Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated

Who we are

RateDrop is operated by Momentum Shift Inc., 1485 Laperriere Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This privacy policy describes how RateDrop ("we", "us") handles personal information collected through ratedrop.ca, related application flows, and forms you submit to us, including forms on Facebook (together, the "Service"). RateDrop connects applicants with licensed dealer and lender partners. We are not a lender.

We handle personal information in accordance with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), and any substantially similar provincial privacy laws that apply where you live (for example, Quebec's Law 25, Alberta's PIPA, and British Columbia's PIPA).

What we collect

We collect only what we need to evaluate your request and route it to a partner who can help. Depending on how far you go through the process, this may include:

  • Contact information: name, email address, phone number, city, postal code, and street address.
  • Identity and eligibility: date of birth, residency status, and preferred language.
  • Your situation: the vehicle you want, your budget, employment and income, housing cost, down payment, how you describe your credit, and any existing vehicle trade-in details you choose to share.
  • Credit information: credit bureau reports from Equifax Canada and/or TransUnion Canada, obtained with your consent to evaluate your application.
  • Vehicle preferences: body style, price range, and intended use.
  • Lead form details: information passed to us by Meta (Facebook) when you submit one of our lead forms.
  • Technical information: IP address, device and browser details, approximate location, referring URL, pages viewed, timestamps, and cookie or pixel data (including the Meta Pixel and TikTok Pixel). We use this to run and secure the site, prevent fraud, and measure our advertising.
  • Communications: records of emails, text messages, and phone calls between you and RateDrop, including automated or AI-assisted messages, and call recordings where permitted and disclosed.

How we use it

We use your personal information to:

  • Contact you about your vehicle financing request by phone, text message, or email, including through automated or AI-assisted messages.
  • Evaluate your application and assess which vehicle and financing options may fit you.
  • Match you with dealer and lender partners and share what they need, only when needed to pursue the financing or vehicle you asked about, and only with your consent.
  • Keep records of our conversations with you.
  • Verify your identity and prevent fraud, duplicate applications, or misuse of the Service.
  • Comply with applicable laws and respond to lawful requests from regulators or law enforcement.
  • Measure and improve our website and advertising, on an aggregated or de-identified basis wherever possible.

We only send commercial messages with your consent, and every text or email gives you a way to opt out.

Who we share it with

We share personal information only in these cases:

  • Lenders and dealers we work with, only when needed to pursue the financing or vehicle you asked about, and only with your consent. We do not broadcast your application to buyers who have not been matched to your file, and we do not run a pay-per-lead auction.
  • Credit reporting agencies (Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada), to obtain a credit report with your consent and, where the law allows, to contribute to your credit file.
  • Service providers who help us operate, such as our customer relationship management system (BKD CRM), messaging, hosting, identity verification, and analytics providers. They may only use your information to provide services to us.
  • Authorities and other legal or regulatory bodies when the law requires it, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of RateDrop, our partners, or the public.
  • A successor in the event of a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of all or part of our business, subject to the acquirer honouring this policy.

We never sell your data. We do not sell or rent your personal information to data brokers, list vendors, or any third party for their own marketing.

How we're paid

We think you should be able to judge our "we never sell your data" statement for yourself, so here is the full picture in plain terms.

RateDrop's service is free for applicants. We are compensated by our dealer partners when an introduction we make results in a completed vehicle transaction. That referral fee is how the service stays free. We do not sell your personal information as a product. We are paid in connection with introducing your application to a partner, and we would rather you knew that before you apply.

Two practical consequences:

  • Once your application is with a dealer or lender partner, that partner's own privacy policy governs what they do with it. You can ask them directly what they hold and request that they stop contacting you.
  • By applying, you agree that those matched partners may contact you by phone, text message, and email about your file. If you would rather not be contacted by a dealer, do not submit an application. That contact is the service.

Your consent

Submitting an application through RateDrop is your express consent to:

  • RateDrop and its dealer and lender partners contacting you by phone, text message, and email about your application, offers, and related services, consistent with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). This includes automated or AI-assisted messages.
  • RateDrop obtaining one or more credit reports about you from Equifax Canada and/or TransUnion Canada for the purpose of evaluating and routing your application.
  • RateDrop sharing the personal information in your application with the lender and dealer partners we match you with, only when needed to pursue the financing or vehicle you asked about.

You can withdraw this consent at any time. See "Your choices" below. Withdrawing consent may mean we can no longer provide the Service to you.

Cookies and tracking

We use cookies, local storage, and similar technologies on ratedrop.ca to keep the Service working (for example, remembering where you are in an application), to measure how the site performs, and to run and measure our advertising. We use third-party analytics and advertising partners, including Google Analytics, the Meta Pixel, and the TikTok Pixel, that set their own cookies. You can control cookies through your browser settings. Turning them off may limit parts of the Service.

How long we keep it

We keep lead and contact information for 24 months after our last contact with you. After that, we delete it or make it anonymous. We keep information longer only where the law requires, for example records of completed financing applications.

How we protect it

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards proportionate to the sensitivity of the information, including encryption in transit (256-bit TLS), access controls, logging, and vendor due diligence. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure.

Where your information is stored

Your information is primarily processed in Canada. Some of our service providers may store or process information outside Canada (for example, in the United States). When that happens, your information is subject to the laws of that country, including lawful-access laws. We require appropriate contractual protections from those providers.

Your choices and rights

Subject to applicable law, you can:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you.
  • Correct inaccurate or outdated information.
  • Withdraw your consent to being contacted, or to our ongoing use or sharing of your information.
  • Opt out of texts by replying STOP to any text message.
  • Unsubscribe from marketing emails using the link in any email.
  • Request deletion of your information, subject to legal retention requirements.
  • Complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or your provincial privacy regulator.

To make a request, email privacy@ratedrop.ca. We will respond within 30 days. You can also reach us at hello@ratedrop.ca or 613-909-7534.

Children

The Service is not directed at anyone under the age of majority in their province. It is intended only for adults who can enter a binding credit agreement in Canada. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed. Material changes will be posted on this page.

Contact us

Privacy questions, access requests, or complaints: privacy@ratedrop.ca (we respond within 30 days), hello@ratedrop.ca, or 613-909-7534.

Momentum Shift Inc.
1485 Laperriere Ave
Ottawa, ON