PRIVACY POLICY & DISCLOSURE
As a client or potential client it is important for you to know that this site is only for you and that patients and consumers have a separate site that they are directed to use specifically and exclusively for debt collection purposes.
If you are a patient or consumer with an account with our agency, this website is not for you. Please visit www.preferredcms.com.
PRIVACY POLICY of PREFERRED CMS
At Preferred CMS, we take compliance and your personal privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy describes the policies and procedures of Preferred CMS on the collection, use and disclosure of personal information from those who use or access our websites including debtors that owe money to our clients and have account(s) in collections, our clients and potential clients looking to secure collection services and our vendor partners to whom we use their services. If you are using the Services outside of the United States and Canada, a location-specific privacy policy may apply to you instead. The Services are hosted and operated in the United States and are subject to United States law. By using the Services, you acknowledge and agree that any Personal Data (as defined below) that you provide to us is being provided to us in the United States and will be hosted on United States servers.
Please read this Privacy Policy to learn how we treat your personal information. By using or accessing the Services in any manner, you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Privacy Policy, and you hereby consent that we will collect, use and share your information in the ways described in this Privacy Policy.
Remember that your use of our Services is at all times subject to our Terms of Service, which incorporates this Privacy Policy. Any terms we use in this Privacy Policy without defining them have the definitions given to them in the Terms of Service.
You may cut and paste the text of this policy in Word or any text application to review offline. You may also print this page while online.
WHAT THIS PRIVACY POLICY COVERS
This Privacy Policy covers how we treat Personal Data that we gather when you access or use our Services. “Personal Data” means any information that identifies or relates to a particular individual and also includes information referred to as “personally identifiable information” or “personal information” under applicable data privacy laws, rules or regulations. This Privacy Policy does not cover the practices of companies we don’t own or control or people we don’t manage. This Privacy Policy applies only to Personal Data that we collect from you directly; if we did not collect data directly from you, you should contact the entity that collected your Personal Data in the first instance to address your rights with respect to such data. We do not sell data about you nor transmit information about you to any source we are not legally allowed to do.
SOURCES OF PERSONAL DATA
We collect Personal Data about you from:
YOU – When you provide such information directly to us.
OUR CLIENTS – To whom have collected information about you regarding a debt you have not paid and are now seeking collection services. When Personal Data about debtors is automatically collected in connection with services rendered, products bought, utilities used, rent left unpaid, and other accounts receivables that go unpaid and our client has been unable to collect by themselves, they will send such data needed to effectively recover that amounts owed to them to us.
THIRD PARTIES – When they (“Third Parties) provide us with Personal Data about you. Third Parties that share your Personal Data with us include:
Service providers – For example, we may use Skiptracing services in order to obtain more accurate information than that which our client provided to us about you. (i.e. You moved and did not update your address with the client).
Attorneys – For instance, an attorney may represent you in a personal injury suit related to an accident in which you sought medical services or representing you in a bankruptcy.
Your estate or representative – For instance the Executor of your estate or legal guardian if you are in a nursing home.
CATEGORIES OF THIRD PARTIES WITH WHOM WE SHARE PERSONAL DATA
We disclose your Personal Data to the following categories of service providers and other parties:
Service providers, including:
- Payment processors
- Skiptrace vendors (Name, phone, and address verification providers).
- Mailhouses
- Dialer vendors
- Ringless voicedrop providers
- Security and fraud prevention providers
- Hosting and other technology and communications providers
- Analytics providers and scoring companies
- The major credit bureaus
- Federal and state government regulators
- Email distribution companies (not applicable to debtors only others that visit our website)
- Law Enforcement and courts (to the extent applicable by law)
- Our staff
- Insurance companies (to resolve a claim or appeal and get your account paid)
- Our client creditors to whom we are contracted with
- Attorneys (to the extent needed)
- Parties who acquire your Personal Data through an acquisition or other change of control.
- Personal Data may be transferred to a third party if we undergo a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy or other transaction in which that third party assumes control of our business (in whole or in part).
- Third-party business partners who you interact with through the Services (for instance, if you make a payment in our payment portal or at a CVS store).
- Other parties authorized by you
CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL DATA THAT WE COLLECT
The categories of Personal Data that we collect and have collected over the past twelve (12) months varies depending on whether you are just visiting our website or are a debtor with an account or accounts with our agency and include:
| Category of Personal Data |
Personal Data Collected |
What is the source of this Personal Data? |
| Personal Identifiers |
Real name
Postal address and phone number(s)
Unique personal identifiers (like Social
Security numbers, date of birth-debtors only)
Account numbers (debtors)
Internet Protocol address
Email address
Employment information (debtors and job applicants)
Account name and password
Your Attorney (debtors)
Financial data (debtors)
Your insurance information (debtors) |
You / Affiliates / Third Parties |
Customer records identified by state law (including the California Customer Records
statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)) |
Name
Address
Telephone number
Credit card number
Debit card number
Checking account information |
You / Affiliates / Third Parties |
| Protected classification characteristics under state or federal law |
Age (40 years or older)
Marital status
Gender |
n/a |
| Commercial information |
Records of products or services purchased obtained or considered |
You / Affiliates / Our clients |
| Biometric information |
Copy of a driver’s license if provided
Call recordings |
You, the credit bureaus, our clients |
| Internet network activity Information |
We only collect the information you enter on forms on our site and pages you visited and information on your interaction with our website or if you or your representative emails us. |
You / Third Parties |
| Geolocation Data |
General location as enabled by cookies and IP address and IP address |
You / Affiliates / Third Parties |
| Sensory Data |
We do not collect this category of Personal Data |
n/a |
| Professional or employment |
We only collect this data as presented on an account sent to collections, a vendor whose services we use to locate you, or as provided by you. |
You / Our Clients / Third Parties |
Non-public education
information (per the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)) |
We do not collect this category of Personal Data |
n/a |
Inferences drawn from other
personal information |
Profile reflecting personal preferences |
You / Affiliates / Third Parties |
| Age or date of birth |
Age/Date of birth |
You / Affiliates / Third Parties |
Personal Data about children
under the age of 16 |
Only if the child is the patient for our client |
You/ Our client/ Third Parties |
The following sections provide additional information about how we collect your Personal Data.
INFORMATION COLLECTED AUTOMATICALLY
The Services use cookies and similar technologies such as pixel tags, web beacons, clear GIFs and JavaScript (collectively, “Cookies”) to enable our servers to recognize your web browser and tell us how and when you visit and use our Services, to analyze trends, learn about our user base and operate and improve our Services. Cookies are small pieces of data – usually text files – placed on your computer, tablet, phone or similar device when you use that device to use our Services. We may also supplement the information that we collect from you with information received from Third Parties, including Third Parties that have placed their own Cookies on your device(s). Please note that because of our use of Cookies, the Services do not support “Do Not Track” requests sent from a browser at this time.
We use the following types of Cookies:
Essential Cookies. Essential Cookies are required for providing you with features or services that you have requested. For example, certain Cookies enable you to log into secure areas of our Services. Disabling these Cookies may make certain features and services unavailable.
Functional Cookies. Functional Cookies are used to record your choices and settings regarding our Services, maintain your preferences over time and recognize you when you return to our Services. These Cookies help us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
Performance/Analytical Cookies. Performance/Analytical Cookies allow us to understand how visitors use our Services, such as by collecting information about the number of visitors to the Services, what pages visitors view on our Services, what actions a visitor performs on our Services and how long visitors are viewing pages on the Services. Performance/Analytical Cookies also help us measure the performance of our advertising campaigns in order to help us improve our campaigns and the Services’ content for those who engage with our advertising. For example, Google, Inc. (“Google”) uses cookies in connection with its Google Analytics services. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to the Services is subject to the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy. You have the option to opt out of Google’s use of Cookies by visiting the Google advertising opt-out page at or the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
You can decide whether or not to accept Cookies through your internet browser’s settings. Most browsers have an option for turning off the Cookie feature, which will prevent your browser from accepting new Cookies, as well as (depending on the sophistication of your browser software) allow you to decide on acceptance of each new Cookie in a variety of ways. You can also delete all Cookies that are already on your device. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit our website and some of the Services and functionalities may not work.
To explore what Cookie settings are available to you, look in the “preferences” or “options” section of your browser’s menu. To find out more information about Cookies, including information about how to manage and delete Cookies, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We process Personal Data to operate, collect debts owed to our clients, improve, understand and personalize our Services. We use Personal Data for the following purposes:
To meet or fulfill the reason you provided the information to us
To communicate with you about the Services, including Service announcements, updates or offers
Perform collection services for our clients that are owed money for valid debts
Resolve disputes over debts
Resolve issues regarding payments made, chargebacks, or adjustments needed
To prevent collecting on invalid debt, from a consumer represented by an attorney, or an account included in a bankruptcy.
To provide support and assistance for the Services we provide or our clients provided
To create and manage your Account
To process requests for more information or other transactions
To respond to user inquiries and fulfill user requests
To improve and develop the Services, including testing, research, analysis and product development
To protect against or deter fraudulent, illegal or harmful actions and maintain the safety, security and integrity of our Services
To prevent and mitigate claims of identity theft
To comply with our legal or contractual obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our Terms of Service
To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order or governmental regulations
For any other business purpose stated when collecting your Personal Data or as otherwise set forth in applicable data privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”)
We will not collect additional categories of Personal Data or use the Personal Data we collected for materially different, unrelated or incompatible purposes without providing you notice.
As noted in the list above, we may communicate with you if you’ve provided us the means to do so. For example, if you choose to send us Personal Data by sending us an email, completing a form on our website or contacting our agency, we will keep a record of that communication and may collect and use Personal Data that you provide to us in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If we communicate with you via email, SMS, or other text message (“Text Message”), we may collect information regarding such communications, such as confirmation when you open an email or read a Text Message, opt-in or opt-out. We use this information for purposes such as to operate and improve our Services, including our customer service, or as otherwise permitted by this Privacy Policy. If you opt to have reminders like a payment plan reminder from us sent to your mobile device, we may send you Text Messages regarding your request to the telephone number you provided to us. To opt out of receiving any Text Messages from us, reply “STOP” to any such message.
HOW WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
DISCLOSURES OF PERSONAL DATA ARE FOR A LEGITIMATE BUSINESS PURPOSE.
We disclose your Personal Data to service providers and other parties for the following business purposes:
Detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity, verifying, mitigating, or preventing claims of identity theft.
Performing services on our behalf, including maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling requests, disputes, payment plans, account settlements, verifying customer information, processing payments, noting accounts represented by an attorney or included or not included in a bankruptcy, providing analytic services or providing similar services on behalf of the business or service provider
Undertaking internal research (analytics) to improve operations for ourselves and our clients.
Undertaking activities to verify or maintain the quality and accuracy of the service we provide for improvement, customer service, client satisfaction, or for audits by regulatory agencies.
Over the past twelve months, we have disclosed the following categories of Personal Data to service providers or other parties for the business purposes listed above:
Category A. Personal identifiers
Category B. Customer records identified by state law
Category C. Protected classification characteristics under state or federal law
Category D. Collection data and stats for Medicare patients
Category K. Inferences drawn from other Personal Data
Category L. Age or date of birth
If you decide you would like to stop sharing this information and receiving materials, you can:
email us at support@preferredgroupoftampa.com
call us at 813.741.0802
Advertisers:
Over the past twelve months, we have not sold any of your Personal Data to third parties.
DATA SECURITY AND RETENTION
We seek to protect your Personal Data from unauthorized access, use and disclosure using appropriate physical, technical, organizational and administrative security measures based on the type of Personal Data and how we are processing that data. For example, all credit card information is encrypted and maintained using industry standard methods designed to ensure its security against loss or theft, including during transmission to our third party Payment Processor. Your financial information, such as your payment method (valid credit card number, type, expiration date or other financial information) is only used and stored by our Payment Processor (not our agency), and use and storage of that information by the Payment Processor is governed by the Payment Processor’s applicable terms of service and privacy policy. You should also help protect your data by appropriately selecting and protecting your password and/or other sign-on mechanism, limiting access to your computer or device and browser, and signing off after you have finished accessing your Account information through our website if you are a debtor with an account with our agency. That website is www.preferredcms.com.
Although we work to protect the security of your Account and other data that we hold in our records, please be aware that no method of transmitting data over the Internet or storing data is completely secure. We cannot guarantee the complete security of any data you share with us, and except as expressly required by law, we are not responsible for the theft, destruction, loss or inadvertent disclosure of your information or content.
We retain Personal Data about you for as long as you have an open Account with us or as otherwise necessary to be compliant with all state and federal laws and regulations regarding debt collection. In some cases we retain Personal Data for longer, if doing so is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes or collect fees owed, or is otherwise permitted or required by applicable law, rule or regulation. We may further retain information in an anonymous or aggregated form where that information would not identify you personally.
ACCESS
You have the right to request certain information about our collection and use of your Personal Data over the past 12 months. Upon any such request, we will provide you with the following information:
The categories of Personal Data that we have collected about you
The categories of sources from which that Personal Data was collected
The business or commercial purpose for collecting or disclosing your Personal Data to third parties.
The specific pieces of Personal Data that we have collected about you
If we have disclosed your Personal Data to any third parties for a business purpose over the past 12 months, we will identify the categories of Personal Data shared with each category of third-party recipient.
OTHER STATE LAW PRIVACY RIGHTS
CALIFORNIA RESIDENT RIGHTS
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS:
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, which went into effect January 1, 2020, it is important that you know you have the following rights if you are in the state of California:
- The right to know what personal information is being collected.
- The right to access the personal information collected and request it be deleted.
- The right to know whether your personal information is sold or disclosed and to whom.
- The right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information.
- The right to have equal service and pricing even if you exercise your rights under the CCPA.
- The right to sue for a data breach.
We are not obligated to process a request if we cannot verify that the person making the request is the person about whom we collected information or is someone authorized to act on such person’s behalf. Any personal information we collect from you to verify your identity in connection with your request will be used solely for the purposes of verification. Note that there is an exception to the right to have your personal information deleted if you have a debt in collections. The exception is that if the information requested to be deleted is necessary to complete the performance of a transaction or contract between the business and the consumer it will not be deleted. In other words, if the information is necessary to try and obtain payment from the consumer by a collection agency, the request can be denied.
Your browser may offer you a “Do Not Track” option, which allows you to signal to operators of websites and web applications and services that you do not wish such operators to track certain of your online activities over time and across different websites. Our Services do not support Do Not Track requests at this time. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” you can visit www.allaboutdnt.com.
WE WILL NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST YOU FOR EXERCISING YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE CCPA
We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights under the CCPA. We will not deny you our goods or services, charge you different prices or rates, or provide you a lower quality of goods and services if you exercise your rights under the CCPA.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
We’re constantly trying to improve our Services, so we may need to change this Privacy Policy from time to time in connection with any such improvements, but we will alert you to any such changes by placing a notice on harrys.com, by sending you an email and/or by some other means. Please note that if you’ve opted not to receive legal notice emails from us (or you haven’t provided us with your email address), those legal notices will still govern your use of the Services. If you use the Services after any changes to the Privacy Policy have been posted, that means you agree to all of the changes. Use of information we collect is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is collected.
CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, the ways in which we collect and use your Personal Data, or your choices and rights regarding such collection and use, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
800-741-0802
support@preferredgroupoftampa.com
Preferred CMS – 8875 Hidden River Pkwy Suite 100 – Tampa, FL 33637
Effective Date: January 1, 2020
© Copyright Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. If you have a debt with our agency then this is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. We are a debt collection agency.
