Privacy Policy

CPAdirect Marketing, Inc., the owner of CPAdirectory.com, respects the privacy of users on the Internet and has developed this Privacy Policy to protect user privacy on its website. The purpose of this statement is to explain the types of information CPAdirectory.com obtains about CPAs listed on this website, how the information is obtained, how it is used, how it may be disclosed to others, and how CPAs can restrict its use or disclosure.

The use of CPAdirectory.com and our directory services constitutes your acceptance of our Privacy Policy. If you register, log in, post reviews or comments, participate in forums, blogs, register for courses, purchase products, or submit personally identifiable information in any manner, you are consenting to the use of such data in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Use of this Website constitutes your agreement to the terms of this Notice and the application of any applicable laws and regulations. Whenever you submit personaldata and any other information via this Website, you acknowledge that data and information will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with this Notice.

Personally Identifiable Information

Only the CPA's name, firm affiliation, city, state, and ZIP code are disclosed in a basic listing. This basic information is provided to allow for a user to accurately identity a CPA and review his or her services. CPAdirectory.com is not responsible for the accuracy of any information. All other information found in listings available to users through our website is supplied voluntarily and knowingly made accessible to the public by the CPAs themselves who have updated their professional listings. With the exception of a name and state, CPAs interacting with our website may delete other information, or modify information found in their professional listings on CPAdirectory.com. This includes their firm affiliation, address, telephone number, email address, credentials or other personally identifiable information. CPAs that update their listings constitute their acceptance that CPAdirectory.com may share such information with users of this website, its partners and agents for purposes related to the CPAdirectory.com's products and services, including for the purpose of contacting them via email about products and services that may be of interest to them. Users may visit our website without telling us who they are or revealing any personally identifiable information about themselves.

Information we Collect

We will use and process your personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. “Personal Data” is data relating to you from which you can be reasonably identified. Examples of Personal Data include your full name, email address, postal address, telephone number, job title or the company you work for. We recognize that your Personal Data is valuable and we process it in accordance applicable law.

We will collect and use your Personal Data solely for the specified and legitimate purposes stated in this Notice. We use your Personal Data to:

1. To set up your account and verify your identity;
2. To provide the services and related activities you request;
3. provide direct and digital marketing communications via email, direct mail and telephone communication or through personalized online experiences;
4. To contact you, if you request that we contact you or to send you the requested information;
5. To provide better customer service when you contact us;
6. To improve the quality, content and overall user experience of the Website and the Applications;
7. To notify you of new features and updates to the Website or our Applications and services;
8. To administer surveys; and
9. To address other business needs such as website administration, security and fraud

Using the Information

Personally identifiable information is information about you such as name, postal address, email address, company name, credit card number, birth date, social security number, etc. Generally, we may use your personally identifiable information in the following ways:

1. To communicate with you about your account or the website.
2. To pre-populate online forms for your convenience.
3. To personalize various aspects of the website.
4. To build quality and useful services by analyzing user trends and by measuring demographics and interests.
5. To provide you with prompt and effective customer service.
6. To support the operation of the website (i.e., billing, account maintenance) and troubleshoot.
7. To send you newsletters, promotional messages, product announcements or other communications that we feel may be of interest to you, although you may opt out of receiving these communications (see "Opting Out" below).
8. In other ways that you either expressly consent to or instruct us to undertake.

Or otherwise by permitting you to communicate directly with us via e-mail. You can choose not to enter any of your Personal Data into the Website or Applications. However, if you choose not to provide us with your Personal Data in these circumstances, we will be unable to respond to your inquiry, engage in further communications with you and/or provide the requested services.

We will, depending on the nature of your communication with CPAdirectory with respect to your visit to the Website or the Applications, use your Personal Data as follows:

• If you are making an inquiry about how our services could help your business: we will use your Personal Data to respond to any inquiry you may make and/or provide you with information that you request from us because we need to use your Personal Data to communicate with you, to respond to your request and develop the relationship between us;
• If you view or download a content asset (e.g., white paper, case study, webinar, etc.): we will use your Personal Data to provide you with information and materials that could be relevant or related to the content asset that you viewed or downloaded;
• If you are using ‘Ask-a-CPA’, or ‘Find-a-CPA’, or making any other inquiry about how we can provide any CPAdirectory services to your business: we will use your Personal Data to consider how your business could utilize our services, and your last name, email address and phone number will not be displayed publicly on our site;
• If you are an existing client, supplier, or partner of ours and you are making an inquiry about your agreement or relationship with us: we will use your Personal Data to respond to you as an existing client, supplier or partner of ours in relation to a pre-existing agreement or relationship.
• When you provide us with your information, you are giving your consent for your Personal Data to be used by us to contact you by email, direct mail and telephone, and to deliver personalized website experiences, to share information about relevant products, services, best practice information, industry news and events. You are entitled to withdraw your consent to us contacting you or to amend your communication preferences by contacting us at the email address listed under Contact Information below.
• If you decide that you do not want to receive any correspondence from us about the services we could provide your business, including communications regarding product information, press releases, newsletters, marketing, promotions, and/or other topics please click the “unsubscribe” link provided in that promotional email message or contact us at the email address below. Withdrawing your consent will not affect our use of the Personal Data prior to you withdrawing that consent but it will mean that we will not be able to contact you about the services we may be able to offer you or your business in the future.

Disclosing the Information

We may disclose personally identifiable information about you to third parties without asking for explicit consent from you as follows:

1. We will perform research on our end users' demographics, interests, and behavior based on the information we collect, for example during registration, from our server log files and from user surveys. We do this to better understand and serve our users. This research is compiled and analyzed on an aggregated basis. We may share this aggregated data with current or potential advertisers, business partners, investors and other third parties interested in our business.
2. CPAdirectory.com does not sell any of your personally identifiable information to third parties. However, if you have not opted out of receiving postal mail from CPAdirectory.com or third parties, CPAdirectory.com may rent your name, postal address and phone number to third parties, which the third parties may use one time only to mail you information. These third parties will have no continuing right to use your name or postal address. We do not sell or rent your email addresses to third parties. All emails you receive are deployed directly by CPAdirectory.com on behalf of third parties.
3. We share website usage information about visitors to the website who have received a targeted email promotional campaign from us with a third-party advertising company for the sole purpose of targeting future email campaigns and upgrading visitor information used in reporting statistics.
4. To allow third parties to provide website features and services. These third parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.
5. To our contractors, consultants and professional advisors so they can provide a service to us. For example, from time to time we may use third parties to help us collect information about our users. In those cases, we will prohibit the third parties from using the information they collect for any purpose other than providing the service to us.
6. As we believe necessary to comply with the law and protect the rights, property or safety of others.
7. If you engage in illegal activity and we respond to a subpoena, warrant or other court order.
8. In connection with the sale or transfer of CPAdirectory.com or substantially all of its assets, we will share your data with the acquiring party or transferee.
9. Due to circumstances beyond our control.

Opting Out

As part of the member registration process, you will supply us with your postal address, phone number and email address, and you will be registered to receive periodic communications from CPAdirectory.com or from other reputable companies affiliated with CPAdirectory.com. If you do not wish to receive such communications from CPAdirectory.com or from the reputable companies affiliated with CPAdirectory.com, you can:

1. Opt out of receiving future emailed messages by following the "unsubscribe" instructions at the bottom of any emailed message you receive from CPAdirectory.com.
2. Individuals who no longer maintain their CPA license can request to have their names removed from the directory. Individuals who wish to be removed from the directory may do so here, or by sending an email request using the form on the contact page found on this website, or by writing to CPAdirect Marketing, Inc. In your request please state clearly that you no longer are licensed as of a certain date.
3. If you receive communications from CPAdirectory.com or third parties selected by CPAdirectory.com by regular mail, you can opt out of receiving future such communications by contacting CPAdirectory.com's customer service.

Please allow ten days for your opt-out election to take effect. Please note that even if you opt out of receiving the types of communications described above, we may still from time to time communicate with you about your account or operation of the website; these communications will not be promotional in nature. For example, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. You cannot opt out of receiving these communications.

If you are located in California, United States, you may be subject to certain rights in relation to your personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as outlined below:

• The right to know about the personal information that we collect about you, including the categories of personal information collected, how it is used and how it is shared;

• The right to delete the personal information we have collected about you (with some exceptions);

• The right to opt out of the sale of your personal information; and

• The right to non-discrimination for exercising your CCPA rights.

You may seek to exercise any of these rights by completing our CCPA Request Form, updating your information online (where possible) or by sending a written request to our contact email listed at the bottom of this page.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information

CPAdirectory.com does collect and use some non-personally identifiable, generic information about our users as a mean of measuring the effectiveness of our website. CPAdirectory.com's servers identify certain user information in the normal course of operation, but such information does not reveal a user's personal identity. We collect this information only in the aggregate and use it to evaluate and improve our website and to provide targeted information that may be of interest to users of our website. The following are examples of non-personally identifiable generic information.

IP Addresses

An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to a user's computer whenever that user is using the World Wide Web. Website servers can automatically identify individual computers by their IP address. CPAdirectory.com collects IP addresses for the purposes of system administration and to report aggregate information. CPAdirectory.com does not link IP addresses to any personally identifiable information.

Cookies

Cookies are pieces of information that are used for record-keeping purposes. Cookies allow CPAdirectory.com to save certain information about a user, such as a password or individual preferences, in order to facilitate and enhance the user's future activities on the website. CPAdirectory.com will not use cookies to retrieve information from a user's computer other than that voluntarily supplied by the user. Except as otherwise provided in this statement, CPAdirectory.com shall not use information transferred through cookies for any promotional or marketing purposes.

Computer Settings

Settings, technical and other information from your computer, such as your operating system, browser version, connectivity, various communication parameters and other information related to the operation and interaction of CPAdirectory.com may be collected by CPAdirectory.com. Except as otherwise provided in this statement, CPAdirectory.com will use such information solely in order to provide technically appropriate formatting of information provided by CPAdirectory.com and access to CPAdirectory.com. The collection of this information will not include any personally identifiable information about you or any individual user.

Information Provided by Children

CPAdirectory.com is not targeted at children and do not collect or use any personally identifiable data from children.

Disclosure Pursuant to Legal Process

CPAdirectory.com shall, pursuant to applicable law, regulation or legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order, allow access to all available and relevant information in order to comply with such process and protect CPAdirectory.com's rights and property. CPAdirectory.com may also allow access to this information in special emergencies where physical safety is at risk.

Other Websites

CPAdirectory.com is committed to protecting user privacy and expects the same from our partners, co-sponsors and suppliers. CPAdirectory.com, however, is not responsible for the content or the privacy practices of other websites, including websites reached through a link on CPAdirectory.com. Other websites may have different privacy policies, or no policy. Users should review the privacy policies of any website before providing personal information.

Should CPAdirectory.com modify its practices regarding the collection or use of information obtained from users in the future, this privacy statement will be amended to reflect such modifications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: There's my personal address or an error in my listing – how can I correct it?
A: If this is your first time to the website, you will need to create an account in order to update your information. Once registered, visit the update your profle page and follow the on screen steps to claim your listing. Once claimed, you can edit the information displayed on your page. If you wish to omit your address from the professional listing, you can do so by selecting "Hide Address" in the contact info edit screen found in your dashboard.

Q: What if I see an error in my name like if the name is spelled wrong or I recently got married and my name has changed – how do I correct that?
A: Please email us using the form on the contact page.

Q: I am a CPA. But how do I get my name removed from your site?
A: We respect your privacy and do allow you to remove or modify all personal content with the exception of your name which you cannot remove on your own. However, if you have given up your license or would simply like to be removed from our site, click here to opt out.

Q: What if I see a review and rating that I think should be removed? Can I have a review removed?
A: A review will not be removed just because it is a low rating. However, bogus reviews, whether good or bad, will be removed. Inappropriate reviews will also be removed. Reviews written by CPAs, their employees or agents will be removed. If you think a review of yours should be removed, feel free to write to us and tell us why it should be removed. We will consider your request but cannot guarantee we will agree with you. The best way to combat one or two bad reviews is to ask dozens of your satisfied clients to write reviews.

Q: I'm going to pose as a client and review myself numerous times to increase my overall rating.
A: Never write a review of yourself or have an employee write a review of yourself. We are on the lookout for those self-serving reviews. We use humans, not machines to detect and remove phony reviews. But more importantly, it is a violation of current law. Posing as a client or hiring an outside agency or employee to post positive ratings is a practice known as "astroturfing", and is prohibited.

Q: One of these reviews is false and it's hurting my accounting practice! I want to send you a letter demanding that it be removed.
A: We do not accept demand letters because it is not our role to determine whether a review is true or false. You might dispute the truth of a review, but your disputing it does not make it false.

Q: If you won't accept a demand letter, I have no choice but to sue you!
A: The Communications Decency Act (CDA) is a complete bar to our liability for the statements of others on this website: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." 47 U.S.C. § 230. Federal courts have applied this standard on its terms: "By its plain language, Section 230 creates a federal immunity to any cause of action that would make service providers liable for information originating with a third-party user of the service." Zeran v. AOL, 129 F.3d 327, 330 (4th Cir. 1997). The ratings on this site are written by our users, not by our company. Thus, under the CDA, we are not the "publisher or speaker" of the ratings, even if they contain false information and we are not liable for defamation, libel, fraud or any other tort claim you might bring.

Q: I think my demand letter would put you on notice that the review is false and defamatory. That makes you liable.
A: No, it doesn't. Zeran, 129 F.3d at 227, and the cases following it uniformly hold that it is not up to us to determine whether your demand letter is correct or the review is correct. The CDA gives us complete immunity for the statements that others make on this site.

Q: But you lost your CDA immunity by aggregating the user ratings into an average!
A: No. The most instructive case on aggregate ratings is the California Court of Appeals' decision in Gentry v. eBay, which squarely held that such ratings do not transform a publisher into an information content provider. 99 Cal. App. 4th 816, 834 (Cal. App. 2002).

Q: But you lost your CDA immunity by editing the rater's original comments!
A: No. Under 230(c)(2)(A), "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected".

Q: I'm going to sue you anyway. Taking down the review is cheaper than paying a lawyer.
A: Sounds like a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP)! Twenty-eight states, including our home state, have passed strict anti-SLAPP laws, authorizing expedited motions to dismiss and giving rise to counterclaims seeking attorneys' fees and liquidated damages.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may from time to time amend this Notice to reflect any changes in our practices, services and legal obligations. If we make any material changes to the way we collect, use or share your Personal Data, we will notify you of those changes by posting an updated notice on the specific site to which it relates or by an electronic communication to you, which will indicate the effective date of the proposed changes. Your continued use of the Website and the Applications and the services following the effective date of a change to this Notice signifies your acceptance and agreement to the terms of the revised notice. We encourage you to periodically visit this page to determine the current terms to which you are bound. This Notice has been revised at the “Last Updated” date displayed at the top of this Notice.

Contact information

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this Notice or our privacy practices or wish to file a complaint, please contact us:

By Email: contact@cpadirectory.com