Privacy Policy

Quick summary

The most important things to know about your privacy

Your information stays private

Everything you share with our team is kept anonymous and protected
You don’t need to give your real name to use the chat
Only trained Yorktown staff can see what you share
Your chat messages are not saved on our chat provider’s servers

We only share your information without your permission if:

Someone is in immediate danger and we need to take action to keep them safe
We are legally required to report concerns related to child abuse, safety, or a court order
You give us written permission to share specific information with another person or service

Your browsing is private

We don’t track you with ads
Our ads won’t follow you around the internet
Consider using private/incognito browsing for extra privacy
Clear your browser history after visiting if you need to

You have control

You can request we delete your information
You can ask what information we have about you
You can correct anything that’s wrong

Questions? Email us at: stepsforward@yorktownfamilyservices.com

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Full privacy policy details below

Please read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on how and why your personal information is collected and used in connection with your use of steps-forward.ca (“we”, “us”, “our”), as well as your rights in relation to your personal information. This privacy policy also contains important information about how to contact the administrators of this website if you have questions.

Who we are

The website is operated jointly by Yorktown Family Services (a counselling and support service based in Toronto, Canada) and Moonshot CVE Ltd (a UK-based organization).

Important for your privacy:

Only Yorktown Family Services can access your personal information, including chat conversations and contact details
Moonshot CVE Ltd provides website infrastructure and receives only anonymous statistics where you cannot be identified
Your identifiable personal information never leaves Yorktown’s control
All counselling services are provided by qualified professionals following Canadian standards

Data Protection Legislation

The collection and use of any personal information via this website is subject to Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), the UK Data Protection Act 2019 (DPA) and other European privacy and data protection laws (European Data Protection Legislation). The applicable law will depend on where you are located and where your information is processed.

Confidentiality

Your privacy is very important to us. Everything you share with our team is kept anonymous and protected. We do not share your personal information with anyone outside of our organization unless one of the following situations applies:

Someone is in immediate danger and we need to take action to keep them safe.
We are legally required to report concerns related to child abuse, safety, or a court order.
You give us written permission to share specific information with another person or service.

If you ever have questions about your privacy or how your information is handled, please ask – we are here to support you.

What information we collect and why

When you visit our website:

We collect: Technical information (browser type, pages visited, general location)
Why: To understand how people use our services and improve the website
Legal basis: Implied consent for basic analytics; explicit consent for demographic data

When you contact us for services:

We collect: Name, email, phone number, health information (only what you choose to share)
Why: To provide counselling services and respond to your needs
Legal basis: Explicit consent

Note: We use Google Ads to help people find our services, but we never use remarketing or retargeting. Visiting our website will not cause our ads to follow you around the internet – this is a deliberate privacy choice.

This page is not intended for use by children and no personal information relating to children is knowingly collected or used.

Live chat support service

Our website offers live chat support operated by trained counsellors at Yorktown Family Services.

When you use the chat feature:

Your messages go directly to qualified support workers
You don’t need to share your name or identifying details
All conversations are anonymous (except the emergency situations above)

For your safety:

Consider using private/incognito browsing for additional privacy
Clear your browser history after chatting
The chat widget can be closed at any time
Alternative contact methods are available if you prefer:
- Email stepsforward@yorktownfamilyservices.com
- Call or Text 437-223-8565

Your chat data is processed by LiveChat Inc. as our service provider. LiveChat Inc.’s servers are located in the United States; however, since Chat Deletion and Chat Anonymize features are enabled, no personal information or chat history is retained on their servers.

How we use anonymous statistics

To improve our services and measure the effectiveness of our support programmes, we compile pseudonymized statistics about service usage. While individuals cannot be directly identified from these reports, we treat this as personal data requiring appropriate protection.

This includes information like the number of people who accessed counselling services, postcode-level geographic data, and broad demographic categories (age ranges, gender). Our service statistics may also include pseudonymized information about contact patterns, service usage metrics, reasons for seeking support (in general categories), and referral outcomes. This helps us understand service needs and improve our response.

Occasionally, we may share heavily modified case examples that illustrate the impact of our services. These examples are modified to ensure no individual could be identified, with details changed or combined from multiple cases to protect privacy. We share pseudonymized service data with Moonshot for reporting purposes, including generalised case information with all identifying details removed or modified.

Who can see your information

Yorktown staff and counsellors

Our employees and multidisciplinary team can access your information only when necessary to provide services.

Technology service providers

We use the following services to operate the website:

LiveChat Inc. (chat service, US-based – no data retention)
Google Workspace (email services)
Rogers (data hosting)
Google Analytics (website statistics – privacy-focused configuration)

These providers only access information necessary to perform their services and are contractually required to protect your data.

When required by law

We may disclose information without consent only when necessary to prevent or reduce a serious and imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm to yourself or another identifiable person. Disclosures are made only to the extent necessary to protect safety (for example, to emergency services or child-protection authorities). We may also be required to disclose information in response to valid legal processes such as search warrants, court orders, or subpoenas.

How long we keep your information

Website analytics: 18 months
Chat transcripts: As required by professional standards
Counselling records: As required by professional standards

You can request deletion of website analytics data at any time. Professional obligations may require retention of counselling-related communications.

Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

Right to access: Know whether we hold personal information about you and obtain a copy
Right to correction: Request corrections to inaccurate information
Right to deletion: Request deletion of your personal information, including chat transcripts (except where legally required to retain)
Right to data portability (for EU/UK users): Receive your information in a commonly used electronic format
Right to information: Ask questions about how we collect, use, retain and share your information
Right to notification: Be informed before we disclose your information to third parties (except in emergency situations requiring immediate action)

We will respond to all requests within 30 days. A reasonable fee may be charged for complex requests.

In some situations, we may not be able to fully comply with your request. These exceptions include information that is prohibitively costly to provide, contains details about other individuals, is subject to legal/security requirements, or is protected by solicitor-client privilege. Reasons for any denial will be provided.

Counselling records note: You may request deletion of counselling data any time. We will delete your data in accordance with our retention policy. Note that counselling records must be retained for seven years as required by professional regulations.

To exercise any of these rights or ask questions regarding this privacy policy and our privacy practices, please contact: stepsforward@yorktownfamilyservices.com

We have procedures to receive and respond to complaints or inquiries about our handling of personal information. If you’re not satisfied with our response, you may contact:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
Your local data protection authority

Keeping your information secure

Appropriate security measures in place to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. Access to your personal information is limited to people who have a genuine need to know it. Any use of your personal information will only be done by an authorised person who is subject to a duty of confidentiality.

All counselling and chat data are encrypted in transit and at rest. Staff and volunteers are bound by confidentiality agreements and professional codes of conduct.

Link to other websites

This policy doesn’t apply to third-party websites linked from our site. We’re not responsible for those sites’ content or privacy practices. Review their privacy policies before sharing information.

Changes to this privacy policy

We may update this policy. Check back regularly for changes. Material changes will be posted on the website homepage.

Last updated: 11/19/2025.