Last updated: July 2026
The BC Community Bat Program (“BC Bats,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect through this website, how we use it, and the choices you have. It applies to bcbats.ca and the online forms and features we provide here — not to information collected offline or through other channels.
Consent
By using this website and submitting information through it, you consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
Information we collect
- Information you give us. When you use our contact form, report a bat sighting, register a bat box, or subscribe to our newsletter, we collect the details you provide — such as your name, email address, phone number, region, the location of a sighting, a description, and any photo you choose to attach.
- Bat records. Sighting and colony reports may include location, date, number of bats, species, and condition. We use these to monitor and protect BC’s bats, and may share them with regional coordinators and provincial monitoring programs.
- Information collected automatically. Like most websites, we record standard technical data such as IP address, browser type, referring pages, and the date and time of a request. For security and abuse prevention, we store this technical data — including the approximate location and network provider derived from the IP address — together with chat, search, and form interactions. We use it only to keep the site running securely and to detect and prevent misuse; we never sell it or use it for advertising.
- Chat & search. When you use our on-site AI chat assistant, or run a search on our search page, the text you enter is sent to our server — and, for the chat, to Cloudflare’s AI service — to generate a response, and is stored so we can improve the service and detect abuse. Please don’t enter sensitive personal information into the chat.
Our instant search suggestions run in your browser using a pre-built index. When you open the full search-results page, the term you searched is sent to our server and recorded, as described above.
How we use your information
- Respond to your message and route it to the right regional coordinator.
- Record and act on bat sightings, colonies, and bat-box registrations.
- Contribute to bat monitoring and conservation across British Columbia.
- Send our newsletter, if you have subscribed — you can unsubscribe at any time.
- Maintain, secure, and improve the website.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.
How your information is stored and shared
Form submissions and newsletter sign-ups are delivered to us by email and stored in our own database so we can follow up. We rely on a small number of trusted service providers to operate the site:
- Cloudflare hosts the website, stores our records, powers our AI chat assistant, and provides a spam-prevention check on our forms.
- Resend delivers the email that carries your form submission to our coordinators.
These providers process data only to provide their service to us. A copy of your submission is also sent to the BC Bats main office. We may disclose information where required by law.
Cookies and local storage
We use very few cookies. Our forms’ spam check may set a cookie to tell humans from bots. Your light or dark theme choice is saved in your browser’s local storage, on your device — it is not sent to us. You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings; the site will still work.
Data retention
We keep bat records for as long as they are useful for conservation and monitoring. We keep contact and newsletter details until you ask us to remove them, or unsubscribe. The technical data (such as IP address) that we log with chat and search interactions for security is automatically deleted after 90 days.
Your rights
You can ask us to:
- See what personal information we hold about you;
- Correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
- Delete your personal information, where we are not required to keep it;
- Stop sending you our newsletter — use the unsubscribe link in any issue, or contact us.
To make a request, contact us using the details below. We will respond within a reasonable time.
Children’s privacy
This site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us their information, please contact us and we will remove it.
Links to other sites
Our website links to other organizations and resources. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites — please review their own policies.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last revised.
Contact us
Questions about this policy, or a request about your information? Reach us at info@bcbats.ca or 1-855-922-2287, or through our contact page.