Privacy Policy

Who we are, and who is accountable

MortgageSkip is an informational mortgage scenario tool operated from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. One person is accountable for privacy here and can be reached at info@mortgageskip.ca. Questions, access requests, and complaints all go to that address.

The calculators run in your browser

When you use any of our calculators, the figures you enter — your balance, rate, payment, and remaining term — are processed entirely in your own browser. The figures themselves are not sent to us. To learn how the calculators are used, we record an anonymous summary in rough ranges only, such as “balance $400K–$600K, rate 4.5–5%” and which result was shown, never the exact numbers. If you close the tab without opting into anything, we hold nothing that identifies you.

Cookies and analytics

This site sets no cookies of its own and uses no advertising trackers. We count page views with Vercel Web Analytics, which is built into our hosting. It does not use cookies and does not follow you across other sites; it records which pages were viewed, the country and device type, and a temporary identifier derived from the request that is discarded within a day. It does not see anything you type into the calculator. Our host also keeps standard server logs, which include IP addresses, for security and troubleshooting.

We also keep our own simple count, stored in Canada, of pages viewed and of a few actions: a calculator result shown (in the rough ranges described above), a lesson finished, a sign-up or broker request completed, and links clicked to email us or visit another site. It uses no cookies. Each record holds the page, the referring website’s name, country and province, device type, and an anonymous code that is scrambled from your connection and changes every day, so no one can be recognised from one day to the next. It never includes your name, email address, IP address, or anything you type.

Other websites can embed a simplified version of our calculator. It works the same way: what you enter stays in your browser, and the same analytics count views of it, including the address of the page it appears on. The site that embeds it cannot see what you type.

What we collect, and only when you ask us to

We collect personal information only when you actively choose a feature that requires it: asking us to watch rates for you, signing up for the monthly check-up, or asking to be contacted by a partner broker. In those cases we collect the mortgage details you chose to save and the contact details you provide: an email address, and a first name if you give one.

The mortgage details are the ones you type in: the amount, rate, rate type, term, start date, amortization and payment schedule, and, if you choose to add them, your lender’s name, your own estimate of your home’s value, and your household income. Each optional field is labelled with what it is used for, and none of them is required.

We keep your mortgage scenario separate from your contact information, linked only by an internal identifier. That way the numbers and the person are not stored together.

The monthly check-up

If you sign up for the check-up, we re-run your saved mortgage details against current rates once a month and email you a short summary with a link to a full report. The report is at a private address that only appears in emails to you. Anyone you forward it to can see your report and change the details in it, so treat the link the way you would treat the email itself.

The check-up is a separate choice from rate alerts and from broker contact. Signing up for it does not share anything with a broker, and you can stop it from the unsubscribe link in any message.

What we do not collect

We do not ask for, and you should never send us:

• Your Social Insurance Number
• Your mortgage account number
• Your full street address
• Your date of birth
• Banking credentials or login details of any kind

Where your information is stored

Saved mortgage scenarios and contact details are stored in a database hosted in Canada, in our provider’s Canadian region. We chose that deliberately rather than defaulting to a cheaper region elsewhere.

Some processing happens outside Canada. The website is served by Vercel, so page requests and standard server logs, which include IP addresses, may be handled elsewhere, including in the United States. Email you send us is handled by Zoho. Rate-watch alerts and check-up emails are delivered by Resend, whose servers are in the United States, which means your email address and the figures quoted in a message pass through there. Information held in another country is subject to that country’s laws and may be accessible to its courts and law enforcement.

Sharing with mortgage brokers

Your information is never passed to a mortgage broker unless you explicitly ask us to. That consent is a separate, unchecked choice you make yourself — never a condition of using the calculator, and never bundled into another agreement. You can use every part of this site without ever speaking to a broker.

Before anything is shared from a check-up, we show you the name of the broker and their brokerage, and list exactly what they would receive. Our partner brokers are licensed mortgage agents or brokers in Ontario, regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA).

If you do opt in, we share only what the broker needs to have a useful conversation with you: your email address, your first name if you gave it, the mortgage details you entered (including your home value estimate and household income, if you added them), the figures from your latest scenario or check-up, and a reference number. We do not send this as an email attachment. The broker retrieves it through a private, signed-in page on our site, where they see only the people who asked to be introduced to them.

Once shared, the broker holds that information under their own privacy policy, as a separate organisation. Brokers keep client records in their own software, such as a customer relationship management system, mortgage application software, or a client-engagement service that sends homeowners their own reports (OwnWell is one example). Those services act for the broker, not for us, and some may store information outside Ontario or outside Canada. Ask the broker how they handle your information; you can also ask them, rather than us, to delete what they hold.

If a broker arranges a mortgage for you after an introduction, MortgageSkip may receive a referral fee from them. It does not change what you pay, and the broker is told how you came to them.

Why we collect it

To provide the feature you asked for: recalculating your saved scenario against updated rates, emailing you when a threshold you set is reached, sending your monthly check-up, or introducing you to a broker at your request. We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.

Withdrawing consent

You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing info@mortgageskip.ca. We will stop processing your information and delete it, except where we are required to retain something by law. Withdrawing consent after your details have already been passed to a broker does not undo that earlier sharing.

Your rights

Under Canadian privacy law you can ask what personal information we hold about you, ask for corrections, and ask for deletion. Write to info@mortgageskip.ca and we will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can raise the matter with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Security and retention

If you do not save a scenario, nothing about you is stored at all. If you do, the record is held in a managed Postgres database with encryption in transit and at rest. The database rejects access by default: it can only be read or written by our own server, never by anything running in your browser, and the mortgage figures sit in a different table from your email address. We keep information only as long as it is needed for the purpose you gave it for.

No system is perfectly secure and we cannot promise absolute security. If a breach occurs that creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and the Privacy Commissioner as the law requires.

Children

This service is meant for homeowners and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the age of majority in their province.

Changes

If this policy changes materially, we will update the date above. Where the change affects how we handle information you have already given us, we will contact you.