Last revised October 18, 2020
RESPECTING YOUR PRIVACY
At Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation, we rely on personal information to identify and stay in touch with our customers, employees and suppliers. We respect your fundamental human right of privacy and recognize the significance and sensitivity of personal information. We are committed to take reasonable steps to safeguard your personal information in our custody or control from such risks as unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or destruction.
OUR PRIVACY POLICY
Among the various measures we have implemented, we established a privacy policy to govern the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information and safeguard of your privacy by our company, its sole shareholder and employees. We use the term “personal information” to mean any information that can be used to identify an individual. This includes your name, age, telephone number(s), address, credit card details, email address and any other personally identifiable information, but does not include business contact information when used for business communications.
Certain of the practices discussed in this Policy reflect requirements set out in both federal and provincial privacy legislation. Our policy is to at all times adhere to the requirements of the law and our professional responsibilities, and to be responsive to our clients and employees who entitle our respect of their privacy and protection of their personal information.
Our Privacy Policy below outlines how we manage your personal information and safeguard your privacy.
Principal 1 – Accountability. Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation is accountable for all personal information in our possession or custody. This includes any personal information that we receive directly, for example, from individual clients and employees, as well as personal information that we may receive indirectly, for example, through corporate and government clients. We have established policies and procedures aimed at protecting personal information. We have appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee privacy issues for the firm. We have also educated our sole shareholder and employees about our Privacy Policy and their role in protecting your personal information. If you have questions about our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@etaxaccountant.ca.
Principal 2 – Identifying Purposes. We will inform you why we are collecting your personal information when the information is collected. Collection may occur without knowledge or consent as permitted by law, including collection in the course of an investigation. In most instances, we will collect, use or disclose personal information about clients only for the purpose of providing professional services. We will also collect and use personal information about clients and prospective clients for the purpose of sending news and information updates or invitations to events hosted by our firm. Personal information may also be shared internally or with third parties in order to allow us to determine compliance with applicable professional standards or offer services that may be of interest to clients.
We collect personal information about our employees in order to pay them, comply with laws, and provide them with benefit. We also collect personal information from individuals seeking employment with us.
Principal 3 – Consent. We will collect, use or disclose personal information about you only with your informed consent. The Terms and Conditions of our every professional services engagement are documented in each Engagement Letter. These Terms and Conditions include a discussion about how Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation may use and disclose your personal information. By signing the Engagement Letter, the client will be providing its consent to the collection, use and disclosure described in the Terms and Conditions. Forms and applications used to provide human resources-related services to employees will describe the purposes for which their personal information is required and with whom it will be shared. Employment candidates will also be advised of the purposes for which their personal information is being collected.
Clients of Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation always have the option not to provide their consent to the collection, use and distribution of their personal information, or to withdraw their consent at a later stage. Where a client chooses not to provide us with permission to collect, use or disclose personal information, we may not have sufficient information to continue providing the client with our services. Where an employee or candidate for employment chooses not to provide us with permission to collect, use or disclose personal information, we may not be able to employ them, continue to employ them or to provide them with benefits.
Principal 4 – Limiting Collection. Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation will limit the collection of personal information to that which is reasonably required to provide our services or operate our business.
Principal 5 – Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention. Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation will use and disclose your personal information only for the purposes for which we have your consent. We will keep personal information only as long as necessary to accomplish these purposes. However, we may use personal information without consent for the purpose of acting in respect of an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual, including steps taken under our pandemic policies, or as otherwise permitted by law including for purposes of an investigation. We may also disclose personal information without consent as permitted or required by applicable federal and provincial privacy laws, including:
- to comply with a subpoena, a warrant or an order made by a court or other body with appropriate jurisdiction or to comply with rules of conduct required by regulatory bodies;
- to a government institution that has requested the information, identified its lawful authority, and indicates that disclosure is for the purpose of enforcing, carrying out an investigation, or gathering intelligence relating to any federal, provincial or foreign law; or suspects that the information relates to national security or the conduct of international affairs; or is for the purpose of administering any federal or provincial law; or
- to an investigative body or government institution on our initiative when we believe the information concerns a breach of an agreement, or a contravention of a federal, provincial, or foreign law, or we suspect the information relates to national security or the conduct of international affairs.
In compliance with professional standards, we keep a record of the work performed by our sole shareholder and employees. This record, or “working papers”, may include personal information and will be retained until such working papers are no longer reasonably required for legal, administrative, audit or regulatory purposes. Working papers are safeguarded against inappropriate access, as discussed in Principal 7 below.
Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation retains personal information about current and past employees in accordance with employment laws and standards. We will destroy human resources and other files containing employee personal information when such information is no longer reasonably required for legal, administrative, audit or regulatory purposes.
Personal information collected from individuals seeking employment with Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation will be retained by our firm for 24 months so that we may contact the applicant about other positions that may also be of interest. Should another suitable position at our firm become available within this 24 month period, we may contact the applicant to discuss this other position, and the applicant’s information will be retained for an additional 24 months. If a candidate is hired, the personal information collected during the application process will be retained in order to establish, manage and terminate the employment relationship.
Principal 6 – Accuracy. In order to provide clients with a professional level of service and partners and employees with appropriate benefits, the personal information that we collect must be accurate, complete and current. From time to time, clients and employees may be asked to update their personal information. Individuals are encouraged to advise us of any changes to their personal information that may be relevant to the services we are providing.
Principal 7 – Safeguards. Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation protects your personal information with safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. We will protect personal information by using physically secure facilities, industry standard security tools and practices, and clearly defined internal policies and practices. Security measures are in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the personal information under our control. Personal information is stored in secure environments that are not available to the public (e.g., restricted access premises, locked rooms and filing cabinets). To prevent unauthorized electronic access to personal information, any information that is stored in electronic form is protected in a secure electronic and physical environment.
We are responsible for all personal information transferred to third parties for processing. We require third party processors to respect the confidentiality of personal information and all legal requirements under applicable Canadian federal and provincial privacy legislation, and to agree to contractual requirements that are consistent with this Privacy Policy. These third party processors are prohibited from using personal information, except for the specific purpose(s) for which we supply it to them.
In some circumstances, personal information may be processed and stored outside of Canada by our firm or a third party processor, and such personal information may be subject to disclosure in accordance with the laws applicable in the jurisdiction in which the information is processed or stored. These laws may not provide the same level of protection as Canadian privacy laws.
Principal 8 – Openness. Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation shall make information available to its clients and employees about the policies and practices that apply to the management of their information.
Principal 9 – Individual Access. Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of their information, and shall be given access to it. An individual may verify the accuracy and completeness of their information, and may request that it be amended if appropriate.
Principal 10 – Challenging Compliance. Questions or complaints with respect to privacy and the privacy policy or practices of Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation may be directed to our Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@etaxaccountant.ca. The Privacy Officer will investigate and attempt to resolve all complaints in most instances within 30 days.
WEBSITE
Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation’s website may contain links to other sites, which are not governed by this Privacy Policy.
Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation may also collect personal information on our website (www.etaxaccounant.ca). We will only collect the information you provide to us voluntarily by sending us an e-mail message, completing forms or using the links contained on the website. We collects and uses your name, address, telephone number, email address and other information you submit on or through the website for the purposes for which you provided the personal information, to respond to your inquiries (and applications for positions), and to provide you with updates and information that we think may be of interest to you. In providing Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation with any personal information on or through this website, you consent to the collection and use of that information for these stated purposes.
On Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation’s website, like most other commercial websites, it may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize its web service. Claudia Ku CPA Professional Corporation may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.