Kanani Chartered Accountancy (“KCA” or “the firm”) is committed to protecting your privacy and safeguarding your personal, business and financial information. KCA supports a general policy of openness about how the firm collects, uses, discloses and protects your personal information.

KCA collects, uses and discloses personal information in the possession, or under the control, of its clients to the extent required to fulfill its professional responsibilities and operate its business. The firm is committed to maintaining the privacy of personal information provided by its clients and protecting all personal information in its possession or control. This Privacy Policy sets out the principles and procedures that the firm follows in meeting its privacy commitments to its clients and complying with the requirements of federal and provincial privacy legislation.

By purchasing our professional services, you consent to our collection, use, disclosure and protection of your personal information in accordance with specific terms and conditions. The specific terms and conditions are listed below.

This Privacy Policy is designed to meet the compliance standards established by Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA is based on the Ten Principles established by the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, which principles were recognized as a Canadian standard in 1996, and address the ways in which organizations should collect, use and disclose personal information. We also note that in addition to these standards, we continue to be subject to the confidentiality rules, concerning client information, of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta.

Our Privacy Policy explains how you can contact us if you have a question about, want to make a change to, or delete, any personal information that KCA may retain about you.

• Definition of Personal Information
• Types of Information we collect
• Accountability
• Use or Disclosure of Your Personal Information
• Client Consent
• Retention of Your Personal Information
• Security and Confidentiality
• Requests from Clients about their Personal Information
• Exceptions, Qualifications and Changes to this Privacy Policy
• Correcting or Updating Your Information
• Contact Us

Definition of Personal Information
"Personal information" means any information about an identifiable individual, other than that individual's name, title, business address or telephone number (often called, "business card" or "phone book" information). Personal information includes age, gender, marital status, health status, financial status, home address, etc. Such information includes information specifically related to you, our client, or personal information of others, such as your employees, clients, or customers that we may encounter in the course of providing our professional services to you.

TYPES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT
KCA collects certain personal information about you - but only when the information is provided by you or is obtained by us with your authorization.
The information we collect, which may include personal information, may involve at least some of the following:

• Contact information (such as name, titles, business names, business addresses, email work addresses, work or cellular phone numbers); and
• Financial status and billing information (such as credit card numbers/expiration dates and credit history).

Examples of sources from which we collect information include:

• Interviews and phone calls with you
• Letters or emails from you
• Tax return or financial planning organizers
• Financial history questionnaires

 

ACCOUNTABILITY
The firm is accountable for all personal information in its possession or control.  This includes any personal information that the firm received directly from clients who are individuals, or indirectly, through clients that are organizations (e.g. corporations, government entities, not-for-profit organizations).
The firm has established and put into effect policies and procedures aimed at properly protecting personal information.  KCA’s Chief Privacy Officer is Hussein Kanani, CA.  He is responsible to oversee privacy issues at the firm.

USE OR DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
The firm collects personal information from clients and uses and discloses such information, only to provide the professional services that the client has requested, or as required by law.  Each service the firm provides is described in an engagement letter with the client.  The engagement letter includes a description of the personal information the firm will require, why it is required, the uses that will be made of the information, and with whom it may be shared in the course of providing the firm’s professional services.
The personal information collected from a client during the course of a professional service engagement may be:

• Shared with the firm’s personnel participating in such an engagement
• Provided to external professional practice inspectors (e.g. representatives of the Canadian Public Accountability Board, or a provincial Institute of Chartered Accountants), who by law, professional regulation, or contract have the right of access to the firm’s files for inspection purposes
• Provided to affiliates and/or non-affiliated third parties who perform services or functions for the Firm in conjunction with our services to you, but only if we have a contractual agreement with the other party which prohibits them from disclosing or using the information other than for the purposes for which it was disclosed.

 

CLIENT CONSENT
Before the firm undertakes a professional services engagement, it requires the prospective client to sign an engagement letter or contract.  The engagement letter or contract includes a description of the personal information the firm will require, why it is required, the uses that will be made of the information, and with whom it may be shared with in the course of providing the firm’s professional services.  By signing the engagement letter or contract, the client provides its agreement that proper consents to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information as set out in the letter have been or will be obtained (the consent of the individual is the responsibility of the client not the practitioner).

RETENTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
KCA uses or discloses personal information only for purposes for which it has consent or as required by law.  The firm retains personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill those purposes.  Your consent to such purposes will remain valid after termination of our relationship with you.

SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
KCA takes commercially reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information in its possession, collected from you, is protected against loss or unauthorized access.  This protection applies to information stored in both electronic and hard copy form.  Access to your information is restricted to select employees or representatives.  The firm also implements generally accepted security techniques such as physical security (e.g. restricted access, locked rooms and filing cabinets) and access control procedures (e.g. authentication) to prevent unauthorized access to personal information stored electronically.

REQUESTS FROM CLIENTS ABOUT THEIR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Individual clients of the firm have the right to contact Hussein Kanani, CA and obtain access to their information.  Similarly, authorized officers or employees of organizations that are clients of the firm have the right to contact Hussein Kanani, CA and obtain access to personal information provided by that client.

 EXCEPTIONS, QUALIFICATIONS, AND CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
Although not listed in detail in this Privacy Policy, the firm will rely on any exceptions or qualifications that are set out in the applicable legislation as permitted by law.
KCA reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at anytime without notice.

CORRECTING OR UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION
You can help us maintain the accuracy of your personal information by notifying us of any changes to your information.  To correct or update your personal information, you may contact KCA by phone at 403.262.5510.

CONTACT US
Should you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or have reason to believe that KCA may have failed to adhere to this Privacy Policy you may contact Hussein Kanani, CA at 403.262.5510.