CALIFORNIA NOTICE AT COLLECTION AND PRIVACY POLICY

The State of California requires that we provide privacy information for individuals that are residents of California.  If you are not a resident of California, this policy has no relevance for you.  This California Consumer Privacy Act Notice explains how Liberty Tax collect, use, and disclose personal information relating to California residents covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (collectively, the “CCPA”). This “Notice” constitutes our notice at collection and our privacy policy pursuant to the CCPA.

For California residents, here is a summary of this privacy policy:

  1. Personal Information We Collect
    • 1.1. Categories of Personal Information Collected
    • 1.2. How We Obtain Your Personal Information
    • 1.3. How We Use Your Personal Information
    • 1.4. How We Share Your Personal Information
    • 1.5. Sale of Personal Information
  2. Your Rights Under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
    • 2.1. Right to Know
    • 2.2. Right to Delete
    • 2.3. Right to Opt-Out and how to submit an Opt-Out Request
    • 2.4. Right to Non-Discrimination
  3. Submitting a Request to Know or Request to Delete
    • 3.1. How to Submit a Request
    • 3.2. Authorized Agents
    • 3.3. Response Timing and Delivery Method
  4. Social Media
  5. Changes to this California Privacy Policy
  6. How to Contact Us

Below is the legal information we are required to share:

These California Disclosures and Privacy Policy supplement the information contained in the Online and Mobile Application Privacy of JTH Tax LLC doing business as Liberty Tax Service® (“we,” “us,” or “our”) and applies solely to visitors, users, and others who are residents of the State of California (“consumers” or “you”).  We adopt these California Disclosures and Privacy Policy to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 and other California privacy laws.  Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in these California Disclosures and Privacy Policy.

  1. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

    We collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer (“Personal Information”).

    Personal Information covered by certain sector-specific privacy laws, including IRS Code Section 7216, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”), or California Financial Information Privacy Act (“CalFIPA”) is exempt from CCPA.  We make some of the following disclosures as a service to our customers and potential customers even though we have no requirement to do so.

    • 1.1. Categories of Personal Information We Collect:

      In the last 12 months, we may have collected certain of the following Personal Information:

      • “Identifiers” such as name, alias, address, unique identifier, internet protocol address, email address, account number, Social Security Number, or government identification number;
      • “Other Personal Information” as a defined term will overlap with other categories and includes information such as name, signature, Social Security Number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver's license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, or medical information; 
      • “Protected Characteristics” under California or federal law for classifications such as age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, or veteran or military status; 
      • “Commercial Information” such as records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies; 
      • “Internet or Network Activity” such as browsing history, search history, information on a consumer's interaction with a website, application, or advertisement;
      • “Biometric Information” such as genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics, or activity patterns used to extract a template or other identifier or identifying information, such as, fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints, iris or retina scans, keystroke, or gait;
      • “Geolocation Data” such as physical location or movements;
      • “Sensory Data” such as audio, electronic, or visual information;
      • “Professional or Employment Related Information” such as current or past job history or performance evaluations; and
      • “Inferences” drawn from other Personal Information such as profile reflecting a person's preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.
      • The following categories of Sensitive Personal Information we may collect:
        • Personal Information that reveals:
          • A California resident's Social Security, driver's license, state identification card, or passport number;
          • A California resident's account log-in, financial account, debit card, or credit card number;
          • A California resident's precise geolocation;
          • A California resident's racial or ethnic origin;
          • The contents of a California resident's mail, email, and text messages unless the business is the intended recipient of the communication.
    • 1.2. How We Obtain Your Personal Information:

      Directly from you or during our tax preparation services.

      • You enter or provide us with information in person, online, by email, by phone, or by document upload.
      • For example, when you ask us to prepare your tax returns, show us your government issued ID, request information on a franchise, or request our newsletter.

      Directly and indirectly from you based on activity on our website.

      • For example, from submissions through our website or mobile application or website or mobile application usage details collected automatically.

      From service providers, vendors, or third parties that interact with us in connection with the products and services we provide.

      • For example, vendors that assist us in verifying your identity and information you provide to us or in protecting you and our products from fraud and identity theft; or from the Internal Revenue Service.
    • 1.3. How Long We Retain Personal Information:

      The length of time that we intend to retain each category of Personal Information will depend on a number of criteria, including (i) the length of time we are required to retain Personal Information in order to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, (ii) the length of time we may need to retain Personal Information in order to accomplish the business or commercial purpose(s) for which such Personal Information is collected, used or disclosed (as indicated in this Notice), and (iii) whether you choose to exercise your right, subject to certain exceptions, to request deletion of your Personal Information.

    • 1.4. How We Use Your Personal Information:

      We collect, use and disclose for our business purposes Personal Information, including Sensitive Personal Information, relating to California residents to operate, manage, and maintain our business, to provide our products and services, and to accomplish our business or commercial purposes, including the following:

      1. Performing the services requested by you, maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing transactions, verifying customer information, processing payments, providing advertising or marketing services, providing analytic services, or providing similar services or by us or our service providers.  This includes:
        • a.    to fulfill or meet the reason for which the information is provided;
        • b.    to provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us;
        • c.    to provide you with email alerts and other notices concerning our products or services, or events or news, that may be of interest to you; and
        • d.    to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collections.
      2. Undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration.
      3. Debugging to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
      4. Detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity.
      5. Auditing related to a current interaction with the consumer and concurrent transactions, including, but not limited to, counting ad impressions to unique visitors, verifying positioning and quality of ad impressions, and auditing compliance with this specification and other standards.
      6. Undertaking activities to verify or maintain the quality or safety or device that is owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by the business, and to improve, upgrade, or enhance the service or device that is owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by the business.
      7. For short-term, transient use, provided that the Personal Information is not disclosed to another third party and is not used to build a profile about you or otherwise to alter your experience outside the current interaction, including, but not limited to, the contextual customization of ads shown as part of the same interaction.
      8. To comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.

      We will not collect additional categories of Personal Information or use the Personal Information we collect for materially different, unrelated, or incompatible purposes without providing you notice.

    • 1.5. How We Share Your Personal Information:

      We may disclose your Personal Information to a service provider or third party for a business or commercial purpose. When we disclose Personal Information to a service provider, we enter into a contract that describes the purpose and requires the service provider to keep the Personal Information confidential and not use it for any purpose except performing the services described in the contract or as provided for in the CCPA. Examples of with whom we share include:

      • Our service providers.
      • Third parties:
        • With our affiliates we share Identifiers, Other Personal Information, Protected Characteristics, Commercial Information, Internet or Network Activity, Biometric Information, Geolocation Data, Professional or Employment Related Information, and Inferences.
        • With the Internal Revenue Service and State Taxation Agencies we share Identifiers, Other Personal Information, Protected Characteristics, Commercial Information, Biometric Information, and Professional and Employment Information.
        • With promotional partners we share Identifiers, Other Personal Information, Protected Characteristics, Commercial Information, Professional and Employment Related Information, and Inferences.
        • With advisors such as lawyers, banks, and insurers, we share Identifiers, Other Personal Information, Protected Characteristics, Commercial Information, Internet or Network Activity, Biometric Information, Geolocation Data, Sensory Data, Professional and Employment Related Information, and Inferences.
        • With governmental and regulatory agencies, we share Identifiers, Other Personal Information, Protected Characteristics, Commercial Information, Internet or Network Activity, Biometric Information, Geolocation, Sensory Data, Professional and Employment Related Information, and Inferences.
    • 1.6. Sale of Personal Information:

      You have the right to opt-out of the “sale” of your personal information. Under the CCPA, “sale” is defined broadly is not limited to just the payment of money.  We do not directly sell your personal information in the conventional sense (i.e., for money).  Like many companies, we participate in cross-contextual advertising to offer you products and services you may be interested in.  We may disclose your personal information to third parties that in turn offer you advertisements.  Such disclosure of information can qualify as a “sale” under the CCPA.

      With companies that provide cross-contextual advertising we share Identifiers such an IP address or unique identifiers, and Internet or Network Activity.

      We do not knowingly “sell” the personal information for California residents under the age of 16.

    • 1.7 How We Use Sensitive Personal Information:

      We only use or disclose Sensitive Personal Information for the following purposes consistent with CCPA Regulations:

      • To perform the services or provide the goods reasonably expected by an average California resident who requests those goods or services. For example, a California resident's precise geolocation may be used by a mobile application that is providing them with directions on how to get to a specific location.
      • To detect security incidents that compromise the availability, authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality of stored or transmitted Personal Information, provided that the use of a California resident's Personal Information is reasonably necessary and proportionate for this purpose. For example, we may disclose a California resident's log-in information to a data security company that it has hired to investigate and remediate a data breach that involved that individual's account.
      • To resist malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal actions directed at the business and to prosecute those responsible for those actions, provided that the use of a California resident's Personal Information is reasonably necessary and proportionate for this purpose.
      • To ensure the physical safety of natural persons, provided that the use of a California resident's Personal Information is reasonably necessary and proportionate for this purpose.
      • For short-term, transient use, including, but not limited to, nonpersonalized advertising shown as part of a California resident's current interaction with us.
      • To perform services such as tax preparation, maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying a California resident's information, processing payments.
      • To verify or maintain the quality or safety of a service or device that is owned, manufactured, manufactured for, or controlled by us, and to improve, upgrade, or enhance the service or device that is owned, manufactured by, manufactured for, or controlled by us.
  2. YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT OF 2018

    The CCPA provides consumers (California residents) with specific rights regarding their Personal Information—the Right to Know, the Right to Delete, the Right to Opt-Out, and the Right to Nondiscrimination. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights, if applicable.

    If you are a California resident covered by the CCPA, you have the right to:

    1. Receive this Notice at or before the point of collection of your Personal Information.
    2. Request we disclose to you free of charge the following information covering the 12 months preceding your request:
      • a.    the categories of Personal Information about you that we collected;
      • b.    the categories of sources from which the Personal Information was collected;
      • c.    the purpose for collecting Personal Information about you;
      • d.    the categories of third parties to whom we disclosed Personal Information about you and the categories of Personal Information that were disclosed (if applicable) and the purpose for disclosing the Personal Information about you; and
      • e.    the specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you.
    3. Request we correct inaccurate Personal Information that we maintain about you.
    4. Request we delete Personal Information we collected from you, unless the CCPA recognizes an exception.
    5. Be free from unlawful discrimination for exercising your rights under the CCPA.
    6. To limit our use of sensitive personal information to specifically permitted purposes.

    • 2.1. Right to Know:

      You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information over the past 12 months (“Right to Know”).  You may make a Request to Know either 1) the categories of Personal Information collected, used, disclosed, and sold; or 2) the specific pieces of Personal Information collected.

      We may deny your Request to Know if we are unable to verify your identity or have reason to believe that the request is fraudulent.  We may also deny your request if the Personal Information is subject to an exemption under FCRA, GLBA, or CalFIPA. 

    • 2.2. Right to Delete:

      You have the right to request that we delete any of your Personal Information that we collected and retained, subject to certain exceptions (“Right to Delete”). Once we receive and verify your request, we will delete, de-identify, or aggregate your Personal Information (and direct our service providers to do the same), unless an exception applies.

      We may deny your Request to Delete if retaining the Personal Information is necessary for us or our service providers to:

      • complete the transaction for which the Personal Information was collected, provide goods or services requested by the consumer, or reasonably anticipated within the context of a business's ongoing business relationship with the consumer, or otherwise perform a contract between the business and the consumer;
      • detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity; or prosecute those responsible for that activity;
      • debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
      • exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise his or her right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law;
      • comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act pursuant to Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 1546) of Title 12 of Part 2 of the Penal Code;
      • engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the businesses' deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, if the consumer has provided informed consent;
      • enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectations based on our relationship with you;
      • comply with legal or regulatory obligations; or
      • otherwise use your Personal Information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information.

      We may also deny your Request to Delete if the Personal Information is subject to an exemption under FCRA, GLBA, or CalFIPA.

      Additionally, we may deny your Request to Delete if we are unable to verify your identity or have reason to believe that the request is fraudulent.

    • 2.3. Right to Opt-Out:

      You have the right to opt-out of the “sale” of your personal information.

      You can exercise your Right to Opt-Out by either:

      You may also utilize the Global Privacy Control (“GPC”).  To learn more about how to enable GPC in participating browsers, visit www.globalprivacycontrol.org/.

      Before we can respond to a Request to Opt-Out submitted by an authorized agent, we need to confirm not only that person or entity’s authority to act on your behalf but also verify the identity of the authorized agent.

      If you are authorized to submit a request on behalf of a California resident, please email us at privacy@libtax.com and provide the following information:

      1. The consumer’s name, email address, and telephone number.
      2. To verify your authorization to request on behalf of a California resident, please attach a copy of one or more of the following to your request email:
        • California Secretary of State entity details and a signed authorization (if the agent is a business),
        • written permission from the California resident (if the agent is an individual), or
        • a valid power of attorney
      3. To verify your identity, please attach copies of the following to your request email:
        • Valid Government Issued ID (not expired) AND
        • a Utility Bill, Bank Statement, or similar documentation to verify your name and address.

      We will process your Request to Opt-Out within 15 business days and will honor your request for 12 months.  We will instruct receiving third parties to not sell your personal information.

      In some instances, we may not be able to honor your request. For example, we will not honor your request if we cannot verify your identity or if we cannot verify that you have the authority to make a request on behalf of another individual. Additionally, we will not honor your request where an exception applies, such as where the disclosure of Personal Information would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of another California resident or where the Personal Information that we maintain about you is not subject to the CCPA's access or deletion rights.

      We will advise you in our response if we are not able to honor your request. We will not provide Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers or government-issued identification numbers, financial account numbers, unique biometric data, health care or medical identification numbers, account passwords or security questions and answers, or any specific pieces of information if the disclosure presents the possibility of unauthorized access that could result in identity theft or fraud or unreasonable risk to data or systems and network security.

    • 2.4. Right to Non-Discrimination:

      You have the right to not be discriminated against for exercising your rights under the CCPA. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:

      • deny you goods or services;
      • charge you higher prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties;
      • provide you a lower level or quality of goods or services; or
      • suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.
  3. SUBMITTING A REQUEST TO KNOW OR REQUEST TO DELETE
    • 3.1. How to submit a request:

      To make a Request to Know or Request to Delete, please contact us by either:

      Only you, a person authorized by you to act on your behalf, or an entity registered with the California Secretary of State and authorized by you to act on your behalf, may make a Request to Know or Request to Delete related to your Personal Information. You may also make a request on behalf of your minor child.

      You may only make a Request to Know twice within a 12-month period.

      A Request to Know or Request to Delete must:

      • provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected Personal Information or an authorized representative.  Given the sensitivity of your Personal Information that we collect and retain, we will need to verify your identity with at least three separate pieces of information such as name, address, account number, date of birth, last four digits of your Social Security Number, phone number, etc.; and
      • specifically state whether you are making 1) a Request to Know categories of Personal Information, 2) a Request to Know specific pieces of Personal Information, or 3) a Request to Delete.
    • 3.2. Authorized Agents:

      Before we can respond to a Request to Know or Request to Delete submitted by an authorized agent, we need to verify not only that person or entity’s authority to act on your behalf but also verify the identity of the authorized agent.

      If you are authorized to submit a request on behalf of a California resident, please email us at privacy@libtax.com and provide the following information:

      1. To verify your authorization to request on behalf of a California resident, please attach a copy of one or more of the following to your request email:
        • Secretary of State entity details and written permission from the California resident (if the authorized agent is a business),
        • written permission from the California resident (if the authorized agent is an individual), or
        • a valid power of attorney.
      2. To verify your identity, please attach copies of the following to your request email:
        • valid Government Issued ID (not expired), AND
        • a Utility Bill, Bank Statement, or similar documentation to verify your name and address.
      3. To verify the identity of the consumer for whom you are submitting the request, please submit the required information via email at privacy@libtax.com.

      We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Information relates to you. We will only use Personal Information provided in a request to verify the requestor's identity or authority to make the request.

    • 3.3. Response Timing and Delivery Method:

      We will acknowledge receipt of a Request to Know or Request to Delete within ten business days of its receipt.  We will respond to a request within 45 days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 45 additional days for a total of 90 days from receipt of the request), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We will deliver our written response by mail or electronically. Any response to Request to Know we provide will cover the 12-month period preceding our receipt of the request. Where applicable and appropriate, our response will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request.

      We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

  4. SOCIAL MEDIA

    If you interact with us on social media, to best understand your choices, please review the privacy options and settings on those platforms.

  5. CHANGES TO THESE CALIFORNIA DISCLOSURES AND PRIVACY POLICY

    We reserve the right to amend these disclosures and privacy policy at our discretion and at any time. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we will notify you by email or through a notice on our website.

  6. HOW TO CONTACT US

    If you have any questions or comments about this privacy policy, the ways in which we collect and use your Personal Information, your rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us at:

    • Privacy Support E-Mail:      privacy@libtax.com
    • Privacy Support Phone:      1-800-790-3863
    • Mailing Address:          Liberty Tax 
                                            Attn: Privacy 
                                            2387 Liberty Way 
                                            Virginia Beach, VA 23456

Effective: December 28, 2022