The Center for Audit Quality
Privacy Policy

Last Updated and Effective Date: December 23rd, 2024

Overview

The Center for Audit Quality (“CAQ,” “we,” “our” or “us) is dedicated to enhancing investor confidence and public trust in the global capital markets by fostering high quality performance, collaborating with and educating key stakeholders.

This Privacy Policy describes the ways in which CAQ collects, uses and discloses personal data about you and your data privacy rights. Personal data is sometimes also referred to as personal information, personally identifiable information or other like terms that mean any information that directly or indirectly identifies you or is reasonably capable of being associated with you or your household. This Privacy Policy applies to personal data we collect from: (1) individuals who interact with us on our website at https://www.thecaq.org/ and our other online properties, including, but not limited to, https://www.joinaccountingplus.com/ and https://antifraudcollaboration.org/ (the “Websites”) and (2) users of our interview tool and/or other educational resources (the “Services”). Please note that our Websites, Services and this Privacy Policy are directed only to individuals in the United States.

It is your responsibility to review and understand this Privacy Policy prior to providing your personal data to us, accessing our websites, and/or utilizing our products and services. You also should review our Terms and Conditions. We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our website or sending you a notification). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.

Notice about Other Websites

Our websites contain links to other websites which are managed by third parties (including their use of cookies). As a user of links, it is your responsibility to understand those third parties’ privacy policies. Once you leave our websites using links, we have no control over information that is submitted to or collected by any third parties and are not responsible for other websites.

Collection of Information You Provide to Us

We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, you share information directly with us when you connect with us on our Websites. The types of personal data we may collect include your name, email address, and any other information you choose to provide.

In order to provide our Services and for the other purposes set out in Use of Information below, we collect and process personal data from our members, interested stakeholders and other users of our Websites and Services. We may collect information from you such as, but not limited to, your name, email address, mailing address, phone/fax numbers, date of birth, gender, education history, employment information, information related to your professional qualifications, designations and memberships and information about your use of our and third-party websites, products and services. We may also collect your audio, visual or other similar information in order to provide mock interview tools and related AI-generated guidance and feedback.

Collection of Information from Other Sources

From time to time and as permitted by applicable law(s), we may collect personal data about you and update any existing personal data that we currently hold from other third-party sources, including publicly available data sources, publicly available social networking sites such as LinkedIn, your employer or university/school, State CPA Societies, or data brokers such as Acxiom.

Collection of Information Automatically when You Interact with Us

We automatically collect certain personal data about your interactions with us or our Services, including on the Websites:

• Device and Usage Information: We collect information about how you access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, such as your hardware model, operating system version, mobile network, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, unique device identifiers, browser type, and app version. We also collect information about your activity on our Services, such as access times, pages viewed, links clicked, and the page you visited before navigating to our Services.
• Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies: We (and our service providers) use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to collect information about you. A cookie is an element of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your hard drive. If you do not agree, you can choose to not receive a cookie file by enabling your web browser to refuse cookies or to prompt you before you accept a cookie.

The following types of cookies may be used on our Websites:

1. Essential Cookies: These cookies are necessary for our Websites to work properly. They are usually only set in response to actions you take such as logging in or completing online forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of our sites will not function if these cookies are blocked.
2. Functionality Cookies: These cookies enhance the functionality of our Websites by storing your preferences (such as your preferred language or the region that you are in) and allow us to provide enhanced features on our sites such as videos. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party content that we have placed within our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some of the features on our Websites may not function properly and you may not receive a personalized experience when visiting our Websites.
3. Performance Cookies: These cookies allow us to count page visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our Websites. They help us to understand which pages are visited most frequently and how visitors interact with our sites. Any information collected by performance cookies is aggregated. If you do not allow these cookies we will not receive data related to your visits to our Websites.
4. Third-Party Cookies: These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners, such as Google or Adobe. They may be used by these companies to enable them to build a profile of your interests and show relevant advertisements on other sites. These cookies are based on identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience a decrease in the targeted advertisements that you see online.

If you opt in to use the “Remember me” feature on our Websites, we will place a persistent cookie on your hard drive and you will not be required to log in for every session. By disabling cookies on your machine or clearing your browsing history you may deactivate the persistent cookie.

All major browsers allow you to block or delete cookies from your system. To learn more about your ability to manage your preferences related to cookies, please consult the privacy features within your browser.

Further information about cookies can be found here: How to manage your preferences related to targeted advertising

Use of Information

Your personal data may be used in the following ways:

• To provide our Services to you
• To enhance and improve our Services, for example, by performing internal research, analyzing user trends and measuring demographics and interests
• Internal purposes, such as website and system administration or internal audits and reviews
• To provide access to restricted parts of our Websites
• To determine eligibility for membership and volunteer opportunities
• To communicate with you regarding your membership and Services that may be of interest to you
• To respond to your requests and inquiries
• To serve relevant advertisements to you when you visit our Websites or other third-party sites (including social media platforms)
• To enable our funding partners to engage with you directly, including by sending you advertisements
• To request your participation in surveys, focus groups, or other initiatives which help us to gather information used to develop and enhance our Services
• To comply with applicable law(s) (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena or court order) or to carry out professional ethics/conduct investigations
• To detect, investigate, and prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and protect the rights and property of CAQ and others
• To debug to identify and repair errors in our Services
• To carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected
• From time to time we may provide statistics about the usage levels of the Websites and other related information to reputable third parties, but these statistics will not include information which will allow you to be identified.
• We may use the information you provide to us and which we obtain from other sources to better understand your interests so we can try to predict what other Services and information you might be most interested in. This practice is called “profiling”, which involves making automated decisions about you based on this information in order to better enable us to tailor our interactions with you to make them more relevant and interesting. You may object to such profiling at any time by contacting us (see Contact Information/Your Rights below).

Retention of Information

Unless a longer retention period is required by applicable law, we will retain your information for as long as your account is active, as well as for a short additional period afterwards to cover any outstanding issues or queries that may arise in relation to your account. This period of retention is subject to our review and alteration.

Sharing and Disclosure to Third Parties

We may disclose your personal data to third parties from time to time under the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

1. You request or authorize the disclosure of your personal data to a third party.
2. The information is disclosed as permitted by applicable law(s) and/or in order to comply with applicable law(s) (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena or court order).
3. The information is provided to our agents, vendors or service providers who perform functions on our behalf. See below for additional details.
4. The information is disclosed to our funding partners, who may deliver advertisements and engage with you directly.
5. If we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our Terms and Conditions; if we believe that you have violated the law; or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of CAQ, our users, the public, or others.
6. In connection with, or during negotiations concerning, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company.
7. Between and among CAQ and our current and future parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries and other companies under common control and ownership.

It is likely that the identity and categories of such third parties will change during the life of your account but, depending on your use of our Websites and Services, it is anticipated that your personal data will be disclosed to the following categories of third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf. We require that our third-party service providers only use your personal data as necessary to provide the requested services to us and each service provider is subject to a set of terms consistent with this Privacy Policy.

• Hosting providers for the secure storage and transmission of your data
• Learning technology and online event providers for the delivery and improvement of web events and learning programs and the tracking of your progress
• Digital credential providers for the delivery of digital badges earned through your participation in learning programs
• Identity management providers for authentication purposes
• Database software providers for the management and tracking of your data
• Legal and compliance consultants, such as external counsel, external auditors, or tax consultants
• Advertising partners, including social media providers, for the delivery of targeted advertisements
• Marketing providers who send communications on our behalf regarding our Services
• Publishers and learning providers who develop products on our behalf
• Technology providers who assist in the development and management of our web properties
• Outbound call center providers, who may perform outreach on our behalf regarding our Services
• Fulfillment and postal vendors for the fulfillment of our Services
• Our volunteers or committee members who perform various functions on our behalf
• Survey and research providers who perform studies on our behalf

Communication Preferences

We strive to provide you with relevant and useful information related to our Services and industry news. Any promotional emails that we send will include a link at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe or update your communication preferences. Additionally, you can contact us using the information listed in Contact Information below to make changes to your communication preferences. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your account or our Services.

Transfer of personal data internationally

CAQ is headquartered in the United States, and we have operations and service providers in the United States and other countries. Therefore, we and our service providers may transfer your personal data to, or store or access it in, jurisdictions that may not provide levels of data protection that are equivalent to those of your home jurisdiction. We will take steps to ensure that your personal data receives an adequate level of protection in the jurisdictions in which we process it.

Security and Other

We use reasonable measures to strive to safeguard and secure the personal data we collect. Any transmission of personal data is at your own risk. Our security practices, processes or technology do not guarantee absolute security of your information and you should take all normal personal precautions such as, but not limited to, not sharing passwords, closing browsers, and not using public networks (e.g., internet cafes, etc.).

Parents and Children

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 13. Parents have the right to terminate the registration of a child under the age of 13 by contacting us using the information listed in Contact Information below.

Your Rights

This section contains additional information for residents in Colorado and Oregon regarding data privacy rights. Applicable data privacy laws may afford residents of Colorado and Oregon certain rights with respect to your personal data, subject to certain exceptions. If you reside in these states, this section applies to you. Subject to certain limitations, you may have the following rights:

• Right to Delete. You may have the right to request us to delete the personal data we have collected about you.
• Right to Correct. You may have the right to request us to correct inaccurate personal data we maintain about you.
• Right to Confirm Processing, Know, and Access. You may have the right to confirm whether we are processing your personal data and to know and access the personal data we have collected about you. You may have the right to receive this information in a format, to the extent technically feasible, that is portable, usable, and allows you to transmit the information to a person without impediment or hindrance.
• List of Specific Third Parties. Oregon residents may have the right, at our option, to receive a list of the specific third parties, other than natural persons, to which we have disclosed either: (1) your personal data or (2) any personal data.
• Right to Opt-Out of Profiling. You may have the right to opt out of the processing of your personal data for profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you.
• Rights Related to Targeted Advertising or Sale. You may have the right to opt out of the processing of your personal data for targeted advertising or the sale of your personal data.
• Right to No Discrimination. You may have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of your privacy rights. This includes us not: (a) denying you goods or services; (b) charging you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through the use of discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties; (c) providing you a different level or quality of goods or services; (d) suggesting to you that you will receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services; and (e) retaliating against you for exercising your privacy rights.
• Right to Appeal. If we decline to take action in response to your exercise of a privacy right, we will inform you of the reason for denying your request and provide you instructions on how to appeal the decision.

You may exercise your privacy rights by emailing us at website@thecaq.org or by completing our web form here. You may also opt-out of the sale of your personal data or processing of your personal data for targeted advertising by clicking on the Your Privacy Choices link, which can be found here. In some instances, we will need to verify your identity before honoring your privacy rights request. We will verify your identity by asking you to provide personal data related to your recent interactions with us. We will honor your privacy rights request within 45 calendar days of receipt, unless we request an extension as permitted by data privacy law.

You may appeal a denial of your privacy right requests by emailing us at website@thecaq.org or by completing our web form here. Within 45 days of receipt of an appeal, we will inform you in writing of any action taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If we deny your appeal, you may submit a complaint to the Attorney General of your state.

If permitted or required by applicable law, you may exercise your privacy rights through an authorized agent (which may include a guardian or conservator). If we receive your request from an authorized agent, we may ask for evidence that you have provided such agent with a power of attorney or that the agent otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests to exercise rights on your behalf. If you are an authorized agent seeking to make a request, please contact us at website@thecaq.org.

California law permits residents of California to request certain details about how their information is shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please contact us using the information listed in Contact Information below.

We honor opt-out preference signals. An opt-out preference signal is a signal that is sent by a platform, technology, or mechanism on your behalf that communicates your choice to opt-out of the processing for targeted advertisements or sale of your personal data. You can learn more about implementing opt-out preference signals here or by exploring other developing technologies and services that offer this tool. We treat opt-out preference signals as valid requests to opt-out of the sale or processing of your personal data under privacy laws. Please note that you can also opt-out of the sale or processing of your personal data for targeted advertising through our other methods described above.

Some browsers have incorporated “Do Not Track” features. Most of these features, when turned on, send a signal or preference to the websites you visit indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Because there is not yet a common understanding of how to interpret the do not track signal, we currently do not respond to the browser do not track signals. However, as noted above, we do honor opt-out preference signals.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

The Center for Audit Quality
555 13th Street NW, Ste 425 E
Washington, DC 20004
P: 202.609.8120
Email: website@thecaq.org