Collection of personal information.
We do not gather any personal information - such as your name, phone number, social insurance number, email address, or street address - when you simply visit our Web sites. We only gather this type of information when you voluntarily submit it, such as when you apply for Membership in The Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan, correspond with us, conduct online transactions with us, or when someone acting on your behalf (such as your accountant or tax professional) provides such information to us. If your accountant or tax preparer is a Participating Tax Professional and applies for Membership on your behalf, before they share any of your personal information with us, we ask that they confirm that they have your permission to share this information with us.
Session cookies
For operational reasons, we use session cookies so that our server can track your browser's activity on our Web sites and interact accordingly. We use session cookies to track how visitors use our Web sites because it helps us improve navigation and user satisfaction. You can turn off session cookies in your Web browser without affecting the performance of our site or restricting your access to the information it offers. However, session cookies are necessary in order for you to be able to apply for Membership and conduct any online transactions with us. Accordingly, if you turn off session cookies in your Web browser, you will not be able to conduct online transactions with us.
Use of personal information.
We never sell, rent or trade your information.
We use the personal information we receive to serve you better. For example, we use your information to process your Application for Membership in the Plan, for administrative and billing purposes, and to improve and further develop the services we provide. We may also use such information to enable us to understand your circumstances, needs and preferences and to then alert you by mail, phone or e-mail to tax information that may be relevant to you, or to current and anticipated services that may be of assistance or interest to you to meet your specific circumstances and needs.
Disclosure of personal information.
We only disclose the personal information we collect in limited circumstances. For example, we may disclose information we collect to others that we have retained to assist us in assisting you or to perform a service for us or to perform a function on our behalf. In cases where we use service providers, we restrict such service providers from using your personal information except to act on our behalf in accordance with identified purposes, and we require them to treat your personal information as confidential information.
We may disclose information we collect to others as required or permitted by law. Such disclosures may include, without limitation, to process credit card transactions, to permit auditing of account information, to comply with legal process, such as a subpoena, search warrant, or other court or government agency order, or in the event of a sale or transfer of our business or assets.
We may also disclose aggregated information that does not identify you individually, compiled using your personal information.
We protect your personal information.
We protect personal information by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. We restrict access to personal information to those employees who need to access it in order to serve you, to your accountant or tax professional, and to a Plan Preferred Law Firm who may be retained by the Plan to provide assistant to you with respect to an audit or reassessment. We never disclose your personal information to non-affiliated third parties, except as described herein.
We shall retain personal information only as long as necessary or relevant for the identified purposes or as permitted or required by law.
Requesting your personal information.
You may contact us at any time by e-mail at inquiries@ctapp.ca or by fax at (416) 866-8278 to request access to your personal information in order to verify its accuracy and rectify it if required, or to withdraw your consent to any use or disclosure of your information (except as required to provide you with the services you request or to provide you with necessary information relating to your accounts with us, or as required by law). Due to the private nature of the personal information we maintain, our company policy does not permit disclosure of your personal information to you over the phone or via e-mail. Instead we can make other arrangements for you to access your personal information.
Consent.
Unless you otherwise inform us, by utilizing the contact information above, visiting our Web sites, or becoming a Member of The Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. If you require further information about our privacy policies or practices, or to access or update your personal information, please contact us at the fax number or e-mail address listed above.
Changes to our policy.
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post our changes to our Web sites. If we ever wish to use or disclose your personal information in a way that is different from that stated at the time of collection, we will notify you. You will have a choice as to whether or not we can use or disclose your personal information in this different manner unless that use or disclosure is necessary to provide the service you have requested or it is permitted or required by law.
Online Security
We are very aware of the private and confidential nature of your information. That is why whenever you or your accountant or tax professional submits any personal information to us through our Web sites, we use 128-bit SSL encryption (secure socket layer) to encode your information and protect its confidentiality while it is in transit.
Encryption uses a mathematical formula and an encryption key to scramble information sent over the internet to ensure that the information cannot be understood or read while in transit. When data is sent using SSL encryption, the data is broken down into blocks and each block is then encrypted by SSL. The encrypted blocks are then transmitted as individual network packets. Once all of the individual packets have reached our secure Web server, they are reassembled and decrypted. In this way, the privacy of information passing between your Web browser and our Web servers is ensured.
SSL is one of the most secure forms of encryption available and is commonly used for Web-based services, such as online banking or online shopping, where securing personal information is a priority.