Last Updated: January 12, 2020
1. Who We Are and What We Do.
At Flex-Tax, Inc. d/b/a Flex Tax and Consulting Group (“Flex Tax,” “we,” or “us”), we mainly provide tax preparation and consulting services to individuals and business customers for their non-commercial use. This Privacy Policy explains our information collection practices concerning Personal Information (defined in Section 2), the kinds of information we collect, how we use and share that information, and the options you have concerning the information we Process.
2. Scope.
This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Information Processed by us and our subsidiaries in connection with providing you our Services. “Personal Information” means information that (i) relates to you or and (ii) can – either on its own or in combination with other information – identify you as an individual or a business entity. Personal Information does not include data that has been de-identified or aggregated such that you can no longer be identified. “Process” or “Processing” means any operation which is performed upon Personal Information, whether or not by automatic means, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction.
3. Personal Information We Collect.
The types of Personal Information we collect and our privacy practices depend on whether you are a customer, user, visitor to our Site or App (together, “Individuals”) and the requirements of applicable law.
Below are the ways we collect Personal Information and how we use it.
Information You Provide to Us.
- Account Information.
- Information Necessary for our Services
- Transaction Information
- Import Services
- Communications with Us
- Surveys
- Interactive Features
- Conferences and Trade Shows
- Automatic Data Collection
4. How We Use Your Information.
We Process Personal Information about Individuals for a variety of business purposes, including:
(a) To Provide Products, Services, or Information Requested.
- Analyze information;
- Prepare forms;
- Advise customers;
- Benchmark Personal Information in a de-identified format;
- Manage Individual information and Accounts;
- Respond to questions, comments, and other requests;
- Provide access to certain areas, functionalities, and features of our Services; and
- Answer requests for a customer or technical support.
(b) Administrative Purposes.
- Measure interest and engagement in our Site and Services;
- Improve our products and Services;
- Develop new products and Services;
- Ensure internal quality control;
- Verify Individual identity;
- Communicate with you about your account, activities on our Site and Services and policy changes;
- Process your financial information and other payment methods for products or services purchased;
- Prevent potentially prohibited or illegal activities; and
- Enforce our Terms.
You may contact us at any time to opt-out of the use of your Personal Information for marketing purposes as described below.
(d) De-identified and Aggregated Information Use.
(e) Sharing Content with Friends or Colleagues.
(f) Other Uses. Flex Tax may use Personal Information for other purposes that are disclosed to you at the time you provide Personal Information or with your consent.
(g) Technologies.
Cookies are small text files placed in visitors’ device browsers to store their preferences. Most browsers allow you to block and delete cookies. However, if you do that, the Services may not work properly.
Our uses of such Technologies fall into the following general categories:
- Operationally Necessary. This includes Technologies that allow you access to our Services that are required to identify irregular behavior, prevent fraudulent activity and improve security or that allow you to make use of our functions;
- Performance Related. We may use technologies to assess the performance of our Services, including as part of our analytic practices to help us understand how our visitors use the Services;
- Functionality Related. We may use Technologies that allow us to offer you enhanced functionality when accessing or using our Services. This may include identifying you when you sign in to our Services, keeping track of your specified preferences or past pages viewed;
- Advertising or Targeting Related. We may use first-party or third-party Technologies to develop and deliver content, including ads relevant to your interests, on our Services or third-party sites.
(h) Analytics. We may also use Google Analytics and other service providers to collect information regarding visitor behavior and visitor demographics on our Site and Services. For more information about Google Analytics, please visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. You can opt-out of Google’s collection and processing of data generated by your use of the Services by going to http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Google Firebase. We may use Google Firebase Analytics to collect usage statistics and to improve our Services. Information collected by Google Firebase can be accessed here: https://support.google.com/firebase/answer/6318039. Information related to the security and privacy of Google Firebase is available here: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy/.
5. How We May Disclose Your Information.
(a) We Use Service Providers.
We use Mailchimp to help us with our marketing and related email services. You can read Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/.
(b) Disclosure to Tax Agencies.
(c) Electronically Filed Tax Returns.
(d) Payment Processing.
(e) Business Partners.
(f) Marketing
(g) Disclosures to Protect Us or Others. .
(h) Merger, Sale, or Other Asset Transfers.
6. International Data Transfers.
You agree that all information Processed by us may be transferred, Processed, and stored anywhere in the world, including but not limited to, the European Union, the United States or other countries. Personal Information may be stored in the cloud, on our servers, on the servers of our affiliates or the servers of our service providers.
7. Your Choices
(a) General. You have the right to object to or opt-out of certain uses of your Personal Information. Where you have consented to the Processing of your Personal Information, you may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us as described below.
(b) Email Communications. If you receive an unwanted email from us, you can use the unsubscribe link found at the bottom of the email to opt-out of receiving future emails. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails regarding products or Services you have requested. We may also send you certain non-promotional communications regarding us and our Services, and you will not be able to opt-out of those communications (e.g., communications regarding the Services or updates to our Terms or this Privacy Policy).
(c) Notifications. We may send you to push notifications or contact you through the Services with notices or alerts that may be of interest to you. You may opt-out of receiving push notifications from our mobile application by changing the settings on your device.
(d) “Do Not Track”. Do Not Track (“**DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. Please note that we do not respond to or honor DNT signals or similar mechanisms transmitted by web browsers.
(e) Cookies and Interest-Based Advertising. You may stop or restrict the placement of Technologies on your device or remove them by adjusting your preferences as your browser or device permits. The online advertising industry also provides websites from which you may opt-out of receiving targeted ads from data partners and other advertising partners that participate in self-regulatory programs. You can access these, and also learn more about targeted advertising and consumer choice and privacy, at www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp, http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/, https://youradchoices.ca/choices/, and www.aboutads.info/choices/. To separately make choices for mobile apps on a mobile device, you can download DAA’s AppChoices application from your device’s app store. Alternatively, for some devices, you may use your device’s platform controls in your settings to exercise choice.
Please note you must separately opt-out in each browser and on each device. Advertisements on third-party websites that contain the AdChoices link may have been directed to you based on information collected by advertising partners over time and across websites. These advertisements provide a mechanism to opt-out of the advertising partners’ use of this information for interest-based advertising purposes.
8. Access, Rectification, Erasure, and Restriction.
In accordance with applicable law, you may have the right to (i) request confirmation of whether we are processing your Personal Information; (ii) obtain access to or a copy of your Personal Information; (iii) receive an electronic copy of Personal Information that you have provided to us, or ask us to send that information to another company (the “right of data portability”); (iv) restrict our uses of your Personal Information; (v) seek correction or amendment of inaccurate, untrue, incomplete, or improperly Processed Personal Information; and (vi) request erasure of Personal Information held about you by Flex Tax, subject to certain exceptions prescribed by law. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us as set forth below.
We will process such requests following applicable laws. To protect your privacy, Flex Tax will take steps to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.
9. Data Retention.
We retain copies of your tax return information for seven years. In addition, we may retain the Personal Information we receive as described in this Privacy Policy for as long as you use our Services or as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected, provide our Services, resolve disputes, establish legal defenses, conduct audits, pursue legitimate business purposes, enforce our agreements, and comply with applicable laws.
10. Security of Your Information.
We take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely and under this Privacy Policy. Unfortunately, the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you provide to us. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we do not accept liability for unintentional disclosure.
By using the Services or providing Personal Information to us, you agree that we may communicate with you electronically regarding security, privacy, and administrative issues relating to your use of the Services. If we learn of a security system’s breach, we may attempt to notify you electronically by posting a notice on the Services, by mail or by sending an e-mail to you.
11. Children’s Information.
The Site and Services are not directed to children under 13 (or other age as required by local law), and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children. If you learn that your child has provided us with Personal Information without your consent, you may contact us as set forth below. If we learn that we have collected any Personal Information in violation of applicable law, we will promptly take steps to delete such information and terminate the child’s account.
12. California Privacy Rights.
California law permits users who are California residents to request and obtain from us once a year, free of charge, a list of the third parties to whom we have disclosed their Personal Information (if any) for their direct marketing purposes in the prior calendar year, as well as the type of Personal Information, disclosed to those parties. Except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, Flex Tax does not share Personal Information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
13. Supervisory Authority.
If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have the right to complain of a supervisory authority if you believe our Processing of your Personal Information violates applicable law.
14. Changes to Our Privacy Policy.
We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time in our sole discretion. If there are any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you as required by applicable law. You understand and agree that you will be deemed to have accepted the updated Privacy Policy if you continue to use the Services after the new Privacy Policy takes effect.
15. Terms of Service.
This Privacy Policy is incorporated by reference into the Flex Tax Terms of Service (the “Terms”). All other terms not defined in this Privacy Policy will have the meanings outlined in the Terms.
16. Contact Us.
If you have any questions about our privacy practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Flex-Tax, Inc. d/b/a Flex Tax and Consulting GroupEmail: [email protected]
Use of Flex Tax and Consulting Group Web Sites in General:
This Privacy Policy applies to web sites and mobile device applications owned and/or operated by Flex-Tax, Inc. (individually and collectively a “Site” or the “Sites”).
Automatic Data Collection and the Use of “Cookies”:
In some cases, Flex Tax and Consulting Group may automatically (i.e., not via registration or online form) collect technical information when you connect to a Site that is not personally identifiable; examples of this type of information include the type of Internet browser you are using, the type of computer operating system you are using and the domain name of the Site from which you linked to a particular Site. Flex Tax and Consulting Group may also place a file on your computer (commonly referred to as a “Cookie”) to help us track information such as the number of unique visitors a browser-based Site receives or the number of visitors to a particular Site who purchase our products. If you have set your browser to refuse cookies, we will not be able to place a cookie on your computer. This may limit or prevent your ability to engage in certain transactions with us via our browser-based Sites.
Use of Information obtained via our Sites:
Flex Tax and Consulting Group understand the importance of responsible use of the information we obtain from visitors to our Sites. Flex Tax and Consulting Group collect this information to record and support your participation in the activities in which you elect to engage with us. Flex Tax and Consulting Group also use information that you provide as part of its effort to keep you informed about product revisions, special offers, upcoming events, and other Flex Tax and Consulting Group products and services. Flex Tax and Consulting Group may provide such information to third parties vendors with whom we contract to fulfill your requests and orders.
Access by Children under the age of 13:
Our Sites are primarily intended for use by businesses and professionals. It is not intended that the Sites be used by minors. No part of our Sites is structured to attract children under the age of 13. Consistent with the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, we will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. Children under the age of 13 are hereby instructed to exit this Site without providing your own personally identifiable information to us.
Residents of the European Union:
At this time, our professional services, events, and products are not targeted towards residents of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). Natural persons currently located in the EEA should not submit inquiries, place orders on this Site, or otherwise, provide us with their Personally Identifiable Information (as that term is defined in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation).
Security of -E-Commerce Transactions with Us:
We strive to protect the security of your information during transmission of online orders to us by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software, which encrypts the information you input. We utilize security-certified payment processing companies located in North America for credit card authorization and settlement purposes. To further protect against credit card fraud, we only receive a tokenized substitute for your credit card number. If you choose to save your credit card information during a purchase, we save only the tokenized substitute for your credit card number. You need to protect against unauthorized access to your password and your computer. Be sure to close all browser windows when finished if using a shared computer.
Your Consent:
By using our Sites, you accept and agree to this Privacy Policy, and you consent to the data collection and use described herein. We may from time to time change our Privacy Policy after first posting the revised Privacy Policy on our Sites. For this reason, you should revisit our Privacy Policy page before each time you provide personally identifiable information.
