Privacy Policy

Effective September 1, 2026

Vessel Star is committed to handling personal information responsibly and transparently. This Policy explains what we collect, why we use it, when we disclose it, how long we retain it, and the choices available when you use the Service. TecSentra Inc. is responsible for personal information under its control in connection with Vessel Star.

1. Information we collect

Depending on how you use Vessel Star, we may collect account and authentication information; contact information; profile and business details; listing content and media; asking prices and actual sold prices; marketplace activity and inquiries; saved items and searches; listing changes, status, publication and moderation history; location and service-area information you provide; device, browser, log, security, fraud-prevention, cookie, and usage information; payment and subscription records where applicable; consent and communication preferences; and communications with us.

We may receive information from other users, identity or authentication providers, affiliates, dealers, brokers, public or licensed sources, service providers, and partners where permitted by law. We may create inferred, aggregated, statistical, or de-identified information from the data we hold.

2. How we use information

We use information to create and secure accounts; publish and manage listings and profiles; connect marketplace participants; provide search, alerts, saved items, location, media, payment, communication, and customer-support features; review applications and listings; verify information; prevent fraud, spam, abuse, and unauthorized access; enforce our rules; operate, troubleshoot, measure, personalize, and improve the Service; comply with law; and protect users, rights, property, and systems.

We also use listing and market information to develop marketplace statistics, price and valuation insights, fraud controls, research, reports, products, and services. Where information is aggregated or properly de-identified so that it is no longer personal information under applicable law, we may retain, use, disclose, and commercialize it for lawful business purposes.

3. AI and automated processing

If you use an AI-assisted or automated feature, we process the information you submit and relevant listing or account context to provide the requested suggestion or function. We may use service providers to process those requests. Do not provide sensitive, confidential, or unnecessary personal information.

AI features are experimental tools for suggestions. Their output may be wrong or incomplete and must be reviewed by the user. We may use interactions, feedback, and properly de-identified usage information to test, secure, evaluate, and improve these features. We will provide additional notice or obtain consent if we propose a materially different use of personal information.

4. Public listings and marketplace interactions

Information and media you choose to publish may be visible to the public and may be indexed, cached, copied, or shared by others. Public content may include vessel information, photographs, approximate location, seller type, and the contact or inquiry methods you choose to make available. When you contact another user, we disclose the information needed to deliver and manage that interaction.

5. Broker matching, affiliates, and other third parties

If your private listing remains unsold, Vessel Star may contact you to ask whether you would like an introduction to an approved broker. We do not provide your contact information to a broker for this purpose merely because your listing has been active for a certain period or because we sent you an invitation.

If you actively request or accept an introduction, we may disclose your name, contact information, listing details, and relevant preferences to the selected broker so the broker can contact you about the requested potential sale or brokerage service. We record the request or acceptance, including the wording presented, date, listing, information authorized for sharing, and selected recipient. The broker’s privacy notice and service terms may apply after the introduction.

You may withdraw a pending matching request before disclosure. Withdrawal after an authorized introduction does not reverse information already disclosed, but you may ask the broker to stop contacting you and exercise applicable privacy rights directly with the broker. Participating brokers must use the information only for the requested purpose and comply with applicable privacy and anti-spam laws.

We may also disclose information to affiliates for internal administration and to provide, secure, analyze, and improve the Service, subject to this Policy and applicable law. If an affiliate wishes to use personal information for its own unrelated marketing, we will obtain any additional consent required.

6. Service providers and business transfers

We disclose information to service providers that host infrastructure, authenticate users, store or process media, provide communications, payments, maps, geocoding, analytics, security, fraud detection, support, document, or AI services, or otherwise operate the Service. They may process information only for the authorized services and subject to appropriate safeguards.

We may disclose information where required by law, legal process, or a valid government request; to investigate fraud, security incidents, abuse, disputes, or violations; or where reasonably necessary to protect people, property, rights, or service integrity. We may also disclose information in connection with a proposed or completed financing, reorganization, merger, acquisition, or sale, subject to confidentiality and lawful-use requirements.

7. International processing

Vessel Star uses service providers in Canada, the United States, and potentially other jurisdictions. Our primary cloud infrastructure is currently hosted in the United States. Information processed outside your province or Canada may be subject to the laws and lawful-access requirements of that jurisdiction. We remain responsible for personal information under our control and use contractual, technical, and organizational safeguards appropriate to the information and service.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies, local storage, session storage, pixels, logs, and similar technologies for authentication, security, preferences, saved state, measurement, communications, and core functionality. If we introduce third-party behavioural advertising or non-essential tracking, we will update this Policy and provide any notice or consent controls required by law. Blocking stored data may prevent sign-in or other features from working.

9. Consent and communications

We obtain consent where required and otherwise collect, use, or disclose personal information as permitted by law. A seller’s request for a broker introduction must be separate from acceptance of the Terms and from core marketplace communications. We keep records of material consent choices and matching requests, including the wording presented, date, account or listing, selected recipient, information authorized for sharing, and withdrawal.

Transactional, inquiry, account, moderation, and security messages may be necessary to provide the Service. Commercial electronic messages sent by Vessel Star or participating third parties will identify the sender and include a working unsubscribe method where required. You may withdraw consent subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice; withdrawal may limit optional features.

10. Retention, deletion, and de-identification

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including providing the Service, administering consent, resolving disputes, enforcing agreements, preventing repeat abuse, maintaining security and audit records, and meeting legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations. Retention periods vary by record type.

After a listing or account is deleted, we may retain listing history, moderation and security records, transaction outcomes, backups, legal records, and information already shared with another user or authorized third party. Where continued identification is not needed, we may delete direct identifiers or convert information into aggregated or properly de-identified data. De-identified listing and market data may be retained and used for longer periods, including indefinitely where lawful and where it cannot reasonably be used to identify an individual.

Deletion of a listing does not require Vessel Star to erase non-personal vessel facts, derived statistics, de-identified market information, or copies already included in completed reports or analyses. We will not retain identifiable personal information merely because it may be commercially useful if the stated purpose has ended and no lawful basis supports continued retention.

11. Security and breaches

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including access controls, authentication, encrypted network connections, and private media or storage controls where appropriate. No system is completely secure. We maintain processes to assess, document, report, and notify about qualifying privacy breaches as required by law.

12. Access, correction, withdrawal, and complaints

You may update certain information through your account. You may also request access to personal information we hold about you, information about its use or disclosure, correction of inaccurate information, withdrawal of consent, or deletion where applicable. We may verify identity and may retain or withhold information where permitted or required by law. We will explain material refusals and available complaint routes.

You may challenge our compliance by contacting our privacy contact. If we do not resolve the concern, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the applicable provincial privacy regulator.

13. Children

Vessel Star is not directed to children under 13. Users must be old enough to consent to the handling of their personal information and must have legal capacity to list a vessel or enter a transaction. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal information improperly.

14. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy as the Service, our practices, or legal obligations change. We will post the revised Policy with a new effective date and provide additional notice or obtain renewed consent where a change is material and required by law.

15. Language and accessibility

This Policy is available in English and French. Privacy requests and complaints may be submitted in either language, and Vessel Star will respond in the language used by the requester where reasonably possible. User-generated listing descriptions and user-to-user messages may remain in the language selected by the user.

16. Privacy contact

Direct privacy questions, access or correction requests, consent withdrawals, deletion requests, and complaints to the Vessel Star privacy contact at contact@vesselstar.com.