Martin Starnes & Associates, CPAs, P.A.
Website Privacy Policy

 

Last Updated: 8/24/2026

Martin Starnes & Associates, CPAs, P.A. (“the Firm,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates www.martinstarnes.com, and any other website (each a “Website” and collectively, the “Websites”) that links to this privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”). This Privacy Policy describes the personal information we collect, how we use it, with whom it is disclosed, the purpose such disclosed, and the rights you may have available to you regarding your personal information. This Privacy Policy covers personal information collected on our Websites and in connection with our products and services, including when you visit our offices in person or in other ways.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you, as we may update it from time to time as indicated by the Last Updated date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the Websites indicates your acknowledgement of this Privacy Policy and your acceptance of the Terms of Use, which are hereby incorporated by reference.  If you do not agree with any portion of this Privacy Policy, now or as amended by us, please immediately cease using our Websites and services.

The Privacy Policy does not apply to any website operated by an affiliate or subsidiary of the Firm that has a separate privacy policy, nor does it apply to any products, services, websites, mobile applications, or content (including advertising) offered by third parties or that may be linked to or from the Website. Data collected by these third parties is covered by their own privacy policies.

Contents

  • Information We Collect
  • Data Retention
  • How We Use Your Information
  • Disclosure of Your Information
  • Your Choices
  • Security
  • Children Under the Age of 18
  • Third-Party Websites
  • Notice to Individuals Outside the United States
  • Changes to This Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Information We Collect

In this Privacy Policy, “personal information” means any information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with an individual. Personal information does not include:

  • Publicly available information from government records.
  • Deidentified or aggregated consumer information.

We may interact with you in a variety of ways and collect personal information during those interactions. While some personal information we collect is required to provide you the services you are requesting, you may voluntarily provide other personal information.

We collect personal information from these sources:

  • Directly from you.
  • Automatically through cookies and other similar tracking technology when you interact with the Websites or communications, we send to you. For more information, see the “Cookies” section, below.
  • From other sources such as marketing or advertising service providers, vendors that provide services on our behalf such as payment processing, and other publicly available sources.

We may collect the following categories of personal information from you:

  • Personal Identifiers such as your first and last name, online identifiers, email address, phone numbers, account registration information, or similar identifiers.
  • Device Information such as device model, internet protocol (IP) address, cookies, beacons, pixel tags, mobile ad identifier, or similar unique identifiers.
  • Internet/Network Activity such as your interaction with the website, application, or platform.
  • Preferences/Selections you make when you visit our website, such as accessibility preferences.
  • Data You Submit through Forms available on our website such as the “Comments/Questions” field on our Contact Us form.

You may also provide us additional information at your sole discretion when you contact us via the webform or talk to a customer service representative.  Please note that we do not collect or otherwise process any sensitive personal information through the Website.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, as outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. The criteria used to determine our retention periods include: (i) the length of time we have an ongoing relationship with you and provide services to you; (ii) whether there is a legal obligation to which we are subject (for example, certain laws require us to keep records of your transactions for a certain period of time); and (iii) whether retention is advisable in light of our legal position (such as in regard to applicable statutes of limitations, litigation, or regulatory investigations).

Data Minimization and Purpose Limitation

We collect personal information only to the extent it is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is collected and processed, as described in this Privacy Policy. We do not process personal information for purposes that are incompatible with those purposes without your consent or as otherwise required or permitted by law.

If we seek to use your personal information for a new purpose that is materially different from the purposes described at the time of collection, we will provide you with notice of that new purpose and, where required by applicable law, seek your consent before doing so.

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

  • Provide the Websites and services you request;
  • Contact you about your services and products you have engaged us to provide;
  • Communicate with you and to respond to questions you send us;
  • Improve our offerings and understand how you interact with the Websites;
  • Personalize your experience and our services based on your preferences, interests, and interactions with us;
  • Prevent and detect fraud and otherwise comply with law;
  • Protect and enforce our legal rights;
  • Engage with you through advertising and marketing campaigns, including via email and mailing address;
  • Help maintain the safety, security, and integrity of the Websites, databases, and other technology assets, and business; and
  • Test, research, and develop products, including to develop and improve our services, offerings and Websites.

We do not collect, use, or disclose personal information for the purpose of training large language models or other artificial intelligence systems.

Disclosure of Your Information

We disclose your personal information to:

  • Affiliates for business purposes such as providing the Websites and our product and service offerings;
  • Service providers that perform services on behalf of the Firm and for ordinary business purposes including, but not limited to, cloud-hosting platform providers analyzing customer data; providing marketing assistance, financing, and processing payments;
  • Third parties to complete your transaction, administer promotional contests, marketing campaigns, and targeted advertisements, and to protect the security and integrity of the Websites and correct any technical problems and malfunctions; and
  • Third-party payment processors that collect and process payment information on our behalf.
  • To accountants, auditors, lawyers, and other outside professional advisors to the Firm, subject to appropriate contractual obligations of confidentiality.
  • Other third parties with your consent.

We may also process and may disclose information to third parties if the information has been de-identified or aggregated in a way so it cannot be used to identify you.

We may also disclose your Personal Information:

  • To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request;
  • To enforce or apply our terms of use, terms of sale, and other agreements;
  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Firm, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction;
  • At your direction; and
  • In connection with a sale, merger, consolidation, change in control, transfer of assets, reorganization, or liquidation of part or all of our assets or business.

Your Choices

Cookies. The Websites use cookies and similar technologies, such as pixels and beacons, from the Firm, service providers, and third parties to personalize your online experience, remember your preferences, analyze Website usage, advertise our services, and help maintain the security of the Websites. These technologies may collect information about your interactions with the Websites, including the date and time of visits, pages viewed, time spent using our digital offerings, and information about the device used to access the Websites. Through the use of cookies and similar technologies, information about video materials or services you engage with on the Websites may be disclosed incidentally in the ordinary course of business.

You may opt out by visiting the “Cookie Settings,” link in our website footer to revisit your cookie choices.  Please note that opting out of certain types of cookies may affect the availability or functionality of certain Website features, and you may still receive generalized advertisements.

You may also opt out of certain interest-based advertising through industry opt-out tools, such as YourAdChoices and the Network Advertising Initiative. Your choices may be browser- and device-specific, and your mobile device settings may allow you to limit the sharing of certain information for advertising purposes. Additional information about opting out of targeted advertising is provided in the U.S. State Data Privacy Laws section below.

  • Email Choices. You may opt out of marketing or promotional emails from us by following the unsubscribe process included in any such email you receive from us or by contacting us at the contact information listed in the Contact Us section below. Please note that even if you opt out of promotional emails, we may still send you non-promotional communications, such as those about your account or transactions.

Security

We work to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, or unauthorized alteration by using commercially reasonable security safeguards, coupled with security procedures and practices. Although the Firm employs measures to maintain security, we cannot guarantee that your information will not be intercepted by third parties’ illegal efforts. It is your responsibility to maintain the privacy of your username and password. Unauthorized use of your registered account with us will enable access to your personal information. Please keep your username and password in a safe and secure place.

Children Under the Age of 18

The Websites and services are not intended for children under 18 years of age. No one under the age of 18 may provide any personal information to the Websites and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 18. If you believe we might have collected personal information from a child under 18 inadvertently, please email us at the email address provided in the Contact Us section below.

Third-Party Websites

The Websites may also contain links to other websites which are not controlled by us. These links are made available to you as a convenience, and you agree to use these links at your own risk. The Firm disclaims any responsibility for the privacy practices or the content of such other websites. If you navigate to a third-party website from our Websites, we strongly encourage you to review and become familiar with that third-party website’s own privacy policy and statements.

Third parties other than our vendors (such as our website analytics provider), do not have authorization from us to track which websites you visited prior to and after visiting the Websites. Please note, however, that we cannot control third-party tracking and there may be some third-party tracking that occurs without our knowledge or consent.

Notice to Individuals Outside the United States

The Websites are only intended for individuals located in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, any information you provide to us will be transferred to and stored in the United States and that, by submitting information to us, you explicitly authorize its transfer and storage within the United States. We will protect the privacy and security of personal information according to this Privacy Policy regardless of where it is processed or stored.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at our discretion and at any time. When we make changes to this Privacy Policy, we will post the updated notice on the website and update the notice’s effective date. Your continued use of our Websites following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or any other questions or suggestions, please contact us using the information provided below.

Martin Starnes & Associates, CPAs, P.A.

  • Email: info@martinstarnes.com
  • Phone: 828.327.2727 (Hickory, NC office) or 828.632.9025 (Taylorsville, NC office); toll free 800.948.0585
  • Address: 2220 US Hwy 70 SE, Suite 100, Hickory, NC 28602
    (fax 828.328.2324); or 13 South Center Street, Taylorsville, NC 28681 (fax 828.632.9085)