Privacy Policy.

Who we are

This Privacy Policy describes how Northmark ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses and shares personal information when you visit our website at northmark.com, contact us, or become a client. Northmark is a company registered in the State of [State], United States, with its principal place of business at 1331 Medfield Ave, Baltimore, MD 21211, USA.

If you have any questions about this policy or your personal information, you can reach us at [email protected].

Information we collect

Information you give us directly. When you fill in our contact form, request an audit, subscribe to our newsletter, or engage us as a client, you may provide your name, business email address, phone number, company name, website URL, job title, and any information you include in the message or brief you send us.

Information collected automatically. When you visit our website, we and our service providers automatically collect standard log data, including your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring page, the pages you visit on our site, the date and time of your visit, and general geographic location inferred from your IP address.

Cookies and similar technologies. We use cookies and similar technologies to remember your preferences, measure how our site is used and, where you consent, deliver marketing. See the Cookies section below.

Information from client engagements. During a paid engagement we may receive access to your business systems (for example Google Analytics, Google Search Console, your CMS, server logs). Any personal information within those systems is processed on your behalf under our Terms of Service, not under this Privacy Policy.

We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

How we use your information

We use the information described above to:

• Respond to your inquiries and provide the services you request.
• Deliver, invoice for and support paid engagements.
• Send you service-related messages (for example, audit deliveries, invoices, changes to these policies).
• Send you marketing emails about our services, where you have opted in or where permitted by law. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every marketing email.
• Measure and improve our website, our services and our marketing.
• Detect, prevent and respond to fraud, abuse, security incidents and other harmful activity.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our agreements.

Legal bases and your consent

We process your personal information because it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, because we have a legitimate interest in running and improving our business (balanced against your interests and rights), because you have consented, or because we are required to comply with a legal obligation. Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information for money.

We share personal information only with:

• Service providers who process it on our behalf under written contracts limiting their use of it, including our website host, email delivery provider, analytics provider, CRM, accounting software and payment processor.
• Professional advisors such as our lawyers, accountants and auditors, bound by professional confidentiality.
• Authorities where required by law, court order or valid government request, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Northmark, our clients, our people or others.
• A successor entity in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing or sale of substantially all of our assets, subject to standard confidentiality protections.

A current list of our main service providers is available on request.

Cookies and analytics

Our website uses a small number of cookies:

• Strictly necessary cookies that make the site work (for example, remembering your cookie preferences). These do not require your consent.
• Analytics cookies that help us understand how visitors use the site. We use Google Analytics with IP anonymization enabled. Google's own privacy notice is at policies.google.com/privacy.
• Marketing cookies, only if you consent, to measure the performance of our advertising.

You can control cookies through our cookie banner on your first visit, your browser settings, or the Google Analytics opt-out at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may break parts of the site.

How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, then delete or anonymize it. Typical retention periods are:

• Contact form and audit request submissions: up to 24 months from the last contact.
• Newsletter subscriber records: until you unsubscribe, then archived for up to 24 months to honor your unsubscribe.
• Client contract, engagement and financial records: seven (7) years after the engagement ends, to meet tax, audit and legal obligations.
• Website analytics data: 26 months in Google Analytics.

How we protect your information

We use administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorized access, including encryption in transit, access controls, least-privilege permissions on internal systems, and background checks on employees with access to client data. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but if we discover a breach affecting your personal information we will notify you and any required regulator without undue delay.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights in relation to your personal information: to know what we hold about you, to access a copy of it, to correct inaccurate information, to delete it, to restrict or object to certain processing, to opt out of targeted advertising and the sale or sharing of personal information, and to be free from discrimination for exercising these rights.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA). California residents have specific rights, including the rights to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, to delete personal information, to correct inaccurate personal information, to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information (we do not sell or share as those terms are defined by California law), and to limit the use of sensitive personal information (we do not use sensitive personal information for any purpose that would trigger this right). You may also designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf.

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within the time required by applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

International visitors

Northmark is based in the United States and our servers and service providers are primarily located in the United States. If you access our website from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored in and processed in the United States, which may have data protection laws different from those in your country. By using our website you consent to this transfer.

Do Not Track

Some browsers offer a "Do Not Track" signal. Because there is no consistent industry standard for interpreting this signal, our website does not currently respond to it. You can still control tracking through the cookie and opt-out mechanisms described above.

Third-party websites

Our website may link to third-party sites we do not control. Their privacy practices are their own and this policy does not apply to them. Please review their privacy notices before providing information.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of the page and, for material changes, take reasonable steps to notify you (for example by email or a notice on the website) before they take effect.

Contact

To ask a question about this policy or to exercise any of your rights, email [email protected] or write to Northmark, 1331 Medfield Ave, Baltimore, MD 21211, USA.