Last Updated: July 2, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how Hill County Balance ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and discloses your personal information when you visit our website (www.hillcountrybalance.com), use our services, or interact with us. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data responsibly and in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

By accessing or using our website and services, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to provide and improve our services to you.

1.1. Personal Information

This refers to information that can be used to identify you directly or indirectly. We may collect:

• Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number, mailing address.

• Financial Information: Bank account details, tax identification numbers, income, expenses, transaction data, payroll information, and other financial records necessary for providing accounting and bookkeeping services.

• Business Information: Company name, business registration details, industry, and other relevant business data.

• Identification Information: Copies of identification documents (e.g., driver's license, passport) if required for identity verification or compliance purposes.

• Communication Data: Records of your communications with us, including emails, phone calls, and messages through our website.

• Login Credentials: Usernames and passwords for client portals or other secure access points.

1.2. Non-Personal Information

This refers to information that does not directly identify you. We may collect:

• Usage Data: Information about how you use our website, such as pages visited, time spent on pages, links clicked, and referring URLs.

• Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, and other diagnostic data.

• Cookies and Tracking Technologies: Information collected through cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies (see Section 2.2).

2. How We Collect Information

We collect information through various methods:

2.1. Information You Provide Directly

You provide us with personal information when you:

• Fill out contact forms or inquiry forms on our website.

• Sign up for our services or client portal.

• Communicate with us via email, phone, or in-person meetings.

• Provide us with financial documents and data for accounting and bookkeeping services.

• Participate in surveys or provide feedback.

2.2. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain non-personal information through:

• Cookies: Small data files stored on your device that help us improve your experience, analyze site usage, and remember your preferences.

• Web Beacons (Pixel Tags): Tiny graphics with a unique identifier, used to track the online movements of web users.

• Analytics Tools: We may use third-party analytics services (e.g., Google Analytics) to collect and analyze website usage data.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our website.

2.3. Information from Third Parties

In some cases, and with your explicit consent, we may receive information about you from third-party sources, such as financial institutions, payroll providers, or other service providers, as necessary to deliver our services.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes, including:

• To Provide and Manage Services: To deliver the accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and other financial services you request, process transactions, and manage your accounts.

• To Communicate with You: To respond to your inquiries, send you service-related updates, invoices, statements, and other important notices.

• For Internal Operations: To operate, maintain, and improve our website and services, conduct data analysis, identify usage trends, and perform internal audits.

• For Personalization: To tailor our website content and service offerings to your preferences.

• For Security and Fraud Prevention: To protect against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of your information, and to detect and prevent fraudulent activities.

• For Legal and Regulatory Compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, and governmental requests, including tax and anti-money laundering requirements.

• For Marketing (with consent): To send you promotional materials, newsletters, or information about services that may be of interest to you, where you have provided your consent. You can opt-out of marketing communications at any time.

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

• With Your Consent: We will share your personal information with third parties when you give us explicit permission to do so.

• With Service Providers: We may share your information with trusted third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf, such as cloud hosting, payment processing, IT support, client relationship management (CRM) systems, and analytics. These providers are obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.

• For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court order, subpoena, or government investigation).

• To Protect Our Rights: We may disclose information when we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.

5. Data Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. These measures include:

• Encryption: Using encryption for data transmission and storage where appropriate.

• Access Controls: Restricting access to personal information to authorized personnel only.

• Secure Systems: Employing secure servers, firewalls, and other network security measures.

• Regular Audits: Conducting regular security assessments and updates.

Despite these measures, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The retention period may vary depending on the type of information and the services provided.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.

• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Request the deletion of your personal information under certain circumstances.

• Right to Restrict Processing: Request that we limit the way we use your personal information.

• Right to Data Portability: Request to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

• Right to Object: Object to the processing of your personal information in certain situations.

• Right to Withdraw Consent: If we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in Section 9. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

8. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites that are not operated by us. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Your continued use of our website or services after any modifications constitutes your acknowledgment of the modifications and your agreement to abide and be bound by the updated Privacy Policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, our data practices, or if you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us:

• By Email: info@hillcountrybalance.com