This Privacy Policy governs our practices regarding the use and collection of data and personally identifiable information obtained through our website, www.hbacpa.ca (“the Site”), or other interactions with us. Personally identifiable information is any information about a person that can lead to their identity. Your right to privacy is governed by federal privacy legislation. This Privacy Policy adheres to Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, RSC 2010, c 23 and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, RSC 2000, c 5.
We take privacy very seriously and have outlined how your personal information is collected, used and shared.
We respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information (name, address, email, etc.) to any third party.
If you choose to give your email address then we will send you emails relating to our company, as well as marketing offers from time to time. You may opt out of receiving future mailings by following the instructions at the bottom of any email received.
This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit www.hbacpa.ca (the “Site”).
This policy applies to information we collect, use, or disclose about you:
- On this Site.
- In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and this Site.
- When you interact with our advertising and applications on third-party websites and services if those applications or advertising include links to this policy.
By accessing or using the Site you agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy and accept all legal consequences. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, in whole or in part, please do not use the Site.
PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information.”
We collect Device Information using the following technologies:
– “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
– “Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
– “Web beacons,” “tags,” and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.
Additionally when you make a purchase or attempt to make a purchase through the Site, we collect certain information from you, including your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers, email address, and phone number. We refer to this information as “Order Information.”
When we talk about “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy, we are talking both about Device Information and Order Information.
HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
We use the Order Information that we collect generally to fulfill any orders placed through the Site (including processing your payment information, arranging for shipping, and providing you with invoices and/or order confirmations). Additionally, we use this Order Information to: Communicate with you; Manage our projects; Screen our orders for potential risk or fraud; and When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services.
We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns).
SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We share your Personal Information with third parties to help us use your Personal Information, as described above. For example, we use WordPress to power our website–you can read more about how other third parties use your Personal Information below. We also use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site–you can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Finally, we may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.
DO NOT TRACK
Please note that we do not alter our Site’s data collection and use practices when we see a Do Not Track signal from your browser.
DATA RETENTION
When you place an order through the Site, we will maintain your Order Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.
SECURITY MEASURES
Our Site uses industry standard measures to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Site.
CHANGES
We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons.
CONTACT US
For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail at services@hbacpa.ca
Last updated: April 8, 2022
Each independent firm of the AC Group has a responsibility to protect personal information regarding its clients, partners and employees. Each firm believes protecting your privacy is important and has developed a privacy policy designed to meet the needs of its clients and employees and conform to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). This policy covers the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by each firm.
The Rules of Professional Conduct and related Council Interpretations of the applicable Provincial Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants require that partners and staff maintain the confidentiality of client and former client information, as well as the confidentiality of firm information, except in rare and very specific circumstances.
The Rules of Professional Conduct of the various Provincial Institutes of Chartered Professional Accountants also require that partners and staff not use confidential information for personal advantage, for the advantage of a third party or to the disadvantage of a client, former client or the Firm, unless consent has been obtained from the client, former client or the Firm.
Personal Information
Personal information includes any factual or subjective information, recorded or not, about an identifiable individual. This includes information in any form, such as:
- Age, name, ID numbers, income, or ethnic origin;
- Opinions, evaluations, comments, social status, or disciplinary actions; and
- Employee files, credit records, loan records, medical records, existence of a dispute with a client, intentions (for example, to acquire goods or services, or change jobs).
Personal information does not include the name, title, business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization.
Each firm collects personal information only for the following reasons:
- To provide the products or services that you have requested and maintain commercial relations with you;
- To understand your needs and recommend products and services accordingly;
- To manage its business which includes partnership and employment matters; and
- To meet legal and regulatory requirements.
No firm will use your personal information for any other reason without your consent and will only share your information with third parties to assist in completing the above uses. Any third party’s use must adhere to the firm’s privacy policies or be allowed by the legislation. Examples would be an outside payroll service, an agent hired to perform a service for you, a collection agency, a law enforcement agency or emergency services.
Accountability
Each firm is accountable for all personal information in its possession, including any personal information disclosed to third parties for processing or other administrative functions.
The AC Group has appointed its President and Executive Officer to be the Group’s Privacy Officer, to be accountable for both the AC Group’s and each firm’s privacy policies and enforcement. Each firm has also trained all of its partners and staff on privacy issues.
The AC Group’s Privacy Officer can be reached at:
AC Group of Independent Accounting Firms Limited
PO Box 217
Amherst, NS B4H 3Z2
PRIVATE EMAIL
Identifying Purposes
Each firm shall identify the purpose for which personal information is collected before collecting it.
Consent
Each firm shall obtain consent for all personal information collected, used or disclosed by the firm, unless such collection or use is inappropriate, or permitted by law.
Limiting Collection
Personal information collected shall be limited to information that is necessary for the purposes identified by each firm and be collected by fair and lawful means.
Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Personal information collected by each firm, shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.
Accuracy
In order to provide you with a professional level of service and with appropriate benefits, the personal information that each firm collects about you must be accurate. Accuracy means both completeness and being current.
While each firm takes reasonable steps to ensure the continued accuracy of the personal information it has retained, the accuracy of the information is dependent on the cooperation of its clients in providing appropriate updates on a timely basis. From time to time, you may be asked to update your personal information. You are encouraged to contact the engagement partner of any changes to your personal information that may be relevant to the services the firm is providing to you.
Safeguards
Each firm shall safeguard your information against unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.
Openness
Each firm shall make information available, to its clients and employees, about the policies and practices that apply to the management of their information.
Individual Access
Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of their information, and shall be given access to it. An individual will be given reasonable access to their information and may correct any personal information if its accuracy and completeness is challenged and found to be deficient.
Challenging Compliance
An individual shall be able to challenge compliance with the above privacy principles. The Privacy Officer shall investigate all complaints in a timely manner.
What personal data we collect and why we collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Contact forms
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.