Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

Information you provide to us

Depending on which parts of the Services you use, we may collect:

• Contact information: first and last name, email address, phone number, mailing or business address, and ZIP code.
• Tax situation details (tax-debt inquiries): estimated back-tax balance range, number of unfiled years, employment status, whether the debt is federal, state, or both, and whether you have received IRS or state notices, wage garnishments, levies, or liens.
• Tax filing details (matching inquiries): filing type (personal, self-employed, small business, investments, real estate, back taxes), estimated annual income range, preferred filing timeline, and flags for business income, investment income, real estate income, unfiled returns, multi-state filing, and first-time-filer status, plus any free-text notes you provide.
• Professional profile information (if you sign up as a tax professional): business name, website, license type (CPA, Enrolled Agent, or Tax Attorney), specialties, years of experience, languages spoken, hourly rate, availability, a professional bio, and a profile photo you choose to upload.
• Account credentials: when you register, we receive identifiers, email, and profile data from our authentication provider (Clerk).
• Communications: the content of messages, emails, texts, and call interactions you exchange with us or with professionals through the Services.

Information collected automatically

• Device and usage data: IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers, referring URLs, pages viewed, and timestamps.
• Marketing attribution: UTM parameters (source, medium, campaign, term, content), referrer URL, and the landing path you used to reach us.
• Cookies and similar technologies: described in Section 6 below.

Information from third parties

We may receive information about you from our authentication provider, advertising partners, analytics providers, and public or licensed data sources. We combine this with information we collect directly from you.

2. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Match you with one or more licensed tax professionals in our network based on your inputs.
• Contact you about your inquiry by phone, SMS, and email, including follow-ups about your qualification and scheduling.
• Operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Services, including authentication, fraud prevention, debugging, and analytics.
• Personalize your experience and measure the effectiveness of our marketing.
• Send administrative messages, service updates, and — where permitted — marketing communications from Hello Taxes and our professional network.
• Comply with applicable law, enforce our Terms of Service, and protect the rights, property, or safety of Hello Taxes, our users, and the public.

3. How we share your information

With licensed tax professionals

The core purpose of the Services is to share the information you submit with one or more independent, licensed tax professionals who may contact you about your inquiry. These professionals are not employees or agents of Hello Taxes and will handle your information under their own privacy practices once they receive it.

With service providers

We share information with vendors who perform services on our behalf, including:

• Hosting and infrastructure: Vercel Inc. (hosting and web analytics).
• Backend and database: Convex Inc. (application backend and data storage).
• Authentication: Clerk Inc. (sign-in, account management).
• Communications, email, SMS, and telephony providers, plus professional advisors and security vendors.

These providers are contractually limited to using your information to provide services to us.

Legal and safety

We may disclose information to comply with a subpoena, court order, or other legal process; to respond to lawful requests from public authorities; to enforce our Terms of Service; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Hello Taxes, our users, or others.

Business transfers

If Hello Taxes is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to the commitments in this Policy.

No sale for money

We do not sell your personal information for money. Sharing the leads you submit with tax professionals in our network may, however, be considered a "sale" or "sharing" under certain state privacy laws such as the CCPA. See Section 9 for how to opt out.

4. Marketing emails

If you opt in to marketing emails, we will send you periodic updates about tax tips and Hello Taxes news. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email or by contacting us at help@hellotaxes.net. Transactional messages related to your inquiry or account are not considered marketing and may be sent regardless of your marketing preferences.

5. Phone calls and text messages (TCPA)

When you submit a form on the Services and check the consent box, you give your prior express written consent — as that term is defined by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) — for Hello Taxes and its network of licensed tax professionals and affiliates to contact you at the phone number you provide, including through:

• Automatic telephone dialing systems and autodialers;
• Pre-recorded or artificial voice messages;
• Text messages (SMS/MMS), which may use automated technology.

Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies.

How to stop: reply STOP to any text message to opt out of SMS. Reply HELP for help. For phone calls or emails, ask the caller to place you on their internal do-not-call list, unsubscribe in any email, or contact help@hellotaxes.net and ask to be removed from our contact lists. It may take a few business days for your request to propagate across all systems and professionals who have received your information.

6. Cookies and analytics

We and our service providers use cookies, local storage, pixel tags, and similar technologies to operate the Services, keep you signed in, remember preferences, measure traffic, and understand how the Services are used. Categories include:

• Strictly necessary cookies and tokens from our authentication provider that allow you to sign in and use the Services securely.
• Analytics cookies and identifiers used by Vercel Analytics to measure page views, performance, and aggregate usage patterns.
• Marketing attribution identifiers captured from URL parameters and referrers to understand which campaigns drive traffic.

Most browsers let you control cookies through their settings. Blocking some cookies may affect your ability to use the Services. We do not currently respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals, but we do honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals from supported browsers as an opt-out of sale/sharing under applicable state laws.

7. Data retention

We retain personal information for as long as your account is active, as needed to provide the Services, to comply with our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements. When we no longer need information, we delete, de-identify, or aggregate it. Professionals who have received information about your inquiry may retain it under their own retention policies.

8. Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, or alteration, including encryption in transit, access controls on our backend, and vendor due diligence. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your privacy rights

California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights subject to certain exceptions:

• Right to know what personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the business purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
• Right to access a portable copy of your personal information.
• Right to delete personal information we have collected from you.
• Right to correct inaccurate personal information.
• Right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, including "sharing" for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• Right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information to what is necessary to provide the Services.
• Right to non-discrimination for exercising any of the rights above.

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information / Limit Sensitive Personal Information: to submit an opt-out or limitation request, email help@hellotaxes.net with the subject line "California Privacy Request" and include the email and phone number associated with your inquiry. We will also honor valid Global Privacy Control signals from supported browsers as an opt-out of sale and sharing.

You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We will ask the agent to provide written authorization from you and may ask you to verify your identity directly.

Other U.S. state residents

Residents of other U.S. states (including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, and others with comparable laws) may have similar rights to access, correct, delete, or port their personal information, and to opt out of targeted advertising or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. To exercise these rights, contact help@hellotaxes.net. If we decline your request, you may appeal our decision by replying to our response with the subject line "Privacy Appeal."

How to exercise your rights

Email help@hellotaxes.net from the email address associated with your inquiry, describe your request, and include enough information for us to locate your records (typically your full name, email, phone number, and ZIP code). We may ask you to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

10. Children's privacy

The Services are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at help@hellotaxes.net and we will take steps to delete it.

11. Third-party links and professionals

The Services may contain links to third-party websites and connect you with independent tax professionals. Those third parties operate under their own privacy practices, and we are not responsible for their content or data handling. Review their privacy policies before providing them with personal information.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post the updated Policy with a new effective date and, where required, provide additional notice. Your continued use of the Services after the updated Policy takes effect means you accept the changes.

13. Contact us

Questions about this Policy or about how we handle your information?