How Venue Guru handles your information

The short version

• We collect what we need to run your venue account and to check that a venue is real and that you work there. Nothing else.
• Proof documents (such as a liquor licence or a bill) are only asked for when the simpler checks are not enough. Only Venue Guru staff see them, with help from an AI tool, and we delete them when your request is decided, or 90 days after you upload them, whichever comes first. You can delete them yourself at any time.
• We use a few service providers, some in the United States, to host the site, send email and read documents. They may store your information outside Canada.
• We do not sell your information or use it for advertising.
• Questions, or to see, correct or delete your information: [email protected].

What we collect, and why

Your account

Your email address, and your name if you give it or sign in with Google. To sign you in and show you your venues.

Venue details

What you enter about a venue: address, website, phone, stages, payment terms, logistics, and who works there. To run the venue on Venue Guru. Other people you add to a venue can see it.

Verification

Your name, role at the venue, phone (optional), the venue website and any note. We check whether your email address appears on the venue’s public website. To confirm the venue is real and that you work there, before it hires bands or creates shows.

Proof, if we ask

Documents you upload, licence or registration numbers and your notes. We compare them with public registers (such as AGCO’s licence search and the Ontario Business Registry). Only for verifying that request.

Records

Who verified a venue or person, how and when, and when you agreed to this notice. To show who is responsible for a venue and to answer questions later.

We do not need, and ask you not to send, photo ID, your social insurance number, bank or card details, or health information. Cover account numbers and amounts on bills before you upload them. If a document names other people (for example a letter signed by the owner), only send it if you are allowed to share it with us for this purpose.

Who sees it

Venue Guru staff see verification requests and proof. People at your venue see the venue and its list of people; their access is set by the venue’s admins.

We use these service providers, who handle information only to provide their service to us:

• Cloudflare (United States): hosts the website, its database and the stored proof files.
• Resend (United States): sends sign-in and notification emails.
• Google (United States): only if you choose “Sign in with Google”.
• Anthropic (United States): its AI model Claude reads proof documents during our weekly review and writes a short summary for staff. It does not decide anything: Venue Guru staff decide every request.

Information stored or processed outside Canada is subject to the laws of that country and may be accessed by its courts, law enforcement or national security authorities. We stay responsible for it while it is with our providers.

We may disclose information if the law requires it. We do not sell it or share it for advertising.

How long we keep it

• Proof documents: deleted when your request is approved or rejected, 90 days after upload if it is still open, or when you delete them. Copies downloaded for the weekly review are deleted at the end of that review.
• Requests and verification records: kept while the venue or your account is active, so we can show who verified what.
• Your account and venue details: kept until you ask us to delete them.

Your choices

• Proof is optional. You can decline to send documents; we may then be unable to verify you, and you can still set up and try an unverified venue.
• Withdraw: delete your uploaded files at any time from Venue verification.
• See, correct or delete your information, or ask about how it is used: email [email protected]. We answer within 30 days.
• Complaints: tell us first. You can also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or in Quebec the Commission d’accès à l’information.

Keeping it safe

Proof files are kept in private storage that only staff can open, are checked to be real PDFs or photos, and are never shown to other users. Sign-in uses one-time links or Google, with no passwords stored. If a breach puts you at real risk of significant harm, we will tell you and the Privacy Commissioner.

The person responsible for privacy at Venue Guru can be reached at [email protected].