1.Declaration
We, IT360 Accounting Inc., commit to ensuring the protection and confidentiality of the personal information you provide us or that we collect when you use our services or visit our website. This privacy policy (hereinafter referred to as the “Policy”) aims to inform you, in clear and transparent terms, about the personal information we collect, as well as how it is used, communicated, and stored, all in compliance with the Civil Code of Quebec, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector and its regulations, as well as the Code of Ethics of Chartered Professional Accountants.
2. Personal Information Collected
For the purposes of this Policy, “personal information” refers to any information concerning an individual that allows for their identification, directly or indirectly. In the course of your interactions with us, whether to benefit from our services, during a hiring process, or when you visit our website, the personal information we collect may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Your identification information (first name, last name, gender identity, date of birth, social insurance number, copy of an ID, postal address, email address, and phone number);
- Any financial, professional, banking, family, health, or psychological information necessary for providing the services you request from our firm;
- Your professional information, including what is typically found in a resume, such as your degrees and previous work experiences;
- Data from the cookies of your browser related to your use of our website, such as your IP address, identifier, language of correspondence, date and time of your visits, and pages viewed.
3. Collection of Your Personal Information
We commit to collecting only the personal information necessary for fulfilling our mandate to you, whether for services offered to your business, the preparation or review of personal tax returns, representation or support in a dispute, a hiring process, or during your consultation of our website. The personal information we collect is obtained from you, with your consent (see Section 7 of the Policy). It is also possible that we collect personal information from a third party, but only if it is necessary for the service for which you have mandated us, and always with your consent. The collection of your personal information may occur in person, by email, by phone, through the use of our website, or via a secure link for sensitive personal information.
4. Use of Your Personal Information
The personal information we collect is used solely for the purposes communicated at the time of collection or for any other purpose permitted or required by the applicable laws of the province of Quebec (hereinafter referred to as the “Law”). Furthermore, only members of our staff (tax specialists, lawyers, and support staff) who require access to your information in the context of the services you requested will have access. All our professionals are required to uphold their professional secrecy, which also applies to support staff.
We use your personal information to:
4.1. Create and update your client file
Your personal information allows us to create and maintain your file. It also enables us to contact you to, for example, send you documents, schedule an appointment, or respond to your information requests. We commit not to contact or solicit you unless necessary for the services you have requested or as required by law.
4.2. Provide the services you have mandated us
We will collect certain personal information necessary for the execution of the mandate for which you have requested our services. Only the information relevant to this mandate will be collected and retained in your file as well as that of your business, if applicable. You have the right not to share certain personal information, even if it may be deemed necessary to ensure the quality of our services. In such a case, we reserve the right to refuse to fulfill your mandate if it hinders our ability to meet our professional obligations.
4.3. Hire you as an employee
If you choose to provide us with your personal information in the context of a hiring process, it will be used exclusively for that purpose. Whether you responded to a job posting from us or submitted your application spontaneously, your information will only be used to assess your application and, if necessary, to contact you.
4.4.Ensure an optimal experience while visiting our website
Our website uses cookies. A cookie is a piece of information that is saved on your computer to identify your browser during your interaction with our website. Our service providers use cookies, which may be saved on your computer when you visit our website. We use cookies to:
- Identify you when you visit our website;
- Help us manage the content of our website;
- Assist the creators of our website in organizing and updating its content;
- Save information about your preferences and customize our website for you;
- Help us analyze the use and performance of our website and our services;
- Manage the promotion of our services to generate interest and engagement.
If you do not wish for cookies to be used, your browser options can be configured to refuse or delete them.
5. Communication of Personal Information
We commit not to disclose your personal information unless you consent to it or the law permits us to do so. We ensure that each of our communications of personal information with an external person to our firm is conducted using the required secure means, according to the sensitivity of the personal information communicated. We may disclose your personal information in the following situations:
5.1. Communication to third parties with your consent
In the course of the services we provide to you, the communication of certain personal information to third parties is possible. This may involve communication with some of your professionals (lawyers, accountants, tax specialists, etc.), family members (spouse, children, etc.), or certain colleagues or employees. Your consent will be obtained before such communication (see Section 7 of our Policy for this purpose). Furthermore, only the personal information necessary to fulfill our mandate will be transmitted to them. Additionally, at your request, we may communicate your file to another firm. Such communication will only occur at your express request and using means of communication that ensure the security of the personal information transmitted.
5.2. Communication to service providers
In the course of the services we provide to you, it is possible that your personal information may be communicated to some of our service providers, such as our data hosting, processing, and management suppliers. Furthermore, our accounting staff may have access, when required, to personal information in our possession. However, none of our service providers are authorized to use or disclose the personal information we hold for their own commercial or other purposes. These communications to individuals external to our firm are made in compliance with the requirements of the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector.
5.3. Communication required by law
It is also possible that we may have to disclose your personal information if required by law. This could occur, for example, if we receive an order from a competent authority requiring us to do so or a search warrant in this regard. If such a situation occurs, it is our internal practice to seek recommendations from our legal advisors before deciding whether to communicate your personal information.
5.4. Communication outside of Canada
We do not disclose your personal information outside of Canada. However, the third parties or our service providers to whom we disclose your personal information may communicate it outside of Canada, notably for backup and storage purposes. Nevertheless, we ensure that we deal with third parties and service providers who comply with the law and whose communications of personal information outside of Canada conform to it.
6. Retention of Your Personal Information
We retain your personal information as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, subject to legislative, professional, and ethical requirements regarding the retention of certain types of documents or information
7. Your Consent
We ensure that you understand the purposes for which we use or communicate your personal information, in order to obtain your informed consent. Your consent to the use and communication of your personal information may be explicit or implicit, but we always ensure compliance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector in this matter. By requesting our services or consulting our website, you implicitly consent to providing us with the personal information about you that allows us to provide you with the desired services or to ensure an optimal experience while navigating our website. Unless otherwise provided by the Law, you may withdraw your consent to the communication or use of your personal information at any time by contacting our person responsible for the protection of personal information identified, whose contact information can be found in Section 10 of this Policy. In some cases, withdrawing your consent may affect the services that may be offered to you or the functionalities of our website. If such a situation were to occur, our Person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information will ensure to explain the implications of withdrawing your consent so that you can make an informed decision. We reserve the right to cease providing our services to you if the withdrawal of your consent to the use or communication of your personal information prevents us from providing the required services in accordance with the professional standards required by our profession and our code of ethics.
8. Our Security Measures
We follow generally applied and recognized standards regarding information security to ensure the protection of the personal information we hold. We maintain physical, organizational, contractual, and technological security measures to protect your information against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure or access, misuse, or any other illegal processing of the personal information in our possession. We take measures to ensure that only authorized individuals who need to know your personal information, or whose functions reasonably require them to know, have access to it. Despite the measures described above, no method of transmission or information storage is completely secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information. If you have reason to believe that your personal information has been compromised, we encourage you to contact our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information as soon as possible.
We retain your personal information in our secure servers located in Canada and protected against unauthorized access. We also ensure that our service providers respect confidentiality and use appropriate measures to protect the personal information we hold.
9.Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Information
In certain circumstances and in accordance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector, you have certain rights regarding your personal information. These rights are as follows:
- The right to access your personal information. Upon written request to our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information, you may be informed of the existence, use, and communication of your personal information, and you may access it within the legally stipulated timeframe of 30 days. You may also request that your computerized information be provided in the form of a written and intelligible transcript. According to the Act, reasonable fees may be charged to obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- The right to rectify your personal information. Upon written request to our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information, you have the right to rectify, modify, and update the personal information we hold about you if it is incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate.
- The right to withdraw your consent. Upon written request to our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information, you have the right to withdraw or modify your consent to the communication or use of your personal information at any time. As mentioned in Section 7 of this Policy, our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information will ensure that you understand the impacts such a withdrawal may have on the services rendered to you by our firm.
- The right to de-index your personal information. Upon written request to our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information, you have the right to ask us to stop disseminating your personal information and to de-index any links associated with your name that provide access to this information if such dissemination violates the Law or a court order. However, please be informed that we do not use your personal information for this purpose.
- The right to file a complaint with the Commission d’accès à l’information. If you believe that our firm has not respected your rights regarding the protection of your personal information, you have the right to file a complaint with the Commission d’accès à l’information.
10. Person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information
For any questions or concerns regarding this Policy or about the protection of your personal information, to exercise your rights, or to file a complaint, please contact our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information at the following contact information:
Philippe Banville, CPA Auditor
Person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information
500 – 825 Lebourgneuf
Quebec (Quebec) G2J 0B9
Phone: 877-627-4447
Email: pbanville@comptabiliteti360.ca
When making a request to our person Responsible for the Protection of Personal Information, it is important to provide sufficient details to allow us to identify the information you wish to access or that you wish to have corrected, if applicable. We may ask you to verify and confirm your identity before responding to your request.
