Intuit Small Business Privacy Statement

• We collect personal information you provide during registration and payment such as your name, e-mail or postal address.
• We collect personal information to provide you products and services.
• We use cookies and other Internet technologies to manage our Web sites and services, advertising and e-mail programs. More information can be found here for more information.
• We may obtain additional information about you, such as demographic information, from commercially available sources.

Intuit works to protect your personal information from loss, misuse or unauthorized alteration by using industry-recognized security safeguards, coupled with carefully developed security procedures and practices. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with applicable law and federal standards. We use both internal and external resources to review our security procedures. Whenever we prompt you to transmit sensitive information, such credit card information, we support the encryption of your information as it is transmitted to us. Our employees are trained and required to safeguard your information. Click here for more information.

Click here for more information.

• We do not sell or rent your personal information with anyone for promotional or marketing purposes.
• We do not share your personal information with anyone outside of Intuit for their promotional or marketing use without your consent.
• We use your personal or financial information to provide you with information and services you request, to tell you about other products and services, and to give you a customized interactive experience as you use our products.
• We summarize information about you and we also combine that information with that of others in a way that does not identify you personally to understand how our products are used and to help us develop new products and services.
• We may use service companies to help fill your order; they're not allowed to use your information for their own purposes.

Instructions to change your account or contact information or tell us your contact preferences are available here.

To contact us with a question click here
Or write to us at:
Privacy Team
Intuit Inc.
2800 East Commerce Center Place
Tucson, AZ 85706

At Intuit, we value our relationship with you and place the highest importance on respecting and protecting the privacy of our customers. To help you feel comfortable and confident when using our Web sites, here are the principles that govern our information practices and other privacy aspects of our Web sites. When we use the words "personal information," we're referring to information that personally identifies you. This privacy statement applies to all Intuit Small Business sites and services that display or link to the statement.

When you purchase or download a product or service, we will ask you for information, such as your name, address, and telephone number, to help us validate your payment information. You can create an Intuit "My Account" to store your contact, billing, shipping, and payment information. That way, you won't have to enter it each time you make a purchase. When you open your account, we'll ask you to create user credentials consisting of a user ID and password and select a security question and answer. These user credentials can be used for other Intuit online services that require login. Your "My Account" information is stored on our protected servers.

Some Intuit financial software requires you to register your purchase. During the registration process we ask for your name, business address and phone number, e-mail address and company name. We'll also ask for information about the product you purchased, such as its license number and version description. When you register online, we may automatically collect this license and version information. You must also enter contact information on the Web site or over the phone. We don't take personal information directly from the product without your consent. We may also ask you to answer some general questions about yourself and your business and how you use the product, but answering them is optional. In addition, we may also invite you- to participate in a study to track how you use our product. If you choose to participate, you can cancel your participation at any time. We may obtain additional information about you, such as demographic information, from commercially available sources.

Intuit financial software products are Web-enabled, which allows us to deliver products, services and information through the Internet. Some features require Internet access and will open in a browser window in the software, which will pass through an Intuit server before being redirected onto the Internet. If the software cannot find a connection, it may ask you to establish one.

When you use our products to access the Internet, we will store the message that took you there and its location in the product. If you click on a link to our support site from within the product, we may also collect information about your product, system or other technical data. This helps us give you the most appropriate information to solve your problem. If you connect to the Internet to use online features in our software, we may also include product updates such as software updates, service information and help content in Internet transmissions. We do not track Web site addresses, or URLs, that you type into your browser, nor do we track your Internet activity after you leave our Web sites.

We work year-round to improve our products and services. From time to time, we place updates on our Web site for customers to download. These updates might include a timesaving new feature, minor repairs to keep software running smoothly, or timely information relevant to customers' businesses. In some cases, you may be able to have the software check for Automatic Updates. If you agree to use it, this feature will automatically check for updates when you are connected to our servers. You can always turn this feature off and manually download updates from our Web site. When you receive updates, Intuit will receive technical information about your computer's connection and the software being updated. A secure connection protects customer-sensitive information during an update. The Automatic Update feature is only used to update your software and some services to which you have subscribed.

Our professional accounting products may offer the ability to electronically file tax returns to the IRS and state governments. Some of our professional accounting products require you to obtain authorization to process different types of tax returns. We will collect information to identify unique returns to ensure proper billing. In addition, you may be able to download financial information directly into some of our professional products, which may require you or your client to provide authentication information such as a client's user name, account number or password. As an approved transmitter of electronically filed federal income tax returns, we follow stringent security guidelines to help protect your data. Electronically filed tax returns are encrypted during transmission to us. We use secure connections to transmit your clients' tax returns to the IRS and to state tax filing agencies. We maintain copies of electronically filed returns in case we need to retransmit them to the appropriate service centers or to resolve technical support issues, billing, and for internal administrative purposes.

Intuit may also transfer personal data to Intuit-affiliated companies in other countries. These may be outside the European Economic Area and may not have adequate laws that protect the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data. Where this is done, Intuit shall take necessary steps to adequately protect the information transferred. BY SUPPLYING PERSONAL DATA TO INTUIT, YOU CONSENT TO ANY SUCH TRANSFER.

Intuit provides several ways to prepare your company's payroll. When you sign up for these services, we may ask for your company's federal Employer Identification Number to pre-populate tax forms that you'll print and send to tax agencies If you use direct deposit, we may use this information to authenticate that you are a business with a tax ID number on file with the IRS. If you use our Assisted Payroll service, we also use your EIN and state identification numbers to enroll your company with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System and state-specific systems so that we can make payroll tax payments on your behalf.

To assist you during the sign-up process, we will pre-populate some of the requested information, such as the name of your bank. You'll be able to update that information and to change any other pre-populated information. We will also ask you for information about your employees, including their name, address, and Social Security number. We use this information to process your payroll and year- end wage and withholding statements, W-2 forms, for your employees. The "Information Security" section of this privacy statement details the safeguards we use to protect your and your employee's information.

If you sign up for Direct Deposit or Assisted Payroll, we will ask you to provide information about your employees, including their name and bank account information. We will also ask for bank account and signatory information for the account that funds your payroll. We use this information to process your Direct Deposit and, for Assisted Payroll, to pay your company's federal and state payroll taxes. We also use bank account information to collect normal processing fees from you and any special processing fees outlined in our Terms of Service.

Whether you use an online or desktop payroll solution, we may offer you the ability to view your payroll tax forms online. To access your payroll tax forms or services online, we'll ask you to provide authentication information. The "We Protect Your Information" section of this statement details the security safeguards we use to protect your and your employee's information.

The products and services offered by Innovative Merchant Solutions and Electronic Clearing House, Inc., both divisions of Intuit, enable you to accept check and credit card payments from your customers by phone, fax, mail, in-person, or online. To use these services your company must apply for a merchant account. To apply for a merchant service, we'll ask you to provide business and personal information, including: your business name, Electronic Identification number, the business owner's name, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers. We use this information to make a credit decision on your application.

We transmit, store, protect and access all cardholder information in compliance with the Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standards.We transmit, store, protect and access all checkwriter information in compliance with National Automated Clearing House (NACHA) regulations. Check payment transactions are verified against, and are added to, National Check Network's check verification and credit reporting database. Your customers' cardholder and check data, including account numbers, financial institutions, expiration dates, transaction amounts and service codes, may be stored and retained by Innovative Merchant Solutions and Electronic Clearing House to provide the product and service that you have requested.

Some products and services offered by Innovative Merchant Solutions and Electronic Clearing House, Inc. provide you with the opportunity to create permissions and user accounts for your employees. When we do, we may request and store your employees personal information such as their name, email address, username password, and security challenge questions and answers. The "Information Security" section of the privacy statement details the safeguards we use to protect your an your employee's information.

Intuit has many Web-based products and services, such as QuickBooks Online and Intuit Business Connect. We may need to access or log some information you enter to troubleshoot or resolve a problem. In addition, we may review and measure data, traffic and product usage trends to help us understand how customers use the product and for overall quality and performance standards. We may use non-identifying information you post to our Web-based products and services, as well as information about how you use the service, to improve existing products and services and develop new ones. We may also combine your company information with that of others in a way that does not identify you, your company or any individual personally. We may use and share this non-identifying information to help customers to compare aspects of their business with other users. Any information you provide for the purpose of registering a domain name will become part of the public WHOIS database.

Users that you invite to access your Web-based services will be required to set up an Intuit user ID and password before they can access the information you post. Your Web-based services are password protected and we recommend that you do not share your password with anyone. Remember to sign out of your Web-based product and services and close your browser window when you have finished your work. This prevents others from accessing your account if you share a computer pr use a computer in a public place, such as a library or Internet café.

Some of our Web-based services synchronize with your financial software to help keep the data accurate. You can change the frequency of these updates, stop uploading data or cancel the service through the administration pages of the product or service. Our Web-based products and services are not "HIPAA-ready" or "HIPAA-compliant," and will not assist with or ensure compliance with HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. You are solely responsible for using these products and services to comply with all applicable federal and state privacy laws relating to medical or health information

To provide you with services that connect with your financial institution, we must access your online account. We request the user name, password and any other login information that you have set up with your financial institution to enable access. We use your login credentials to routinely update and maintain the financial information you download, to address errors or service interruptions, and to enhance the services we may provide in the future. If we store your login credentials, we will maintain and encrypt them on our firewall-protected servers. Some financial institutions require you to manually update your financial information and re-enter your login information before downloading each transaction. This information is encrypted and transmitted using secure socket layer technology, making it is unreadable during transmission. It is then stored on our secure servers. We also periodically receive aggregated, anonymous, general usage information from financial institutions or their processors, including which online services are used and the frequency of usage. This information helps us improve our services and assist us with troubleshooting and technical support.

Member Programs. We offer various membership programs, such as the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program, Intuit ProConnection, and QuickBooks Affiliate Program, thorough this Web site. We may send members newsletters, e-mail alerts and other information regarding membership. In addition, we offer our Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors the option to register their names and contact information, and to provide information about services that they offer. This information is available in an online directory for visitors to our Web site.

Calculators. We provide a wide range of tax, investment, savings and other calculators to help you make the best financial decisions for yourself and your clients. The financial information you provide when using these tools is used strictly to perform the calculations requested as you try various "what if" scenarios. We do not collect this information nor link it to any personally identifiable information. We do not save this information once you close the tool.

Internet Chat. We offer various Internet chat services. We encrypt our Internet chat sessions and retain a transcript of the session to help us resolve your current and potential future questions.

Refer-a-Friend. We provide a "Refer-a-Friend" feature that provides you with the ability to automatically send information about Intuit Small Business Products and Services to your Friends. Your friend's e-mail address will only be used for the one-time distribution of the information and will not be used for any other purpose.

Feedback. When using our Web site, you can ask us questions and share comments or suggestions with us. We only use your personal information to respond to your question or comment. These submissions are not confidential or proprietary, and we may publish this information in a way that does not identify you personally.

Newsletters and Special Events. We offer you the opportunity to subscribe to various newsletters and also include newsletters in some of our products. You may unsubscribe by following the instructions provided in each e-mail newsletter.

Personalized URLs. On occasion, we may create a unique URL link for certain customers who want to be contacted about special offers. These sites may be customized with references to products and services that we believe may interest you, based on your previous experience with us. When you visit these Web sites, we may collect information about your visit to better tailor the site to your interests. We may combine that knowledge with other information about you and your relationship with us. If you do not want us to use this information, you should not visit these personalized sites. Instead, please visit our other Web sites directly.

We use a variety of technologies on our Web site. Among these are cookies, which are pieces of information that our Web sites provide to your browser. Cookies also allow us to customize your visit to our Web site by recognizing you, for example, when you return to the site. Cookies also allow us to track overall site usage and determine areas users prefer. You may decline cookies while at our Web site, but may keep you from accessing certain areas of the Web site. Most browsers accept and maintain cookies by default. The "Help" menu of your browser will help you change your cookie preference. You can also find information on popular browsers and how to adjust your cookie preferences at the following websites:

MicrosoftInternet Explorer
Opera
Mozilla Firefox
Apple Safari

We may access and set cookies using Web beacons, also known as single-pixel GIFs, which are invisible graphical images. These Web beacons provide useful information regarding our site, such as the pages visitors view. When we track activity on this or other Intuit Web sites, we collect information such as your IP address, browser type and version, and pages you view. We also keep track of how you get to our sites and any links you click on to leave our sites. We do not track URLs that you type into your browser, nor do we track you across the Internet once you leave our sites. We use your Web site activity to assist you by reducing the need to re-enter your data and to help us resolve technical support issues. We may also use this information to offer you a personalized Web experience, and to tailor our offerings to you. Remember, you control whether you receive Intuit promotional communications through e-mail, phone, or postal mail.

To help us collect site usage data, we use service providers to place Web beacons on specific Web pages and send usage information about that page via the use of cookies. These cookies and Web beacons to not transmit personally identifiable information to Intuit or to our service providers. All Web navigation data is used in the aggregate to improve our product and site performance.

When we send you e-mails, we may include a Web beacon to determine how many people open our e-mails. When you click on a link in an e-mail, we record this individual response to customize our offerings to you.

We may use advertising networks to display ads in our products and services or about other sites. Advertising networks may assign a cookie that enables us to provide information relevant to you. The information the networks collect is anonymous and is not linked to your personal information. You may opt out of this service, which Intuit does not control. The Network Advertising Initiative (link to )provides more information about this practice and how to opt out.

We protect the confidentiality and security of your personal information by using industry-recognized security safeguards such as firewalls, coupled with carefully developed security procedures to protect your information from loss, misuse or unauthorized alteration. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with applicable law and federal standards. Whenever we ask for sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, we encrypt it as it is transmitted to us.

We train and require our employees to safeguard your information. We also use physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to restrict access to personal information to those employees and agents for business purposes only. Additionally, we use internal and external resources to review the adequacy of our security procedures.

Here are ways to protect your personal information when using the Internet and online services:

• Use a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to your computer.
• Use a virus-checking program and keep it up to date.
• Keep your operating system and programs up to date.
• Close all active programs and logoff before leaving a computer that you share with others.
• Restrict all other folders or directories to "no share" if you use file-sharing programs.
• Choose a user ID that is different from government documents, such as a Social Security or driver's license number. Also do not use your birthdate or some other date or word that is either easy to guess.
• Choose a strong password using a combination of letters, numbers and special characters that are meaningful to you and yet not easily guessed by someone else. Keep your password private.
• Do not trust e-mail requests for personal information. On Web sites, look for the lock symbol, which signifies a secure site before supplying personal information. If in doubt, ask.
• When using open Internet chat and forum services, do not supply personal or financial information or more information than necessary to define your problem.
• Read privacy statements to learn how your information will be collected and used.

At Intuit, safeguarding your personal information is a top priority. Part of that commitment is making you aware of popular identity theft and fraud scams and providing you with information to protect yourself.

Although they may be difficult to identify, you may receive hoax e-mails, such as phishing scams, that look authentic and appear to have been sent by a company you recognize. These e-mails ask you to provide or confirm your sensitive personal information by clicking on links. To entice you, they often claim an urgent or threatening condition concerning your account, or offer you a prize.

You should not reply or click on any links in the e-mail or provide any personal information without verifying that the e-mail is legitimate through another channel. Intuit does not solicit sensitive customer information via e-mail. If you receive an e-mail message that appears to come from us that requests such information, please forward it immediately to: security@intuit.com. We will respond quickly to mitigate potential damage.

Sometimes, we ask outside firms, or third parties, to help us provide services, such as designing a Web site, sending e-mails, registering a prospective domain name, or analyzing data. Our contracts with these third parties outline the appropriate use and handling of your information and prohibit them from using any of your personal information for purposes unrelated to the product or service they're providing. We require vendors to maintain the confidentiality of the information we provide to them.

We may disclose, access, or report personal information when we believe, in good faith, we're required to by law or to protect our legal rights. We may also do this in connection with an investigation into a suspected violation involving the Terms of Service, fraud, intellectual property infringement, or other activity that may be illegal or expose us to legal liability. For example, we may be required to disclose personal information to cooperate with regulators or law enforcement authorities or to comply with a court order, subpoena, search warrant, or law enforcement request.

We may report and share information about your account to credit bureaus, consumer reporting agencies and card associations. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report and consumer report. We may also share information with other companies, lawyers, credit bureaus, agents, government agencies and card associations in connection with issues related to fraud, credit or debt collection.

We work with other companies to provide you with co-branded products and services, which we clearly identify. Either Intuit or the other company may offer these products and services. We clearly identify these co-branded products and services. In some cases, we exchange customer usage information to establish and provide ongoing service. By requesting these products or services, you are permitting us to provide your personal and usage information to the other company to fulfill your request.

We also may share non-identifiable, non-personal aggregate information about our users with third parties, such as advertisers or partners, for marketing and promotional purposes. Our Web sites may provide links to third-party sites, such as those of our business partners and online advertisers. These could include other services, promotions or sweepstakes offered by business partners. Because Intuit does not control the information policies or practices of these third parties, you should review their privacy policies to learn more about how they collect and use personal information.

If you are a business partner or a prospective business partner, such as a financial institution or health plan, you may visit an Intuit Web site specifically intended for you. The information you provide on these Web sites are used only to develop or maintain our business relationship with you. For example, you may sign up to receive additional information about our programs, including notifications about new products, features, and events, or to have an Intuit representative contact you. Once you've become a partner, the Web site may include members-only program updates and reference materials. If you are no longer interested in receiving program information from Intuit, you may ask that your Intuit account representative remove you from future program-specific communications.

If we sell, merge or transfer any part of our business, part of the sale may include your personal information. If so, you will be asked if you'd like to stop receiving promotional information following any change of control.

We may use sources outside of Intuit to supplement the information you give us. For example, we may validate your address using other sources. We use this data to help us maintain accuracy and provide you with better service.

Intuit and its subsidiaries may exchange information about your transactions to fulfill your requests. We may also provide you information about products or services we believe you may be interested in unless you have asked us not to contact you. We offer you the opportunity to review privacy practices at our subsidiaries' Web sites.

We provide discussion forums, blogs and other community-oriented features that enable forum members to communicate with other members. To participate in the forum, we require you to register with a valid e-mail address. We may use your e-mail address to contact you regarding your postings or to inquire about your forum experience. We recommend that you exercise discretion in posting personal information on this message board. Any information you provide is accessible by other users.

If we make material changes to any of our privacy policies or practices regarding personal information we will update our statement and post a notice on our site 30 days before they take effect.

If you are in the United States, you may change your account and contact information for Intuit Small Business any time by clicking here. If you are outside of the United States, you may change your contact preferences here at https://privacy.intuit.com/cpi/do/email.

You may change your contact preferences for Intuit Small Business Products here.

If you are a member of the Intuit Developer Network, you can update your contact preferences or manage your account here.

If you are a QuickBase user, you can send an email to privacy@quickbase.com to change your contact preferences. You can manage your contact or account information by accessing your QuickBase account.

You may unsubscribe from our newsletters by using the unsubscribe link provided in the newsletter sent to you.

Last Updated: 03/02/2009.