Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: November 7, 2024

Your privacy is important to MJ Hoffman and Associates, LLC (“Hoffman,” “we,” “our,” or “us”).  This Privacy Policy describes the information practices of Hoffman in connection with our websites learn.ownthedeal.com and ownthedeal.com (collectively the “Site”), the Platform (as defined below), the Programs (as defined below, and together with the Platform, the “Services”), including what type of information is gathered and tracked, how the information is used, and with whom the information is shared. As described below, this Privacy Policy applies to your interactions with the Site, Services, Platform, and Programs, as well as other interactions with Hoffman related to the Services.

For the avoidance of doubt, please note the following:

• The Site is a website owned and controlled by Hoffman. While the Site contains information about the Services, your use of the Site is not considered use of Services. 
• The “Platform” is an online platform made available to Subscribers as part of the Services. The Platform is hosted by Docebo Inc. and made available to Subscribers through ownthedeal.com.
• The “Programs” are the content and forums, including videos, recordings, images and text, as well as any interactive forums, available on or through the Platform.
• The Services are the services offered by Hoffman to Subscribers, pursuant to a Subscription Agreement, which includes access to the Platform and Programs. Any references in this Privacy Policy to use of the Services includes use of the Platform and Programs. 

BY USING THE SITE OR SERVICES, YOU INDICATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS, DO NOT USE THE SITE OR SERVICES.  

Please carefully read this Privacy Policy as it may have changed since your last visit to the Site or Platform. Continued use of the Site or Services indicates your understanding and acceptance of any changes made to this Privacy Policy and posted to the Site or Platform. This Privacy Policy does not cover the privacy practices of any third-party websites to which the Site or Platform may link. 

Definitions:

“Contact Form” means a form available on the Site that can be used to submit information to Hoffman for any purpose.

“Form Tools” means the third-party products and services that Hoffman uses to enable Contact Forms on the Site and process the information submitted through Contact Forms.

“Site User” means any person who uses the Site, which includes browsing the Site or submitting a Contact Form.

“Subscriber” means any person or entity receiving Services from Hoffman pursuant to a Subscription Agreement. References to “Subscriber” include the employees who are authorized to use the Services on behalf of such Subscriber, if any.

“Subscription Agreement” means a separate agreement between Hoffman and a Subscriber for the purchase and use of Services pursuant to a Closer, Teams, Corporate or Enterprise License.

Information we collect: This Privacy Policy applies to all information collected from Site Users and Subscribers by Hoffman (or carefully selected third parties acting on our behalf), including personal information. Personal information is data that reasonably can be used to identify or describe an individual, such as your name, business affiliation, postal address, telephone number, or email address. You will need to provide personal information to purchase and use Services and to submit a Contact Form.

Hoffman may collect your personal information when:

• you submit a Contact Form;
• you enter into a Subscription Agreement for Services;
• you create an account to access the Services;
• you use the Site or the Services;
• you use any interactive tools or forums that are enabled on the Site or Platform, such as chat rooms;
• you upload or submit information or content through the Site or Platform;
• you interact with Programs;
• you post a comment or review of Program on the Platform;
• you subscribe to newsletters from Hoffman;
• you participate in surveys and evaluations; 
• you request information or materials;
• you submit questions or comments to Hoffman;
• you submit any information to Hoffman; or
• you contact Hoffman by any means using information available on the Site or Platform.

The types of personal information we collect may include (but are not limited to):

• your first and last name;
• your home, billing, or other physical address (including street name, city/town, state/province, postal code);
• your email address;
• your telephone number;
• any other identifier that permits Hoffman to make physical or online contact with you; and
• your financial information, including credit card account information.

If you use our Services, we may receive information about your business, your finances, expenses, invoices, financial statements, details of your financial transactions, details about your customers, vendors, or employees, income and wage information, and/or investment information. If you provide us with any of the foregoing that contains any personal information of your employees, customers, or vendors, you are responsible for obtaining the necessary consents and permissions to share such information with us.

Automatic Collection:

We may also collect details of your visit to our Site or Platform and the pages you access, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, and other communication data, including your IP address, device type, the date and time you accessed or left the Site or Platform, and which pages you viewed.  Some parts of our Site or Platform use cookies and other technologies to collect this information about your general internet usage.  See the section below called “How We Use Tracking Technologies” to learn more.

Use of personal information:  

Hoffman collects and uses your information, including your personal information, to operate and improve the Services, and to deliver the Services or carry out the transactions you have requested. These uses may include providing you with more effective customer service; making the Site or Services easier to use by eliminating the need for you to repeatedly enter the same information; performing research and analysis aimed at improving our products, Services, and technologies; and displaying content.

We also use your personal information to communicate with you regarding our Services. We may send certain mandatory service communications such as welcome letters, information updates, billing information, information on technical service issues, and security announcements. With your permission, we may also contact you to inform you of other products or services available from Hoffman and its partners or affiliates.

Personal information collected on the Site and Platform may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Hoffman or its licensors, service providers, affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents maintain facilities, and by using the Site or Platform, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country.

How we use tracking technologies 

Hoffman uses cookies and other tracking technologies for a variety of purposes. Cookies are small text files placed on the hard drive of the User’s or Subscriber’s device. Cookies are commonly used to track web activity and provide an enhanced experience when using the internet. We use cookies to collect information from Subscribers and Users of the Site. We also use cookies to help us better understand Site and Service usage in the aggregate so that we know what areas of the Site and the Services our Users and Subscribers prefer. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for the Site and Services to operate. Other cookies enable us to tailor content and otherwise personalize your experience while interacting with our Site and Services.  

If you simply want to browse, you do not have to accept cookies from the Site. Most browsers are defaulted to accept and maintain cookies. If you do not want websites to be able to use cookies, you can alter the configuration of your browser to not accept cookies. Unless you have adjusted your browser settings so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Site.

With or without cookies, the Site and the Services keeps track of usage data, such as the source address from which a page request originates (i.e., your IP address, domain name), date and time of the page request, the referring website (if any), and other parameters in the URL (e.g., search criteria). We use this data to better understand Site and Service usage in the aggregate so that we know what areas of the Site our visitors prefer (e.g., based on the number of visits to those areas). This information is stored in log files and is used for aggregated and statistical reporting. It is not attributed to you as an individual.

Sharing of personal information:  

Hoffman will not sell, rent, or lease your information, including your personal information, to others. Hoffman discloses personal information to other companies working on our behalf, including as service providers in order to provide our Services to you. Except as described in this Privacy Policy, we will not disclose your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

In some cases, we use third parties to collect, use, analyze, and otherwise process information, including personal information, on our behalf. This includes our use of certain products and services provided by third parties for the purposes of enabling certain features on the Site and Platform. For example, the information submitted through Contact Forms is processed by a third-party provider. Information submitted through the Platform is processed by the third party that hosts the Platform. If any interactive tools or forums (such as chat rooms) are enabled on the Platform, then any information submitted through such tools will be processed by the third party providing such tool. To facilitate purchases of Services, we may use third party services in connection with invoicing and payment processing. 

Service providers will be permitted to obtain only the personal information they need to deliver and improve their service. 

By submitting any information through the Site or Platform, you consent to us sharing your personal information with any third party that provides us with the products or services used to process information, or otherwise processes information on our behalf. 

We may disclose your information to a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by us about the Site’s Services’ users is among the assets transferred;

We may access or disclose your information, including your personal information, if we believe such action is necessary to: 

• comply with the law or legal process served on the Site or Hoffman; 
• comply with the law and the reasonable requests of governmental authorities;
• respond to requests from public or government authorities, including public or government authorities outside your country of residence;
• protect and defend the rights or property of Hoffman (including the enforcement of our agreements); or
• act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of our customers or members of the public.

Your choices:  

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us.  We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information: 

• Communications. Hoffman provides a number of ways for you to “opt-out” of receiving additional information from us. We may offer you these choices at the time you give us your personal information.  If you do not wish to continue receiving certain marketing materials (e.g., email messages), you can opt-out of receiving these materials by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the materials. This option does not apply to communications primarily for the purpose of administering orders, contracts, support, software updates, or other administrative and transactional notices.
• Deleting your information. To delete the information that you have provide us, you can contact us at info@sellhoffman.com or by mailing us at 9 Bartlet St, Andover, MA 01810.
• Reviewing or updating your information. To review or modify the contact information that you have provided to us, you can contact us at info@sellhoffman.com or by mailing us at 9 Bartlet St, Andover, MA 01810.
• Tracking Technologies and Advertising. Most browsers accept cookies automatically. You may be able to set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. For instructions, check your browser’s technical information. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of the Site or the Services may then be inaccessible or not function properly.  Please note that cookie-based opt outs must be performed on each device and browser that you wish to have opted out. 

Safeguarding your information:  

In order to protect your information, including your personal information, from improper disclosure, Hoffman uses commercially reasonable efforts to maintain a secure operating environment to protect any information we collect. We take care to dispose of your information properly so that third parties will not be able to access it. This includes destroying, erasing, or making unreadable the information. While we are committed to protecting your privacy, please be aware that no transaction over the internet can be completely secure. 

Enforcement:  

Hoffman regularly reviews its compliance with this Privacy Policy. Please feel free to direct any questions or concerns regarding this statement or our treatment of personal information by contacting us at the address indicated below.

“Do not track” requests:

Our Site and Services do not currently respond to “do not track” or similar signals.

Links to Other Sites:  

The Site may provide links to third-party websites, such as those of our business partners, payment processors. By accessing other third-party websites or applications through our Site or Services, you are consenting to the terms and privacy policies of those websites.  You should review their privacy policies to learn more about what, why, and how they collect and use personally identifiable information.

For Questions or Concerns:  

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact info@sellhoffman.com. Other correspondence may be sent to:

MJ Hoffman and Associates, LLC

9 Bartlet St

Andover, MA 01810

Changes to this Privacy Policy:  

Hoffman reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do make changes, the revised Privacy Policy will be posted on the Site. 

NOTICE TO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18 AND THEIR PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS:  THE SITE AND SERVICES ARE INTENDED FOR ADULTS. WE DO NOT KNOWINGLY OR INTENTIONALLY COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18. IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18, PLEASE DO NOT PROVIDE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION TO HOFFMAN. IF YOU KNOW OF ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 WHO HAS PROVIDED US WITH INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY AND WE WILL REMOVE THE INFORMATION.

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: This section of the Privacy Policy applies only to individuals who reside in California. The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended and supplemented by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (collectively the “CA Privacy Laws”) provide additional rights to know, delete and opt out, and requires businesses collecting or disclosing Personal Information to provide notices and means to exercise rights. For purposes of this section, “Personal Information” has the definition set forth in the CA Privacy Laws.

California Notice of Collection: We or our service providers have collected the following categories of information enumerated in the CA Privacy Laws in connection with the Site or Services:

• Identifiers, such as real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, internet protocol address, email address, account name, or other similar identifiers.to the extent you are interacting with our Site or Platform;
• Categories of Personal Information described in Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e), such as name, signature, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information.
• Commercial information, such as records of products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. Internet activity, including history of visiting and interacting with the Site or Platform, browser type, browser language and other information collected automatically; and

We do not collect any Sensitive Personal Information.  Personal Information does not include: publicly available information lawfully made available from government records, deidentified or aggregated consumer information, or information excluded from CA Privacy Laws.

We do not generally sell information as the term “sell” is traditionally understood. However, to the extent “sale” under the CA Privacy Laws would be interpreted to include any of the activities described in the “Sharing of information” section above, we will comply with applicable law as to such activity, including by providing you with an opt-out.

Retention

We maintain your Personal Information for as long as necessary to fulfill our business purpose. 

Your Rights

Residents of California have certain rights.  Please note that the below rights are not absolute, and we may be entitled to refuse requests, wholly or in part, where exceptions may apply.

Right to Know and Access

If you are a California resident, you have the right to delete Personal Information we have collected about you and you have the right to know certain information about our data practices. In particular, you have the right to request the following:

• Categories of Personal Information we have collected about you;
• Categories of sources from which the Personal Information was collected;
• Categories of Personal Information about you we disclosed for a business purpose or sold;
• Categories of third parties to whom the Personal Information was sold or disclosed for a business purpose;
• Business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling the Personal Information; and
• Specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about you.

You also have the right to receive your Personal Information in a structured and commonly used format so that it can be transferred to another entity (“data portability”).

Right to Delete

In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete any of your Personal Information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request (instructions and description below), we will delete, and, as applicable, direct our service providers to delete, your Personal Information from our records, unless an exception applies.

We may deny your request to delete your Personal Information if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service providers, subject to certain exemptions in the CA Privacy Laws. 

Right to Opt Out: Under the CA Privacy Laws, you have the right to opt out of the sale of your Personal Information to third parties at any time. Hoffman does not “sell” your Personal Information as it is currently defined under the CA Privacy Laws. You may contact us by emailing us at info@sellhoffman.com if you have any questions or concerns.  You also may have a right to opt-out of the use of curtained automated decision-making technology.  

Right to Correct/Right to Rectification: In certain circumstances, you have the right to request correction of any inaccurate Personal Information.  Upon verifying the validity of a valid consumer correction request, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to correct your Personal Information as directed, taking into account the nature of the Personal Information and the purposes of maintaining your Personal Information. 

Do Not Share or Disclose My Sensitive Personal Information:  We do not collect any Sensitive Personal Information. 

Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment by us for the exercise of any your rights.

Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please submit a request to us at info@sellhoffman.com. In the request, please specify which right you are seeking to exercise and the scope of the request. We will confirm receipt of your request within ten (10) days. We may require specific information from you to help us verify your identity and process your request. Please note that, in many instances, we do not collect types of information that enable us to identify you. As such, if we do not have information that permits us to verify your identity, we may deny your requests to know or delete. A request for access can be made by you only twice within a twelve (12) month period.

Authorized Agent: You can designate an authorized agent to submit requests on your behalf. However, we will require written proof of the agent’s permission to do so and verify your identity directly.

NOTICE TO INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTS: Hoffman is established in the United States. The Site and Services are primarily operated and managed on servers located and operated within the United States. In order to submit a Contact Form, or to purchase a subscription for Services, or to actually use the Services, you may be sending your personal information outside of the country where you reside or are located, including to the United States. Accordingly, if you reside or are located outside of the United States, your personal information may be transferred outside of the country where you reside or are located, including to countries that may not or do not provide the same level of protection for your personal information. We are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of personal information when it is transferred. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR USERS IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA AND UNITED KINGDOM: Hoffman is established in the United States and has operations and service providers in the United States and throughout the world. As such, we and our service providers may transfer your personal information to, or access it in, jurisdictions that may not provide levels of data protection equivalent to those in your country of residence. By using the Site or Services, or otherwise interacting with us, regardless of where you live or where you provide information to us, you consent to our use and our service providers’ use of your personal information worldwide and to the transfer of your personal information to countries outside of your country of residence, including the United States. In certain circumstances, courts, regulatory agencies, law enforcement agencies, or security authorities in those other countries may be entitled to access your personal information.

Hoffman is aware of the July 16, 2020 ruling by the European Court of Justice invalidating the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework. Accordingly, we will take adequate measures designed to protect the transfer of Personal Information of individuals in the European Economic Area (EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) (“EEA”), such as relying on the European Commission-approved Standard Contractual Clauses (“EU SCCs”) as a legal mechanism for such transfer, or other adequate transfer mechanism as required under relevant data protection laws, as well as additional safeguards, where appropriate. A copy of these clauses may be obtained by contacting us at the email address listed below. 

For transfers to or from the United Kingdom (“UK”), we make use of the EU SCCs, as modified by the UK’s International Data Transfer Addendum (collectively the “UK SCCs”). For individuals located in the EEA or the UK, the term “personal information,” as used in this section, is equivalent to “personal data” under applicable European and UK data protection legislation.

If you are located in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, you have certain rights and protections under applicable law regarding the processing of your personal information, as defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), and this section applies to you.

Legal Basis for Processing 

When we process your personal information, we will do so in reliance on the following lawful bases:

• To perform our responsibilities under our contract with you (e.g., providing the services you requested).
• When we have a legitimate interest in processing your personal information to operate our business or protect our interests (e.g., to provide, maintain, and improve our services, conduct data analytics, and communicate with you).
• To comply with our legal obligations (e.g., to maintain a record of your consents and track those who have opted out of non-administrative communications).
• When we have your consent to do so (e.g., when you opt in to receive non-administrative communications from us). When consent is the legal basis for our processing your personal information, you may withdraw such consent at any time.

Data Retention

We store Personal Information associated with your account for as long as your account remains active. If you close your account, we will delete your account data within thirty (30) days, unless reasonably necessary to comply with our legal, regulatory, or other compliance obligations. We store other data for as long as necessary to carry out the purposes for which we originally collected it and for other legitimate business purposes, including to meet our legal, regulatory, or other compliance obligations. 

Your Rights

For users in the European Union, according to the GDPR, you have the following statutory rights:

• Information. At the point where personal information is collected from the data subject, as defined by the GDPR, or obtained from another source, there is a requirement to inform the data subject about our use of that personal information and the rights of data subjects over it. Compliance with this right is provided within this Privacy Policy.
• Access. You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal information concerning you is being processed, and, where that is the case, all necessary information to make the process transparent. You also have the right to obtain a copy of your personal information being processed.
• Rectification. You have the right to require rectification of inaccurate data about you.
• Erasure. You have the right to ask for the deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
• Restrict processing. You have the right to restrict processing of data under certain specified circumstances.
• Data portability. You have the right to request for the receipt or the transfer to another organization, in a machine-readable form, of your personal information.
• Object to processing. You have the right to ask us to stop using all or some of your personal information under certain specified circumstances. 
• Right to withdraw consent. When you have given your explicit consent for the processing of your data, you can withdraw it at any time without justification. The withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

If you would  like to exercise your rights, please let us know by sending an email at info@sellhoffman.com.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local Data Protection Authority or to the Data Protection Authority where the alleged infringement took place.