Skip to main content File direct

Privacy Policy

Last Updated on October 27t, 2024

This Site is owned by filedirect.net and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, "we" or "us"). This privacy policy (this "Privacy Policy") describes our privacy practices, the information we collect, the use, disclosure, and retention of information, including personal information you share with us on filedirect.net (the "Site"). This Privacy Policy is intended to advise you with respect to content on the Site, as well as help you understand what information we collect through the Site and how we collect it, use it, share it, and protect it. We comply, as required, with the mandated IRS e-file Security, Privacy and Business Standards (IRS Publication 3112); the Federal Trade Commission Financial Privacy and Safeguards Rules; the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, codified at 15 U.S.C. Sections 6801-6827, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s approved e-file procedures. By accessing or using our Service (as defined in the Terms of Use), you agree you have read, understood, and agree to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy and our terms of use, which can be found at https://filedirect.net/legal/terms (the "Terms of Use").

The Information We Collect:

The personal information we receive from you depends on the context of your interactions with us, how your account is configured, and your privacy settings. Personal information we receive from you may depend on the Services you use.

  1. Personally Identifiable Information: To conduct the Services, you agree to voluntarily provide us with certain information via the Site that identifies you and your financial records (the "Personally Identifiable Information" or "PII") including without limitation:
    • Name
    • Mailing address
    • E-mail address
    • Phone (or mobile) number
    • Date of birth or age
    • Social Security Number (SSN)
    • Employment Identification Number (EIN)
    • Identification documents for Beneficial Owners (i.e., driver’s license or passport)
    • Tax and financial information required to be set forth in tax extension requests or tax returns
    • Other information that serves as answers to certain security questions
  1. Non-Personally Identifiable Information: Non-personally identifiable information (the "Non-PII") includes any information from which your identity is not readily ascertainable, and may include your internet protocol address, browser, operating system, pages or content you access while visiting the Site and the date and time and duration of such access. In addition to you voluntarily providing us Non-PII, Non-PII is automatically collected through the Site.

We automatically collect and store certain types of information about your use of our Services, including information about your interaction with our products, content and Services through the Site. Like many websites, we use unique identifiers, and obtain certain types of information when your web browser or device accesses the Site and other content served by or on behalf of us on other websites. Identifiers are data that can either directly or indirectly identify an individual or link an individual to their identity.

The Use of Cookies and Tracking Technology:

To enable our systems to recognize your browser or device and to provide and improve our Services, we use cookies and other identifiers. We may collect information through the Site by way of cookies or other tracking technologies. Cookies and other tracking technologies are script files that facilitate the collection of Non-PII, such as the number of visitors to the Site, how each visitor arrived at the Site and the visitor's use and behavior patterns on the site to ensure a better customer experience.

We use certain first-party cookies, which do not require your consent, that commonly are referred to as "strictly necessary cookies." These cookies ensure our digital services work correctly and meet audience needs and interests. We use the following strictly necessary cookies:

Some third parties also may provide cookies or similar technologies on the Site and/or the Services. You are free to "opt-out" of the use of these cookies at any time as described below. Such cookies or similar technologies are not under our control, are managed by third parties, and are divided into the following macro-categories:

Examples of the cookies we use include the following:

Category Tool Information Collected
Messaging Cookies Push Notifications User consent, site visitation data
Analytics Cookies Google Analytics Conversion data, website usage data
Tracking Cookies Posthog, DataDog, Internal Tracking User behavior data, Conversion data
UI Bug Fixing Sentry Error logs and system information, user interactions, technical data
Marketing Cookies Facebook, Bing, Google, TikTok 1Conversion data

Almost all web browsers allow you to verify which cookies are present on your personal hard drives, block all cookies, or receive a notification any time a cookie is installed. In certain cases, however, failure to install a cookie may lead to the impossibility to use certain sections of the Site and/or Services. If you elect to reject cookies and other tracking technologies, we may not be able to deliver certain information or services to you. Information about the procedure you are required to follow in order to disable cookies can also be found at http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/index.html.

This website uses various analytics tools that use cookies to process information including standard internet log information and details of the visitor’s behavioral patterns upon visiting our site. These tools are used to provide you with a better experience, and to facilitate the use of certain functions. Upon request, we will provide you with additional information about these tools including how you can opt-out from information processing by these tools.

Below are the methods offered by the primary browsers which allow the users to express their options regarding the use of cookies:

How We Use the Information We Collect:

We will collect and use your personal information solely for fulfilling the purposes detailed below, unless we obtain your consent or as required by law. Upon notice to us, you may discontinue use of the Site and revoke consent for the use or dissemination of your data or personal information. We may combine PII, Non-PII and information from external sources and use your information to do the following:

  1. Communicate with you;
  2. Provide you with our Services;
  3. Obtain your feedback on our Site and service offerings;
  4. Offer you additional related Services;
  5. Statistically analyze user behavior and activity;
  6. Advertise and deliver content relevant to your interests on the Site and third-party sites;
  7. Provide, troubleshoot and improve our Services;
  8. Comply with legal obligations;
  9. Prevent fraudulent activity;
  10. Improve security;
  11. Authenticate your identity when you sign-in to use our services; and
  12. Protect against misuse or abuse of our Services and ensure compliance with the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy.

We may use your information to communicate with you about our Services and to give you offers for third party products and services that we think may be of use to you. You can manage your privacy and choices with respect to such communications and usage of information. See applicable use and disclosure consents.

The Site and/or Services may use Google Analytics and similar web analytics services. Google Analytics is used to track unregistered users on the Site and/or Services, to record multiple visits by unregistered users to the Site and/or Services, and to record all the pages that unregistered users visit at the Site and/or Services. If and when an unregistered user registers with the Site and/or Services, all of his or her previous visits and activity on the Site and/or Services will be associated with his or her registered user profile. Google Analytics tracks registered users’ visits to the Site and/or Services whenever they return.

The Site and/or Services use Google Analytics to track, collect, or upload any data that personally identifies an individual (such as a name, address, or billing information), or other data that can reasonably be linked to such information by Google.

The Site and/or Services may use all features of Google Analytics for Display Advertisers including obtaining specific visitor cookie data, such as the source, medium, and keyword used to visit the Site and/or Services.

The Site and/or Services may use remarketing with Google Adwords and analytics to display content-specific advertisements to users who previously visited the Site and/or Services when those users go to other websites that have Google Display Network implemented.

The Site and/or Services and other third-party vendors, including Google, use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) together to inform, optimize, and serve ads based on users’ past visits to the Site and/or Services.

You can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads using Google’s Ads Settings.

You can also opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising, to prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics, by going to the Google Analytics opt-out page.

Who We Share Your Information With:

We will share information you provide for your BOI submission to FinCen (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). We will share information you provide with the IRS as part of our services and your tax filings. In addition, we may share or transfer information you provide to us or that we collect on the Site with other businesses that we acquire, are acquired by, or with which we merge or partner. In the course of doing business, we may share your information with third parties with whom we contract to support our activities, including maintaining and managing our end-user information. We may also determine we need to share your information with law enforcement to (a) comply with the law or with legal process, (b) protect and defend our rights and property, (c) protect against misuse or unauthorized use of the Site, (d) protect the personal safety or property of our users or the public, or (e) in the event of bankruptcy proceedings.

We may share your information with third party service providers who provide services on our behalf. We may employ independent companies or other third parties and individuals to help us provide, facilitate, or improve our Service (such as customer service support). They are permitted to use data only for the purpose of performing services on our behalf or at an aggregate level. Service providers are required to implement reasonable privacy and information protection controls to maintain the privacy and security of information provided to them consistent with the privacy practices outlined in this policy. Service providers may include companies that assist us with our advertising, marketing and sales efforts, help us with our technology offerings and help us run our business. You can manage your privacy and settings with respect to such communications and usage of information. See applicable use and disclosure consents.

As it relates to SMS and phone numbers that you may provide with your registration, we do not share this information with any third party company, unless it is required to fulfill the services you contracted us for. Examples of such third party companies whom would be excluded from this clause are companies such as SMS messaging technology providers and similar. It should also be noted that standard message and data rates may apply with the transmission of our messages.

Retention of Your Information:

We will only maintain PII for as long as necessary for the fulfillment of our Services or as mandated by the IRS or FinCEN. We do not store your credit card information, but rather pass it to a third-party payment processor and reference it via tokenization for your protection. We do not request or store any of your financial information, such as your bank routing or account numbers, or your debit or credit card account numbers.

We may retain your questions and feedback in order to improve the Site. Do not send us any information, ideas, suggestions, proposals or comments that you consider confidential or that you wish to be treated as confidential. If you no longer want us to use or retain the PII you provided to us, you may contact us at support@filedirect.net and request that we delete your PII from our records. We will honor your PII deletion requests except with respect to information we may be required by law to retain.

Third Party Privacy Practices:

The Site may contain links to websites owned by third parties and third party advertisements. This Policy applies only to the Site and its content, and our collection and use of information provided through the Site. Your use of third party sites and content may be governed by such third party’s terms of use or privacy policies. Please review any third-party privacy policies before providing your information on any third-party site. We are not liable for or responsible for your use of third party sites or third party content.

Security

We employ encryption and undertake other security measures to protect all information, including PII, from unauthorized or accidental access, disclosure, misuse or processing, or from alteration, destruction, or loss; however, because no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, we cannot guarantee the security of information you submit to us. We are not responsible for any unauthorized access to your material at or allowed by the IRS, FinCEN or a third party.

Children’s Privacy:

Because protecting the privacy of young children is especially important, we do not knowingly collect or maintain information from or about persons under 18 years of age. No part of our Site is structured to attract anyone under 18. If you are under 18, do not use or access the Site at any time or in any manner. If we learn that PII of persons under 18 has been collected on the Site without verified parental consent, we will take appropriate steps to delete this information. If you believe that we might have any information from a child under 18, please contact us at support@filedirect.net.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy:

We may modify or update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect the changes in our business and practices. You should check our websites frequently to see recent changes. When we change the policy in a material manner, we will update the ‘last modified’ date at the bottom of this page. If you object to any changes, you may close your account. Continuing to use our Services after we publish changes to this Privacy Policy means that you are consenting to the changes.

International Users:

The Site is hosted in the United States and is intended for U.S. tax-filers and users in the U.S. only. It is not intended to solicit data or information from residents in other countries or regions of the world. If you are a consumer accessing the Site from the European Union, Asia, or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use and disclosure that differ from U.S. laws, your continued use of the Site, which is governed by U.S. law and these terms, indicates your consent to transfer of your PII and other information to the U.S.

California Privacy Rights (for California residents only):

Under California’s "Shine the Light" law, California residents who provide personal information in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us once a calendar year information about the customer information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of customer information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared that information for the immediately prior calendar year (e.g. requests made in 2022 will receive information regarding 2021 sharing activities). To obtain this information, please send an email message to support@filedirect.net requesting irs.extension.online provide its third-party information sharing disclosures required by section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code. Please also provide your name, address and email address. We will provide the requested information to you at your e-mail address in response. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the "Shine the Light" requirements and only information on covered sharing will be included in our response.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (the "CCPA") provides certain rights to California residents regarding their PII. A California resident has the right to request that we disclose certain information, including: (1) the categories of PII we have collected about that California resident, (2) the categories of sources from which the PII is collected, (3) the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling the PII, (4) the categories of third parties with whom we share PII, (5) the specific pieces of PII it has collected about that resident, and (6) the categories of PII that we have sold about that resident and the categories of third parties to whom that information was sold. A California resident has the right to request that we delete his/her PII. A California resident also has a right to "opt-out" of the sale of that resident’s PII. Finally, a California resident has the right not to be discriminated against for exercising his/her privacy rights under the CCPA; provided, however, that the CCPA does not prohibit us from offering financial incentives, different prices, rates, levels or qualities of goods or services for the collection of PII if that price or difference is directly related to the value provided by the consumer’s data. You can change your PII by emailing us at support@filedirect.net.

Pursuant to California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following consumer rights notice: California residents may reach the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services for the California Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 1625 North Market Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (916) 445-1254 or (800) 952-5210.

Contact Information and Opt Out Procedures:

If you have any questions regarding PII, how we treat PII pursuant to this Policy, or our use of cookies and third party technologies in connection with the Site, we encourage you to contact us at support@filedirect.net.

If you no longer wish to use our Site and to revoke your consent to either our use of cookies or the use of your PII, please contact support@filedirect.net.