Privacy Policy

The short version

• Southern East Inc., a Canadian company in Ontario, runs BIM Tools Hub.
• We use your information to run and improve BIM Tools Hub, keep it secure, and talk with you.
• We don't sell your personal information. We don't share it for targeted advertising.
• We may publish or share statistics that don't identify anyone. Starts November 16, 2026
• We'll ask you first before we give a partner anything that identifies you for the partner's own use, including training AI. Starts November 16, 2026
• If we change how we use your information, we'll tell you at least 30 days ahead. We won't apply a new use to information we already have unless you say yes.

Your choices are on Your Privacy Choices. Questions: Rishit Patel, Privacy Officer. Please email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above.

Who we are

BIM Tools Hub is run by Southern East Inc., a corporation incorporated under the laws of Canada, at 222 Main St E, North Bay, ON P1B 1B1, Canada ("we", "us"). We decide how and why your personal information is used, so we are responsible for it. Some laws call this the controller.

Privacy Officer

Rishit Patel is responsible for how Southern East Inc. protects personal information. For people in Quebec, this is also our person in charge of the protection of personal information. Please email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above.

What this policy covers

This policy covers bimtoolshub.com.

What we collect and why

Here is what we actually collect, and why.

Account, sign-in, and saved tools

When you sign in with Google or GitHub, we receive your name, email, profile image, and the account IDs those services send us. We store a session so you stay signed in. If you save a tool, we store your user ID and the tool ID. A public page can show how many people saved a tool. It doesn't show who saved it. We never see your password.

Tool submissions and Fast Track

A signed-in free submission records the tool name, website, category, and description. Fast Track is a paid review. Your card details go straight to Stripe. We don't receive your card number. We keep payment records such as receipts and order details.

Contact and advertising

The contact and advertising forms are hosted by Tally. What you type there goes to Tally and to us.

Analytics and security

We use Plausible for website statistics. Plausible is cookieless. Our site proxies the request and forwards your IP address so Plausible can count unique visitors. Plausible doesn't store IP addresses. Cloudflare keeps server logs, which can include an IP address, to protect the site. We don't use Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, or a third-party ad network. Featured links in the sidebar are our own links. They don't load a tracking script.

We use this information to:

• Create and run your account, save tools, and publish listings you submit
• Process Fast Track payments and keep tax and accounting records
• Reply when you contact us or ask about advertising
• Fix bugs, measure which pages and features are used, and build features of BIM Tools Hub
• Keep the site secure and prevent abuse

Statistics and anonymized information

What this is

Sometimes we turn information into statistics, or into other information that doesn't identify anyone. For example, the most-viewed tool category this month.

How we make it

We remove names, contact details, account IDs, and other direct identifiers. We combine information from many people. We don't publish or share any figure based on fewer than 10 people. Before release, we check that no one can reasonably be identified from the result, on its own or combined with other information that is reasonably available. We record what we did and repeat the check over time.

Our commitments

We keep this information in non-identifying form. We won't try to re-identify anyone, except to test that our methods work. We don't use it to make decisions about you or to target you with ads or offers.

How we use it

We use it to run, secure, and improve BIM Tools Hub.

Starts November 16, 2026 We also use it to publish research, reports, and benchmarks, and to share or license it with the business and research partners described below. Anyone who receives it must agree in writing not to re-identify anyone, not to combine it with other data to do that, and not to pass it on without the same terms.

De-identified information is different

Some information we have is only de-identified. For example, we may replace your name with a code. That information can still be linked back to you, so we treat it as personal information. We use it only for our own internal research, analysis, and product development. We don't give it to partners unless you've agreed.

Who we share information with

Service providers

These companies help us run BIM Tools Hub: hosting, payments, forms, analytics, and sign-in. They act only on our instructions, under contract, and may not use your information for their own purposes.

Our service providers may store or process information outside Canada, including in the United States and the European Union. When that happens, it's protected by contract, but it may be accessible under those countries' laws.

People and apps you choose

When you sign in with Google or GitHub, or publish a listing, we share what you direct us to share. The other service's own privacy policy then applies.

Business and research partners Starts November 16, 2026

We may work with partners such as universities and research groups, analytics and market-research firms, and companies that build, test, or supply data for AI and machine-learning systems. By default, partners receive only the statistics and anonymized information described above.

• We will not give a partner information that identifies you for the partner's own use, including training its AI models, unless you have opted in.
• Every partner signs a written agreement. It limits use to the stated purpose, bans re-identification and onward sale, requires security and deletion, and lets us check compliance.
• Before any sharing starts, we will list here the types of partners we actually work with and what they receive. As of October 6, 2026, we don't share personal information with any business or research partner.

Legal and safety reasons

We may disclose information when the law requires it, in response to valid legal process, or to protect people, our rights, or BIM Tools Hub from fraud or abuse.

For a merger, acquisition, or similar deal, see If our business changes hands.

Programs you choose to join Starts November 16, 2026

We may offer optional programs. For example, contributing content or examples to help build or test AI tools, or being introduced to a partner's expert network or research study. The partner may pay you directly for your work.

Off unless you turn it on

Before you join, we'll show you a separate screen that says who the partner is, exactly what we'll share, why, how long the partner keeps it, whether it leaves Canada, and whether you'll be paid. Saying no doesn't change how BIM Tools Hub works for you.

You can leave at any time on Your Privacy Choices. You can also email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above. Leaving stops future sharing within 2 business days. We'll also ask the partner to delete what it received, as our agreement with it requires. If your information has already been used to train an AI model, the partner may not be able to remove it from that model. If that applies, we'll say so on the sign-up screen.

Partners' own terms

If you sign up with a partner directly, the partner's terms and privacy policy apply to what you give it. A partner can't send you marketing email because you agreed to something with us. It has to ask you itself.

Do we use personal information to train AI?

• We do not sell personal information to train AI models, including large language models.
• We do not let partners train AI models on information that identifies you unless you opt in. If you do, we share only what you tell us to. Starts November 16, 2026
• We do not use your personal information to train AI models.
• Public content. Anyone can see content that's public on BIM Tools Hub, including search engines and AI crawlers we don't control.

If our business changes hands Starts November 16, 2026

If Southern East Inc., or BIM Tools Hub, is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, sale of assets, bankruptcy, or insolvency, personal information may be shared with the other parties and their advisers.

• Before a deal closes, we share only what's needed to evaluate it, de-identified where we can, under a confidentiality agreement that limits use to the deal and requires return or deletion if the deal doesn't go ahead.
• After a deal closes, the new owner may use your information only as this policy describes. To make a material change, it must follow Changes to this policy: 30 days' notice, and your consent for new uses of information it already holds.
• We'll tell you within 30 days after a closing in which your information changes hands, with the new owner's name and contact details. You can delete your account before or after.
• A deal whose main purpose is selling personal information is not a business transfer. The rest of this policy applies to it.

Your privacy choices

You can opt out of sale, sharing, and targeted advertising, send an access or deletion request, and read how cookies and Global Privacy Control work on Your Privacy Choices.

Notice for US residents

This section applies to residents of California and other US states with comprehensive privacy laws, including Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas, and Oregon. It is our notice at collection. Last updated: October 6, 2026.

In the past 12 months, we have not sold personal information and have not shared it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

We don't knowingly sell or share personal information of anyone under 18, and we don't target ads to them.

We use sensitive personal information only for purposes the law allows without a limit right, such as providing the service and keeping it secure. We don't use it to infer things about you.

We keep and use de-identified information only in de-identified form. We won't try to re-identify it, except as the law allows to test our methods. We require anyone who receives it to make the same commitments in writing.

For AI training, see Do we use personal information to train AI?

You can ask to know and access, delete, correct, and get a portable copy of your personal information. You can opt out of sale, sharing, targeted advertising, and profiling that has legal or similarly significant effects. In some states you can also get a list of the specific third parties we have disclosed to. We won't treat you differently for using these rights.

Please email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above, or use Your Privacy Choices. We reply within 45 days, and we may extend once by 45 days if we tell you why. We'll confirm your identity first. An authorized agent may act for you with your signed permission. If we refuse, reply "appeal" and we'll respond within the time your state's law allows. If you're still unhappy, you can contact your state Attorney General.

We don't offer financial incentives for your personal information.

Notice for people in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland

You can access, correct, delete, restrict, and get a portable copy of your data. You can also object to processing based on legitimate interests, and you can always object to marketing. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. We don't make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.

We're based in Canada. The European Commission and the UK recognize Canada as providing adequate protection for organizations covered by PIPEDA. Some of our service providers are in other countries, such as the US. For those, we use the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) or Standard Contractual Clauses, with the UK Addendum where needed.

You can complain to the data protection authority where you live or work. We'd like the chance to help first. Please email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above.

Notice for people in Quebec

• Our person in charge of the protection of personal information is Rishit Patel. Please email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above.
• We collect only what we need for the purposes we tell you before or at collection. We ask for consent separately for each specific purpose, in clear and simple terms. We ask for express consent for sensitive information. We won't use your information for a new purpose without your consent, except where Quebec law allows it, such as a purpose consistent with the original one, or internal studies and statistics using de-identified information.
• Our settings start at the most privacy-protective level. Optional sharing and programs are off until you turn them on.
• We don't use technology that identifies, locates, or profiles you.
• We anonymize information only for serious and legitimate purposes, following Quebec's Regulation respecting the anonymization of personal information. We record each process in a register.
• Our service providers store or process information in other Canadian provinces, the US, and the EU. Before information leaves Quebec, we assess the privacy impact, and our contracts require protection equivalent to Quebec law.
• We disclose information without consent for study, research, or statistics only where Quebec law allows, after a privacy impact assessment and under a written agreement.
• You can access and correct your information, withdraw consent, and get your information in a structured, commonly used technological format. You can ask us to stop disseminating your information or to de-index it. You can also get information about any decision made solely by automated processing. We reply within 30 days.
• You can complain to the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec.

How long we keep information

• Account and sign-in data, and saved tools: while the account is open. Deleted within 30 days after you ask us to delete your account.
• Tool submissions and listing details: while the listing is live, plus up to 2 years after removal. Public listing content about a product isn't personal information unless it names you.
• Payment records, including Stripe receipts and Fast Track orders: 7 years, for tax and accounting.
• Contact and advertising form messages from Tally: up to 2 years after our last exchange.
• Analytics: Plausible keeps only aggregate statistics, with no IP addresses or cookies.
• Security and server logs at Cloudflare: up to 90 days, unless they're needed to investigate abuse.

Security

We use reasonable safeguards, such as encrypted connections (HTTPS) and access controls, but no method is 100% secure.

Children

BIM Tools Hub is for architects, engineers, and other professionals. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. We don't knowingly sell or share personal information of anyone under 18, and we don't target ads to them. If you think a child has given us personal information, please email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above. We'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

Small changes

For typo fixes, clearer wording, changes that give you more protection, or a new service provider doing the same kind of job, we update this page and the Last updated date.

Material changes

Examples: a new type of partner, a new purpose for using personal information, sharing information that identifies you where we didn't before, starting to use your information to train AI, or weakening any promise in this policy.

• We'll tell you at least 30 days before the change takes effect. We'll email account holders and show a clear notice on BIM Tools Hub. The notice explains what's changing, why, and what your choices are.
• A material change applies only to information we collect after it takes effect. We'll use information we already hold in a materially new way only if you agree first, by an action such as ticking a box or tapping Yes. Staying on BIM Tools Hub, or not replying, doesn't count as agreeing.
• If you don't agree, we'll keep handling your existing information under the earlier version. You can also close your account at any time.

Every past version, with its dates, is listed in Past versions. If the law makes us change something faster, we'll give as much notice as we can.

Past versions

• January 17, 2025 version. It applied from January 17, 2025 to October 6, 2026.

The current version is this page. Last updated: October 6, 2026.

Contact

Questions about this policy: Rishit Patel, Privacy Officer. Please email support@bimtoolshub.com, use our contact form, or write to us at the address above.

Southern East Inc.
222 Main St E, North Bay, ON P1B 1B1, Canada