TMAI Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy updated as of March 9, 2021

 

1. OBJECTIVE & SCOPE OF PRIVACY POLICY

The Mad Accountant Inc. (“TMAI”) is committed to providing reliable, timely, and accurate income tax returns and related services to its customers across Canada. Consistent with the Canada Standards Act Privacy code, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), and other applicable law, TMAI is dedicated to maintaining high standards of confidentiality with respect to the personal information it collects from its customers.

This Privacy Policy governs personal information collected from our customers for the purposes of completing and filing income tax returns and for providing other services requested by customers. It does not cover aggregated data from which the identity of an individual cannot be determined, or information that is available from a public source or any information that is specifically excluded by applicable privacy legislation. If a question arises regarding access to your personal information held by TMAI, or there is a concern about the manner in which TMAI collects, uses, retains and discloses your personal information as one of TMAI’s customers, please contact:

2. DEFINITIONS

“CRA” means the Canada Revenue Agency.

“Consent” means voluntary agreement with the collection, use, retention and disclosure of information for the purposes for which TMAI’s services have been retained. When appropriate, express consent is obtained explicitly, in writing, from the Customer.

“Collection” means any and all information obtained from the Customer for the purpose of providing the income tax return preparation and filing services of TMAI and any other information collected for the purpose of providing services requested by a Customer. Collection also means any and all information obtained about the Customer from other third party sources such as Canada Revenue Agency for the purpose of providing income tax return preparation and filing services.

“Customer” means any individual that has retained TMAI’s services.

“Disclosure” means making available Personal Information and business information about the Customer to third party government agencies or organizations outside of TMAI.

“Organization” means a business, association, partnership, person, or trade union.

“Personal Information” means any information about the Customer, recorded in any form, that is identifiable to that individual either directly or by inference from the information, but does not include the name, title or address, or other information relating to the Customer’s business or place of employment.

“Transfer” means filing or otherwise transferring Personal Information and business information to or from a TMAI location or TMAI head office, Canada Revenue Agency or other third parties for the purposes consented to by the Customer.

3. COLLECTION, USE & TRANSFER OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Purpose: The purpose for the collection, use and transfer of a Customer’s Personal Information by TMAI, its employees, suppliers and affiliates, is to obtain all pertinent and necessary information for the preparation and filing of the Customer’s Return as required by CRA pursuant to the Income Tax Act, for billing and payment for such services, for the provision of other services requested by a Customer and for legal and regulatory requirements. TMAI may also collect and use a Customer’s Personal Information to attempt to understand Customer preferences so that it can offer targeted products or services.

Collection: Personal Information will be collected, to the extent possible, directly from the Customer. Where Personal Information is not available from the Customer, but may be obtained from a financial institution, government agency, or other third party source, Personal Information will be collected from those sources.

Use & Transfer: Personal Information that is collected in the preparation of a Customer’s Return may be transferred to CRA. TMAI may disclose Personal Information to its suppliers, affiliates and third parties to provide the services requested by the Customer. TMAI may disclose Personal Information to regulatory authorities as required by law. TMAI does not disclose personal information to third parties, except as necessary to perform the services that are requested by a Customer, to comply with regulatory requirements and to manage business functions. Notwithstanding the foregoing, TMAI will disclose Personal Information to a third party collection agency if a Customer owes a debt to TMAI.

Personal Information is not otherwise used or disclosed to any third party organizations for any reason outside the purpose stipulated above except to the extent authorized by the Customer. Any data that is aggregated for statistical or business monitoring purposes, will be rendered anonymous so as not to be identifiable to the Customer.

4. CONSENT

TMAI will request written consent as appropriate and legally necessary. For example, when a Customer signs the Information Return for Electronic Filing of an Individual’s Income Tax and Benefit Return, and signs the Customer Authorization form, the Customer consents and agrees to the following:

1. TMAI may collect, use, retain, disclose and/or transfer all Personal Information about the Customer for the purpose and in the manner set out herein;
2. The Customer has a right to access or correct data collected by TMAI;
3. The Customer accepts the risks that may be associated with electronic transmission of their Return;
4. TMAI has the right to disclose Personal Information about the Customer to government or legal enforcement agencies if TMAI determines that the Customer has provided false, misleading, or otherwise incorrect information for fraudulent or illegal purposes; and
5. TMAI may disclose Personal Information about the Customer if requested by an organization in the midst of any criminal investigation.

You may refuse or withdraw consent to the collection, use or disclosure of information, though doing so may mean that TMAI is unable to provide you with products or services that you requested.

5. ACCURACY

TMAI endeavours to ensure that any Personal Information provided by its Customers, and in its possession, is accurate, current and complete as is necessary for the purposes for which the Personal Information is used and transferred. Upon notification by a Customer that the Personal Information collected and used by TMAI requires correction or updating, TMAI will endeavour to make the necessary corrections promptly.

6. RETENTION

TMAI retains Personal Information as long as TMAI believes it is required to retain such information for the purpose of filing completed Returns and having such Returns available in the event that such information is required by Customer to respond to a request by CRA. After a Customer’s Return has been filed with CRA, the said Return and all Personal Information contained therein is stored at the TMAI site where the Return was prepared and at the sites of TMAI’s main databases which may be owned and maintained by third party suppliers.

7. SECURITY

TMAI endeavours to maintain physical, procedural and technological security at its offices, head office, and information storage facilities to prevent any loss, misuse, unauthorized access, inadvertent disclosure or modification of Personal Information. TMAI further protects Personal Information by restricting access to Personal Information to those employees and third parties that have authorized access in order for TMAI to provide its services to its Customers. TMAI has a policy under which employee misuse of Personal Information is treated as a serious offence for which disciplinary action may be taken.  All employees are required to have a criminal check completed.

Regarding electronic transmission of Personal Information in the form of the Customer’s completed Return, there is no method of transmitting or storing data that is completely secure. Although TMAI uses all available technological security in the transmission of Customer’s Returns, all Internet transmissions are susceptible to possible loss, misrouting, interception and misuse.

8. ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

TMAI permits a Customer to access and review the Personal Information it holds about the Customer upon receipt of a written request to the CEO. TMAI reserves the right to refuse access to Personal Information about a Customer where the information requested:

1. Concerns another individual or Customer of TMAI and no consent has been granted by that Customer for such access;
2. May harm or interfere with law enforcement activities and other investigative functions of a body authorized by statute to perform such functions;
3. Is subject to solicitor-client or litigation privilege; or
4. Does not exist, is not held, or cannot be found by TMAI.

Where Personal Information will not or cannot be disclosed, the Customer making the request will be provided with reasons for the non-disclosure.

TMAI reserves the right to decline to respond to repetitious or vexatious requests for access. In determining whether a request is repetitious or vexatious, it will consider such factors as the purpose for which the Personal Information was collected and used, the nature of the information being requested by the Customer, and the frequency with which the Customer repeats the same or similar access request.

To protect against fraudulent requests for access, TMAI will require sufficient information or proof of identification from the Customer before granting access or making corrections to the Customer’s Personal Information.

Where a request for access to a Customer’s Personal Information is granted, TMAI will endeavour to provide the information in question within a reasonable time and no later than 60 days following receipt of the written request and confirmation of the Customer’s identity. TMAI may charge a nominal cost to the Customer making the access request to cover photocopying or mailing costs, if necessary.

Where a Customer requests deletion of Personal Information held by TMAI, TMAI reserves the right to refuse such a request to the extent that its retention of Personal Information is subject to CRA regulations and the Income Tax Act or other regulations.

9. MARKETING PREFERENCES

Customers may choose how TMAI contacts them. Changes should be sent to taxadmin@themadaccountant.com.  If Customers choose to use TMAI websites, TMAI may collect information through the use of cookies or similar technologies. These technologies are used in analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movements around the site and to gather demographic information about the TMAI user base as a whole. TMAI may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis. TMAI uses cookies for online customer support, and analytics service providers. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If a Customer rejects cookies, the Customer may still use the TMAI site, but the ability to use some features or areas of the site may be limited.

TMAI does not partner with any third-party ad network to display advertising on its Web site.

As is true of most web sites, TMAI gathers certain information automatically and stores it in log files. This information may include Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. We do not link this automatically collected data to other information we collect about Customers.

10. AMENDMENT TO TMAI PRIVACY POLICY AND PROCEDURE

This Privacy Policy may be amended at any time. TMAI recognizes that legal interpretation of PIPEDA and other regulations may impact its privacy policies and procedures.

11. COMPLAINT PROCESS

Any concern or complaint by a Customer about TMAI’s management of the Customer’s Personal Information should be directed to the CEO, in writing. All complaints received will be investigated promptly and the Customer will be advised of the results of the investigation. Where corrective or disciplinary action is indicated, TMAI will undertake to take such corrective and/or disciplinary action promptly.

If you have any questions about the TMAI Privacy Policy, please contact