session data, feature usage, and diagnostic information needed to operate, protect and troubleshoot the service.

Billing information: subscription and transaction records. Payment card details are processed by the payment provider; GARDY does not store full card numbers. Organizational customers may pay through separate agreed billing arrangements.

2. How we use information

We process personal information to create and secure accounts; deliver user-requested text and voice conversations; generate or display journals and reflections; maintain user-directed memories and continuity; administer subscriptions or organizational licences; provide customer support; investigate technical or safety-related issues; prevent misuse; maintain backups; and meet applicable legal obligations. We limit use to the purposes described here or otherwise communicated to users.

Companion is a voluntary service. You decide when to start or stop text or voice interactions and what you choose to share. Existing information may still be stored or used by scheduled functions, including journal generation, until it is deleted or the account is closed as described below.

3. Consent and user choice

At account registration, users must actively select a checkbox confirming agreement to the Terms of Service and acknowledgement of this Privacy Policy. An agreement screen may also be presented when a user signs in and no acceptance record exists. Users may read both documents within that screen before choosing whether to proceed.

If a user does not agree, they can select “I don’t agree”; they will be signed out, and their account and existing data will not be deleted. The agreement will be presented again on a future login until accepted.

Users can stop new voluntary conversations by not submitting text or voice input. They may contact support@gardy.ca to request deletion of particular conversations, journal entries or memories without necessarily closing the account. They may also permanently delete their account through the Profile page or ask support for assistance. Essential account, security and legal processing may continue while an account remains active or where retention is legally required.

4. AI processing and external service providers

Companion uses the OpenAI API to produce AI-supported conversational responses and selected generated features, including journals. Relevant information from the user’s request and necessary context is transmitted from Companion’s server to the AI provider using HTTPS/TLS. Do not enter information you do not wish to share for the requested AI function.

GARDY also uses Microsoft Azure for application hosting, databases and backups, and Stripe for eligible individual subscription payments. Other operational providers may be used where necessary and disclosed as appropriate. We do not sell personal conversations or journal entries to advertisers.

5. Storage locations and international processing

Companion uses Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure. Canada Central is the default Azure region for the core deployment model; dedicated organizational deployments may use another region selected under their deployment arrangement. Application records, databases and disaster-recovery backups are maintained in the applicable deployment environment.

External service processing, including AI requests, is separate from Azure storage. Information sent to a provider may be processed or accessed outside Canada depending on the provider’s actual service arrangements. When information is handled in another jurisdiction, it may be subject to lawful requests by courts, law-enforcement or national-security authorities there. GARDY applies contractual, access-control and technical safeguards appropriate to the service and deployment.

6. Security and confidentiality

GARDY uses authenticated accounts, administrative access controls, HTTPS/TLS for communications, protected server-side API credentials, and backup and recovery procedures. Cloud storage and backup safeguards are managed through the applicable Azure environment. No online service can guarantee absolute security. We review security and operational risks and respond to reported concerns.

7. Retention, selective deletion and account deletion

Personal information is generally kept while an account remains active and for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy or applicable obligations. Users can request removal of selected journal entries, conversations or memories through support@gardy.ca. A request may require identity verification to protect against accidental or unauthorized deletion.

Users may permanently delete their account from the Profile page. The account deletion procedure removes associated information from the active production environment; information in disaster-recovery backups may remain until the relevant backup retention period expires. Some transaction or other records may need to be retained where law requires. Deletion requests are handled in accordance with applicable law and the Account Deletion and Data Retention Procedure.

8. Your privacy rights

Depending on applicable law, you may request access to information we hold about you, an explanation of its use or disclosure, correction of inaccurate information, deletion of selected information, or closure of your account. You may withdraw consent for optional activities where applicable, subject to necessary processing and legal obligations.

Send requests to support@gardy.ca. We may ask for information to verify that a request is authorized. We will explain any lawful restriction or refusal and how to seek further review or contact an applicable privacy regulator. We will disclose any applicable fee before processing a request; fees, if any, are governed by applicable law.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

Companion uses cookies or similar technologies needed for account sessions, authentication, security and essential site operation. These necessary technologies support login and do not require the user to opt into optional tracking. GARDY does not currently intend to use advertising or optional analytics tracking in Companion. If optional tracking is introduced, the Privacy Policy and applicable consent controls will be revised before those technologies are activated. Browser settings may allow users to block cookies, but blocking necessary cookies can prevent login or other essential features from working.

10. Organizational licences

An organization may purchase Companion licences for its members, employees or other authorized users. GARDY supplies applicable privacy and platform-use documentation as part of the organizational licensing package, and each individual user can consult the core Privacy Policy and Terms of Service directly in Companion or request copies.

Dedicated organizational deployments may have separate infrastructure, selected Azure regions, and additional organization-specific notices, access rules or support contacts. Where a separate organizational notice applies, it supplements rather than silently replaces this core policy. The organization’s and GARDY’s respective privacy responsibilities are addressed in the applicable agreement.

11. Children and intended users

Companion is intended for adults. It is not designed to provide clinical services or emergency response. Organizations proposing use by a different population must agree appropriate deployment-specific safeguards and permissions before access is provided.

12. Changes to processing purposes and this policy

We may revise this policy to reflect changes in the service, technology, legal requirements or processing purposes. Material changes will be communicated through the application or another appropriate channel. Where a new purpose requires consent, we will seek it before using information for that purpose. Users can review the current policy within Companion.

13. Contact

For privacy inquiries, access or correction requests, selective deletion, account deletion assistance, or questions about processing: support@gardy.ca.

GARDY Technologies Inc. · Quebec, Canada.