Privacy policy

Call Welcome provides an AI phone receptionist to trades businesses in Canada. This page explains what personal information is handled, why, and what choices people have. It is written around Canada's private-sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Who this covers

Two groups of people: the trades businesses that use Call Welcome (“customers”), and the people who call those businesses (“callers”).

Callers are told it is an AI

The receptionist begins every call by telling the caller they are talking to an AI and that the call is transcribed.

What we collect from callers

What the caller says during the call, as a transcript.
The details the caller gives the receptionist: their name, callback number, address, a description of the issue, how urgent it is, the best time to reach them, and when they would like someone to come out.
A voicemail, if the receptionist is unavailable and the caller leaves one. It is transcribed.
A text the caller sends to the business's Call Welcome number, which is passed on to the business owner by text.

What we collect from customers

Your mobile number, used to sign you in and to text you messages.
The business details and answers you enter, such as your business name, business number, hours, service area, services, and how emergencies should be handled.
Billing details. Card payments are handled by our payment provider. Card details are entered with the provider and do not reach Call Welcome.
Personal contacts you choose to list: a name and a number for each, so the receptionist can recognise family and friends and take a short personal message for you instead of business details.
Numbers you choose to block. Calls from a blocked number are refused without being answered, and a record of the refused call is kept with your other call records.

Recordings and transcripts

Calls are not recorded. We keep a transcript of each call so the business can review what was said. When a caller leaves a voicemail, the audio is deleted once it has been transcribed. The transcript is kept.

Call records, transcripts and messages are kept for 12 months and then deleted. When a business closes its account, its call records, transcripts and messages are deleted 90 days after it closes.

Texts to callers

After a caller leaves a message or a voicemail, Call Welcome may send the caller one text from the business's Call Welcome number, confirming that their message was received and when to expect a call back. It is sent only in reply to the caller's own call, only when their number is known, and only if the business has not turned it off. Replying STOP stops further texts from that number. A caller's reply to the business's Call Welcome number is passed on to the business owner by text. Texts from a number the business has blocked are not passed on.

How we use personal information

To answer calls on behalf of the business and take messages.
To text each message to the business owner, and to show messages and transcripts in the owner's online inbox.
To put emergencies through to the owner's phone when the owner has chosen that.
To text a caller a confirmation that their message was received, unless the business has turned that off.
To recognise a business owner's personal contacts, and to refuse calls from numbers the owner has blocked.
To bill customers and keep the service working.

Who sees it

The business a caller phoned sees that caller's message and transcript. Companies that provide phone calls, text messaging, speech and AI processing, card payments, and a security check handle information for us so the service can run. The security check is Cloudflare Turnstile, on the signup page: it collects signals from the visitor's browser, and we send it the visitor's IP address, to tell people from automated programs. The full list of providers, and where information is processed and stored, will be confirmed during legal review.

Your choices under PIPEDA

You can ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, and ask us to stop using it where the law allows. If you are not satisfied with an answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

How a caller can make a request about their own information: to be confirmed during legal review.

Contact

Contact details for privacy questions will be added before launch.

Changes

This is a draft. It will change after legal review, and the final version will show its date.