Privacy Policy

Effective: February 2026

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Summary: We collect minimal data, only what's needed to operate the service. We never sell your information. We comply with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

1. Who We Are

Neshama is an independent obituary aggregation service for the Toronto and Montreal Jewish communities. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide:

  • Email address (when you subscribe to daily updates)
  • Name (optional, when subscribing)
  • Payment information (processed by Stripe; we never see your card details)

Information collected automatically:

  • Basic usage data (pages viewed, search queries)
  • Browser type and device information
  • IP address (for security purposes only)

Information from public sources:

  • Obituary data from funeral home websites (publicly available information)

3. How We Use Your Information

  • To send daily obituary digest emails (if subscribed)
  • To process sustainer contribution payments
  • To improve the service and fix issues
  • To respond to your inquiries

We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, or any purpose unrelated to the Neshama service.

4. Information Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties, except:

  • Stripe — for payment processing (governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy)
  • Amazon — some pages contain affiliate links to Amazon. When you click these links, you leave Neshama and are subject to Amazon's Privacy Notice
  • SendGrid — for email delivery of daily digest and subscriber communications (governed by Twilio/SendGrid's Privacy Policy)
  • Plausible Analytics — for privacy-friendly website analytics. Plausible does not use cookies, does not collect personal information, and is fully GDPR-compliant (see Plausible's Data Policy)
  • Legal requirements — if required by Canadian law or court order

5. Data Retention

  • Subscriber data: retained while your subscription is active, deleted within 30 days of unsubscribing
  • Payment records: retained as required by Canadian tax law
  • Obituary data: retained indefinitely as a community resource (sourced from public information)

6. Your Rights Under PIPEDA

As a Canadian resident, you have the right to:

  • Access your personal information we hold
  • Correct inaccurate information
  • Withdraw consent for data collection (e.g., unsubscribe)
  • Request deletion of your personal data
  • File a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

7. Data Security

We protect your information using industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure database storage, and limited access controls. Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe and never touches our servers.

8. Cookies

We use minimal browser storage (localStorage) to remember your preferences such as subscription status. We do not use third-party tracking cookies or advertising pixels on our site. However, some of our pages contain affiliate links to Amazon. When you click one of these links, Amazon may set cookies on their own domain according to their privacy policy.

9. Obituary Information

Obituary information displayed on Neshama is sourced from publicly available funeral home websites. If you are a family member and wish to have information corrected or removed, please contact us and we will respond within 24 hours.

10. Affiliate Links

Some pages on Neshama contain affiliate links to products on Amazon. These are items we genuinely believe can help families during the shiva period — things like serving supplies, comfort items, and books on mourning.

When you click an affiliate link, you leave Neshama and are taken to Amazon's website, where Amazon's own privacy policy applies. Neshama earns a small commission on qualifying purchases made through these links, at no extra cost to you. This income helps us keep the site free for families in our community.

As an Amazon Associate, Neshama earns from qualifying purchases. We only recommend products that are relevant and helpful in the context of shiva preparation and mourning support.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email to subscribers and posted on this page.

12. Contact

For privacy inquiries, data access requests, or corrections:
contact@neshama.ca

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:
www.priv.gc.ca | 1-800-282-1376