Privacy policy

Who we are

Eight Locks Tax & Accounting ("Eight Locks", "we") provides accounting, bookkeeping, payroll and tax services from 1551 Michael Street, Ottawa, ON K1B 3T4. We are responsible for personal information under our control and follow the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and its ten fair information principles.

Our privacy officer can be reached by phone at +1 613-657-4498 or by mail at 1551 Michael Street, Ottawa, ON K1B 3T4.

What we collect

• Contact details you give us through forms, by phone or in person: name, email, phone, business name.
• Engagement information needed to deliver services: tax slips, financial records, social insurance numbers, CRA account information, payroll data for your employees, and identification required by professional and anti-money-laundering rules that apply to us.
• Website data: a record of your cookie choice, and — only if you allow analytics — pages viewed and approximate location derived from an anonymised IP address.

Please don't send SINs or banking details through website forms or ordinary email; we provide a secure portal once you're a client.

How we use it

We use personal information to respond to enquiries, prepare quotes, deliver the services you engage us for, file returns and correspondence with the Canada Revenue Agency and other government bodies on your instructions, bill for our work, and meet our legal and professional record-keeping obligations. We don't sell personal information.

Consent

We collect, use and disclose personal information with your consent, except where the law allows or requires otherwise. You can withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions; we'll explain the consequences (for example, that we may not be able to complete a return).

Email messages (CASL)

We send commercial electronic messages — such as deadline newsletters — only with your express consent, or where implied consent applies under Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), such as an existing business relationship. Every message identifies Eight Locks Tax & Accounting, includes our mailing address and contact details, and has a working unsubscribe link. Unsubscribe requests are processed within 10 business days. Service messages about work you've engaged us for aren't marketing and will still be sent.

Sharing and service providers

We share information only as needed to deliver services: with the CRA and other government bodies when we file on your behalf, and with service providers that host our accounting, document-management, email and payroll systems. Providers are bound by contracts to protect the information and use it only for our purposes. Some providers may store information outside Canada, where it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction; we choose providers with appropriate safeguards.

Cookies and analytics

This site stores your privacy choice in your browser's local storage (key el_consent_v1). Optional analytics (Google Analytics, G-XXXXXXX) load only after you choose Accept all or switch analytics on in Settings. We use Google Consent Mode with all optional storage denied by default. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link in the footer.

Fonts are served from this website. Photos are loaded from Unsplash's image servers, which receive your IP address as part of a normal web request.

Retention and safeguards

Tax and accounting records are generally kept for at least six years after the end of the tax year they relate to, in line with CRA record-keeping rules, and longer where a file remains open. Website enquiries that don't become engagements are deleted within 24 months. We protect information with access controls, encryption in transit, multi-factor authentication and staff confidentiality agreements.

Privacy breaches

If a breach of security safeguards creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and report it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as PIPEDA requires, and keep a record of every breach.

Access, correction and complaints

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct it. We respond within 30 days. Contact our privacy officer by phone at +1 613-657-4498 or by mail at 1551 Michael Street, Ottawa, ON K1B 3T4.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.