Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2026

At Editarians, we take privacy seriously. You may be sending us a document you have spent years working on, an unpublished manuscript, research materials, personal correspondence, or other information you do not want circulating beyond those who need access to it.

Editarians is a trade name of Smitix Services Ltd., an Alberta corporation. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, protect, and retain personal information.

We manage personal information in accordance with Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and other privacy laws that may apply.

This policy applies to all Editarians employees and contractors.

What Is Personal Information?

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual.

Depending on how you work with us, it may include information such as your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, educational or professional information, billing information, correspondence with us, and information contained in files or materials you provide.

We treat manuscripts, research materials, writing samples, correspondence, and other documents submitted to us as confidential.

How Do We Use and Disclose Personal Information?

We collect and use personal information to facilitate service delivery:

• respond to inquiries and prepare estimates
• open and manage client accounts
• provide editing, coaching, consulting, or other requested services
• communicate with you about your project
• schedule work and manage deadlines
• process invoices and payments
• maintain appropriate business and accounting records
• administer our referral program
• follow up about our services
• improve our services and your experience
• comply with legal, regulatory, accounting, or contractual requirements
• collect amounts owing to us, where necessary

Before or when we collect personal information, we will identify why we need it unless the purpose is obvious—for example, when you upload a manuscript so we can prepare an estimate.

Consent

We obtain consent to collect, use, or disclose personal information except where consent is not required or where collection, use, or disclosure without consent is permitted by law.

Consent may be express or implied depending on the circumstances and the sensitivity of the information. For example, if you send us a manuscript and ask for an estimate, we may reasonably use the manuscript and the information you provide for that purpose.

You may withdraw your consent to certain uses or disclosures of your personal information at any time, subject to legal, contractual, or other reasonable restrictions.
If you withdraw consent to information we need to provide a service, we may no longer be able to provide that service.

How Do We Use and Disclose Personal Information?

We use personal information only for the purposes for which it was collected, for related purposes a reasonable person would consider appropriate, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. Your personal information will never be sold, nor will we ever publish, quote from, or otherwise use your manuscripts or project materials for our own marketing, teaching, research, or other purposes without your express permission.

We may share personal information with members of the Editarians team or trusted service providers when access is reasonably necessary to provide a service or operate our business. Where required or permitted by law, we may disclose information—for example, to comply with a legal obligation or collect a debt owing to us.

Manuscripts and Confidential Client Materials

The files and project materials you send us may contain unpublished, sensitive, proprietary, or personally significant information. We treat these materials as confidential, and only people who reasonably need the information to perform their work have access.

We never circulate or share client materials outside the people involved in providing the requested service unless you have authorized us to do so or disclosure is otherwise permitted or required by law.

If a project requires additional confidentiality protections, such as a nondisclosure agreement, please ask. We are happy to discuss them.

Service Providers and Information Outside Canada

Like most modern businesses, we use third-party service providers to help us operate efficiently. These providers may support

• communications
• file storage and sharing
• scheduling
• accounting and payment processing
• customer relationship management
• website hosting
• other business technology

Most of our service providers store and process information in Canada. Others store, process, or may access information in Canada, the United States, and India. These service providers state that they may use subprocessors in other jurisdictions from time to time or provide technical or customer support from other countries.

When personal information is stored or processed outside Canada, it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction and may be accessible to courts, law-enforcement agencies, or government authorities in accordance with those laws.

We take reasonable steps to choose service providers and safeguards appropriate to the nature and sensitivity of the information involved.

If you would like more information about our use of service providers outside Canada, including where particular types of information may be processed and the purposes for which those providers handle it, please contact our Privacy Officer.

Cookies and Website Technology

Like most websites, Editarians.com uses cookies and similar technologies to help the site work properly, protect forms from spam or misuse, understand how visitors use the site, and improve the website over time. Depending on the features in use when you visit the site, these technologies may include

• those needed for website functions, security, or fraud and spam prevention
• Google Analytics, which helps us understand patterns such as which pages people visit, how they arrive at the site, and how they use the website
• Google reCAPTCHA, which may be used to help distinguish real people from automated or abusive activity when forms are submitted
• embedded forms, which may collect information you enter as well as technical information associated with your interaction with the form
• other technologies that support website security, performance, or functionality

These services may collect information such as your IP address, browser or device information, approximate location derived from your IP address, referring website, pages viewed, date and time of visits, and interactions with website features. We do not use website analytics to evaluate the content of client manuscripts or project files.

Some website service providers, including Google, may process information outside Canada. For more information, see the above section, Service Providers and Information Outside Canada.

You can choose whether to allow non-essential cookies when you first visit our website. You can also control cookies through your browser settings, although disabling certain technologies may affect how some website features work.

Artificial Intelligence

We do not upload client manuscripts to public generative AI tools for copyediting or rewriting. Ever.

Any other business use of AI-enabled tools is subject to this privacy policy, any relevant confidentiality or security considerations, and our professional obligations.

For more information about how Editarians uses artificial intelligence, please see our AI Policy.

Marketing Communications

From time to time, we may send newsletters, resources, event announcements, service information, or other marketing communications where you have consented or where we are otherwise permitted to do so.

You can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link provided or by contacting us.

Unsubscribing from marketing messages will not prevent us from sending communications that are necessary to manage an active project, account, transaction, or request.

How Do We Protect Personal Information?

To protect the personal information we hold, we use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards. Depending on the information and system involved, these safeguards may include

• password-protected accounts and systems
• access controls
• secure file-sharing and storage systems
• confidentiality obligations
• limited access to people who need the information to do their work
• reasonable security measures for computers and other devices
• secure archiving of records
• destruction of records when requested

No method of storing or transmitting information is risk free. Our responsibility is to take reasonable steps to protect the information in our care against unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, loss, disposal, or destruction.

Accuracy

We make reasonable efforts to ensure that personal information we use or disclose is accurate and complete. We also rely on you to let us know when important information changes. If you believe personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, please contact us.

How Long Do We Keep Personal Information?

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and for legitimate legal, accounting, contractual, operational, or business purposes. Thus, different types of records may be kept for different periods. When personal information is no longer reasonably required, we securely destroy it or anonymize it, as appropriate.

Privacy and Security Incidents

If we were to become aware of a privacy or security incident involving personal information, we would investigate what happened and take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of further harm.

We would also make any notifications or reports required by law. For example, under Alberta PIPA, organizations must report certain privacy breaches to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner when a reasonable person would consider the risk of harm to be significant. 

Access to Records Containing Personal Information

You have the right, subject to certain legal exceptions, to request access to personal information about you that is in our custody or under our control. You may also ask, relative to your personal information,

• how we have used it
• to whom we have disclosed it, where applicable
• for an error or omission to be corrected

A formal request for access or correction under Alberta’s PIPA must normally be made in writing and must include enough detail for us to identify the information you are requesting. We may ask you to verify your identity before providing access to personal information.

In some circumstances, PIPA requires or permits us to refuse access to some information. If that happens, we will explain the reason for the refusal unless the law prevents us from doing so.

We will respond to formal PIPA access requests within the time required by law. Under PIPA, organizations generally have 45 calendar days, although that period may be extended in certain circumstances. 

A reasonable fee may sometimes apply to an access request. If so, we will provide information about the fee before processing the request. We do not charge a fee simply to request a correction.

Questions, Access Requests, and Privacy Concerns

Have a question about how we handle your information? Please ask.

Editarians has designated the following person as responsible for privacy compliance:

Karen Crosby, Privacy Officer
Editarians/Smitix Services Ltd.
Phone: (403) 680-0424
Email: PIPA.compliance@editarians.com

You can contact the privacy officer to

• ask questions about this policy
• ask about our privacy practices
• ask about service providers outside Canada
• request access to or correction of personal information
• raise a privacy concern or complaint

We will do our best to address privacy concerns directly and promptly. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta
Suite 2460, 801-6 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2P 3W2
Phone: (403) 297-2728
Toll Free: 1 (888) 878-4044
Email: generalinfo@oipc.ab.ca
Website: www.oipc.ab.ca

Changes to This Privacy Policy

Privacy practices, technology, and legal requirements change from time to time. We may update this policy when our practices change or when an update is otherwise appropriate. The date at the top of this page will show when the policy was most recently revised.