Privacy Policy

Dr Tax Software Inc. and Dr Tax-UFile.ca ("Dr Tax") are committed to protecting the privacy of personal information in our control. Personal information is information that can be used to identify or contact you individually, and other information required to provide the products and services you have requested. Typically, this includes your name, e-mail address, mailing address, telephone number and credit card number (credit card numbers are never stored or retained). It does not include contact information about a person in their business capacity, such as the name, title, business address, or telephone number of an employee of an organization.

Such information, when required to be gathered, will be treated in accordance with the principles of the Federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada) - referred to as "PIPEDA" and Quebec’s Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Privacy Sector - referred to as "the Quebec Act" and other applicable laws.

Ten key principles exist within the CSA Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, as found in the Canadian PIPEDA legislation and in our Privacy Policies. These policies are followed by Dr Tax when collecting, using and disclosing personal information in the course of commercial activity. The Principles are as follows:

Accountability
Identifying Purpose
Consent
Limiting Collection
Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Accuracy
Safeguards
Openness
Individual Access
Challenging Compliance

1. Accountability

Dr Tax is responsible for all Personal Information under our control, whether supplied to us directly by you or by a third party, or that we have provided to a third party for processing.

Dr Tax may use other companies to help us correspond with you or to deliver products. These other companies are required by Dr Tax to fully comply with Canadian and Quebec privacy legislation and principles in effect. Dr Tax does not use companies located outside of Canada and in particular in the United States, and is therefore not subject to US privacy legislation or the Patriot Act.

2. Identifying Purpose

Dr Tax will identify the purposes for which we are collecting any personal information at the time of collection (or earlier, if possible) in clear and understandable terms. If we require your Personal Information for any other purpose, Dr Tax will seek your consent prior to using it.

Primary purposes include:

Fulfill your product or service request.
Ensure that you are properly registered to receive technical support for certain products.

Secondary purposes include:

Alert you to important product revisions or updates.
Telling you about special discounts or offers on products and services.
Inviting you to participate in contests or customer surveys.

You can prevent future secondary use of your information by “opting out” when Dr Tax collects your information or at any time by simply contacting us.

Chief Privacy Officer
Dr Tax Software Inc.
3333 Graham Blvd
Suite 222
Montreal, Quebec
H3R 3L5

Opting out only applies to the secondary purposes because we may need to contact you regarding the primary purposes above.

The UFile ONLINE web-based tax preparation service collects tax return information required to assist you in completing and filing your tax return. This tax information is used for the sole purpose of helping you prepare and file your tax return. Dr Tax does not use this tax information data for other purpose.

Dr Tax may combine your information with that of other individuals to create aggregate, anonymous data which we will use to improve our products and services and develop new ones. Aggregate data is general information about groups of customers (i.e demographics), and does not identify individual customers.

3. Consent

We will only use personal information for the purpose that we have disclosed to you. If we want to use your information for a different purpose, we will notify you and ask for your consent first.
Dr Tax is obliged to keep your personal information confidential except under the following circumstances:

3a. When Authorized by You

Many of the services offered by Dr Tax require us to obtain personal information about you in order to perform the services we have been engaged to provide. We will use this information to tailor products to meet your needs and objectives. We will always obtain consent from you first, and we will never use the information for purposes other than those we have told you about.

3b. When Required by Law

The type of information we are legally required to disclose usually relates to government tax reporting requirements. However, in some cases, such as under a court order, we may be required to disclose certain information to persons specified in the court order. We will only provide the specific information requested and only upon being satisfied that the authorities have legitimate grounds to request the information.

3c. When Permitted by Law

The legislation has provided certain situations where Dr Tax is legally permitted to disclose personal information without your consent. Suspicion of illegal activities is one such example.

4. Limiting collection

Dr Tax shall only collect Personal Information that is necessary for the Identified Purposes mentioned above and such information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.

We only collect information that we need in order to do business with you. We will collect it openly, fairly and lawfully.

We may use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to manage our Web site.

Dr Tax uses cookies, small pieces of data placed on your computer by a Web server. One type of cookie currently used by Dr Tax (including UFile) is a session cookie. These cookies are stored in the temporary memory and will disappear after you leave any Dr Tax Web site. These cookies enable you to move back and forth within a secure session (https). Because of the benign nature and common usage of cookies, most browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you do not have your browser set to accept cookies, you may have difficulty using some features of the application. Click the Help menu from your browser for information on how to change your settings regarding cookie preference.

If you have arrived at this Web site by clicking on an ad for one of our products or services or by clicking on a link from one of our online partners or affiliates, a persistent cookie may be used. The UFile Web site may also use Web beacons (also called “clear GIFs” or “pixel tags”) or small strings of code that are placed in a Web page and operate in conjunction with cookies. These tools help us, and our marketing partners, to determine what marketing efforts are attracting the most visitors to Dr Tax Web sites. This information is gathered and used for aggregated, anonymous and statistical analysis only. No information gathered from the use of cookies or Web beacons is linked to personal information entered within the UFile application or any account or email sign-up.

For UFile ONLINE users, your personal information is not required to try the service or to browse the Web site. However, if you do not provide complete information when preparing your tax return, you will not have complete use of the service. That may significantly impact the accuracy of your tax return. Personal information is necessary to complete and file a tax return using UFile ONLINE.

Dr Tax's websites may provide links to third-party websites, such as those with tax information, which have been carefully screened by Dr Tax. On these sites, third-parties collect information about you. Dr Tax is not responsible for the actions of these third-parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies to learn more about how they collect, use and share personal information.

5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

Dr Tax shall not use or disclose Personal Information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law. Dr Tax shall only retain Personal Information as long as necessary for the fulfillment of such purposes.

Disclosure within Dr Tax:

Only employees with legitimate business reasons will have access to your Personal Information and must ensure that Personal Information in his or her possession is securely held.

Disclosure to Third Parties Brokers, Agents and Adjusters:

If Required by Law:

We are legally bound to disclose information about you when we or one of our service providers receives a valid request, search warrant, subpoena or other government or court order. These requests may come from Canadian or foreign authorities.

If Public Interest is Endangered:

It is our duty to denounce criminal activity such as fraud or money laundering. In all such cases, authorities are contacted and personal information about you may be disclosed.

Retention Periods:

The retention periods for Personal Information are consistent with our Retention Policy, which in turn meets the provincial and federal legislation requirements.

Your Personal Information will only be retained for as long as necessary for Dr Tax to serve you or as long as may be required for legal purposes.

As soon as any of the Personal Information reaches its maximum retention period, it is either destroyed, made anonymous, or archived from operating systems to a secured, limited-access site.

Personal Information that still serves an identified purpose may be retained indefinitely provided that it is archived outside of the regular operating environment with more restrictive accessibility.

Please note: This site is not for children. We do not collect information from them, nor do we offer products or services that might be of interest to them.

6. Accuracy

Dr Tax shall ensure that Personal Information is as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is deemed necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

We will make sure to keep your Personal Information sufficiently accurate, complete, and up-to-date, to minimize the possibility that inappropriate information may be used.

If it is not possible to verify your Personal Information, or we are unable to contact you, no action, other than logging these limitations in your file are taken.

UFile ONLINE users should make any updates, modifications, or deletions to their tax return information directly through the income tax preparation website.

7. Safeguards

Dr Tax has extensive controls in place to maintain the security of our information and information systems. Client files are stored according to the sensitivity of the information contained therein. Appropriate controls (such as restricted access) are placed on our computer systems. Physical access to areas where personal information is gathered, processed or stored is limited.

If you visit Dr Tax websites, we do not collect personally identifiable information about you unless you provide it. All information that you do provide us with is securely maintained and kept strictly confidential.

We take all necessary precautions to prevent your information regardless of its form or location from being lost, destroyed, stolen, consulted, disclosed, copied, used or altered without authorization. We have implemented various security measures, such as:

Physical measures: Including the protection of infrastructures, such as restricting access to secure areas in our offices and ensuring work tools are in secure locations.
Administrative measures: Aimed at limiting access to your personal information. Only employees who need to consult your information for work purposes may do so.
Technical measures: Such as closely managing passwords, encrypting data and using firewalls.

Moreover, the UFile Online passwords you use to access your personal income tax return are confidential and you are the only one who knows it. You should never disclose your password. Dr Tax will never send you an email request for your password.

8. Openness

As a client, you have the right to access the personal information we keep in your file and you have the right to verify or amend the information if it is shown to be inaccurate.

9. Individual Access

A person may request access to any of their own personal information under Dr Tax's control, including information regarding the use and disclosure of such personal information, and may challenge the accuracy or correct any incompleteness in the data.

If you would like to view the personal information held in your file, please make a written request to the Privacy Officer at the address listed below.

We will respond to your request as efficiently as possible.

To make a change, please make a similar request in writing to the Privacy Officer.

Should you not want to receive promotional materials from us contact Dr Tax's Privacy Officer at the address or email address provided below.

10. Challenging Compliance

If you have an inquiry about privacy or the personal information management practices at Dr Tax or Dr Tax-UFile.ca ("Dr Tax") please contact us using one of the methods shown below.

To help resolve any questions or concerns as quickly as possible, we recommend that you have any related facts, information or documentation prepared in advance. If sending information to us by mail, please ensure that you retain a copy for your records. Significant details may include:

Any documents sent or received related to your question/concern;
The name of any employee whom you may have previously contacted regarding this issue;
Details of any previous questions/comments/requests which may be related to the issue at hand.

By including sufficient details in your written communications to us, we will be able to identify the nature of the issue faster and determine the best possible means of responding to your inquiry within 30 days. Written enquiries may be submitted to:

Mail: