BICA PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: January 1, 2022 (Version 2022.1)

The Bahamas Institute of Charted Accountants (“BICA” or “we” or “us” or “our”) respects the privacy of our users (“user” or “you”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website www.bica.bs (including any other media form, media channel, mobile website, mobile application, related or connected thereto) (collectively, the “Site”). Please read this privacy policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the site.

We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. We will alert you about any changes by updating the “Last Updated” date of this Privacy Policy. Any changes or modifications will be effective immediately upon posting the updated Privacy Policy on the Site, and you waive the right to receive specific notice of each such change or modification.

You are encouraged to periodically review this Privacy Policy to stay informed of updates. You will be deemed to have been made aware of, will be subject to, and will be deemed to have accepted the changes in any revised Privacy Policy by your continued use of the Site after the date such revised Privacy Policy is posted.

COLLECTION OF YOUR INFORMATION

Personal information you disclose to us

We collect personal information that you provide to us such as name, address, contact information, passwords and security data, and payment information.

Membership: If you provide your Personal Data to BICA to become a member of BICA, or if you sign up to become a registered user of any website operated by BICA, you will be required to provide certain information as part of the registration process. This information may include your first and last name, date of birth, email address, and business or home address. We may also request that you voluntarily provide other information, such as your phone number, demographic information, educational background, work experience, information about your non-BICA certifications, or courses or areas of study in which you may be interested and information about your company as it relates to BICA’s products and services and your BICA membership.

Membership information is used to communicate with you, to design content and activities that we believe would be of interest to you.

Events and Conferences: BICA may host events that include in-person and virtual conferences, training, knowledge sharing and webinars. If you register for a BICA event and you are a BICA member, we will access the information in your member account to provide you with information and services associated with the event. If you register for one of our events and you are not a BICA member, we will collect your first and last name, email address, business or home address, information about the type of business you work for or with and your role in that business, which we will use to provide you with information and services associated with the event.

Publications: We may offer various publications and materials through our Site. Some of these publications and materials are publicly accessible, however, others require that you be a BICA member, or that you create an account and subscribe to receive these publications and materials. If you are not a BICA member and you create an account for this purpose, you will be required to provide certain information as part of your account registration, which may include your first and last name, email address, and business or home address and professional information.

Communications with BICA: If you communicate or correspond with us by email, through postal mail, via phone or through other forms of communication we may collect the information you provide as part of those communications. For example, if you correspond with us through email, we may collect and store the email address you use to send the applicable correspondence and use it to respond to your inquiry; to notify you of BICA conferences, publications, or other services; or to keep a record of your complaint, accommodation request, and similar purposes.

Payment Data: We collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is collected and stored by our payment processor Plug and Pay Technologies, Inc https://www.plugnpay.com and you should review its privacy policies and contact the payment processor directly to respond to your questions. BICA does not store any of your credit card information on its servers.

Mobile Device Data: Device information, such as your mobile device ID, model, and manufacturer, and information about the location of your device may be collected, if you access the Site from a mobile device.

Information automatically collected

Some information – such as IP address and/or browser and device characteristics – is collected automatically when you visit our websites.

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate the Site. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Site and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Site, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Like many businesses, we may also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.

Information collected from other Sources

We may collect limited data from public databases, marketing partners, social media platforms, and other outside sources.

We may obtain information about you from other sources, such as public databases, joint marketing partners, social media platforms (such as Facebook), as well as from other third parties. Examples of the information we receive from other sources include: social media profile information (your name, gender, birthday, email, current city, state and country, user identification numbers for your contacts, profile picture URL and any other information that you choose to make public); marketing leads and search results and links, including paid listings (such as sponsored links).

USE OF YOUR INFORMATION

Having accurate information about you permits us to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience. Specifically, we may use information collected about you via the Site to:

● Compile anonymous statistical data and analysis for use internally or with third parties.
● Create and manage your account.
● Email you regarding your account or order.
● Enable user-to-user communications.
● Fulfill and manage purchases, orders, payments, and other transactions related to the Site.
● Increase the efficiency and operation of the Site.
● Monitor and analyze usage and trends to improve your experience with the Site.
● Notify you of updates to the Site.
● Offer new products, services, and/or recommendations to you.
● Perform other business activities as needed.
● Assist or safeguard in the prevention of fraudulent transactions, facilitate the monitoring against theft, and protect against criminal activity.
● Process payments and refunds.
● Request feedback and contact you about your use of the Site.
● Resolve disputes and troubleshoot problems.
● Respond to product and customer service requests.
● Send you a newsletter.
● Solicit support for the Site.

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations. Your information may be disclosed as follows:

By Law or to Protect Rights

If we believe the release of information about you is necessary to respond to legal process, to investigate or remedy potential violations of our policies, or to protect the rights, property, and safety of others, we may share your information as permitted or required by any applicable laws, rules, or regulations. This includes exchanging information with other entities for fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

Third-Party Service Providers

We may share your information with third parties that perform services for us or on our behalf, including payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, customer service, and marketing assistance.

Marketing Communications

With your consent, or with an opportunity for you to withdraw consent, we may share your information with third parties for marketing purposes, as permitted by law.

Interactions with Other Users

If you interact with other users of the Site, those users may see your name, profile photo, and descriptions of your activity, including sending invitations to other users, chatting with other users, liking posts, following blogs.

Online Postings

When you post comments, contributions or other content to the Site, your posts may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside the Site in perpetuity.

Third-Party Advertisers

We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit the Site. These companies may use information about your visits to the Site and other websites that are contained in web cookies in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.

TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

Cookies and Web Beacons

We may use cookies, web beacons, tracking pixels, and other tracking technologies on the Site to help customize the Site and improve your experience. When you access the Site, your personal information is not collected through the use of tracking technology. Most browsers are set to accept cookies by default. You can remove or reject cookies but be aware that such action could affect the availability and functionality of the Site. You may not decline web beacons. However, they can be rendered ineffective by declining all cookies or by modifying your web browser’s settings to notify you each time a cookie is tendered, permitting you to accept or decline cookies on an individual basis.

We may use cookies, web beacons, tracking pixels, and other tracking technologies on the Site to help customize the Site and improve your experience. For more information on how we use cookies, please refer to our Cookie Policy posted on the Site, which is incorporated into this Privacy Policy. By using the Site, you agree to be bound by our Cookie Policy.

Internet-Based Advertising

Additionally, we may use third-party software to serve ads on the Site, implement email marketing campaigns, and manage other interactive marketing initiatives. This third-party software may use cookies or similar tracking technology to help manage and optimize your online experience with us.

Website Analytics

We may also partner with selected third-party vendors such as Google Analytics, to allow tracking technologies and remarketing services on the Site through the use of first party cookies and third-party cookies, to, among other things, analyze and track users’ use of the Site, determine the popularity of certain content and better understand online activity. By accessing the Site, you consent to the collection and use of your information by these third-party vendors. You are encouraged to review their privacy policy and contact them directly for responses to your questions. We do not transfer personal information to these third-party vendors. However, if you do not want any information to be collected and used by tracking technologies, you can visit the third-party vendor.

You should be aware that getting a new computer, installing a new browser, upgrading an existing browser, or erasing or otherwise altering your browser’s cookies files may also clear certain opt-out cookies, plug-ins, or settings.

THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

The Site may contain links to third-party websites and applications of interest, including advertisements and external services, that are not affiliated with us. Once you have used these links to leave the Site, any information you provide to these third parties is not covered by this Privacy Policy, and we cannot guarantee the safety and privacy of your information. Before visiting and providing any information to any third-party websites, you should inform yourself of the privacy policies and practices (if any) of the third party responsible for that website, and should take those steps necessary to, in your discretion, protect the privacy of your information. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of any third parties, including other sites, services or applications that may be linked to or from the Site.

SECURITY OF YOUR INFORMATION

We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information. While we have taken reasonable steps to secure the personal information you provide to us, please be aware that despite our reasonable efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse. Any information disclosed online is vulnerable to interception and misuse by unauthorized parties. Therefore, we cannot guarantee complete security if you provide personal information.

POLICY FOR CHILDREN

We do not knowingly solicit information from or market to children under the age of 18. If you become aware of any data, we have collected from children under age 18, please contact us using the contact information provided below.

CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. No uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized.

As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this Privacy Policy. Most web browsers include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. If you set the DNT signal on your browser, we will NOT respond to such DNT browser signals.

OPTIONS REGARDING YOUR INFORMATION

Account Information

You may at any time review or change the information in your account or terminate your account by:

● Logging into your account settings and updating your account.
● Contacting us using the contact information provided below.

Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, some information may be retained in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our Terms of Use and/or comply with legal requirements.

Emails and Communications

If you no longer wish to receive correspondence, emails, or other communications from us, you may opt-out by contacting us using the contact information provided below.

If you no longer wish to receive correspondence, emails, or other communications from third parties, you are responsible for contacting the third party directly.

CONTACT US

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

BICA Secretariat
P.O. Box N-7037
Nassau, Bahamas
Tel: 1(242) 326-6619
Fax: 1(242) 326-6618
Webenquiries@bica.bs