Online Privacy Notice

Clarion Tax & Advisory, LLC (d/b/a Clarion Tax & Advisory)

Last Updated: [DATE]

Effective Date: [DATE]

1. Introduction

Clarion Tax & Advisory, LLC, doing business as Clarion Tax & Advisory ("Clarion," "we," "us," or "our"), is a tax preparation, bookkeeping, and advisory firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. We take privacy seriously, particularly given the sensitivity of the financial information handled in our profession.

This Online Privacy Notice ("Notice") describes how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information in connection with:

  • Our website located at www.clarion.tax (the "Site");

  • Our marketing emails, text messages, social media, blog, and educational content; and

  • Communications with prospective clients, vendors, applicants, and members of the public who interact with us online or by phone or text.

A Note on Our Client Privacy Practices

This Notice is primarily directed at website visitors and prospective clients. If you become a client of Clarion, additional federal and state laws govern how we collect, use, and disclose information about you, including:

  • The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA") and its implementing Privacy Rule and Safeguards Rule;

  • Internal Revenue Code Section 7216 and Treasury Regulation §301.7216, which strictly limit the use and disclosure of tax return information; and

  • Applicable state laws and rules of professional conduct.

Clients receive a separate Client Privacy Notice (our GLBA Privacy Notice) and, where applicable, separate IRS §7216 consent forms that govern the handling of their nonpublic personal information and tax return information. Those documents — not this Notice — control the privacy practices applicable to client engagements.

By using our Site, subscribing to our communications, or otherwise interacting with us through the channels described above, you acknowledge the practices described in this Notice.

2. Information We Collect

A. Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you provide when you, for example:

  • Complete a contact, intake, appointment-request, or newsletter-signup form on our Site;

  • Subscribe to our email or text-message communications;

  • Submit a testimonial, review, comment, photograph, or video;

  • Communicate with us by email, telephone, text message, or social media direct message;

  • Apply for employment with us; or

  • Register for a webinar, workshop, or other event we offer.

The categories of personal information we collect through these channels generally include:

  • Identifiers — such as name, email address, phone number, mailing or business address, and online identifiers;

  • Commercial or professional information — such as employer or business name, industry, role, and the general subject matter of your inquiry;

  • Communication content — such as the contents of your messages to us, your communication preferences, and consent records (including SMS opt-in records);

  • Internet or network activity information — described further in Section 2.B below; and

  • Any other information you choose to provide.

We do not intentionally collect — and we ask that you do not submit through our website forms, marketing channels, email, social media, or text messages — sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, financial account numbers, payment card information, or copies of tax documents or returns. If sensitive information is submitted through one of these channels, we may delete or securely isolate it and direct you to a secure channel. If you become a client, we will provide secure channels (such as our client portal) for transmitting that information.

B. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our Site, certain information is collected automatically through cookies, server logs, pixels, and similar technologies, including:

  • IP address and approximate geographic location;

  • Browser type, language, and operating system;

  • Device identifiers and screen resolution;

  • Pages viewed, links clicked, scroll depth, and time spent on the Site;

  • Referring URL and exit pages; and

  • Date and time stamps of visits.

Our Site is hosted on Squarespace, which uses cookies and analytics tools to help us understand Site usage. See Section 9 (Cookies and Similar Technologies).

C. Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from:

  • Service providers we use (such as Squarespace, scheduling tools, email-marketing platforms, SMS platforms, and CRM systems);

  • Referral sources, when an existing client or business contact refers you to us;

  • Public sources, including business directories, government records, and licensing authorities; and

  • Social media platforms, when you interact with our content, follow our pages, or send us messages.

3. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Respond to inquiries, schedule consultations, and communicate with prospective clients;

  • Provide information you request about our services, fees, availability, and educational content;

  • Send newsletters, marketing emails, and text messages where you have signed up to receive them;

  • Operate, maintain, secure, and improve our Site;

  • Develop educational and marketing content for our Site, blog, podcast, and social media — using only information that has been anonymized and aggregated, or for which we have obtained appropriate consent (see Section 6);

  • Comply with applicable law and respond to lawful requests from courts, regulators, and government authorities;

  • Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, security incidents, and misuse of the Site; and

  • Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

4. No Sale of Personal Information; Advertising and Analytics

We do not sell your personal information for money. We do not rent, lease, or trade your personal information to third parties for their own independent marketing purposes.

We may, however, disclose certain identifiers, online activity information, and similar data to advertising, analytics, and social media partners — including, in the future, social media advertising platforms (such as Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, and similar) — to measure how visitors engage with our content, improve our Site and educational programming, and, where applicable, deliver our content to people who may be interested in our services. Depending on how those technologies are configured and the law that applies to you, those disclosures may be considered "sharing," "targeted advertising," or a "sale" under certain state privacy laws even when no money changes hands. Where applicable law gives you a right to opt out of those disclosures, you may exercise that right as described in Section 15.

Tax return information advertising carve-out. We do not use tax return information, information governed by our separate Client Privacy Notice, or information submitted to us through secure client channels for social media targeting, custom or lookalike audiences, cross-context behavioral advertising, or unsolicited promotion of unrelated services. We will not do so unless a specific legal exception applies or we have first obtained a valid written consent that satisfies all applicable laws, including Internal Revenue Code Section 7216.

We share information only in the limited circumstances described in Section 5.

5. How We Share Information

A. Service Providers, Vendors, and Sub-Processors

We share information with third-party vendors, contractors, service providers, and sub-processors who help us operate our business and deliver services, including but not limited to:

  • Website hosting, infrastructure, and IT support providers (such as Squarespace);

  • Privacy-focused website analytics providers (such as Fathom Analytics);

  • Email-marketing, newsletter, and marketing-automation platforms;

  • SMS / text-messaging platforms;

  • CRM, scheduling, and intake-form tools;

  • Testimonial, review, and social-proof tools (such as Senja);

  • Form, survey, and data-collection tools (such as Typeform);

  • Cloud storage, file-sharing, and cybersecurity providers;

  • Advertising, marketing, and ordering services;

  • Payment processors and merchant services;

  • Communication, video conferencing, and collaboration tools; and

  • Other vendors and contractors who support our business operations.

We use a variety of third-party tools and may engage additional sub-processors from time to time without separate notice. Each third-party provider has its own privacy notice, terms of service, and security practices that govern the way it handles information. While we make reasonable efforts to work with reputable providers, we are not responsible for the independent privacy or security practices of third parties, and we make no representations or warranties about them. We encourage you to review the privacy notices and terms of any third-party service that may handle your information in connection with your use of our Site or interactions with us.

B. Legal and Regulatory Disclosures

We may disclose information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary or appropriate to:

  • Comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request;

  • Respond to a subpoena, court order, or examination by a regulatory authority;

  • Cooperate with law enforcement;

  • Enforce our agreements, including our Terms of Service;

  • Protect the rights, property, or safety of Clarion, our clients, our employees, or others; or

  • Investigate suspected fraud, security incidents, or violations of our policies.

C. With Your Consent or at Your Direction

We will share your information with other third parties when you direct us to do so or otherwise consent.

D. Business Transfers and Corporate Transactions

We reserve the right to transfer, sell, assign, or otherwise share your information, in whole or in part, in connection with any merger, acquisition, sale or transfer of assets, financing, reorganization, dissolution, bankruptcy, or other similar corporate transaction or proceeding, whether actual or contemplated, including during due diligence with prospective parties. By using our Site or interacting with us, you consent to such transfers as part of any such transaction.

E. Aggregated or De-Identified Information

We may share aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you for any purpose, including marketing, education, and analytics.

6. Testimonials, Reviews, and Educational Content

We are passionate about tax and financial education and may publish blog articles, videos, podcasts, social media posts, courses, and other content. The following rules apply.

A. Testimonials, Reviews, and Spotlights

Sources of testimonials and reviews. We may collect, display, repost, share, and otherwise use testimonials, reviews, ratings, photographs, videos, audio recordings, social media posts, comments, and other endorsements ("Testimonials") from a variety of sources, including but not limited to:

  • Reviews you post on public platforms (such as Google Reviews, Yelp, Facebook, or other third-party review sites), which we may display on our Site, including through aggregation tools such as Senja;

  • Reviews or testimonials you submit through forms or tools provided by us or by our service providers (such as Senja's review-collection forms);

  • Reviews or testimonials you provide informally by email, text message, social media direct message, in person, on a phone or video call, or through any other communication channel; and

  • Reviews or testimonials you authorize us to use through our engagement letter or another written agreement.

Consent. By posting a Testimonial on a public platform, you consent to its public display by that platform; we may republish or display Testimonials in the same form (or with formatting adjustments) consistent with the platform's terms. For Testimonials provided directly to us, you authorize us to use the Testimonial in our marketing, on our Site, on social media, in advertisements, in client communications, and in similar materials when you provide that Testimonial together with consent to its use, including where consent is provided through our engagement letter or other written agreement.

Identification. Where you provide a Testimonial directly to us, you may request that we identify you by your full name, by your first name and last initial, by first name only, or anonymously, and we will use the format you authorize. For Testimonials sourced from public platforms (such as Google Reviews), we may display the name, image, rating, and other information as it appears on the source platform.

Editing. Testimonials may be edited for length, clarity, grammar, or formatting, but not in a way that materially changes their meaning.

Withdrawal of consent. You may withdraw consent for our future use of a Testimonial you provided directly to us at any time by contacting us using the information in Section 18. Upon a withdrawal request, we will remove the Testimonial from materials we control on a going-forward basis within a reasonable time. We cannot, however, guarantee removal from third-party platforms (including the original platform on which a public review was posted), screenshots, archives, search engine caches, reposts, syndicated copies, or other republications outside our control. Withdrawal does not apply to Testimonials sourced from public platforms unless and until you remove the underlying public post on that platform.

B. Educational Examples and Case Studies

  • When discussing real-world tax, accounting, or bookkeeping situations in our content, we will anonymize and modify examples — including changing names, dollar amounts, locations, industries, dates, and other identifying details — so that no client is reasonably identifiable.

  • We will never disclose, post, reference, or describe a client's specific tax return information, financial records, or other nonpublic personal information in any public-facing content without separate written consent that complies with all applicable laws, including IRS Section 7216.

C. User-Submitted Content (Comments, Reviews, Social Posts)

  • If you post comments, questions, reviews, photos, or other content on our Site, blog, or social media pages, that content may be visible to others.

  • Please do not post sensitive personal, tax, or financial information through public channels. To discuss your specific situation, please contact us through secure means.

  • We reserve the right (but have no obligation) to moderate, edit, or remove user-submitted content that is unlawful, harassing, confidential, defamatory, infringing, or otherwise objectionable.

D. Endorsements and Material Connections

We do not currently provide compensation, free services, discounts, or other consideration in exchange for testimonials or reviews. If that ever changes, any material connection between Clarion and an endorser will be clearly and conspicuously disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides (16 C.F.R. Part 255).

7. Email and SMS / Text Message Communications

A. Email Marketing

If you sign up for our newsletter or other marketing emails, you may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email or by contacting us using the information in Section 18. Even after you opt out of marketing emails, we may continue to send transactional or relationship-based messages, such as responses to your inquiries.

B. SMS / Text Message Program

We operate a text-message ("SMS") program to communicate with prospective and existing clients. The following terms describe our SMS program. By providing your mobile telephone number to us — including by checking an SMS-consent box on our intake forms, by signing an engagement letter that includes SMS authorization, or by texting us first from your mobile device — you agree to the terms of this Section 7.B.

Program description. Depending on the type of consent you provide, we may send messages relating to:

  • Appointment scheduling, reminders, and confirmations;

  • Document and information requests in connection with our Services;

  • Service-related updates, deadlines, and follow-ups;

  • Responses to your inquiries; and

  • Where you have separately opted in to marketing texts, promotional content, educational tips, event invitations, and similar marketing communications.

Consent. Your consent to receive text messages from us is not a condition of purchasing any goods or services. We obtain prior express written consent for all text messages we send — including service, transactional, and marketing messages — through a clearly labeled opt-in (such as a checkbox on an intake form, an SMS-authorization provision in our engagement letter, or a similar written or electronic record).

Message frequency. Message frequency varies depending on the type of communication and your engagement with us. We typically send a low to moderate volume of messages.

Message and data rates.Msg & data rates may apply. Standard message and data rates from your wireless carrier apply to all messages you send to or receive from us. We are not responsible for any carrier charges.

Carriers. We support most major U.S. wireless carriers. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

How to opt out (STOP). You can cancel the SMS program at any time by replying STOP to any text message we send you. After you reply STOP, we will send you a single confirmation message and will not send you additional text messages, except as required to confirm your opt-out. If you opt out and later wish to re-subscribe, simply text START or sign up again through the original opt-in method.

How to get help (HELP). For help, reply HELP to any text message from us, email us at privacy@clarion.tax, or call us at 817-203-4104.

Sensitive information.Please do not send Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, dates of birth, account numbers, copies of tax documents, or other sensitive personal or financial information by text message. SMS is not a secure channel for transmitting nonpublic personal information. We will direct you to our secure client portal or another secure channel for sharing sensitive information.

No sharing of opt-in data. Information collected as part of the SMS opt-in process — including your mobile phone number and consent — is not shared with third parties or affiliates for their own marketing purposes. We share this information only with the SMS-platform provider that delivers messages on our behalf, and only to operate the program.

Changes. We may modify or terminate our SMS program at any time. Material changes affecting active subscribers will be communicated by text message or other reasonable means.

8. Phone and Video Communications

We communicate with prospective clients, clients, and other contacts by telephone and video conference. Some or all of our telephone and video conference communications may be recorded for purposes including quality assurance, training, recordkeeping, and verification of instructions and consents. Where required by applicable law, we will provide notice of recording at the beginning of a call. By continuing a call or video conference with us after notice of recording is provided, you consent to such recording.

For your security, please do not leave Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, account numbers, or other sensitive information on voicemail. We will provide secure channels for transmitting that information.

9. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our Site uses cookies, web beacons, pixels, local storage, and similar technologies. Cookies are small text files placed on your device that allow our Site and certain third parties to recognize your browser and remember information about your visit.

A. Categories of Cookies We Use

The categories of cookies and similar technologies we use generally include:

  • Strictly necessary / essential — to operate, secure, and authenticate the Site;

  • Functional — to remember preferences, settings, and form progress;

  • Analytics / performance — to understand how visitors find and use the Site; and

  • Marketing / advertising — where applicable, to deliver and measure marketing content. (As of the date of this Notice, we use only limited analytics technologies and have not deployed advertising pixels such as Meta Pixel, TikTok Pixel, or LinkedIn Insight Tag on our Site. We may do so in the future, and if we do, we will update this Notice and our practices accordingly.)

B. Squarespace and Privacy-Focused Analytics

Our Site is hosted on Squarespace, and Squarespace's cookie practices apply to our Site. We currently use Fathom Analytics to help us understand Site usage. Fathom is a privacy-focused analytics provider designed to be GDPR, CCPA, and PECR compliant; it does not use cookies to track individual visitors and does not collect personal data for the purpose of cross-site profiling or advertising. More information about Fathom's practices is available at usefathom.com/privacy.

We do not currently use Google Analytics or similar advertising-oriented analytics tools on our Site. If we add additional analytics or tracking tools in the future, we will update this Notice and our cookie disclosures accordingly.

C. Embedded Third-Party Tools

Some pages of our Site contain features and content embedded from third-party services, which may include (without limitation):

  • Testimonial and review tools (such as Senja);

  • Form, intake, and survey tools (such as Typeform);

  • Scheduling and appointment tools (such as Calendly or similar);

  • Video and audio embeds (such as YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify); and

  • Social media embeds (such as Instagram, LinkedIn, or X posts displayed on our Site).

When you interact with these embedded features, the third-party provider may set its own cookies and collect information about your interaction with the embedded feature. These cookies are typically used for functionality (such as keeping a form session active or remembering whether you have submitted a review), and for the third party's own product analytics, in accordance with the third party's privacy practices. We do not control the third party's cookies, and we encourage you to review the privacy notices of any third-party service you interact with through our Site.

D. How to Control Cookies

You can control cookies through:

  • Your browser settings (most browsers let you block, delete, or be notified of cookies);

  • Opt-out tools offered by analytics or advertising networks (such as the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out tool at networkadvertising.org/choices, or the Digital Advertising Alliance tool at optout.aboutads.info); and

  • Privacy settings offered by individual third-party services whose features are embedded on our Site.

Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our Site, including embedded features such as forms, testimonials, scheduling tools, and video players.

10. Social Media and Online Advertising

We maintain accounts and pages on social media platforms — which may include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, Threads, and others — and we may add or remove platforms over time. When you interact with our content on these platforms, your interaction is governed by the privacy practices of that platform, in addition to this Notice.

We currently use a privacy-focused analytics tool (Fathom Analytics) to understand how visitors find and use our Site, as described in Section 9. As of the date of this Notice, we have not deployed social media advertising or measurement pixels (such as Meta Pixel, TikTok Pixel, or LinkedIn Insight Tag) on our Site. If we add such tools in the future, we will update this Notice and our cookie disclosures accordingly. Such tools, if used, may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies described in Section 9, and may collect information about your activities on our Site and across other websites and services to deliver our content to people who may be interested in our services, build "lookalike" or "custom" audiences from non-tax-return information, and measure the performance of our content.

We do not include tax return information, information collected through secure client channels, or other nonpublic personal information governed by our separate Client Privacy Notice in any audience, segment, pixel, or measurement event provided to advertising or social media platforms. Audience-building and ad measurement are based on website-visitor and prospect interactions, not on client-engagement data.

Where applicable law gives you the right to opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal information, or sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising, you may exercise that right as described in Section 15.

11. Do Not Track

Some web browsers transmit a "Do Not Track" ("DNT") signal. There is currently no industry-standard interpretation of DNT signals, and we do not currently respond to DNT signals.

12. Children's Privacy

Our Site is not directed to, designed for, or intended for children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 through the Site.

If we learn that we have collected personal information directly from a child under 13 through the Site without verifiable parental consent, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided information to us through the Site, please contact us using the information in Section 18.

13. Data Security

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These safeguards include access controls, encryption where appropriate, staff training on confidentiality and information security, and review of the privacy and security practices of our service providers.

No method of transmission or storage over the internet is 100% secure. While we work hard to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please use our secure client portal or other secure channels — and not unencrypted email, text messages, or social media — when sending sensitive documents or information.

In the event of a security incident affecting personal information, we will provide notice to affected individuals and applicable regulators to the extent required by applicable law.

14. Data Retention

We retain personal information collected through our Site and other online channels for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Notice, to operate and improve our business, to maintain records of our communications and consents, to comply with our legal, tax, regulatory, accounting, professional-responsibility, and recordkeeping obligations, to resolve disputes, to enforce our agreements, and to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Where we have determined that information remains useful for one or more of these purposes, we may retain it for an extended period of time. In addition, certain categories of information are retained for at least the following minimum periods:

  • SMS consent and opt-out records are retained for at least four (4) years to demonstrate compliance with applicable communications laws (such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act).

  • Email marketing consent and opt-out records are retained for at least as long as is necessary to demonstrate compliance with applicable laws (such as the CAN-SPAM Act) and to honor unsubscribe requests.

  • Records related to client engagements are governed by separate retention rules under applicable tax-recordkeeping, professional, and legal standards (typically at least seven (7) years for tax-related records), and are addressed in our separate Client Privacy Notice and engagement letters.

When we determine that information is no longer needed, we will securely delete, destroy, or de-identify it in accordance with our internal practices.

15. Your Privacy Rights

A. General

To the extent applicable law provides you with rights regarding your personal information, we will honor those rights consistent with the law that applies to you and to us. Many comprehensive state privacy laws contain exemptions based on the size or revenue of the business, the type of business, or the type of information at issue (including exemptions for financial institutions and information governed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and for tax return information governed by Internal Revenue Code Section 7216). As a small Texas-based tax and bookkeeping firm, certain of these exemptions may apply to us. We will assess each request based on the law applicable at the time of your request.

B. Rights That May Be Available

Depending on your state of residence and other factors, the rights potentially available to you may include:

  • The right to confirm whether we process your personal information;

  • The right to access a copy of the personal information we hold about you;

  • The right to correct inaccurate personal information;

  • The right to request deletion of your personal information;

  • The right to obtain a portable copy of your personal information; and

  • The right to opt out of certain processing, such as targeted advertising, the sale of personal information, or profiling producing legal or similarly significant effects.

We do not sell your personal information for money. As described in Section 4, certain disclosures we make to advertising, analytics, or social media partners may be considered "sharing," "targeted advertising," or a "sale" under certain state privacy laws even when no money changes hands. Where applicable law gives you a right to opt out of these disclosures, you may exercise that right using the contact information in Section 18. Information that is collected, processed, or disclosed pursuant to GLBA, IRS Section 7216, or other federal financial-privacy or tax-confidentiality laws is governed by those laws (and our separate Client Privacy Notice and §7216 consents) and is generally exempt from state privacy laws.

C. How to Make a Request

To make a privacy-rights request, contact us using the information in Section 18. We may need to verify your identity before responding, including by asking you to confirm information we already have on file. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, subject to our verification of the agent's authority. If we deny your request, you may have the right to appeal our decision; instructions for appealing will be provided in our response.

16. Third-Party Sites, Tools, and Links

Our Site may contain links to, or be linked from, third-party websites, applications, social media platforms, or services that we do not control or operate. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of those third parties. Please review their privacy notices and terms before providing information to them.

17. Changes to This Notice

We may update this Notice from time to time, in our sole discretion, by posting an updated version on the Site with a revised "Last Updated" date. We may, but are not required to, provide additional notice of changes (such as a banner on the Site or an email to current subscribers).

Your responsibility. You are responsible for ensuring that we have an up-to-date, active, and deliverable email address and other contact information for you, and for periodically visiting our Site and reviewing this Notice to check for any changes. We are not responsible for any failure to receive notice of changes due to outdated contact information, spam filtering, your communication preferences, or other circumstances outside of our control.

Your continued use of the Site, our communications, or our services after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated Notice.

18. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Notice or our online privacy practices, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us:

Clarion Tax & Advisory, LLC PO Box 163941, Fort Worth, Texas 76161

Email: privacy@clarion.tax

Phone: 817-203-4104

For questions specifically about how we handle information in connection with a client engagement, please refer to our Client Privacy Notice or contact us using the information above.