Overview

Tax Executives Institute, Inc. (TEI or the Institute) is a nonprofit membership association that was founded in New York City in 1944 to serve the education, networking, and advocacy needs of the in-house tax professional community. Since its founding, TEI has grown to become the preeminent association of in-house tax professionals worldwide, serving over 7,000 individual members in fifty-seven chapters and eleven regions located in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. When you register with us, you gain access to a broad range of tools and services, resources and archives, all assembled to serve you and add value to your TEI membership. To deliver maximum benefit to our members, oftentimes TEI will share your information with our committees, chapters, regions and selected others to assist them to provide value to you. Some common examples include, providing select member emails to committee leaders so they can assemble a targeted distribution list, providing TEI members with access to a membership directory with contact information for all participating TEI members, and providing conference registration lists to sponsors and other practitioners speaking at the conference. In every instance, we endeavor to preserve the security of the data you have entrusted to us.

This Privacy Policy describes the ways in which your personal data is collected and used by the Institute. It is your responsibility to review and understand this Privacy Policy prior to providing your personal data to us. You also should review our Terms and Conditions. If you do not accept and agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, please refrain from providing your personal data to us, accessing our websites, and/or utilizing our products and services.

With our websites and services constantly evolving, our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions may also change from time to time. Whenever there are changes, the modified policies will be posted on our websites and will be effective at that time. Each time they change, the version number displayed at the top of the page also will change. Consequently, each time you access or use our websites or otherwise engage with us, you accept and agree to the most current Privacy Policy and set of Terms and Conditions. It is your responsibility to be aware of any such changes.

Notice

Our websites contain links to other websites that 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 we are not responsible for how these third-party websites use your personal information.

Collection of Personal Data

To provide our products, services and websites and for the other purposes set out in the section titled, “Use of Information,” below, we collect and process personal data from our applicants, members, customers, and other users of our websites, products and services. Some of this information is required and enables us to, for example, enter into a contract with you or determine your eligibility for membership. Other information is optional and allows us to tailor our products, services and websites to you in a manner that is consistent with our mission and educational objectives. Examples of information we may collect from you, depending on the circumstances, include, but are not limited to, your contact information (e.g., name, email address, mailing address, phone/fax numbers), your gender, your tax-related employment history (e.g., current and past employers, current role or job function, professional qualifications, designations and memberships), your tax-related interests (e.g., areas of taxation in which you are interested or spend a significant amount of time), your payment information and information about your use of our and third-party websites, products and services. In addition, when existing TEI members renew their membership, we request certain information to ensure that TEI’s initiatives, activities and events are diverse and inclusive and reflect the attributes of the communities we serve. Such information includes, for example, the member’s ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship and age. Members are encouraged to provide this information, but doing so is optional. Further, member responses are strictly confidential and are used solely for their designated purpose. (The examples of information described in the paragraph above are collectively referred to as, Personal Data.) As noted, you are not required to provide us with all of the Personal Data we request, but, if you do not do so, we may not be able to effectively provide you with our products, services and information.

From time to time and as permitted by applicable laws, we may use third-party sources to collect Personal Data about you and update any existing Personal Data that we currently hold. Such third-party sources include, but are not limited to, publicly available data sources, publicly available social networking sites such as LinkedIn, your employer or university/school, State CPA Societies, State Bar Associations, or other educational seminar providers.

The “Use of Information” section below provides details regarding the ways we use and process Personal Data.

Use of Information

Your Personal Data may be used in the following ways, among others:

To determine your eligibility for TEI membership and volunteer opportunities
To provide our products and services to you
To enhance and improve our products and services, for example, by performing internal research, analyzing user trends and measuring demographics and interests
To process payments from you (including, but not limited to, membership dues and subscriptions, registration fees, or payments for any products or services you choose to purchase from us)
To process payments to you (including, but not limited to, refunds or reimbursements)
Internal purposes, such as website and system administration or internal audits and reviews
To provide access to restricted parts of our websites
To communicate with you regarding your membership and products/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 sites or other third-party sites (including social media platforms)
To request your participation in surveys, focus groups, or other initiatives which help us to gather information used to develop and enhance our products and services
To comply with applicable laws (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena or court order)
From time to time we may provide statistics about the usage levels of our 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 products, services and information you might be most interested in. You may object to such customization at any time by contacting us (see Contact Information/User Rights below).

We will process your Personal Data for the purposes identified above on the following bases:

Our legitimate interests, which include processing such Personal Data for the purposes of providing and enhancing the provision of our products, services and information, as well as advertising further products, services and information to you (e.g., tailoring our educational and networking events to the interests of our members and website users; marketing our activities and events to members and other website users most likely to be interested in them; aligning our committee and advocacy efforts with member interests);
Where such processing is necessary to perform our contract with you or to take steps before entering into our contract with you; and
As necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our contractual agreements.

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:

You request or authorize the disclosure of your personal details to a third party.
The information is disclosed as permitted by applicable laws and/or in order to comply with applicable laws (for example, to comply with a search warrant, subpoena or court order).
The information is disclosed to your employer in the event they have an interest in your data (e.g., employers who pay their employees’ membership or registration fees).
The information is provided to our event sponsors (e.g., list of registrants for an educational event). See below for additional details.
The information is provided to our members, agents, vendors, or service providers who perform functions on our behalf. See below for additional details.

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, it is anticipated that your Personal Data will be disclosed to the following categories of third-parties 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;
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 products and services;
Payment solution providers for the secure processing of payments you provide to us;
Publishers and learning providers who develop products on our behalf;
Technology providers who assist in the development and management of our web properties;
Fulfillment and postal vendors for the fulfillment of our products and services;
Our member volunteers who perform various functions on our behalf;
Sponsors and speakers, who participate in TEI educational events and are entitled to receive a list of registrants for the particular event in recognition of their participation;
Survey and research providers (including academics and academic institutions) that perform studies on our behalf or for the benefit of enhancing tax administration;

Collection of Information Through Cookie Use

We may obtain information about your general internet usage by using a “cookie” file. 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:

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.
Functional 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 sites.
Performance Cookies: These cookies allow us to count page visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. 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 and therefore not identifiable. If you do not allow these cookies we will not receive data related to your visits to our sites

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:

How to control cookies in your browser on aboutcookies.org (http://www.aboutcookies.org/)
How to manage your preferences related to targeted advertising (http://optout.networkadvertising.org/)

Communication Preferences

We strive to provide you with relevant and useful information related to our mission, principles and purpose. You can update your communication preferences at any time by visiting the preference center within your online account on our websites. Additionally, you can contact us using the information listed at the bottom of this policy to make changes to your communication preferences. Any promotional emails that we send will include a link at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe.

Transfer of personal data internationally

By providing us with your Personal Data, you acknowledge and agree that we may from time to time transfer any of your Personal Data to other entities residing physically outside of the United States (e.g., staff, members, sponsors). We have implemented appropriate safeguards for transfers of personal information originating from the European Economic Area (EEA) to countries located outside of the EEA. These safeguards include implementing standard data protection clauses which have been approved by the European Commission or (in relation to transfers from the European Union to the USA) transferring Personal Data to entities who have signed up to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (https://www.privacyshield.gov/welcome). Please do not submit any personal data to us if you do not wish for your data to be transferred internationally.

Security and Other

We use reasonable measures to strive to safeguard and secure the personal data we collect. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. Technology, such as, but not limited to, Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secured Socket Layer (SSL), is used to enhance security and reduce risk of loss. 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.).

Subject Access/User Rights

As a user, you are subject to the following rights:

The right to be informed of the use of your Personal Data
The right to access and/or to require the correction or erasure of your Personal Data
The right to block and/or object to the processing of your Personal Data
The right to not be subject to any decision based solely on automated processing of your Personal Data
In limited circumstances, you may have the right to receive Personal Data in a format which may be transmitted to another entity
If you have a complaint in relation to the processing of your data carried out under this Privacy Policy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. If you are located in the European Union, you can find the details of your local supervisory authority on the European Commission website.

You may seek to exercise any of these rights by updating your information online (where possible). We are not required to have a data protection officer, so any enquiries about our use of your personal data should be addressed to the contact details below:

Tax Executives Institute
Attn: IT Dept
1200 G Street, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
tei.it.dept@tei.org

Contact Information

You are encouraged to report any improvements, suggestions, or any suspected breaches of privacy or security to us by using the contact information listed above.