Privacy Policy

Legal and Privacy notices

This Online Privacy Policy applies to information about you obtained through www.freshstartinformation.org (the “Website”) by Fresh Start Information Inc., (“Fresh Start Information”, “we” or “us”).

This Policy describes how we may collect, use, and disclose your personal information; the choices you have regarding our use of your information; how we safeguard the information we collect; and how to contact us regarding our privacy practices.

By accessing or otherwise using the Website, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure practices and other activities as described in this Privacy Policy.

Information we collect

Information You Provide

We collect certain personal information about you that you provide to us through the Website. For example, you may provide personal information when you fill out the Website’s Contact Us form and other online forms; apply for a job via the Careers Portal; register for events, such as webinars, conferences, and seminars; post public comments on certain Website content; access client portals; pay invoices; sign up for email newsletters; or answer pop-up polls.

Personal information you may submit through the Website includes your name, email address, company affiliation, job title, postal address, phone number, fax number, username, password, employment-related details, information related to services we provide you (e.g., financial information via the Tax Client Portal) and any other personal information you choose to disclose. Some forms on the Website may require that you provide certain personal information to submit the form. You may choose not to provide personal information in those cases, but this may prevent you from being able to use those features.

For more information on how we collect, use, share, and protect financial information you may provide us, please refer to our Fresh Start Information Inc. Privacy Policy.

Information Collected Automatically

We may also automatically collect certain information about you when you access or use the Website (“Usage Information”). Usage Information may include IP address, device identifier, browser type, operating system, information about your use of the Website, and data regarding network-connected hardware (e.g., computer or mobile device).

The methods that may be used on the Website to collect Usage Information include:

Log Information: Log information is data about your use of the Website, such as IP address, browser type, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamps, and related data, and may be stored in log files.

Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: Cookies, web beacons (also known as “tracking pixels”), embedded scripts, location-identifying technologies, device recognition technologies, and other tracking technologies (“Tracking Technologies”) may be used to collect information about your interactions with the Website. Brief descriptions of common Tracking Technologies are provided below.

Cookies

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s device. Session cookies make it easier for you to navigate the Website and expire when you close your browser. Tracking cookies remain longer and help in understanding how you use the Website, and enhance your user experience. Cookies may remain on your hard drive for an extended period of time. If you use your browser’s method of blocking or removing cookies, some but not all types of cookies may be deleted and/or blocked and as a result, some features and functionalities of the Website may not work. A Flash cookie (or locally shared object) is a data file which may be placed on a device via the Adobe Flash plug-in that may be built-in to or downloaded by you to your device. HTML5 cookies can be programmed through HTML5 local storage. Flash cookies and HTML5 cookies are locally stored on your device other than in the browser and browser settings won’t control them. To identify certain types of local shared objects on your device and adjust your settings, please. The Website may associate some or all of these types of cookies with your device(s).

Web Beacons (“Tracking Pixels”)

Web beacons are small graphic images, also known as “Internet tags” or “clear gifs,” embedded in web pages. Web beacons may be used, for example, to count the number of visitors to the Website, to monitor how users navigate the Website, and to count content views.

Embedded Scripts

An embedded script is programming code designed to collect information about your interactions with the Website. It is temporarily downloaded onto your computer from our web server, or from a third party with which we work, and is active only while you are connected to the Website, and deleted or deactivated thereafter.

Some information about your use of the Website and certain third party services may be collected using Tracking Technologies across time and services, and used by us and third parties for purposes such as to associate different devices you use, and deliver relevant ads and/or other content to you on the Website and certain other sites or online services.

We may also automatically collect certain information about you when you access or use the Website (“Usage Information”). Usage Information may include IP address, device identifier, browser type, operating system, information about your use of the Website, and data regarding network-connected hardware (e.g., computer or mobile device).

We also may obtain information about you from other sources, including third-party services. We will treat such data in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible or liable for the accuracy of the information provided by third parties or for third-party policies or practices.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

Except as otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, we do not sell, trade, rent, or otherwise share for marketing purposes the personal information that we collect through the Website with third parties.

In general, we use your personal information to provide you access to the Website and its services, send you newsletters, improve the Website, tailor Website features to you, and to offer you additional information, opportunities, promotions, and functionality.

Your personal information may be disclosed to third-party service providers who work with us in order to provide some of the services on the Website and to help us communicate with you. Examples include analyzing visitor and usage data and providing customer service. Third-party service providers are not meant to use personal information except as necessary to provide the relevant services to us.

We may also share your personal information with our affiliates or subsidiaries.

We may disclose your personal information if we believe that such disclosure is necessary:

  • to comply with relevant laws or

  • to respond to subpoenas or court orders served on us;

  • to respond to requests by government agencies, including law enforcement authorities;

  • if we believe your actions are inconsistent with our terms of use, user agreements, applicable terms or policies; or

  • to protect the rights, property, life, health, security, or safety of Fresh Start Information, the Website or its users, or any third party.

We may share your personal information in the event of a business transaction (e.g., further to a merger, acquisition, reorganization, liquidation, or any other business transaction, including negotiations of such transactions), we reserve the right to disclose any information about you that we obtain through the Website. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur and are permitted by and subject to this Privacy Policy.

Links to Third-Party Sites

This Website may contain links to other websites or services that are not controlled by Fresh Start Information; these links are provided for your convenience and information. We are not responsible for any third party’s data collection or privacy practices, and we encourage you to review the privacy policies or notices posted on those third-party websites for further information.

Social Features, Advertising, and Analytics

Certain functionalities on the Website permit interactions that you initiate between the Website and third-party services, such as social networks (“Social Features”). Social Features enable you to send content between the Website and a third-party service. If you use Social Features, and potentially other third-party services, information you post or provide access to may be publicly displayed by the third-party service you use. Also, both Fresh Start Information Inc. and the third party may have access to certain information about you and your use of the Website and the third-party service.

We may engage and work with service providers and other third parties to serve advertisements on third-party services. These ads may be tailored to your interest based on your use of the Website and elsewhere on the internet, sometimes referred to as “interest-based advertising” and “online behavioral advertising,” which may include sending you an ad on a third-party service after you have left the Website (i.e., “retargeting”).

We may use Google Analytics or other service providers for analytics services. These analytics services may use cookies and other Tracking Technologies to help us analyze Website users and how they use the Website. Information generated by these services (e.g., your IP address and other Usage Information) may be transmitted to and stored by these service providers and these service providers may use this information for purposes such as evaluating your use of the Website, compiling statistic reports on the Website’s activity, and providing other services relating to Website activity and other internet usage.

Information You Disclose Publicly Or To Others

The Website may permit you to post or submit User-Generated Content (“UGC”) including, without limitation, written content, comments, files, user profiles, pictures or photos, data, or other content, including personal information. If you choose to submit UGC to any public area of the Website, your UGC will be considered “public” and will be accessible by anyone, including Fresh Start Information Inc. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, unless otherwise explicitly agreed by us, personal information included in UGC is not subject to Fresh Start Information Inc.’s usage or sharing limitations, or other obligations, under this Privacy Policy or otherwise, and may be used and shared by Fresh Start Information Inc. and third parties to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law. Fresh Start Information Inc. encourages you to exercise caution when making decisions about what you disclose in such public areas.

Additionally, the Website may offer you the option to send a communication to a friend or other contact. If so, Fresh Start Information Inc. relies on you to only send to people that have given you permission to do so. The recipient’s personal information you provide (e.g., name, e-mail address) will be used to facilitate the communication. Your contact information and message may be included in the communication.

Your Choices

Unsubscribe from Emails
Should you receive a promotional email from us, you may opt out of receiving additional promotional email communications from us by following the unsubscribe instructions on the emails. Please note that even if you opt out of receiving promotional communications from us, we may continue to send you non-promotional emails.

Opt Out of Tracking Technologies
Regular cookies generally may be disabled or removed using tools available as part of most commercial browsers, and in some instances blocked in the future by selecting certain settings. Browsers offer different functionalities and options so you may need to set them separately. Also, tools from commercial browsers may not be effective with regard to Flash cookies (also known as locally shared objects), HTML5 cookies or other Tracking Technologies. For information on disabling Flash cookies, visit Adobe’s website. Please be aware that if you disable or remove these technologies, some parts of the Website may not work and that when you revisit the Website your ability to limit browser-based Tracking Technologies is subject to your browser settings and limitations. Your browser settings may allow you to transmit a “Do Not Track” signal when you visit various websites. Like many websites, this Website is not designed to respond to “Do Not Track” signals received from browsers. To learn more about “Do Not Track” signals, you may wish to visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com/.

Opt Out of Analytics and Interest-Based Advertising

You may exercise choices regarding the use of cookies from Google Analytics by visiting https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout or downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your information from loss, theft, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Nevertheless, transmission via the Internet and online digital storage is not completely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of your information collected through the Website.

Children’s Privacy
This Website is not intended for, nor targeted to, children under 13, and we do not knowingly or intentionally collect information from children under 13. If we learn that we have received information directly from a child who is under the age of 13, we will delete the information in accordance with applicable law.

Your California Privacy Rights
California law permits customers in California to request certain details about how their “personal information” (as defined by California Civil Code Section 1798.83) is shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes. We do not share personal information with third parties or affiliates for those third parties’ or affiliates’ own direct marketing purposes. Californians may request information about our compliance with this law by contacting us at dataprotection@freshstartinformation.org or by postal mail sent to:

Fresh Start Information Inc.
Attention: California Privacy Rights Inquiry
2211 Michelson Drive
Suite 900
Irvine, CA 92612

Your inquiry must specify “California Privacy Rights Request” in the subject line of the email or the first line of the letter, and include your name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code. Please note that we are only required to respond to one request per California resident each year.

You’re our first priority. Every time

At FreshStartInformation, we believe everyone deserves to be able to make tax decisions with confidence. We have dedicated, hard-working tax professionals and volunteers who ensure that the information on this site is current and as accurate as possible. While we always recommend you consult a tax professional for your specific situation, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free.