CCPA Privacy Policy

Forward Financing Privacy Policy for California Residents

Effective Date: January 1, 2020
Last Revised on: December 20, 2021

This Privacy Policy for California Residents (“CCPA Policy”) supplements the information contained in Forward Financing LLC’s and its affiliates’ (collectively, “Company”) general Privacy Policy (available at https://www.forwardfinancing.com/privacy-policy/), and applies solely to all visitors, users, and other consumers who reside in the State of California (“consumers” or “you”). The Company has adopted this CCPA Policy to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this Notice.

This CCPA Policy does not apply to workforce-related Personal Information collected from California-based employees, job applicants, contractors, or similar individuals. California-based employees, job applicants, contractors, and similar individuals will receive a separate CCPA notice at or before the point their Personal Information is collected by the Company.

Where noted in this CCPA Policy, the CCPA temporarily exempts Personal Information reflecting a written or verbal business-to-business communication or transaction (“B2B Personal Information”) from some of its requirements.

 

I. Information the Company Collects

As part of providing funding to small and medium-sized businesses, the Company collects information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer, household, or device (“Personal Information”).

Personal Information does not include:

  • Publicly available information from government records.
  • Deidentified or aggregated consumer information.
  • Information excluded from the CCPA’s scope, like:
    • Health or medical information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), clinical trial data, or other qualifying research data;
    • Personal information covered by certain sector-specific privacy laws, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) or California Financial Information Privacy Act (FIPA), and the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994.

In particular, the Company has collected the following categories of Personal Information from consumers within the past twelve (12) months:

Category Examples Collected?
A. Identifiers A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers. YES
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)) A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information. Some Personal Information included in this category may overlap with other categories. YES
C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information (including familial genetic information). YES
D. Commercial information Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. YES
E. Biometric information Genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics, or activity patterns used to extract a template or other identifier or identifying information, such as, fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints, iris or retina scans, keystroke, gait, or other physical patterns, and sleep, health, or exercise data. NO
F. Internet or other similar network activity Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. YES
G. Geolocation data Physical location or movements. YES
H. Sensory data Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information. YES
I. Professional or employment-related information Current or past job history or performance evaluations. YES
J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)) Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. YES
K. Inferences drawn from other Personal Information Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes. YES

The Company obtains the categories of Personal Information listed above from the following categories of sources:

  •  Directly from you or your agent(s). For example, from information that you provide on an electronic financing application on the Company’s website (https://www.forwardfinancing.com/ and its sub-domains).
  •  Indirectly from you or your agent(s). For example, through website usage details collected automatically when you browse the Company’s website, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address or browser type.
  •  From third parties that interact with the Company in connection with the services the Company provides to you. For example, from a broker or independent sales organization (ISO) that facilitates the funding process or presents a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

 

II. Personal Information

The Company may use or disclose the Personal Information it collects for one or more of the following business purposes:

  •  To fulfill or meet the reason for which you provided the information. For example, if you provide information on an electronic financing application, the Company will use that information to evaluate your eligibility for funding.
  •  To provide, support, personalize, and develop the Company’s website, products and services.
  •  To create, maintain, customize, and secure your account with the Company.
  •  To process your requests, purchases, transactions, and payments and prevent transactional fraud.
  •  To provide you with support and to respond to your inquiries, including to investigate and address your concerns and monitor and improve the Company’s responses.
  • To personalize your website experience and to deliver content and product and service offerings relevant to your interests.
  • To provide you with email alerts, event registrations, and other notices concerning the Company’s products or services, or events or news, that may be of interest to you.
  • To help maintain the safety, security, and integrity of the Company’s website, products and services, database and other technology assets, and business.
  • For testing, research, analysis, and product development, including to develop and improve the Company’s website, products, and services.
  • To carry out the Company’s obligations and enforce the Company’s rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and the Company, including for billing and collection.
  • As necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property or safety of the Company or others.
  • To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations.
  • To evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Company’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of a bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Information held by the Company about consumers is among the assets transferred.
  • As described in any contract entered into between you and the Company or as otherwise described to you when collecting your Personal Information.

The Company will not collect additional categories of Personal Information or use the Personal Information it collected for materially different, unrelated, or incompatible purposes without providing you notice.

 

III. Sharing Personal Information

The Company may share your Personal Information by disclosing it to a third party for a business purpose. The Company only makes these business purpose disclosures under written contracts that describe the purposes, require the recipient to keep the Personal Information confidential, and prohibit using the disclosed information for any purpose except performing the contract. In the preceding twelve (12) months, the Company has disclosed Personal Information for a business purposes to the categories of third parties indicated in the chart below.

Personal Information Category Business Purpose Disclosures
A. Identifiers ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Government entities.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Business partners, such as brokers or ISOs that facilitated the funding process or presented a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

●      Internet cookie data recipients, like Google Analytics.

●      Social networks (name only from this category, with your permission).

●      E-signature platforms like DocuSign.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Fraud prevention providers.

●      Customer relationship management (CRM) providers.

●      Legal advisors, auditors, and collection agencies.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)) ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Government entities.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Business partners, such as brokers or ISOs that facilitated the funding process or presented a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

●      Internet cookie data recipients, like Google Analytics.

●      Social networks (name only from this category, with your permission).

●      E-signature platforms like DocuSign.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Fraud prevention providers.

●      Customer relationship management (CRM) providers.

●      Legal advisors, auditors, and collection agencies.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Government entities.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Business partners, such as brokers or ISOs that facilitated the funding process or presented a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

●      E-signature platforms like DocuSign.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Fraud prevention providers.

●      Customer relationship management (CRM) providers.

●      Legal advisors, auditors, and collection agencies.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
D. Commercial information ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Government entities.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Business partners, such as brokers or ISOs that facilitated the funding process or presented a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

●      Internet cookie data recipients, like Google Analytics.

●      Social networks (status as a customer of Company only from this category, with your permission).

●      E-signature platforms like DocuSign.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Fraud prevention providers.

●      Customer relationship management (CRM) providers.

●      Legal advisors, auditors, and collection agencies.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
F. Internet or other similar network activity ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Government entities.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Business partners, such as brokers or ISOs that facilitated the funding process or presented a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

●      Internet cookie data recipients, like Google Analytics.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Legal advisors.

●      Other third parties for whom we have obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
G. Geolocation data ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Internet cookie data recipients, like Google Analytics.

●      E-signature platforms like DocuSign.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
H. Sensory data ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Government entities.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Business partners, such as brokers or ISOs that facilitated the funding process or presented a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Social networks (with your permission).

●      Legal advisors, auditors, and collection agencies.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
I. Professional or employment-related information ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Social networks (with your permission).

●      Cloud providers.

●      Fraud prevention providers.

●      Legal advisors, auditors, and collection agencies.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)) ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Cloud providers.

●      Fraud prevention providers.

●      Legal advisors and auditors.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.
K. Inferences drawn from other Personal Information ●      Affiliate, parent, or subsidiary organizations. 

●      Service providers.

●      Internet service providers.

●      Data analytic providers.

●      Government entities.

●      Operating systems and platforms.

●      Business partners, such as brokers or ISOs that facilitated the funding process or presented a funding deal to the Company on your behalf.

●      Internet cookie data recipients, like Google Analytics.

●      Social networks (with your permission).

●      Cloud providers.

●      Customer relationship management (CRM) providers.

●      Legal advisors, auditors, and collection agencies.

●      Other third parties for whom the Company has obtained your permission to disclose your Personal Information.

The Company Does Not Sell Personal Information

In the preceding twelve (12) months, the Company has not sold any Personal Information.  The Company does not and will not sell Personal Information.  If, in the future, the Company anticipates selling your Personal Information to any party, the Company will provide you with the opt-out and opt-in rights required by the CCPA.

 

IV. Your Rights and Choices

The CCPA provides consumers (California residents) with specific rights regarding their Personal Information. This Section IV describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.

Right to Know and Data Portability

You have the right to request that the Company disclose certain information to you about its collection and use of your Personal Information over the past twelve (12) months (the “right to know”). Once the Company receives your request and confirms your identity (see Exercising Your Rights to Know or Delete below), the Company will disclose to you:

  • The categories of Personal Information the Company collected about you.
  • The categories of sources for the Personal Information the Company collected about you.
  • The Company’s business or commercial purpose for collecting that Personal Information.
  • The categories of third parties with whom the Company shares that Personal Information.
  • The specific pieces of Personal Information the Company collected about you (also called a “data portability” request).
  • If the Company disclosed your Personal Information for a business purpose, a list of such disclosures identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient obtained.

The Company does not provide a right to know or data portability disclosure for B2B Personal Information. 

Right to Delete

You have the right to request that the Company delete any of your Personal Information that the Company collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions (the “right to delete”). Once the Company receives your request and confirms your identity (see Exercising Your Rights to Know or Delete below), the Company will review your request to see if an exception allowing the Company to retain the Personal Information applies.  The Company may deny your deletion request if retaining the Personal Information is necessary for the Company or its service providers to:

  • Complete the transaction for which the Company collected the Personal Information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of the Company’s ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform the Company’s contract with you.
  • Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
  • Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
  • Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
  • Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546  seq.).
  • Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the Personal Information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
  • Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with the Company.
  • Comply with a legal obligation.
  • Make other internal and lawful uses of that Personal Information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

The Company will delete or deidentify Personal Information not subject to one of these exceptions from the Company’s records and will direct its service providers to take similar action. The Company does not provide these deletion rights for B2B Personal Information.

Exercising Your Rights to Know or Delete

To exercise your rights to know or delete described above, please submit a request to the Company by either:

Forward Financing LLC

Attn: Compliance

53 State Street

20th Floor

Boston, MA 02109

Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a request to know or delete your Personal Information. To designate an authorized agent, or if you are an authorized agent seeking to exercise CCPA rights on behalf of another person, you must contact the Company by one of the methods listed above and provide the Company with the agent’s name, contact information, and other relevant information and documentation, such as a Power of Attorney or letter of conservatorship, that will help the Company identify the authorized agent. You may also make a request to know or delete on behalf of your minor child.

You may only submit a request to know twice within a 12-month period. Your request to know or delete must:

  • Provide sufficient information that allows the Company to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom the Company collected Personal Information or an authorized representative, which may include name, email address, phone number, proof of your identity, residency verification, and last four digits of your Social Security number in order to match the identifying information you provide to the Personal Information of the consumer already maintained by the Company.
  • Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows the Company to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

The Company cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if the Company cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Information relates to you.  You do not need to create an account with the Company in order to submit a request to know or delete.  The Company will only use Personal Information provided in the request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.

Response Timing and Format

The Company will confirm receipt of your request within ten (10) business days.  If you do not receive confirmation within the 10-day timeframe, please contact compliance@forwardfinancing.com. The Company endeavors to substantively respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt.  If the Company requires more time (up to another 45 days), the Company will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.  If you have an account with the Company, the Company will deliver its written response to that account.  If you do not have an account with the Company, the Company will deliver its written response by mail or electronically, at your option.  Any disclosures the Company provides will only cover the 12-month period preceding the receipt of your request.  The response the Company provides will also explain the reasons that the Company cannot comply with a request, if applicable.  For data portability requests, the Company will select a format to provide your Personal Information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the Personal Information from one entity to another entity without hindrance, typically by email or first class mail (based on how the request was submitted), but the Company does not guarantee that all formats are useable in all media.

The Company does not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded.  If the Company determines that the request warrants a fee, the Company will tell you why it made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Personal Information Sales Opt-Out and Opt-In Rights

The Company does not and will not sell Personal Information.  If, in the future, the Company anticipates selling your Personal Information to any party, the Company will provide you with the opt-out and opt-in rights required by the CCPA as outlined immediately below:

If you are 16 years of age or older, you have the right to direct a business not to sell your Personal Information at any time (the “right to opt-out”).  A business cannot sell the Personal Information of consumers that the business actually knows are less than 16 years of age, unless the business receives affirmative authorization (the “right to opt-in”) from either the consumer who is at least 13 years of age but not yet 16 years of age, or the parent or guardian of a consumer less than 13 years of age.  Consumers who opt-in to Personal Information sales may opt-out of future sales at any time.  To exercise the right to opt-out, you (or your authorized representative) may submit a request to the business (typically by visiting the business’ dedicated web page for requests through a link titled “Do Not Sell My Personal Information”).  Once you make an opt-out request, the business will wait at least twelve (12) months before asking you to reauthorize Personal Information sales.  However, you may change your mind and opt back in to Personal Information sales at any time by following the business’s opt-in instructions.  You do not need to create an account with a business to exercise your opt-out rights. A business will only use Personal Information provided in an opt-out request to review and comply with the request.

 

V. Non-Discrimination

The Company will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, the Company will not:

  • Deny you goods or services.
  • Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
  • Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
  • Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

However, the Company may offer you certain financial incentives permitted by the CCPA that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels.  Any CCPA-permitted financial incentive the Company offers will reasonably relate to your Personal Information’s value and contain written terms that describe the program’s material aspects.  Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt-in consent, which you may revoke at any time. The Company does not currently offer a financial incentive program.

 

VI. Other California Privacy Rights

California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of the Company’s website that are California residents to request certain information regarding the Company’s disclosure of personal information, if any, to third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes. The disclosure requirements apply only if the Company shares consumers’ personal information with third parties for them to directly market their own products to those consumers, instead of assisting the Company with the Company’s own business. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please email compliance@forwardfinancing.com or write us at: Forward Financing LLC, Attn: Compliance, 53 State Street, 20th Floor, Boston, MA 02109.

 

VII. Changes to the Company’s CCPA Policy

The Company reserves the right to amend this CCPA Policy at its discretion and at any time. When the Company makes changes to this CCPA Policy, the Company will notify you by posting the updated CCPA Policy on its website homepage and updating the CCPA Policy’s “Last Revised on” date.  Your continued use of the Company’s website following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes.

 

VIII. Contact Information

If you have any questions or comments about this CCPA Policy, the ways in which the Company collects and uses your Personal Information described here and in the Company’s general Privacy Policy, your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact the Company at:

Phone: 1-888-244-9099
Website: http://www.forwardfinancing.com
Email: compliance@forwardfinancing.com
Postal Address:

Forward Financing LLC

Attn: Compliance

53 State Street

20th Floor

Boston, MA 02109

If you need to access this CCPA Policy in an alternative format due to having a disability, please email compliance@forwardfinancing.com or call 1-888-244-9099.