This Privacy Policy describes how the Ohio State Society of CPAs ("we," "us," and "our") collect and use your personally identifiable information. By using this website or any web application we provide you, you hereby consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies to this website and web applications we offer.

How We Collect Information

We collect personally identifiable information that you provide to us through this website, web application, by email, or other electronic means. Personally identifiable information is information that can specifically identify you, such as your name, address, email address, phone number, date of birth, employment information, licensure and continuing education information, and credit card information.

We collect information related to your use of our website using HTTP cookies web beacons, and log information. When you visit our website, we collect information including, but not limited to, your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your domain name, internet sites that linked you to our website, the browser you use, and the pages of our websites that you view. This information helps us determine what kind of information is most useful to our website visitors. We do not collect personally identifiable information about you from this website unless you provide it to us.

We may also obtain or receive information about you from third parties. This may include information from your interactions with our service providers and your use of our web applications, including our social networking applications or pages. We may combine such information with the personally identifiable information you provide us, along with information we obtain from trade unions or government agencies.

How We Use Information

We use your information to provide goods, services, and benefits to members, including, but not limited to admission to membership, membership administration, authoring and providing publications and materials, issuing licenses, professional development and training, offering networking events, conducting research and surveys, and managing professional conduct.

We, our service providers, and other companies we work with may deploy and use cookies, web beacons, local shared objects, and other tracking technologies for different purposes, including fraud prevention and managing our advertising performance. This includes monitoring and tracking the settings of the device you use to access the services we offer online.

“Cookies” collect information about your use of our website, such as particular pages visited, so that we can understand how you and other customers navigate our site, improve your experience with our site and landing pages, facilitate application processing, and collect anonymous traffic data. Cookies are small files of data that we store on your computer to help us understand how you use the website. We use session cookies and persistent cookies when you visit the website. Session cookies expire when you leave our website. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer to retain information about how you use our website. Cookies also enable us and our service providers to relate your use of our online services to provide you with a customized experience. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, but you may set your preferences to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. We do not use cookies to store your name, mailing address, or other personally identifiable information.  

We also use clear GIFs, pixel tags, web beacons, and information gathered from logs to monitor website performance; improve website design, functionality, and security; and assemble web analytics and activity trends. Pixel tags are one-pixel, transparent images located in an email, webpage, or other message that may be used when you are served advertisements by us or interact with advertisements you receive from third parties. Web beacons are objects embedded into web pages that allow us to determine whether and for how long users view web pages. You may stop your browser from accepting web beacons. Your browser may have add-ons that may help you block web beacons. However, you may have limited functionality if you block cookies or web beacons set by our web site. We use these primarily to identify users, monitor web site traffic, and review marketing response rates. 

We use Adobe Flash videos and applications to provide content such as video clips or animation. Adobe Flash uses cookies (also called Local Shared Objects) similar to browser cookies but they are usually managed using an interface different than the one provided by your browser. We use Flash cookies to remember settings, preferences, and usage. We do not use Flash cookies to serve interest-based advertising. You may control these cookies by using Adobe’s Flash Settings Manager. Your browser may also have add-ons that may help you manage Flash cookies. You may also turn off or uninstall Adobe Flash for your web browser. However, you may have limited functionality if you block flash cookies set by our Web site or if you turn off Adobe Flash. 

Online Advertising 

We use Google Analytics/Tag Manager (and other third-party sites) to collect visitor data and analyze traffic on our Web site. This information helps us to understand our customer interests and helps us improve our Web site. We also use Google AdWords to advertise on third-party sites (including Google) to show advertisements on our websites and across the Internet. The advertisements you see will generally be based upon the information we or our service providers and other companies we work with have about you, including information about the services and products you have with us. Where permitted by applicable law, we may share this information with others. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to our websites.  

How we share personal information 

We do not share your personally identifiable information except as authorized by you or otherwise permitted by law. For example, we may share your personally identifiable information with individuals and companies we use to perform services on our behalf including, but not limited to, marketing assistance, data analytics, data processing, sending postal mail, email or text messages, customer service, and collections. Any service providers we use must agree to keep such information confidential and not use it for any purpose we do not authorize.  

We may share your personally identifiable information when we believe it is necessary to comply with the law, assist law enforcement, enforce our Terms of Use and other agreements, or to protect your property or safety. We also may share your personally identifiable information with other companies for credit risk reduction or fraud protection. 

Our websites do not respond to “Do-Not-Track” settings or other mechanisms that provide the ability to exercise choice regarding the collection of personally identifiable information of your online activities over time and across third-party Web sites or online services. 

Use and Sharing of Information Relating to Social Networks 

If you access our applications or pages on social networking sites, such as Facebook, you may also be required to read and accept those sites’ terms of service or privacy policies. Those sites may use the information you provide them to serve you personalized advertising based on your background, location, demographics, likes, keywords, and any other information they receive from you, including the information you share with us on those sites. You acknowledge that you have agreed to and are bound by those sites’ privacy policies and terms of use with regard to those sites’ use of your information. We are not responsible for those sites’ use of your information, including the information you may submit to us using those social networking sites. 

If you access our applications or pages on social networking sites, you authorize us to collect, store, and use all information you submit to our Facebook applications or pages. You also authorize us to collect, store, and use all information that you agreed the social networking site could provide to us through those sites’ application programming interfaces. For instance, if you use our Facebook applications, Facebook may pass certain information about your use of its service to us, including your user ID, status, any information you have permitted Facebook to share with us, any information you have made public in connection with Facebook, or aggregate, anonymous, or technical information relating to the use of our applications. We will collect, store, and use this information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You agree to these conditions when you allow this sharing on social networking sites or start using our applications or pages on those sites. 

Please remember that when you interact with social networking applications or pages, you may have privacy controls at your disposal. When you publish content or information using a public setting on these social networking sites, you may be allowing everyone, including people off of those social networking sites, to access and use that information, and to associate it with you. 

Security 

If personally identifiable information is accessed through our Web site, it is encrypted before it is transmitted over the Internet. To protect your personally identifiable information, we use technical and physical safeguards and train our employees. 

Children’s Online Privacy 

We do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 13. We will delete any information from our systems if we learn that is from a child under the age of 13. Please visit the FTC’s website at www.ftc.gov to learn more about protecting children online. 

Links to other sites 

This Privacy Policy applies only to websites or web applications where it is linked or displayed. Other sites to which we link may have other privacy policies and terms of use. Please review each site to determine if their terms of use and privacy policies differ from ours. 

Contact Information 

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at [email protected]

Effective Date 

This Privacy Policy is effective as of February 26th, 2019 and replaces any prior website Privacy Policy.  

Changes to the Privacy Policy 

You agree that we may change this Privacy Policy by posting a revision on this website.