Q&A with Pierre-Louis Bourbon, Growth Hacker
What’s your company’s origin story? What brought your team together?
Privacy-Safe was created when our founders realized that most Canadian small and medium-sized businesses struggled with new privacy and data protection requirements. For many, compliance feels out of reach: too complex, too expensive, or “something only big companies worry about.”
Our team of data governance and cybersecurity specialists came together to build a SaaS platform that makes compliance clear, affordable, and actionable.
Pitch your company to us as if we’re an individual or organization that thinks cybercrime is “someone else’s problem.”
To those who think cybercrime is “someone else’s problem,” we often say: ignoring data protection is like leaving your front door unlocked and assuming no one will ever walk in.
Every organization, no matter its size, collects personal data from customers, employees, or partners. That information is valuable—and increasingly targeted. The real risk is not just regulatory fines, but the loss of trust that keeps businesses alive.
Privacy-Safe helps organizations transform privacy from a burden into a strength, protecting customer relationships and turning compliance into a driver of long-term growth.
Given that cybersecurity risk is global, where do Canadian companies fit in? What can we do better than anyone else?
Cybersecurity risks are global, and Canadian companies are not immune. We fit in by finding practical ways to make security and privacy manageable, especially for small and medium-sized businesses that don’t always have large teams or budgets.
What Canada can do well is combine strong regulation with a culture of collaboration. We see startups, researchers, and established companies working together to share knowledge and tools. This creates an environment where solutions can be both technically sound and easy to adopt.
Rather than trying to do everything better than others, our strength lies in making cybersecurity accessible, trustworthy, and aligned with the real needs of organizations. That’s an area where Canadian companies can have a meaningful impact.
What’s the best question you’ve ever been asked about what you do?
One of the best questions we’ve been asked is: “Why should a small business care about privacy and compliance when they have so many other priorities?” It’s a fair question, because many SMEs operate with limited resources and compliance can feel like just another burden.
Our answer is that protecting data isn’t only about avoiding fines or meeting regulations. It’s about safeguarding the trust that keeps customers coming back.
A single incident can damage a reputation that took years to build. By taking privacy seriously, even in small steps, businesses show their clients that they are reliable and responsible. That trust becomes a real competitive advantage in today’s digital economy.
What excites you about the work being done in cyber in Canada right now?
What excites us most about cybersecurity in Canada right now is the spirit of collaboration. We see startups, universities, public institutions, and established companies working together to tackle common challenges.
There’s a growing focus on making cybersecurity and privacy solutions accessible to large organizations and small and medium-sized businesses that often need them the most.
We’re also encouraged by the emphasis on responsible innovation: developing tools that don’t just react to threats but help organizations build trust and resilience over time. It feels like Canada is moving from treating cybersecurity as a technical specialty, to making it part of how we do business as a country. This is both timely and necessary.
Learn more about Privacy-Safe, or get in touch, here.
