Brandon Shopper is an independent local shopping guide run from Brandon, Manitoba. This page sets out exactly what we collect and what we do with it. It is written to be read, not to be survived.
Last updated: 31 July 2026.
The short version
We collect very little. You can read every article, deal roundup, store listing and product page on this site without giving us anything or creating anything. We do not run analytics software, we do not build advertising profiles, and we do not sell or rent personal information to anyone, ever.
What we collect, and when
When you just read the site. Nothing that identifies you is collected by us. Our web server keeps standard access logs – IP address, the page requested, the time, your browser’s user-agent string – which is how essentially every web server on the internet works. We use them to keep the site running and to spot abuse, and they are discarded on a rolling basis.
When you create an account. Registration asks for a username, an email address, and a password. The password is stored only as a salted hash, so nobody at Brandon Shopper can read it, including us. If you sign in with Google instead, Google confirms your identity to us and passes along your name and email address; we never see your Google password.
When you reserve a product. Reserving records which item you were interested in, against your account. Reserving is not a purchase, an order, or a payment – it registers interest so we can see what Brandon shoppers actually want us to stock. Each product page shows a public counter: how many people have reserved that item and the username of the first person who did. That username is the handle you chose. No email address, and nothing else about you, is ever shown publicly.
When you contact us or submit something. Our contact and submission forms – a deal, a job posting, an event, a marketplace listing, a correction, a shop to add – send us whatever you type, including the email address you give so we can reply. We keep those messages as long as they are useful and then delete them.
Newsletter. We are not collecting email addresses for a newsletter yet. When we do, it will be express opt-in with a confirmation step, as Canada’s anti-spam legislation requires, and unsubscribing will be one click.
Advertising
Brandon Shopper carries advertising, and we would rather be straightforward about how it works.
Google AdSense. Editorial pages on this site – the homepage, deals, news, the shop directory, venues, and static pages like this one – may serve ads through Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve and measure those ads, and in some cases to personalise them based on your prior visits to this and other sites. That data is collected by Google, not by us; we never receive it and cannot see it.
You can turn off personalised advertising at any time through Google Ads Settings, and you can read how Google uses information from sites that use its services at google.com/policies/technologies/partner-sites.
Our product pages carry no advertising at all. Product listings, product category pages and the products index are deliberately ad-free and do not load any advertising script.
Direct local sponsors. Some placements are sold directly to Brandon businesses. Those are plain images and links with no tracking attached to them whatsoever.
Who we share with
Nobody, other than the service providers who make the site work: our web host, and Google where AdSense or Google sign-in is involved. We do not sell, rent, trade or otherwise hand over personal information. There is no data broker in this picture.
Cookies
We use a session cookie to keep you signed in to your account. That is the only cookie Brandon Shopper itself sets, and it does nothing else. Advertising cookies, where they appear, are set by Google as described above. You can block or clear cookies in your browser settings; if you block ours, account sign-in will stop working, and nothing else on the site will break.
Your choices
You can ask us for a copy of what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete your account and everything attached to it. Email us and we will do it – we do not require a form, a reason, or an argument. Deleting an account removes your username, email address and reservation records.
Under Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act you have the right to access your personal information and to challenge how we handle it, and you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Children
This site is a general-audience shopping guide and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly create accounts for anyone under 13. If you believe a child has registered, tell us and we will remove the account.
Security, stated honestly
Passwords are hashed, the site is served over HTTPS, and the account area applies rate limits against automated attacks. No website can promise perfect security, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Please do not reuse an important password here.
Changes
If this policy changes we will update the date at the top. Material changes will be noted on the homepage rather than slipped in quietly.
Contact
Questions about privacy, or a request to see or delete your data, go through our contact page. We read everything that comes in.