privacy policy privacy policy privacy policy

Last updated September 12, 2026

Baby Ghosts Studio Development Fund is a registered Canadian charity (BN 788709350RR0001). This policy covers babyghosts.org and our application hub at hub.babyghosts.org. It follows the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL).

The short version: we collect what we need to run our programs, send our newsletter, and issue donation receipts. We do not sell it, we do not advertise with it, and you can ask us to delete it.

Visiting the site

We use Plausible for analytics. It sets no cookies, does not track you between sites, and gives us page counts rather than profiles. We do not run advertising or third-party tracking.

Applying to a program

Our application form collects:

• Three eligibility answers: whether you live in the region, whether you are 18 or older, and whether you can attend the sessions.
• Five written answers, or audio or video files if you record your answers instead.
• Your name, email, province, city or town, and whether where you live is urban, rural or remote. Pronouns are optional.
• Access needs and accommodations, if you choose to tell us.

One of the five questions asks what has been hard about doing this work where you are. People sometimes answer it with health information, care responsibilities, money, or experiences of discrimination. You are never required to. Write as much or as little as you want, and you do not have to name any identity to apply.

The form saves as you type, so a partial application exists in our systems before you submit it. If you abandon one and want it removed, email us.

Who reads what

• Reviewers read your five answers without your name, email or pronouns attached.
• Access needs are never read in scoring. They go to program staff so supports are in place on your first day.
• Program staff see the whole application, including your contact details, because someone has to write back to you.

After you are accepted

We ask accepted participants for demographic information. It is voluntary, it is separate from your application, and declining has no effect on your place in the program. We use it in aggregate to understand who our programs reach and to report to funders.

Newsletter and interest lists

If you subscribe, we store your email address with Buttondown, along with which form you used and which region or program you asked to hear about. Every email we send has an unsubscribe link, and it works immediately. Under CASL we only email people who asked us to.

Donations

Payments are processed by Stripe. Your card number never reaches our servers, and we never see it.

We do store what a receipt requires: your name, email, donation amount, date, and receipt number, plus whether a donation recurs so we can manage the subscription and send you an annual summary. Canada Revenue Agency rules govern how long a registered charity keeps donation records, so we retain these longer than anything else on this page, currently six years after the end of the year the donation was made.

Contacting us

If you email us or book a meeting, we keep that correspondence so we can follow up. Booking runs through Cal.com.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your information and we do not share it for advertising. It reaches other companies only where they run a piece of our infrastructure: Netlify hosts the site, MongoDB Atlas stores our records, Buttondown sends email, Stripe processes payments, imgix serves images, Plausible counts visits, and Cal.com schedules meetings.

Our programs are funded by grants, and funders require reporting. We report in aggregate: how many people applied, who the program reached, what changed for them. We do not hand over applications. If a funder ever needs something that identifies you, including a photo or a quote with your name on it, we ask you first and you can say no.

We may disclose information if Canadian law requires it. If that ever happens we will tell you, unless we are legally barred from doing so.

How long we keep it

• Applications that were not accepted: deleted two years after the intake closes. We keep them that long because people often apply again and it helps to see the history.
• Applications that were accepted: kept for the length of the program plus the funder's reporting period, then reduced to a participation record.
• Access needs: deleted when the program ends.
• Newsletter subscriptions: kept until you unsubscribe.
• Donation records: six years after the end of the year of the donation, as charity record-keeping rules require.

If you want something gone sooner, ask. We will delete anything we are not legally required to keep.

Your rights

You can ask us what we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or withdraw consent for anything you previously agreed to. Email hello@babyghosts.org and we will respond within 30 days, which is what PIPEDA requires. There is no cost.

Withdrawing consent for a program application mid-intake means we cannot continue to consider it. We will tell you that before acting, not after.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Security

The site runs on Netlify over HTTPS. Access to application and donor records is limited to staff and reviewers who need it for the work in front of them. No system is perfect. If we ever have a breach that creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and the Privacy Commissioner, as PIPEDA requires.

Age

Our programs are for people 18 and older. The site itself has no age restriction, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Where your information lives

Some of our service providers store or process data outside Canada, including in the United States. While it is there it is subject to the laws of that country, including lawful access by its authorities. We choose providers that commit to protecting it, but we cannot promise a foreign government will never seek access to it.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when our practices change, and the date at the top will tell you when. If a change materially affects information we already hold about you, we will email you rather than rely on you noticing.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or about anything we hold on you: hello@babyghosts.org.