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Plain-English summary
FreeTaxUSA's policy allows for the transfer of user data during business transitions like mergers or acquisitions (risk_flags-1). The company also reserves the right to deny data deletion requests under specific circumstances, such as regulatory obligations or disproportionate cost (risk_flags-2). Furthermore, user data may be disclosed to public authorities for national security, law enforcement, or other legal requirements (risk_flags-3). AI may be used to process imported digital media and customer support inquiries, potentially using this information to train AI models (data_use-1, data_use-2). The company collects usage information and employs tracking technologies for advertising and site improvement (data_use-3, data_use-4, data_use-5). Users are responsible for maintaining their own permanent copies of documents, as the provided import and storage services are for convenience (gotchas-1). The policy may change without direct email notification, requiring users to periodically check for updates (gotchas-2). Additionally, links to third-party websites operate under their own privacy policies, for which TaxHawk is not responsible (gotchas-3).
90% confidence
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Risk Flags
Critical issues that may lead to significant harm, such as data breaches, privacy violations, or financial losses.
high95% confidence
User data may be transferred during business transitions
User personal information may be transferred to another company if TaxHawk undergoes a business transition such as a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
Why it matters: Your personal information may be transferred to a new entity if TaxHawk is involved in a merger, acquisition, or similar business change, meaning a different company could gain access to your data.
In the event TaxHawk evaluates or conducts a business transition whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, such as a merger, being acquired by another company, or selling a portion of its assets, the personal information of users will, in most instances, be part of the assets transferred.
Business transitions, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong
high90% confidence
Requests for data deletion can be denied under certain circumstances
The company may not fulfill a request to delete personal information if it interferes with regulatory obligations, affects legal matters, if user identity cannot be verified, or if it involves disproportionate cost or effort.
Why it matters: Your request to delete personal information may be denied if it conflicts with regulatory obligations, legal matters, identity verification issues, or if the effort is deemed excessive.
Under certain circumstances we will not be able to fulfill your request, such as if it interferes with our regulatory obligations, affects legal matters, we cannot verify your identity, or it involves disproportionate cost or effort, but in any event we will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and provide you an explanation.
Access and individual rights, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong
high95% confidence
Data may be disclosed for legal reasons or to public authorities
TaxHawk may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including for national security or law enforcement, or when required by law to protect its rights, safety, or to investigate fraud, comply with court orders, government requests, or bankruptcy proceedings.
Why it matters: Your personal data may be shared with government agencies, law enforcement, or other parties in response to legal or public authority requests, potentially without your consent.
Though every effort is made to preserve user privacy, in certain situations, TaxHawk may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. We may also disclose your personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, to investigate fraud, to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order, respond to a government request, bankruptcy proceedings or similar legal process served on our website .
Policies on how your data is collected, processed, and shared with other companies.
medium90% confidence
AI may be used to process imported digital media and train models
Information submitted through digital media imports or uploads may be processed using automated (AI) and/or manual methods. This information may be used to improve, develop, and train artificial intelligence and other machine learning models.
Why it matters: Information you upload, such as PDFs or photos, may be processed by AI and used to train AI models, even if sensitive information is anonymized, so your data could contribute to the development of AI technologies.
When using digital media (PDF, photo, etc.) imports and/or uploads on FreeTaxUSA.com, any information submitted by the customer through this service may be processed using automated (AI) and/or manual (human) methods. AI may assist in extracting or organizing that information, but the extracted information is presented for your review and confirmation. You are responsible for verifying accuracy before your tax return is filed. AI does not make changes to your return without your review and approval. The information given may be used to improve and develop and train our artificial intelligence and other machine learning models.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to assist in customer support inquiries, and any information submitted through the customer support tool will be processed using automated (AI) and/or manual methods.
Why it matters: Information you provide when contacting customer support may be processed by AI and human methods, which could involve AI analysis of your queries.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in customer support inquiries. If AI is used, any information submitted by the customer through the customer support tool will be processed using automated (AI) and/or manual (human) methods. The information given is solely used for processing the questions submitted and improving the answers provided, and not for any other purpose.
Information collected via tracking technologies for site improvement
Information such as IP addresses, log information, device type, and browser types are collected through automatic tracking technologies (log files and analytical software) to analyze trends and improve the website.
Why it matters: Your technical and usage data, like IP addresses and browser types, is automatically collected to help the company understand site usage and make improvements.
Like most websites, FreeTaxUSA.com uses log files and analytical software to track website usage. The information collected may include IP addresses, log information, device type, unique device identifiers, browser types, browser configuration, internet service providers (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform types, and number of clicks to analyze trends for use in administering and improving the site.
Advertising cookies and tracking technologies are used to make advertising more relevant to users and to prevent ads from reappearing on advertisers' networks. Third-party cookies may be used to provide personalized advertising.
Why it matters: Advertising cookies and tracking technologies are used to personalize ads and prevent repetitive ad displays, meaning your browsing activity may influence the ads you see.
Advertising cookies and tracking technologies are used to make advertising FreeTaxUSA.com more relevant to users and to stop ads from reappearing on the advertisers' networks or properties. We use advertising platforms to provide personalized advertising on their properties and ad networks. Advertisers may use third-party cookies to provide personalized FreeTaxUSA.com advertising.
Advertising partners use tracking for personalized ads
Third-party advertising partners use cookies and other tracking technologies to gather information about browsing activity on the website to deliver personalized ads based on user interests.
Why it matters: Third-party advertisers track your browsing on the website to show you personalized ads based on your interests, even though customer lists are not uploaded.
We work with third-party advertising partners to show ads for our products and services across the internet. These partners use cookies and/or other tracking technologies to gather information about your browsing activity on our website to deliver personalized ads based on your interests. We do not upload customer lists to our third-party advertisers. This practice, known as “retargeting” or “remarketing,” helps us remind you of our products and services and improve the relevance of ads you see.
Retargeting and personalized advertising, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong
Cancellation and Renewal
Terms related to account cancellation, service renewal, and associated financial obligations.
✓
Looking good
No billing surprises spotted
Verbaterm only flags concerns it can cite. No cancellation, auto-renewal, or refund terms needed attention here.
Gotchas
Potentially overlooked clauses that could be unfavorable or unexpected for users.
medium95% confidence
User is responsible for maintaining personal data copies
Document import and storage services are provided solely as a convenience, and users remain responsible for maintaining their own copies of any records they wish to preserve permanently.
Why it matters: You are responsible for keeping your own permanent copies of documents, as the provided storage services are only for convenience and may not be permanent.
Document import and storage services are provided solely as a convenience to you and are subject to this data retention policy. You remain responsible for maintaining your own copies of any records you wish to preserve permanently.
Data retention policy, paragraph 6 · Citation strength: strong
low85% confidence
Policy changes may occur without direct email notification
The company reserves the right to modify the privacy policy at any time, and users are responsible for periodically visiting the website and privacy policy to check for any changes, as notification might only be on the homepage footer or sign-in screens.
Why it matters: You must regularly check the website and privacy policy for changes, as you might not receive direct email notifications about updates.
We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.
Notification of changes, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong
low95% confidence
External links are not covered by this privacy policy
The website includes links to other websites whose privacy practices may differ, and if personal information is submitted to those sites, it is governed by their privacy policies. TaxHawk does not control these third parties' tracking technologies or content.
Why it matters: When you click on external links, you leave this site's privacy protections; any information you submit to other sites will be governed by their own privacy policies, which TaxHawk does not control or take responsibility for.
Our website includes links to other websites whose privacy practices may differ from those of TaxHawk. If you submit any personal information to any of those sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policy of any website you visit. TaxHawk does not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used and is not responsible for the content or privacy policies of such third-party sites.
Links to third party websites, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong
Protections
Commitments and features that benefit users, such as data encryption, transparent practices, or user controls.
Protection95% confidence
Confidentiality and no sale/rent of financial and personally identifiable information
TaxHawk treats financial and personally identifiable information as confidential and will not sell or rent any information.
Why it helps: This commitment helps protect your financial and personal data by ensuring it is kept confidential and not sold or rented to other parties.
TaxHawk treats your financial and personally identifiable information as confidential and will not sell or rent any information.
Explicit statement against selling PII or tax return information for advertising
The company explicitly states that it does not share personally identifiable information (PII) or tax return information with advertising partners for retargeting purposes.
Why it helps: This protects your sensitive personal and tax information by explicitly preventing its use for targeted advertising or sharing with advertising partners.
We do not share personally identifiable information (PII) or tax return information with our advertising partners for retargeting purposes. The data collected is solely used to improve the relevance of our ads.
Retargeting and personalized advertising, paragraph 3 · Citation strength: strong
Protection95% confidence
User control over personalized ad preferences and opt-out options
Users have control over their advertising experience and can opt out of personalized ads through various methods, including Google Ads settings and an industry-wide opt-out from multiple ad networks.
Why it helps: This gives you control over the personalized ads you see, allowing you to manage preferences and opt out if desired.
ds Settings](https://adssettings.google.com/). * Industry-Wide Opt-Out: Opt out of targeted ads from multiple ad networks through the Digital Advertising Alliance at [optout.aboutads.info](https://optout.aboutads.info/).
Managing your ad preferences, paragraph 2 · Citation strength: strong
Protection90% confidence
Respect for 'Do Not Track' (DNT) signals
The website respects “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals set in browser settings, and limits certain tracking practices when DNT is enabled, although general ads (not personalized) may still be displayed.
Why it helps: This respects your browser's DNT signal, reducing certain tracking practices and offering a measure of privacy control.
Our website respects “Do Not Track” (DNT) signals set in your browser settings. If DNT is enabled, we limit certain tracking practices; however, you may still see general ads that are not personalized.
Do Not Track (DNT) signals, paragraph 1 · Citation strength: strong
Protection95% confidence
Customer data and trained AI models are not shared with third parties
The company states it does not share customer data or trained AI models with any third party, and sensitive information used for AI is anonymized or excluded.
Why it helps: This ensures that your data and the AI models enhanced by it are not shared externally, reducing the risk of unauthorized third-party access to your information.
Any sensitive information is anonymized or excluded from use. We do not share customer data or trained AI models with any third party.
Commitment not to collect data from EU or EEA residents
To comply with EU and EEA regulatory requirements, the company does not provide service or intentionally collect data from residents of these regions. Customers using the services represent they are not EU or EEA residents.
Why it helps: This policy indicates a commitment to avoiding the collection of personal data from individuals Protected by stringent European data protection laws, thereby reducing the risk of misuse of data from those regions.
To comply with European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) regulatory requirements, we do not provide service or intentionally collect data from EU or EEA residents. By using our services, customers represent that they are not EU or EEA residents.
Data storage, paragraph 2 · Citation strength: strong
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