Ernst & Young cares about your privacy

Updated November 22, 2004

Ernst & Young intends for ey.com to complement the services that the firm provides. This statement sets forth our privacy policy for the United States Web site, and 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.

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. There are a number of circumstances, however, in which we may collect information:

• 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 use our easy unsubscribe page. Learn how to correct and update your email address. If you wish to view any personal information you may have provided to us, please send a request to our site manager.

• 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. Entries deemed inactive for 90 days are purged from the 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 must provide 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. Information collected at registration is protected using industry-standard encryption technology as it is sent over the Internet. All 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 E&Y 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 E&Y Thought Center Webcast Alerts, and do not wish to receive future emails, please open a previous Thought Center Webcast email you have received, and click the link (or copy and paste the URL) at the bottom of email: "To remove yourself from the mailing list..." If you do not have a previous 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. Personally identifiable information may be asked on registration forms; the type of information collected 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.

• 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 (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.

  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; or
  • The disclosure is to another E&Y 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; or
  • subscribes to the Safe Harbor Principles published by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
  Cookies. The Ernst & Young ey.com Web site and/or any of its governed sections may use 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.
  "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 technology called "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.
  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.

  Children. Ernst & Young understands the importance of protecting children's privacy in the interactive, online world. ey.com 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 Policy. 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.

  Consumer Recourse. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your privacy while using ey.com, please contact our site manager.