Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 27 November 2024

Introduction

This statement (the “Privacy Policy”) sets forth the privacy standards that Makosi Audit and Tax Services, LLC, together with its affiliates, Tidal Wave Holdings, LLC, Tidal Wave Audit and Tax LLC (together, the “Company(ies),” “us,” “we,” or “our”) utilize to collect, retain, and use personal data obtained from individuals using or accessing our website(s) located at www.makosi.com or mobile services or making use of any of the talent recruitment and placement services offered by any of the Companies (the “Makosi Services”).

This Privacy Policy also forms part of the Makosi Applicant Terms of Service and it applies to every person (“you”, “user(s)”,”he”, “she” “they”) who accesses or uses Makosi’s online and/or mobile services and websites, including any software, service, feature, product, program and element provided by or on behalf of Makosi in connection with such services or websites (collectively, the “Website”) and including, but not limited to, any products, programs, and services described in the Terms of Service.

Introduction and purpose of the Privacy Policy

The Makosi Services can be accessed at www.makosi.com. All intellectual property (including Our Website) is currently owned and operated by Tidal Wave Holdings LLC, New York, USA.

The Makosi Services facilitate opportunities for suitably qualified auditors and/or accountants on the (global) job market (“Applicants”) with fixed term employment and/or secondment opportunities at Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firms in the United States (“Makosi Secondment Partners”).

This Privacy Policy describes the way we collect, store, use, and protect personal information which you submit to us, either through the Website or other form of communication, whether digital or hard copy, in writing or verbally.

Please read this Privacy Policy, the Terms of Service and our Browser Terms carefully before using the Makosi Website or any of the services that we may offer.

Acceptance and consent

You accept all the terms in this Privacy Policy, the Browser Terms and our Terms of Service when you use our Website or make use of any Makosi Services and consent to us collecting and processing and storing the personal information as referred to in this Privacy Policy.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change the terms of this Privacy Policy from time to time in line with any changes that the law or our internal business operations require, without prior notice. It is your responsibility to consider the Privacy Policy each time you use our Website or the Makosi Services. If you do not agree with any terms of this Privacy policy, you must stop using our Website.

Audience

This policy applies to you when you visit our website, use our platform, or order our products or services as a customer.

What type of personal data do we collect and how do we use it?

The personal data we may collect about you includes the following:

1. Account Information: When you register for our service or product, we collect details like your full name, email address, employment type, job title, and contact information.
2. Profile Information: When you create a username and password for your profile, we collect any information you provide.
3. Log-In to the Platform: We may use Single Sign-On (SSO) services like Google, which accesses user information based on SSO privacy settings.
4. Third-Party Service Information: When integrating with third-party services it may involve sharing your personal data, subject to privacy settings.
5. Newsletter: We may collect your email address for newsletter registrations, with an option to opt out.
6. Interactions: We may collect additional personal data from the website, contests, surveys, events, and job applications, etc.
7. Usage Information: We may collect log data, device information, and location information subject to applicable laws.
8. Financial Information: We may collect your bank account details and purchase history depending on your interactions with us.
9. Special category data: depending on the services you use, we may also collect special category data such as your health data.

Use of Personal Data

We utilize the personal data we collect for various business purposes such as:

1. Providing Requested Services: We collect personal data to enable authorized users to operate the platform, facilitate services for customers, and assist in inquiries.
2. Improvement and Development of Services: We gather personal data to enhance services, gather feedback, maintain user-friendly interfaces, and improve business management.
3. Maintaining a Safe and Secure Environment: We utilize personal data to detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents, enhancing the safety and security of the platform.
4. Personalized Content, Advertising, and Marketing: We use data to match users' needs and interests, optimizing content and providing personalized experiences.
5. Compliance, Fraud Prevention, and Safety: We may disclose personal data to law enforcement or government authorities to protect various rights, privacy, safety, or property, and to enforce our terms and conditions.

Overall, we process personal data for various purposes, ensuring compliance with our legal obligations and respecting users' rights to privacy.

When can we use your personal data?

We may process your personal data to fulfil our obligations to you. We will only process your personal data:

• with your explicit consent;
• where it is necessary to carry out actions for the conclusion or performance of a contract with you;
• where it is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation; or
• where we can show legitimate grounds for processing your personal data.

How do we share personal data?

We share personal data in accordance with our privacy policy and legal obligations, with the following entities:

1. Corporate Affiliates: personal data may be shared with our corporate parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates.
2. Service Providers: Third-party companies and individuals providing services on our behalf, such as customer support, hosting, analytics, etc., may access personal data as directed by us.
3. Professional Advisors: personal data may be disclosed to professional advisors like lawyers, bankers, auditors, etc., as necessary for the services they provide to us.
4. Compliance, Fraud Prevention, and Safety: personal data may be shared for compliance, fraud prevention, and safety purposes, including legal obligations and security threats.
5. Business Changes: During mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, or similar business changes, personal data may be shared or transferred subject to appropriate confidentiality arrangements.

Where do we transfer personal data?

The personal data that we collect from you may be transferred to, stored and processed by our affiliates, properly vetted sub-processors and third-party service providers. We may transfer your personal data outside of the country where it was collected to a foreign country. We utilize a variety of mechanisms to ensure the security and legitimacy of these transfers. By submitting your personal data, you agree to us transferring, storing, or processing it in a foreign country with less stringent data protection laws than the country in which it was collected.

We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your personal data is treated securely. All sub-processors and third-party service providers are under appropriate contractual obligations to ensure the safety and confidentiality of your personal data.

Marketing

You are always in control of your personal data, and if you choose to stop receiving our marketing information, you may click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our marketing material.

You can rest assured that, even if you unsubscribe, you will still receive the necessary emails for the management of your account (for example, if you forget your password).

Links to other websites

This website or platform may provide links to other websites. This privacy policy does not cover the personal data practices exercised by other providers of products or services, advertisers or other websites, companies or individuals, which are not owned or controlled by us. We suggest that when linking to another website, you always read that website’s privacy policy before volunteering any personal data.

Data Security

Security is critical to our objectives, and we take the security of personal data as a priority item. We use up-to-date industry standards and practices to protect personal data from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access or disclosure. These steps take into account the sensitivity of the personal data we collect, process, and store, and the current state of technology. Given the nature of communications and technology, we cannot guarantee that personal data in our care will be absolutely safe from intrusion by others during transmission through the internet or while stored on our systems or otherwise.

We require our partners with whom we share personal data to implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal data. However, when you click a link to a third-party site, you will be leaving our site, and we don’t control or endorse what is on third-party sites.

Data Retention

We will retain your personal data in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and contractual agreements. Generally, we do not retain personal data longer than necessary to provide our services and for reasonable business and lawful needs. This may include keeping interaction data for the period needed for us to pursue legitimate business interests, conduct audits, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

When we no longer require your personal data, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal data has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal data and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

Children’s Data

The website and platform are not intended for children under the age of 18. We do not, knowingly, or intentionally, collect personal data about children who are under 18 years of age.

If you are under the age of 18 you may not use the website and platform, unless parental or guardian consent is provided.

If you believe that we may have any personal data from or about a person under the age of 18, please contact [email protected].

Cookies

We will ask for your explicit consent to allow any cookies which identify you, your location or profile you before we place them on your device. We may use “cookies” or other technologies or files (collectively, “cookies”) to identify how visitors make use of our website and platform. This aggregated tracking of personal data may be used to help us improve and enhance the website and platform experience for all of our users. In addition, cookies are used for adjusting the website and platform to your personal preferences. Cookies contain personal data such as the pages you visited, the length of time you stayed on the website or platform, the location from which you accessed the website or platform and more.

If you would prefer not to have cookies stored on your computer, you may reject non-necessary cookies through our website banner, modify your browser settings to reject most cookies, or manually remove cookies that have been placed on your computer. However, by rejecting the cookies, you may be unable to fully access the offerings on our website or platform. To find out more about cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Your Rights

If you believe your rights regarding your personal data have been violated, you have the option to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority.

You have the right at any time to request access or to modify your personal data. To exercise your data protection rights as listed below, please contact us at [email protected]. Note, that we may ask that you verify your identity first.

Your Rights Include:

• Being informed about the personal data we process about you;
• Accessing the personal data we process about you;
• Rectifying or updating the personal data you have provided;
• Requesting the deletion of your personal data;.
• Opting out or objecting to certain uses of your personal data;
• Withdrawing consent at any time;
• Exercising the right to data portability; and
• Ask us to review any automated decisions made about your personal data.

For customers of our customers, please contact your system administrator to exercise your rights. We will do our best to assist our customer to fulfil your request.

Questions regarding our Privacy Policy

If you would like to contact us to discuss any queries or concerns about this privacy policy or our data protection practices, contact us at [email protected].

Your California Privacy Rights

We collect various types of personal information about you during the course of your relationship with us. Under California law, if you are a resident of California, you may make a written request to us about how we have shared your information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. In response to your written request, we are allowed to provide you with a notice describing the cost-free means to opt-out of our sharing your information with third parties with whom we do not share the same brand name, if the third party will use such information for its direct marketing purposes.

If you would like to exercise your rights under California law, please send your written request to the e-mail address or postal address below. Please include your postal address in your request. Within thirty (30) days of receiving your written request, we will provide you with a Third Party Direct Marketing Opt-Out Form so you may request that your personal information not be disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.

Our Data Protection Officer’s contact details are:

Email: [email protected]

What about changes to our Privacy Policy?

We will occasionally update this privacy policy. When we do, we will post a prominent notice in this section of this privacy policy notifying users when it is updated. For material changes (i.e., substantially new practices you wouldn’t expect from us or that we didn’t previously tell you about), we may decide to give you notice via email.