TaxNow LLC Privacy Policy, Last Updated: October 4, 2023
Introduction TaxAlert Services, LLC (“TaxNow”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it. This is the Privacy Policy for all of TaxNow domains, including TaxNow.com, subdomains, web pages and websites associated therewith (the “Site”), and any other content, applications, features, functionality, information, and services offered by us through the Site (collectively the “Services”), and it applies to all users of the Services, whether you are accessing and/or using the Services as a registered user or otherwise. The terms “you”, “your” or “user” means the users of the Site. This Privacy Policy governs only the information we collect in connection with your use of the Services. This Privacy Policy does not cover any other information collected in any other manner or collected by any other entity, unless specifically stated.
Please also review our Terms of Use which governs your use of the Services. Any capitalized terms that are not defined in this Privacy Policy shall have the meaning given in the Terms of Use.
By using the Services, you are consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
Information We Collect or Receive We generally collect two types of information from and about you in connection with the Services:
Personal Information. Information that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked to you, such as your name, email address, social security number, date of birth, individual taxpayer identification number, professional information including without limitation employer and job title, physical address, telephone number, records of products or services purchased, internet browsing history, geolocation data, information regarding interaction with a website, and inferences drawn from personal information to create a profile about your preferences and characteristics (collectively “Personal Information”). Personal Information does not include information that is aggregated, deidentified, legally publicly available, or information that cannot be reasonably linked to you. Non-Personal Information. All other information other than Personal Information, which does not personally identify you (“Non-Personal Information,” together with Personal Information shall be collectively referred to herein as “Information”).We collect Information from multiple sources, including: 1. Information You Give Us Necessary Information to Make a Purchase. Information you submit to make a purchase or create a TaxNow account (“Account”), including but not limited to your name, address, payment information, email address, and phone number. You may modify this information via your Account settings (if available) or contacting us by email or mail using the contact information under the “Contact Us” section below.Necessary Information to Use Services. Information about yourself or other taxpayers necessary to use the Services, register an account, and procure personal and tax information from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) or other sources, including without limitation name, email address, date of birth, social security number, individual taxpayer identification number, professional information including without limitation employer and job title, and physical address.Necessary Information for Our Communication with You. Information about you and additional consents in order to receive newsletters, updates, email correspondence, communication with mobile devices via SMS and/or other communications and notifications from us in order for us to provide up-to-date information about the Services, and to publicize and promote certain content, products and services offered by us, our business partners and/or other third parties. We will ask you to confirm your consent to any such uses at the time you sign up for these services or communications. Support Information. Information you provide to us when you contact us for technical, operational, or other support or otherwise provide any comments or feedback to us. 2. Information from Third Parties Third Party Services. When you connect a third party service (Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) (collectively “Third Party Services”) to the Services or enable functionality from Third Party Services as part of your use of the Services, we may receive information from the applicable provider of the Third Party Service that you have consented to be disclosed or shared pursuant to its terms and conditions, whether made available via an application programming interface or otherwise, as well as other Information about you or your use of the Services within that Third Party Service. Such functionality may also perform actions on your behalf on the Third Party Service that are known to the Third Party Service or others. Even if you delete your account on a Third Party Service, we will retain any Information provided by that Third Party Service. Similarly, if you delete or deactivate your Information or Account on the Services, any Information that we have disclosed to or shared with Third Party Services (in accordance with this Privacy Policy) may be retained by those Third Party Services subject to their privacy policies. We strive to work only with third parties that adhere to data privacy practices at least as protective of users as this Privacy Policy. Other Sources. We may supplement the Information we collect with information from other sources, such as publicly available information from commercially available sources and information from our affiliates or business partners. 3. Automatically Collected Information We may automatically collect certain Information about your equipment, browsing actions and other patterns by using certain automatic data collection technologies when you visit, access and/or interact with the Services, including: Log Files. When you use the Services, our servers automatically collect certain Information including Information that your browser and/or device that you access and/or use the Services on (“Device”) sends whenever you visit a website and/or use the applicable Device. Such Information may include your IP address, browser type and settings, and other usage data.Information about Your Device. We may also collect Information about your Device, including what type of Device it is, unique Device identifiers, the location of your Device, and other data provided by your applicable third party service provider and/or Device manufacturer. You should read the policies of such third parties in order to learn more about what Information your Device makes available. Other Non-Personal Information. Other Non-Personal Information related to your use of the Services, including usage, traffic data and other communication data, and resources that you access when you interact with the Services.Automatic Data Collection Technologies 1. The Technologies We Use The Information we collect automatically helps us to improve our Services and to deliver a better and more personalized user experience by enabling us, among other things, to store information about your preferences and to customize our Services. The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include: Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on your device. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of the Services. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to the Services. Flash Cookies. Certain features of the Services may use local stored objects (or Flash cookies) to collect and store Information about your preferences and navigation to, from and on the Services. Flash cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as are used for browser cookies. Web Beacons. Pages of the Services may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs. pixel tags and single-pixel gifs) that permit TaxNow, for example, to count users who have visited those pages and/or for other related statistics. 2. Opting Out of Use of Tracking Technology Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies (other than Flash cookies), but you can change your settings to notify you when a cookie is being set or updated, or to block cookies altogether. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information. Users can manage the use of Flash technologies, with the Flash management tools available at Adobe’s website, see here. Certain browsers transmit “do-not-track” signals to the websites in which such browsers communicate with; however, this feature, and how it is used and activated, varies from browser to browser. It is not clear whether the signals are intentionally transmitted by a user, or whether a user is even aware of this. Despite current efforts, there is still disagreement amongst leading Internet standards organizations, industry groups, technology companies and regulators, concerning what, if anything, websites should do when they receive such signals, and no standard has been adopted to date. With respect to “do not track signals”, we currently do not take action in response to these signals, but, if a standard is established and accepted, we may reassess how to respond to these signals. Please note that by blocking any or all cookies you may not have access to certain features, content and/or other personalization available through the Services. Third Party Advertising Service Providers The Services may also use a variety of third party advertising networks, data exchanges, traffic measurement service providers, marketing analytics service providers and other third parties (collectively, “Third Party Advertising Service Providers”) to, for example, serve advertisements on the Services, facilitate targeting of advertisements, and/or measure and analyze advertising effectiveness and/or traffic on the Services. These Third Party Advertising Service Providers do not have access to any tracking technologies set by the Services except to the extent necessary to provide services to us in connection with the Services. However, these Third Party Advertising Service Providers may use their own tracking technologies to collect similar Information. TaxNow does not control these Third Party Advertising Service Providers, and/or their use of tracking technologies, which is instead governed by the privacy policies of the Third Party Advertising Service Providers. For more information about Third Party Advertising Service Providers and similar entities that use tracking technologies, see here, and to opt-out of such Third Party Advertising Service Providers advertising practices, go here. Purposes for Collecting Personal Information We use your Personal Information to operate, provide, and improve the Services that we offer our customers. These purposes include: Purchase of Services. We use your Personal Information to maintain your Account (if any), take and process Orders, process payments, and communicate with you about Orders and promotional offers. Provide, Troubleshoot, and Improve the Services. We use Personal Information to perform the Services, provide functionality, analyze performance, fix errors, and measure and improve the usability and effectiveness of the Services. Comply with legal obligations. In certain cases, we collect and use your Personal Information to comply with laws. Communicate with you. We use your Personal Information to communicate with you in relation to the Services via different channels (email, SMS, messages in your Account inbox etc.), send you newsletters and/or updates, provide you with customer support, verify your identity, and to respond to your inquiries and requests. Recommendations and personalization. We use your Personal Information to recommend features, products, and services that might be of interest to you, identify your preferences, and personalize your experience with the Services. Advertising and Marketing. We may use your Personal Information to improve your experience with both online and offline Services by delivering content that you will find relevant and interesting, including advertising and marketing messages from us and third parties.Fraud Prevention and Credit Risks. We use Personal Information to verify your identity, prevent and detect fraud and abuse in order to protect the security of our customers, TaxNow, and others. Disclosing or Sharing Your Personal Information We do not sell your Personal Information to third parties. We also do not share your Information with third parties (“Share”), meaning we do not make available your Personal Information to third parties that you did not intentionally interact with. However, we may disclose the Personal Information we collect to third parties in order to provide the Services (and all features of the Services) to you, including, without limitation, as follows: IRS. We utilize the IRS’ e-Service features to access data and provide the Services. Personal Information is used in this regard in compliance with Client Authorization. Service Providers. We employ other companies and individuals to perform functions necessary for the Services on our behalf (“Service Providers”). Examples include fulfilling Orders or Services, delivering the Services, sending postal mail or email, sending SMS messaging, removing repetitive information from customer lists, analyzing data, providing marketing assistance, providing search results and links (including paid listings and links), processing payments, transmitting content, and providing customer service. These Service Providers have access to Personal Information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. They will process your Personal Information in accordance with their own privacy policies. Protection of TaxNow and Others. We release Personal Information when we believe release is appropriate to: (i) comply with the law or legal process; (ii) enforce or apply our Terms of Use and other agreements; (iii) protect the rights, security, property, or safety of TaxNow and its respective employees, agents, and contractors; (iv) protect the safety, privacy, and security of users of the Services or members of the public; (iv) protect against fraud or for risk management purposes; and/or (v) respond to requests from public and government authorities. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction. Business Transfers. If TaxNow sells all or part of its business or makes a sale or transfer of its assets or is otherwise involved in a merger or transfer of all or a material part of its business, TaxNow may transfer your Personal Information to the party or parties involved in the transaction as part of that transaction. Other than as set out above, you will receive notice when Personal Information about you might be disclosed with third parties, and you will have an opportunity to choose not to disclose the Personal Information. We may use any and all Non-Personal Information collected from or about you for any reasonable purpose that is necessary to provide the Services or other related product and/or service requested. You can choose to opt-out of certain disclosures of your Personal Information to third parties. Retention of Your Information We retain your Information for as long as it is needed to provide you with Services, or for other purposes described in this Privacy Policy, and for as long as legally required. We do not retain your Information for longer than is necessary for these purposes. The retention period for any particular Information will vary depending on the nature of that Information and the purposes for which it is collected and processed, your exercise of the rights set forth below, and applicable laws. User Rights We strive to provide you with the ability to access, review, correct, update, suppress, delete, or otherwise limit our use of the Information you have previously provided directly to us, including: Via Email/Mail. You may also contact us by email or mail using the contact information under the “Contact Us” section below. In your request, please provide your state or country of residence, a description of your user activity (whether you are a registered user, approximate date you began using the Services) and specify clearly what Information you would like to access, change, update, suppress, or delete. Via Your Account Settings (when available). If you have registered for an Account, you may have the ability to access and use certain features and functionality that provide you with the ability to set certain privacy, permissions, and Account options. Please be aware that that if you limit the collection of certain Information, you may not be able to use all of the features and functionality of the Services. Additionally, you may opt-out of: Electronic Communications from Us. If you no longer want to receive marketing-related emails from us on a going-forward basis, you may opt-out of receiving these marketing-related emails by (a) changing or editing your preferences of your Account using the Account settings (as described above), (b) contacting us via email in accordance with the procedure set forth above, and/or (c) using the opt-out mechanism that is contained in each such email. Please note that there are certain service notification emails that you may not opt-out of, such as notifications of changes to the Services or policies. SMS messaging. You may terminate SMS messaging by replying “STOP”. SMS messaging will be terminated promptly unless you provide subsequent consent to receive messages.Third Party Marketing Purposes. You may request that we do not disclose your Personal Information on a going-forward basis with third parties for their direct marketing purposes by contacting us via email in accordance with the procedure set forth above.For any of the foregoing requests, we may request certain Information to verify your identity. For all requests, we will strive to respond as soon as reasonably practicable. California Users’ Privacy Policy Rights NoticeIn addition to your rights provided for above in this Privacy Policy, if you are a California resident, you have additional rights in relation to your personal information, pursuant to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) as expanded by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”). This California Privacy Rights Notice (“California Notice”) sets out those additional rights. Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this California Notice. Your Rights to Know, Access, Correct, and Delete personal information To the extent provided by law, up to twice per year, you may request that we disclose to you free of charge: the categories of personal information we collected about you in the 12-month period preceding your request; the categories of sources from which the personal information is collected; our business purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing personal information; the categories of third parties with whom we share personal information; the specific pieces of personal information we collected about you; and the categories of personal information about you that we sell or disclose to third parties.You may request that we correct any inaccurate personal information that we collected from you. To the extent provided by law, you may also request that we delete your personal information. If you would like to access, manage, change, correct, limit, or delete your personal information, you can do so via your user account settings. Alternatively, to exercise the rights described above, please email your request to info@TaxNow.com. We will confirm receipt of your request with 10 business days. We will respond to your request within 45 calendar days of receiving your request, and notify you if we need an additional 45 days to respond.Verifying Requests When you ask us to disclose specific pieces of personal information to you or to delete personal information we obtained from you, we have to verify your identity before processing your request. If we are unable to verify your identity we may deny your request at our discretion. As a part of this process, we will match the identifying information provided by you to the Personal Information we have about you. We may ask for additional personal information such as government or other identification, along with your name, address history, and information about your previous interactions with us. More stringent verification is required if you do not have or cannot access your user account with us. An Authorized Agent Can Make Requests on Your Behalf You may designate an authorized agent to make a request to access or a request to delete on your behalf. In order to designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, you must provide the agent with a valid power of attorney. We will also request your valid government issued identification and the authorized agent’s valid government issued identification. We may verify the authenticity of the request directly with you, and may deny requests from authorized agents who do not submit sufficient proof that they have been authorized by you to act on your behalf, or are unable to verify their identity. Categories of personal information We Collect Pursuant to the CCPA, this section describes: 1) disclosure of the categories of your personal information we collected in the 12 months prior to the “Last Updated” date of this Privacy Policy; 2) identification of the categories of sources from which your personal information is collected; and 3) the categories of personal information that we disclose to third parties, and the categories of third parties to whom the information is disclosed. Additional information about these categories can be found in the previous Privacy Policy sections above.The categories are as follows: Identifiers. This includes information like your name, alias, postal address, online identifier, images of you, social security number, individual tax number, IP address, email address, physical address, user account name and number. Categories of Sources Collected From. We collect these from: 1) you directly; 2) our customers who you have provided Client Authorization to 3) third-party service providers, such as social media; and 4) automatic data collection technologies. Categories of Third Parties Shared With. We may share these with: 1) the IRS, 2) third-party service providers; 3) business partners; and 4) other TaxNow users.Identifiers. This includes information like your name, alias, postal address, online identifier, images of you, social security number, individual tax number, IP address, email address, physical address, user account name and number. Other personal information protected under Cal. Civ. Code 1798.80(e). This includes your telephone number, billing address, credit or debit card information, signature, and bank account information. Categories of Sources Collected From. We collect these from: 1) you directly. Categories of Third Parties Shared With. We may share these with: 1) third-party service providers. Commercial Information. This includes records of TaxNow Services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. Categories of Sources Collected From. We collect these from: 1) you directly and our observations of your interaction with us; 2) third-party service providers; 3) data vendors and brokers; and 4) automatic data collection technologies. Categories of Third Parties Shared With. We may share these with: 1) third-party service providers; and 2) our business partners. Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity Information. This includes your interactions with our Services and what led you to our Services, such as browsing history search history and information regarding your interaction with a website or advertisement. Categories of Sources Collected From. We collect these from: 1) you directly and our observations of your interaction with us; 2) third-party service providers; 3) data vendors and brokers; and 4) automatic data collection technologies. Categories of Third Parties Shared With. We may share these with: 1) third-party service providers; and 2) business partners. Geolocation Data. This includes the location of your device or computer and IP address. Categories of Sources Collected From. We collect these from: 1) you directly and our observations of your interaction with us; 2) third-party service providers; 3) data vendors and brokers; and 4) automatic data collection technologies. Categories of Third Parties Shared With. We may share these with: 1) third-party service providers; and 2) business partners. Professional or employment-related Information. This includes your title and where you work. Categories of Sources Collected From. We collect these from: 1) you directly, or 2) your business.Categories of Third Parties Shared With. We may share these with: 1) third-party service providers such as background check providers; and 2) business partners. Inferences Drawn from Information. This includes information about your interests and purchase preferences. Categories of Sources Collected From. We collect these from: 1) you directly and our observations of your interaction with us; 2) third-party service providers; 3) data vendors and brokers; 4) Ad Partners; and 5) automatic data collection technologies. Categories of Third Parties Shared With. We may share these with: 1) third-party service providers; and 2) business partners.Inferences Drawn from Information. This includes information about your interests and purchase preferences. We may also disclose personal information: 1) to governmental regulatory authorities as required by law; 2) to third parties in connection with claims, disputes or litigation, when otherwise required by law, or if we determine its disclosure is necessary to protect the health and safety of you or any other person, to protect against fraud or credit risk, or to enforce our legal rights or contractual commitments that you have made; 3) as part of an organizational business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, joint venture, financing, or sale of organizational assets; and 4) in the event of insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership. The Purposes for Our Collection of Your personal information The CCPA requires disclosure of the business or commercial purpose for our collecting and disclosing of your personal information. We collect, use, and disclose the categories of personal information for our business and commercial purposes described in the “Information You Provide to Us,” “Information from Third Party Sources” and “Other Uses of personal information” sections above, including providing and improving the Services, maintaining the safety and security of the Services, processing purchase transactions, processing payments, and for providing advertising and marketing services. Your Rights Regarding the Sale of Your personal information We will not sell personal information about you, as defined under the CCPA. You do not need to “opt-out” or tell us to refrain from selling your Information. Your Right to Nondiscrimination Limiting use of, or deleting, your personal information, or restricting certain personal information we may share with third parties, may impact features and uses that rely on the use of sharing of that information. However, we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your rights under the CCPA, including otherwise denying you goods or services, providing you with a different level or quality of Services, or charging you different prices or rates for Services. Accessibility If you have a disability and would like to access this Privacy Policy in an alternative format, please contact us by email at info@TaxNow.com. Contact Us
If you have questions about these practices, you can contact by email at info@TaxNow.com. In addition to the rights above, pursuant to California Civil Code sections 1798.83-1798.84, once per year and at no charge, California residents who share personal information with us have the right to request and obtain: 1) a list of third parties to whom we have disclosed their personal information for direct marketing purposes in the prior calendar year; and 2) the type of personal information disclosed to those third parties. If you would like to exercise this right, please use the contact information listed in this section to contact us.
