Effective Date: Jan 1, 2025
1. Our Commitment to Your Privacy
QS Carriers (“we,” “us,” “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information of our clients, partners, and website visitors. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information in connection with our services and our website, QSCarriers.com (the “Site”).
Our practices are designed to comply with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and its fair information principles. By using our services or accessing our Site, you consent to the practices described in this policy.
2. What is Personal Information?
For the purposes of this policy, “Personal Information” means any information about an identifiable individual. This includes, but is not limited to, your name, address, phone number, email address, payment information, and specific details about your shipments that are linked to you.
3. Information We Collect (Identifying Purposes)
We only collect personal information that is necessary for the purposes of our business operations. The types of information we collect include:
- Information You Provide Directly:
- Shipper and Recipient Information: Name, address, email address, and telephone number of both the sender and the recipient of a shipment.
- Account Information: If you create an account with us, we collect your username, password, and contact details.
- Payment Information: Credit card details, billing address, and other information required to process payments. Please note that we use a secure, third-party payment processor, and we do not store your full credit card number on our servers.
- Shipment Details: Information about the contents of your shipment, its value, dimensions, and weight, as required for shipping, insurance, and customs purposes.
- Communications: When you contact us via email, our website’s contact form, or phone, we may keep a record of that communication.
- Information Collected Automatically:
- Log and Usage Data: When you visit QSCarriers.com, our servers automatically record information, including your computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, pages visited, the date and time of your visit, and other standard statistics.
- Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies to help our Site function effectively, to understand how visitors use our Site, and to improve user experience. You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. For more information, see our “Cookies” section below.
4. How We Use Your Information (Limiting Use)
We use your personal information for the following specific purposes:
- To Provide Services: To arrange, manage, track, and complete shipments on your behalf. This includes generating quotes, creating shipping labels, and facilitating customs clearance.
- To Process Transactions: To process payments for our services.
- To Communicate With You: To provide you with service updates, tracking information, customer support, and to respond to your inquiries.
- For Marketing Purposes: With your explicit consent, we may send you information about our services, promotions, or news. You can opt-out of these communications at any time.
- To Improve Our Site and Services: To analyze usage trends and preferences to improve our website’s functionality and our service offerings.
- To Meet Legal and Regulatory Requirements: To comply with applicable laws, such as customs regulations and law enforcement requests.
5. Consent
We will obtain your consent to collect, use, or disclose your personal information. In most cases, your consent is implied when you provide us with your personal information to use our services (e.g., booking a shipment). For other purposes, such as marketing, we will seek your express consent.
You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. Please note that withdrawing consent may prevent us from providing you with certain services.
6. Disclosure of Your Information (Limiting Disclosure)
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We may disclose your information to the following parties only for the purposes outlined in this policy:
- Third-Party Service Providers: We share information with our trusted partners who perform services on our behalf, such as partner carriers for final-mile delivery, customs brokers, payment processors, and IT service providers. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and are not authorized to use it for any other purpose.
- Legal and Regulatory Authorities: We may be required to disclose your information to comply with a subpoena, court order, customs requirements, or other legal obligations.
- Business Transactions: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of the transaction. We will notify you of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.
7. Data Retention (Limiting Retention)
We will retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required for legal or business purposes. Once your information is no longer required, it will be securely destroyed or anonymized.
8. Security Safeguards
We take the security of your personal information seriously. We have implemented appropriate technical, physical, and administrative safeguards to protect your information against loss, theft, and unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification. These measures include:
- Using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to encrypt data transmitted to and from our Site.
- Restricting access to personal information to authorized personnel only.
- Using secure third-party vendors for payment processing.
9. Your Rights (Individual Access & Accuracy)
Under PIPEDA, you have the right to:
- Access Your Personal Information: You may request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct Your Personal Information: You have the right to challenge the accuracy and completeness of your information and have it amended as appropriate.
To exercise these rights, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact details below. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
10. International Data Transfers
Your information may be stored and processed in Canada or any other country where we or our third-party service providers have facilities. As such, your personal information may be subject to the laws of jurisdictions outside of Canada.
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by the “Effective Date” at the top of this policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.
12. Accountability and Contact Information
We are responsible for the personal information under our control and have designated a Privacy Officer to ensure our compliance with this policy and PIPEDA. If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this policy or our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Office: