Privacy policy
What we collect when you use this site, call us or send us photos, why we collect it, who sees it, and how to ask us about it.
Last updated 16 October 2026
Who we are
The Consulting Arborist is operated by Harris Arboricultural Consulting Ltd., a British Columbia company. We are responsible for the personal information described here, and we handle it under British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
Our privacy officer is responsible for this policy and for answering privacy questions. You can reach them at info@theconsultingarborist.ca or 604-773-1513.
What we collect
We only collect what we need to answer your question, quote and do the work, and see which of our pages and ads are useful.
- What you send through our forms: your name, email, phone number (optional), the address of the tree or project, your role (owner, property manager, developer and so on), your company if you give one, your answers to the permit checker or project check, notes, and any photos or files you attach.
- Phone calls and emails: when you call, we note your name, number, the address and what you need so we can call you back. If you email us, we keep the email.
- How you found us: the page you sent the form from, and campaign tags in the link you followed (for example, which Google ad or search term), including Google's click ID.
- How the site is used: pages visited, checker results, approximate location (city level), device and browser type, collected through Google Analytics and Google Ads cookies. See Cookies and advertising.
We don't ask for payment details, government ID numbers or anything sensitive through this site.
How we use it
- To review your tree or project against the municipality's tree bylaw and reply to you, usually within one business day.
- To quote for, carry out and keep records of the reports, plans and site visits you hire us for.
- To reply to the photos, questions and project details you send us, and to send occasional tree bylaw updates if you tick the box agreeing to them. Every update includes a way to unsubscribe, or you can email us.
- To send the free printables you ask for (such as the Tree Friends Challenge), and occasional tree emails if you tick the box agreeing to them. Every email includes a way to unsubscribe.
- To measure which pages and ads bring enquiries, so we spend our advertising sensibly.
We don't sell personal information, and we don't use it for anything unrelated to these purposes without asking you first.
Evan the Arborist (Field Agent HQ)
Our children's colouring books link to theconsultingarborist.ca/the-saga. That section is for grown-ups, and we handle it more carefully than the rest of the site:
- No information about children. We don't ask for or collect a child's real name, age, school, photo or any other details. The Field Agent name typed for the certificate is drawn into the PDF in your browser. It isn't sent to us or stored.
- No tracking. Pages under /the-saga don't use Google Analytics, Google Ads or any other tracking or advertising cookies.
- Release list for adults only. To download a certificate, a grown-up joins the Evan the Arborist list. We keep your email address, the edition you pick (optional) and your consent, and use them only to tell you about new Evan the Arborist books and certificates. Sign-ups are stored with Netlify. You can unsubscribe at any time.
- Field Log photos. If you share a find with #EvansFieldLog or send us a direct message, the platform you use handles that under its own terms. Please share photos of the tree only, and never a child's face or real name. We won't repost any photo that shows a person.
Cookies and advertising
This site uses Google Analytics and Google Ads (except the Evan the Arborist pages under /the-saga, which use neither). They place cookies in your browser so we can count visits, see which pages help people, and tell when someone who clicked one of our ads goes on to send a form or call us.
- Enhanced conversions. When you send a form, your email address and phone number are scrambled in your browser (a one-way process called hashing) before a copy is sent to Google. Google uses it only to match the enquiry to an ad click and report results to us. Your photos, notes and tree details are never sent to Google.
- Calls from ads. If you call us from one of our Google ads, Google records that a call happened and how long it lasted (and may record your area code), and reports it to us as a result for that ad.
- In-browser storage. The site remembers the campaign tags from the link you arrived on for the rest of your visit (so a form sent from a different page still knows where you came from), and remembers whether you chose light or dark mode. Neither leaves your browser except as part of a form you send.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, turn off personalised ads at Google My Ad Center, or install Google's Analytics opt-out add-on. The site still works without cookies. Google's own use of this data is covered by How Google uses information from sites that use its services.
Who we share it with
We use these service providers to run the business. They handle your information on our behalf, under their own security and privacy terms:
| Provider | What it does for us |
|---|---|
| Netlify | Hosts this website, and stores sign-ups for our free printables |
| Make | Passes form submissions to our customer records and email |
| HubSpot | Stores enquiries, contact details and the photos and files you send (privately, not publicly viewable) |
| Microsoft | Our business email |
| Analytics, advertising and call reporting, as described above |
We also share information in these cases only:
- A tree company, if you ask for a work quote. We send one of our vetted, insured local companies the details they need to visit and quote: your name, contact details, the address and the photos. You're always free to get your own quotes instead.
- The municipality, if you hire us for a report or plan for your permit. Reports and plans go to the City with your application, as the City requires.
- When the law requires it, for example a court order.
Where it's stored
Some of our service providers store and process information outside Canada, including in the United States. While it's there, it may be accessible to courts and authorities in that country under their laws.
How long we keep it
- Enquiries that don't go ahead: deleted within two years of our last contact with you.
- Client files (reports, plans, photos, field notes and invoices): kept for at least seven years after the work is finished, because professional reports can be relied on, reviewed or questioned years later, and because tax law requires business records to be kept.
- Bylaw update and tree emails: until you unsubscribe.
- Printable sign-ups without email consent: deleted within two years.
- Evan the Arborist release list: until you unsubscribe.
How we protect it
Access to enquiries and files is limited to the people who need them to do the work. Accounts are password protected, and photos and files are stored privately. No system is perfectly secure, so please don't send anything through the site that you wouldn't want stored with your enquiry.
Your choices and rights
- Ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it. We'll reply within 30 days.
- Withdraw your consent, for example to bylaw updates or to sharing with a tree company, by emailing us. If we still need some information to finish work you've hired us for, or to meet a legal requirement, we'll explain.
- Ask us to delete an enquiry that didn't go ahead.
Email info@theconsultingarborist.ca. If you're not happy with our answer, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle personal information, we'll update this page and the date at the top.