Privacy statement

Ernst & Young (“EY”) intends for ey.com (“Our Site”) to complement the services that the firm provides. This statement, set forth below, is our privacy statement for the United States Web site. This privacy statement describes the practices we follow to respect the privacy of all visitors to this site.

At Ernst & Young, we have focused on implementing fair information practices that are designed to protect your privacy. We believe that everyone benefits from the free flow of information when that information is gathered and used responsibly. Please be aware that ey.com contains links to other sites, including sites maintained by Ernst & Young, which are not governed by this privacy policy. See the side bar on the right to learn which Web sites are governed by this statement.

If you have questions or you do not feel that your concerns have been addressed in our privacy statement, feel free to contact us.

How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals

EY does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals. Details on your ability to restrict or change the personal information that we may collect about you are listed below under the Collection, Use, Disclosure, Choice section of this statement. For more information as to how we use cookies, please see the applicable section here.

Collection, Use, Disclosure, Choice

If you are merely a visitor to ey.com, Ernst & Young does not collect any personal information about you, except to the limited extent through the use of cookies, which are described below. However, there may be circumstances in which you choose to register for ongoing updates from EY. In these cases, EY may contact registrants to invite them to special events, provide them with information about our services, publications and products, or for other marketing purposes. Information collected at registration is protected using industry-standard encryption technology as it is sent over the Internet.

You may choose to register for:

• Email Alerts. Ernst & Young in the US offers an email alert service to site visitors, in which we send subscribers free email updates when new information is added to ey.com/us. If you decide to subscribe, we will collect basic contact information about you, such as your name and email address. Please note registration is not required for you to use our site.
• Your Choice Ernst & Young gives you choices regarding the collection and usage of your personally identifiable information. If you do not wish to provide your name and email address, simply do not register for email updates. If you have registered with ey.com but do not wish to receive future e-mails, please go to the “Connect With Us” section to the right of this privacy notice to unsubscribe. You may also update your email address or other personal information at that same site. If you wish to view any personal information you may have provided to us, please send a request to our site manager.
• Unsubscribing to or modifying your information for the distribution of our careers newsletter, Inside Ernst & Young, can be done via the links at the bottom of any Inside Ernst & Young issue.
• Job Search Area. In our job search section, Ernst & Young posts open positions; applicants can apply online. Should you decide to apply for a position via our Web site, the application and resume you submit will be entered into an Ernst & Young proprietary database.

Your Choice. Ernst & Young gives you choices regarding the collection and usage of your personally identifiable information. To update any application or resume you have submitted, please apply again via the job search section, and re-submit your updated information. Due to volume, Ernst & Young cannot personally respond to individual requests for applicant status.

• Thought Center Webcast section. To view an Ernst & Young Thought Center Webcast (live or archived), registration is required. When you register, you may be asked for personal information (name, contact information, etc.). The type of information collected will vary but could include data such as but not limited to your name, email and mailing addresses, country, industry, company, position and phone number. At the time of registration, you are also asked whether or not you are a client of Ernst & Young, and whether or not you would like to be informed of upcoming webcasts via Thought Center Webcast email alerts.

Your information is required in order to view any webcast. At the time of registration, you can check a box to automate the log-in process, which allows you to be automatically logged on when you return to the Ernst & Young Thought Center Webcast section using the same computer. We use registration information for internal research and analysis purposes only, to help us understand who is viewing our webcasts, and become better equipped to serve your needs.

Your Choice. Ernst & Young gives you choices regarding the collection and usage of your personally identifiable information. If you have registered for Ernst & Young Thought Center Webcast Alerts, and do not wish to receive future emails, please open any Thought Center Webcast email you have received, and click the link (or copy and paste the URL) at the bottom of the email: "To remove yourself from the mailing list..." If you do not have an email to access this URL, please request to be removed from the email list through the "update your profile" function, where you can also submit any changes to your personal profile.

Because we do not require a password to use the section, we do not allow you to directly view or change your personal profile. This is for your privacy and protection. Any requests we receive via the "update your personal profile" function will be verified via your email address, which means you must enter the same one you entered when first registering.

If you are interested in Thought Center Webcasts, but you do not wish to provide any personally identifiable information, you can read the executive summaries ("webcast recaps") posted on ey.com, which require no registration.

• Research. Ernst & Young conducts surveys via its web site. Survey participants may be asked for personally identifiable information (name, contact information, etc.) in addition to opinions or feedback. The type of information collected in surveys will vary.
• Thought Leadership Registration. Ernst & Young occasionally requires registration in exchange for Ernst & Young thought leadership: white papers, articles, studies, reports, survey analyses, booklets, etc. Your personal information may be requested in registration forms; the type of information collected from you will vary. Ernst & Young reserves the right to distribute certain thought leadership materials only to those who supply the requested information. On occasion, Ernst & Young may contact registrants to invite them to special events, provide them with information about our services, publications and products, or for other marketing purposes.
• Event Registration. Ernst & Young facilitates event registration via its own web site or, at times, via third party web sites. Personally identifiable information may be asked on event registration forms; the type of information collected will vary. Ernst & Young may share registrant information with third parties in association with the event. Examples of "third parties" include hotels, sponsors or co-sponsors, promoters, event organizers (including via third party web sites), speakers, panelists, etc.
• Entrepreneur of the Year® Nominations. Ernst & Young accepts nominations for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program via its web site. Personally identifiable information, including financial data, is required of the nominee, and the nominee must sign the nomination form. Nomination forms are provided to the program sponsors and independent national and regional panels of judges, in order to select award recipients.

Further, some of the information on the nomination form may be used for research, educational, or any other purpose, but will not divulge the personal identity of the nominee or the identity of the nominee's company to any person other than the sponsors, the judges, and their respective affiliates. Nominees must consent to this usage in order to participate in the nomination process. The nominator may include their own personally identifiable information on the form, however, it is not required. If nominator information is supplied, it is subject to the same terms as nominee information.

• EY Alumni
  Any personal information that an alumnus submit to EY will only be used to maintain contact with that alumnus, and will not be disclosed to any third party without the individual’s express permission.
• EY Client Portal
  If you have been given access rights to EY Client Portal by your EY contact, we would recommend you take note of the privacy notice associated with this service. You will have access to the notice once you log onto EY Client Portal.

Special categories of personal data

EY does not intentionally collect any special categories of personal data (sensitive personal information) via Our Site unless legally required to do so, for example, for recruitment purposes. Sensitive personal information includes information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, the processing of genetic or biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, information concerning health, information concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation, and in some cases, social security numbers or financial information.

Data Security/Integrity

Ernst & Young has technological and operational security functions in place to protect personally identifiable information from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. The data you may provide via the United States Web site is shared only with authorized employees of Ernst & Young, and on a limited basis, with vendors who supply information management services, and third parties in association with events (see "Event Registration" and "Entrepreneur of the Year® Nominations" paragraphs above). Access to your information is limited by need, and those who have access to the data have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of such information. In addition, Ernst & Young may disclose personally identifiable information as may be required by subpoena, search warrant, or other legal process.

Disclosures and Transfers

Ernst & Young does not disclose an individual’s personal information to third parties, except when one or more of the following conditions is true:

• The disclosure is required by law or mandatory professional standards;
• The disclosure is reasonably related to the sale or other disposition of all or part of our business;
• The disclosure is reasonably necessary for the establishment of legal claims
• The disclosure is to another Ernst & Young entity or to persons or entities providing services on our or the individual’s behalf (each a "transferee"), consistent with the purpose for which the information was obtained, if the transferee, with respect to the information in question:
• is subject to law providing an adequate level of privacy protection;
• has agreed in writing to provide an adequate level of privacy protection.

Transfers of personal information

EY has a comprehensive global privacy compliance program that includes EU-approved Binding Corporate Rules as well as certification to the EU-US Privacy Shield and the Swiss-US Privacy Shield Frameworks administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Privacy Shield Program). Please see EY’s Binding Corporate Rules page for more information on our Binding Corporate Rules, and EY’s Privacy Shield Notice for more information on how EY complies with the Privacy Shield program. EY will only disclose your personal information to third parties that have agreed in writing to provide an adequate level of privacy protection.

Controlling your personal information

EY does not collect or compile personal information obtained by Our Site for dissemination or sale to outside parties for consumer marketing purposes or host mailings on behalf of third parties.

Depending on your jurisdiction or the jurisdiction in which you reside, you may be legally entitled to request details of the personal information about you that we are in possession of. In such instances we provide you with the ability to make sure your personal information is accurate and up to date as well as request a copy of your personal information, rectification, erasure, or restriction of processing of your personal information.

Information collected from visitors to Our Site will only be kept in order to provide the required service. Once the service has been completed all information will be destroyed in accordance with EY’s data retention policies.

Third-party links

Please be aware that ey.com sometimes contains links to other sites that are not governed by this privacy statement. Visitors to Our Site may be directed to third-party sites for more information, such as about our thought leadership, events, content sponsorships, vendor services, government entities, non-profits, and social networks.

EY makes no representations or warranties regarding how your information is stored or used on third-party servers. We recommend that you review the privacy statement of each third-party site linked to from Our Site to determine their use of your personal information.

Cookies and Web Beacons

The Ernst & Young ey.com Web site and/or any of its governed sections may use cookies, web beacons, and other web technologies such as CAPTCHAs, to improve Our Site’s performance and to enhance your browsing experience. Certain areas of Our Site also use cookies to understand more about you, so we can offer you a more personalized browsing experience.

Cookies. A "Cookie" is technology that allows Our Site to store tokens of information (an 'identifier') in your browser used only by our site while you are on our site. Cookies are not used to determine the personal identity of anyone who is merely visiting ey.com. They help us track traffic patterns so that we know what areas of our site users like and don't like. Cookies have other uses as well.

In the Thought Center Webcast section, they are used to provide entry for subscribers who have chosen the automatic log-on feature during registration. Cookies are also used to prevent online poll participants from voting more than once. If you do not want to receive a cookie from ey.com or the Thought Center Webcast section, you have the option of setting your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, so that you may determine whether to accept it or not. However, please be aware that if you do turn off 'cookies' in your browser, you will not be able to fully experience the features of the Thought Center Webcast section—such as automatic log-on and other personalization features.

How do I disable cookies? If you do not want to receive a cookie from Our Site or the Webcast Section, you have the option of setting your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, so that you may determine whether to accept it or not. However, please be aware that if you do turn off 'cookies' in your browser, you will not be able to fully experience some of Our Site. For example, you will not be able to benefit from automatic log-on and other personalization features of the Webcast Section.

What cookies does EY use? The cookies used by Our Site perform four functions, as classified below:

• Essential/Strictly Necessary Cookies

Some cookies we use are essential to the functioning of Our Site. For example, remembering your log-in details to certain parts of Our Site.

• Performance Cookies

Some cookies help us with the performance and design of Our Site. This allows us to measure how many times a page has been visited, whether a page has been visited on Our Site through an advertisement or by other means.

• Functionality Cookies

Some cookies help us to remember your settings which you may have selected, or assist with other functionality when you browse and use Our Site. This helps us to remember what you have selected, so on your return visit we remember your preferences.

• Targeting and Tracking Cookies

On certain pages of Our Site, we use cookies to help us understand your interests as you browse the internet, so we can tailor and deliver to you a more personalized service in the future. This assists us in delivering relevant advertising to you during various advertising campaigns we may run from time to time through participating third party sites.

These cookies collect information relating to the origin of your visit, where you were exposed to EY advertising, what advertising feature you saw, whether you arrived directly or indirectly to Our Site, the device you used to visit Our Site and which downloads you performed. This information is collected on an anonymous basis via third party suppliers.

In addition, we also utilize cookies on certain pages of Our Site to communicate with third party data suppliers in order to extrapolate your digital behavior. This helps us to understand and target more relevant advertising in the future. The information we receive is all aggregate and anonymous, but will include statistics such as demographics, online behavior, product interests and lifestyle. Targeting and tracking cookies are provided via trusted third party suppliers. Should you require more information regarding our suppliers and how these cookies operate please contact us.

Web Beacons. Ernst & Young occasionally advertises on third party Web sites. As part of our effort to track the success of our advertising campaigns, we may at times use a visitor identification technology such as "web beacons," or "action tags," which count visitors who have come to ey.com after being exposed to an Ernst & Young banner ad on a third party site. We do not use this technology to access your personally identifiable information; it is only used to compile aggregated statistics about visitors who come to ey.com and to gauge the effectiveness of our ads.

By navigating to Our Site, you agree that we can place cookies and web beacons on your computer or device. If you prefer not to receive cookies or web beacons, then you should stop using Our Site or consult your browser settings.

Social Media Platforms.

You may wish to participate in the various blogs, forums, wikis and other social media platforms hosted by Ernst & Young (“Social Media Platforms"), which we make available to you. The main aim of these Social Media Platforms is to facilitate and allow you to share content. Ernst & Young cannot be held responsible if you share personal information on Social Media Platforms that is subsequently used, misused or otherwise appropriated by another user.

Ernst & Young may also provide links to other social media platforms maintained on separate servers by individuals or organizations over which Ernst & Young has no control. Ernst & Young makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or any other aspect of the information located on such servers. A link to a third party’s website should not be construed as an endorsement by either Ernst & Young or that third party of the other or its products and services. Ernst & Young makes no representations or warranties regarding how user data is stored or used on third-party servers. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of each third-party site linked from Our Site to determine their use of your personal data.

Supplier Diversity Program.

Ernst & Young identifies and works with small, minority- and women-owned businesses. Our procurement teams use a supplier diversity database when searching for qualified suppliers. Certified companies can register to join our database via our web site (www.ey.com/us/supplierdiversity). The type of information collected on the secure registration form is standard in the supplier diversity industry, and the required information on the form is necessary to become part of our database. This information enables Ernst & Young to make informed procurement decisions.

The registration form and the supplier database are maintained by a third party, who has agreed in writing to provide an adequate level of privacy protection for all Ernst & Young registrant data. If you have already registered, and would like to view or update your information, please log on to the site (a "Forgot Your Password?" feature is available there). If you have questions about our supplier diversity policies, please email the supplier diversity group.

Children.

Ernst & Young understands the importance of protecting children's privacy in the interactive, online world. Our Site does not intentionally target or solicit to children 13 and younger. Some of the firm's other online services may be designed to educate children on financial and other matters. These Ernst & Young sites are not governed by this privacy policy but will have their own privacy policies that more fully explain how they respect and protect the privacy of children while providing them valuable information, fun, and education.

Accountability.

Ernst & Young complies with applicable privacy regulations. Ernst & Young supports and is involved in consumer, government and industry efforts to identify and resolve privacy issues.

Changes to this privacy statement.

Ernst & Young may change this policy statement as needed. If changes to the statement are made, please note that it may take up to 30 business days before new privacy practices are implemented. Check this page periodically if you would like to monitor changes.

Unsubscribe.

EY gives you choices regarding the collection and usage of your personal information. If you have registered for any EY related updates through ey.com, and do not wish to receive future e-mails, please visit our unsubscribe page within the application you registered.

Contact us; Complaints.

If you have questions, you do not feel that your concerns have been addressed in this privacy statement, or you are concerned about an alleged breach of privacy law or other data protection regulation by EY, please contact us and a member of EY’s Data Protection team will be made available to answer your question and/or investigate your complaint and give you information about how it will be handled. If you are not satisfied with the way in which EY has resolved your complaint, you have the right to complain to the data protection authority in your country. You may also refer the matter to a court of competent jurisdiction.