alchmy

Privacy Policy

Last updated:

This page says what alchmy.co collects, why, who handles it, and how to reach me about it. It is written to be read.

Who is responsible

alchmy.co is operated by Alchmy Digital Inc., operating as Alchmy, a founder-led marketing practice in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Alchmy was founded by Yanick Chiasson, who runs it. Where this page says “I”, it means Yanick.

Canada’s federal privacy law is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, known as PIPEDA. It requires every business to name one person who is accountable for how personal information is handled. At Alchmy that person is me. Questions, requests and complaints come to me directly.

The short version

  • Alchmy collects what you type into the application form, and a record of which search, ad or link brought you to the site.
  • The site runs no analytics and sets no cookies today. If that changes, a consent banner will ask you first, and this page will say so.
  • If you arrived by clicking one of Alchmy’s own ads and then apply, the click ID from that ad is sent back to Google or Meta so I can tell which ad worked. Your form answers are not.
  • Your information is handled by three service providers: Netlify, GoHighLevel and Google. It is processed in the United States. Stripe handles payments for clients, and a search reporting tool reads the site and the traffic reports, never the applications.
  • Alchmy does not sell personal information.
  • You can ask to see or correct your information, or withdraw your consent, at any time. I answer within 30 days.

What is collected

The application form

The form on the 90-Day Ottawa Dental Patient Sprint page asks for:

  • your name
  • your clinic’s name
  • your email address
  • your phone number
  • your clinic’s website
  • the municipality your clinic is in
  • your current monthly ad spend, as a range
  • the procedure you want more inquiries for
  • a message, which is optional
  • a consent checkbox, which records that you agreed to be contacted about the application

Please do not put patient information in the form. It is not needed to review an application, and I do not want to receive it.

Which search, ad or link brought you here

When you arrive on the site, the address of the page can carry tags that say where you came from. The form reads those tags and sends them along with your application. They are:

  • UTM parameters (source, medium, campaign, term and content). These are labels added to a link to say where the link was placed.
  • Google click IDs (gclid, gbraid and wbraid). These are codes Google adds to the link when someone clicks a Google ad. How Alchmy uses them is explained under Cookies and analytics.
  • The Meta click ID (fbclid). This is a code Facebook and Instagram add to links.
  • The first page you landed on.
  • The referrer, which is the address of the page that linked you here, when your browser shares it.

The application also carries the name of the form, the language of the page, and the date and time it was received.

This information is sent only if you submit the form. It rarely identifies a person by itself. Once it is attached to your application, I treat it as part of your personal information.

To do this, the application page saves those details from your first page view in your browser’s session storage, under the name alchmy:first-touch. It is not a cookie, it is not sent anywhere unless you submit the form, and your browser deletes it when you close the tab.

Analytics

The site does not load Google Analytics or any other analytics tool today. If Alchmy adds one, it will load only after you accept it in a consent banner, and this page will describe what it collects before it is switched on. More detail is under Cookies and analytics.

Server logs

Like almost every website, alchmy.co runs on a host that keeps standard technical logs. For each request, the host may record the IP address, the date and time, the page requested, and the browser and device type. These logs are used to keep the site running and secure. I do not combine them with applications.

Email and phone

If you write to me or call me, I receive your email address or phone number and whatever you choose to tell me. Email sent to yanick@alchmy.co is hosted by Google, through Google Workspace.

What the site does not do

The site has no user accounts and takes no payments. It loads no third-party fonts and no page builder scripts, so reading a page does not send your browser to those companies.

Why it is collected

Alchmy uses personal information for these purposes only:

  • to read and answer applications
  • to decide whether a clinic and Alchmy are a good fit
  • to follow up with you about your application
  • to measure which search or ad led to an inquiry
  • to improve the site
  • to keep the site secure and working

If I ever want to use your information for something else, I will ask you first.

The form has a checkbox that reads “I agree to be contacted by Alchmy about this application.” The form does not send without it. If you write or call, I take that as your agreement to a reply.

Canada’s anti-spam law, known as CASL, covers commercial emails and text messages. Here is how Alchmy follows it:

  • Applying is a request to be contacted about that application. It is not a subscription.
  • I may answer by email, by phone or by text message, using the details you gave in the form.
  • I do not add you to a marketing list because you applied.
  • Any ongoing marketing email needs your separate, express consent.
  • Every marketing message names Alchmy, says how to reach me, and carries an unsubscribe link.
  • I act on an unsubscribe request within 10 business days.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by writing toyanick@alchmy.co. If you withdraw it, I stop using your information and delete it, unless the law requires me to keep a record.

Cookies and analytics

Cookies today

The site sets no cookies. The only thing it saves in your browser is the first-touch record described above, in session storage, which your browser deletes when you close the tab. There is no consent banner because there is nothing to consent to yet.

If Alchmy adds analytics or an ad measurement tag, a consent banner will ask first, using Google Consent Mode v2, a Google setting that passes your choice to Google’s tools. Until you accept, storage for analytics and for advertising stays “denied” and nothing loads. This page will be updated the same day.

Telling Google which ad led to an application

Alchmy advertises on Google and on Facebook and Instagram. When someone clicks one of Alchmy’s own Google ads, Google adds a click ID to the link (gclid, gbraid or wbraid). Facebook and Instagram add their own (fbclid). If that person then applies, the click ID is saved with the application.

Alchmy then sends that click ID back to the ad platform from GoHighLevel, with the time and the type of the result, for example that an application was received. Google calls this offline conversion import. I do it so that I can tell which of Alchmy’s own ads led to a real inquiry.

  • Only the click ID and the time and type of the result are sent.
  • Your form answers are not sent this way. That means no name, email, phone number, clinic name or message.
  • It applies only to people who arrived by clicking one of Alchmy’s own ads and then applied. If you came any other way, there is no click ID and nothing is sent.

There is no ad measurement tag on the site today. If one is added, it will follow your choice in the consent banner described above.

Alchmy does not use remarketing. Your visit is not used to show you ads on other sites.

Turning Google Analytics off everywhere

Google offers a browser add-on that turns Google Analytics off on every site you visit. You can get it from theGoogle Analytics opt-out page.

Who handles your information

Inside Alchmy, applications can be read only by me and by an assistant who works for Alchmy under my direction and is bound by confidentiality. Nobody else at Alchmy or outside it has access, apart from the service providers below.

Alchmy uses three service providers. They handle information on Alchmy’s behalf and only for the purposes on this page.

  • Netlify hosts the site and runs the small program that receives the application form and passes it on. United States. Netlify privacy statement.
  • GoHighLevel, also known as HighLevel or LeadConnector, is the customer records system where applications are stored and followed up. Text messages about your application are sent through its own messaging service. United States. HighLevel privacy policy.
  • Google provides two things today: Google Ads measurement for Alchmy’s own advertising, through the click ID import described above, and Google Workspace, which hosts the yanick@alchmy.co mailbox. Google Analytics is not in use. United States.Google privacy policy.

Alchmy also uses Search Atlas, a search reporting tool. It reads the public pages of this site the way a search engine does, and it reads reports from Google Search Console and, once Alchmy advertises, Google Ads. Those reports are counts and averages. Search Atlas has no access to applications, and it runs no script on this site. United States.Search Atlas privacy policy.

If you become a client, invoices and payments are handled by Stripe, a payment company in the United States.Stripe privacy policy. Applying does not involve Stripe, and this site takes no payments.

These providers process information in the United States. While it is there, it is subject to United States law, and courts, police or national security authorities in that country may be able to access it. Alchmy remains responsible for your information while these providers handle it.

Alchmy does not sell personal information. I do not share it with anyone else, unless the law requires it or you ask me to.

How long it is kept

  • Applications that do not become clients: deleted 24 months after the last contact.
  • Applications that become clients: kept for as long as the work continues, and afterwards for as long as business and tax records must be kept. In Canada that is generally six years from the end of the tax year they relate to.
  • Emails from people who are not clients: deleted 24 months after the last exchange.
  • Analytics data: none is collected today. If analytics is added, this line will state the retention period before it is switched on.
  • Server logs: kept by the host on its own schedule. I do not keep a separate copy.
  • Unsubscribe requests: if you unsubscribe from marketing email, I keep your address on a do-not-email list so that your request stays honoured.

You can ask me to delete your information sooner. See Your rights.

How it is protected

  • The site is served over an encrypted connection (HTTPS).
  • The form sends your application to Alchmy’s own server function. The address of the customer records system never appears in the page, so it cannot be read or misused from a browser.
  • Access to applications is limited to the people named under Who handles your information.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach of Alchmy’s safeguards ever creates a real risk of significant harm to you, I will tell you and report it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as PIPEDA requires.

Your rights

You can, at any time and at no cost:

  • See your information. Ask what Alchmy holds about you, how it has been used, and who it has been shared with.
  • Correct it. Ask me to fix anything that is wrong or out of date.
  • Withdraw your consent. Ask me to stop using your information and to delete it. I may need to keep a record where the law requires it.
  • Complain. Tell me first and I will try to put it right.

Write to yanick@alchmy.co. I answer within 30 days. I may ask a question or two to confirm that you are the person the information is about.

If you are not satisfied with my answer, you can complain to theOffice of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada(priv.gc.ca).

Children

This site is written for business owners. It is not directed at children, and I do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

Links to other sites

The site links to the sources it cites and to Alchmy’s LinkedIn page. Those sites have their own privacy practices, and this policy does not cover them.

Changes to this policy

If the way the site handles information changes, I will update this page and the date at the top. If I want to use information you have already given me in a new way, I will ask you first.

Contact

For any question about this policy or about your information:

The rules for using this site are in the Terms of Use.