Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 17, 2023.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. and Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning. Inc. (collectively “CFP Board”) want to provide transparency regarding our privacy practices.

This Privacy Policy applies to information that we collect through our websites, for example, www.cfp.net, www.getcfpcertified.org, candidateforum.cfp.net, careers.cfp.net, www.cfpboardstore.com, www.centerforfinancialplanning.org, www.letsmakeaplan.org, www.cfppro.org, and previewcourses.net, (the “Sites”), our mobile apps (“Apps”), as well as off-line collections of information about CFP® professionals, Candidates for CFP® certification, continuing education providers, registered programs and other individuals or entities with whom CFP Board interacts or has a professional or customer relationship.

Personal Information

• “Personal Information” is information about you that is linked to you as an individual. The types of Personal Information CFP Board collects may include, but is not limited to, your full name, business address, home address, email address, telephone number, fax number, credit card information, education details, job description, firm, employer, gender, ethnicity, and date of birth, as well as other non-public information that is associated with that information. Personal Information does not include technical information, including, but not limited to, unique device identifiers, randomly assigned unique identifiers in cookies, mobile device name, timestamp, or IP addresses.
• CFP Board may also collect certain information, such as criminal history, investigative and disciplinary information, and your Social Security number (“Sensitive Personal Information”), in connection with your certification. We do not share Sensitive Personal Information with third parties unless (a) necessary to process your certification application or renewal, (b) warranted in connection with the investigation or enforcement of the Standards of Professional Conduct, or (c) required by law.

When CFP Board Collects Personal Information
CFP Board collects information about you to better understand your needs, to provide you with personalized and efficient service, to offer you additional information about products, programs, and services, and for other purposes as described in this Privacy Policy. Examples of circumstances where we may collect Personal Information, include, but are not limited to, when:

• you voluntarily provide it to us;
• you interact with CFP Board and our Sites and Apps, such as, but not limited to, when you create a CFP Board account, apply for CFP® certification, register for the CFP® Certification Examination or a registered program, apply for a Transcript Review, or take our Financial Planning Quiz;
• you purchase products or services;
• you make a donation to the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning;
• you sign up to receive emails, newsletters, job alerts, or other communications from us;
• you submit a request for information or materials about the CFP® certification process, our organization, or our products, programs, events, or services;
• you communicate with us, including, but not limited to, via email, phone, or mail;
• you contact us offline or submit information to us offline;
• you search or apply for jobs through our Career Center;
• you sign up to participate in our Women’s Initiative (WIN);
• you join our mentoring program as either a mentor or a mentee;
• you participate in the Candidate Forum; you use our Sites and Apps, as well as our social media sites, and when you interact with our online advertisements;
• you participate in our surveys;
• we receive it from publicly-available sources; and
• we receive it from third parties, including, but not limited to, from consumer reporting agencies that provide us with information, such as criminal records and credit information, as well as from continuing education providers, registered programs, consumers, and other individuals or entities with whom CFP Board interacts or has a professional or customer relationship.

When CFP Board Uses Personal Information
Once collected, CFP Board may use Personal Information in a variety of ways including, but not limited to:

• Provide You Services. We use your Personal Information to provide services to you, including to respond to requests that you make, to help us serve you better, to provide you with a personalized website experience, and to provide service communications, including, but not limited to, bill reminders, order confirmations, and other customer service messages.
• Maintain and Verify Certification Status. We use Personal Information to respond to inquiries regarding the certification status of an individual.
• Share Information with Third Parties. We use Personal Information to share information with third parties, as described below.
• Tailor Marketing Information to Your Interests. We use Personal Information to tailor and send marketing information to you. Based on your browsing and purchasing habits when you visit our Sites, we, or our marketing partners and vendors, may send you personalized advertisements that identify products, programs, events, or services that may be of interest to you. We may also use your browsing habits to send you personalized email alerts regarding products, programs, events, or services.
• To create De-Identified Information. We may create de-identified information from Personal Information by excluding data (for example, your name or email address) that makes the information personally identifiable to you. Our use of de-identified information is not restricted by this Privacy Policy.

When CFP Board Shares Personal Information
We may disclose your Personal Information for the following purposes:

• Provide Services To You. We may share your Personal Information in order to provide services to you.
• Fulfill Orders and Maintain Systems. When you purchase a product, program, or a service from us, we may share select Personal Information, including, but not limited to, your shipping address and billing address, with third-party fulfillment companies in the United States, in order to deliver the product, program, or service to you. We also share your Personal Information with third-party service providers in the United States that provide advertising and marketing services for us, including distribution of postal mail, electronic alerts, email and mobile text messages to our customers and potential customers. We also hire vendors that work on our systems that may have access to your Personal Information in the course of performing their duties. You expressly consent to the sharing of your Personal Information with our third-party service providers and vendors.
• Share with Affiliates. Should CFP Board have any subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under our common control (collectively, “Affiliates”), we reserve the right to share some or all of your Personal Information with our Affiliates for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We will require our Affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy.
• Compliance with Laws and Protection of Rights. Regardless of any choices you make regarding your Personal Information, we may disclose your Personal Information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary: (a) to comply with laws or regulations or the legal process of a court of law, government authority, or an industry self-regulatory organization having appropriate jurisdiction; (b) to protect and/or defend the rights of CFP Board, or the rights or safety of third parties; (c) to enforce our Terms of Use on our Sites; or (d) to give effect to the Terms and Conditions of Certification and License, including the Standards of Professional Conduct.
• Reorganization, Merger, or Transfer of Operations. We may also transfer the Personal Information we collect in the event our operations, or a part of our operations, are reorganized, merged with or transferred to a third party or in contemplation of any such proposed transaction, including for the purpose of permitting the due diligence required to decide whether to proceed with such a transaction. In such case the transferee will be required by us to use and treat your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
• Issuance of Certifications and Verification of Certification Requirements and Status. We may share Personal Information to third parties, including, but not limited to, a government authority or industry self-regulatory organization, your firm, or an industry organization or association, in connection with issuing and maintaining CFP® certifications and renewals, to verify CFP® Certification status or related information, or to verify status of certification requirements or related information. In addition, CFP Board may provide, via telephone or electronically or through its “Find a CFP® Professional” and “Verify CFP® Certification Status” consumer search tools, any of the following Personal Information, including, but not limited to:
  • whether the individual has ever been certified by CFP Board, the date of that certification, and, if not currently certified, the date on which certification lapsed or was otherwise terminated and the reason the certification lapsed or was otherwise terminated;
  • any past and/or current public disciplinary actions against the individual by CFP Board;
  • the business name, address, and phone number of the individual;
  • the renewal date for the individual’s current CFP® certification; and
  • whether the individual has filed for bankruptcy.
• For Third-Party Direct Marketing Purposes. From time to time, CFP Board provides Personal Information to third parties, including, but not limited to, continuing education providers, registered program providers, educational institutions, and industry organizations and associations, including, but not limited to, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), for those third parties’ direct marketing purposes. A fee or other consideration may be charged for the information, and there is no limit on the amount of information that may be provided. CFP Board reserves the right to deny any such requests from third parties. If you want CFP Board to stop sharing your Personal Information with third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes, you can opt-out of such sharing by following the instructions in the “How to Opt-Out of Information Sharing” section of this Privacy Policy. CFP Board does not share Sensitive Personal Information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Advertising
We or third parties may conduct certain advertising practices on our Sites and Apps as described below.

• Interest-Based Advertising. We use "interest-based" advertisements also known as "online behavioral advertising." Online behavioral advertising is advertising that is directed to you based, at least in part, on your Internet browsing behavior across websites and over time. Although we do not share Personal Information with the third parties that conduct interest-based advertising operations on our behalf, these third parties and their affiliates do collect certain information as a result of their javascript "tags" and other technologies being used on our Sites. The information that they collect includes the names of web pages you view (URL's), unique identifiers, your IP address, timestamp, and certain types of technical information. A longer list of some of the technologies used for advertising and other purposes on our Sites and in our Apps are listed under the "Technologies Used" section.
• Third Parties May Collect Personal Information from Other Sources. Some third parties involved in advertising operations may maintain their own proprietary consumer databases that allow them to personally identify or track website visitors. Other third parties have proprietary technologies to determine what additional devices you may use, on which it can display relevant advertisements.
• Do-Not-Track. Do-Not-Track is a public-private initiative that has developed a “flag” or signal that an Internet user may activate in the user’s browser software to notify websites that the user does not wish to be “tracked” by third-parties as defined by the initiative. The online community has not agreed on what actions, if any, should be taken by the websites that receive the “do not track” signal, and therefore Do-Not-Track is not yet standardized. Our Sites do not alter its behavior or change its services when it receives a “do-not-track” flag or signal from your browser.
• Your Privacy and Ad Choices. You can make decisions about your privacy and the ads you receive. You can control whether companies serve you on-line behavioral advertising by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance website and using its opt-out: http://www.aboutads.info/choices/. The DAA opt-out requires that cookies not be blocked in your browser. As an alternative to the DAA opt–out, you can also elect to block browser cookies from first parties (like those from our Sites) and browser cookies from third parties (for example, advertisers) by using the cookie blocking options built into your browser software. If you block browser cookies, some parts of our Sites may not function correctly. Also, blocking cookies will not stop third-parties from collecting IP addresses, data stored in "Flash" cookies, and certain other types of technical information that may uniquely identify your browser.

Technologies Used
Third parties, widgets, and hosted solutions that we use on our Sites may use certain technologies for features, services, advertising, or analytics, including, but not limited to:

• Browser Cookies. Browser cookies are small pieces of data placed on your computer as you navigate websites with your browser. Browser cookies allow websites and various third-parties to distinguish your device from others by having the cookie consist of a unique identifier or other data. Cookies can have many uses, including, but not limited to, for targeting advertisements as well as for enabling website functionality and for security. We use both session cookies (which expire after you close your web browser) and persistent cookies (which stay on your computer until you delete them). Persistent cookies can be removed by following your Internet browser help file directions. If you choose to disable cookies, some areas of our Sites may not work properly.
• Local Shared Objects. Local shared objects (for example, "Flash" cookies) are associated with non-Browser software like Flash Player. Local shared objects can be used like cookies to distinguish your device from others, but will not be deleted or blocked using browser cookie controls. You can visit adobe.com for guidance on how to delete and block Flash cookies.
• Session variables. Session variables are special codes that exist only while your session with an application is active. They are specific to you as a visitor to our site(s). Session variables store information that needs to be accessed by multiple pages in a web session.
• URL variables. URL variables are codes and information that are encoded in a URL or hyperlink, as might appear in an email message or on our website. The URL variables pass information to the next page(s) you visit to customize the experience, for instance by prepopulating data in a form on subsequent pages.
• HTML5 Local Storage. HTML5 Local Storage is another way that browsers can distinguish your device from others as well as remember data that may be important for the functioning of the website. Typically HTML5 local storage is only deleted if all Internet history, cache, and cookies are deleted. You should check your browser software for how to delete HTML5 local storage in your particular case.
• Web Beacons. Web Beacons are image files that are used by third-party advertisers, analytics companies, and others. Web beacons are embedded in web pages you visit and cause your browser to share its IP address with the third-party source of the beacon, together with any cookies associated with that third-party. Web beacons can be used with or without cookies. Blocking cookies will not stop your IP address from being shared through the use of beacons.
• E-tags. E-tags are used to prevent duplicative downloading of content to your browser, which can enhance browser performance. E-tags use unique identifiers for content that can also be used to distinguish your browser in certain instances from others. Typically e-tags are only deleted if all Internet history, cache, and cookies are deleted. You should check your browser software for how to delete e-tags in your particular case.

Our Apps may use the following technologies for features, services, advertising, or analytics:

• collection of device identifiers, including, but not limited to, Android ID and MAC address;
• collection of geolocation, including precise geolocation;
• device name;
• collection of platform specific identifiers, including, but not limited to, Apple's Identifier for Advertising and Identifier for Vendor, and Android ID or Android's advertising identifier;
• collection of carrier-related information including the name of your wireless carrier, and IDs related to the cell phone hardware in your phone as well as the network to which the device is connected;
• IP address;
• mobile phone number; and
• app-specific and instance-specific identifiers.

Our Sites and Apps may occasionally use other technologies for purposes of advertising, analytics, as well as for features and services.

Social Network Widgets
Our Sites and Apps may include social network sharing widgets that may provide information to their associated social networks or third parties about your interactions with our web pages that you visit, even if you do not click on or otherwise interact with the plug-in or widget. Information is transmitted from your browser and may include an identifier assigned by the social network or third party, information about your browser type, operating system, device type, IP address, and the URL of the web page where widget appears. If you use social network tools or visit social networking sites, you should read their privacy disclosures, to learn what information they collect, use, and share.

How to Opt-Out of Information Sharing
Users may opt-out of being included in information that CFP Board provides or sells to third parties for direct marketing purposes, including, but not limited to, continuing education providers, registered program providers, educational institutions, and industry organizations and associations, including, but not limited to, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). To opt-out of being included, users may select the link for opt outs/information privacy located in the Contact Information section of a CFP® professional’s online CFP Board account or contact CFP Board directly (See the “How You Can Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy). Regardless of recorded opt-out preferences, CFP Board reserves the right to disclose information in connection with verifying your CFP® certification status as described in this Privacy Policy.

How to Opt-Out of Receiving Promotional Emails
Users may opt-out of receiving certain future communications for marketing purposes, both from CFP Board or sent by CFP Board on behalf of third parties. Users may opt-out of receiving communications based on topic/purpose or may opt out of all such promotional emails:

• by following the instructions at the bottom of the email received
• by contacting us directly (See the “How You Can Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy).

Once you have submitted your email address to opt-out of all promotional mailings, please note that you may continue to receive emails for a time while our system updates your request. Regardless of recorded opt-out preferences, CFP Board reserves the right to send emails or other communications for administrative or transactional purposes, including, but not limited to, communications related to the user’s certification status or the maintenance of a CFP account.

Information from Children Under 13
On our Sites and Apps, we do not intentionally gather Personal Information about visitors under the age of 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information about your child, please contact us and we will attempt to delete the information. Our contact information can be found in the “How You Can Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy.

Security
We have implemented technical, administrative, and organizational measures to safeguard the security and integrity of Personal Information. Although CFP Board takes these measures to safeguard against unauthorized access and disclosure of Personal Information, CFP Board cannot fully eliminate security risks associated with the storage and transmission of Personal Information.

Links to Other Websites
Our Sites and Apps may provide a link to another website or Internet location, including links to products and services sold by third parties. We have no control over, do not review, and are not responsible for these other websites, their content, or any goods or services available through the websites. Our Privacy Policy does not apply to these other websites.

Accessing and Changing Your Information
If you are a registered user of the Sites, you may review and update or correct your information through your online account. Except in limited circumstances governed by law, you may obtain access to and have your Personal Information in our records corrected. A request for access or correction must be made in writing. Our contact information can be found in the “How You Can Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy.

Your California Privacy Rights
Under Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, residents of California have the right to request from a business, with whom the California resident has an established business relationship, certain information with respect to the types of personal information the business shares with third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes, and the identities of the third parties with whom the business has shared such information during the immediately preceding calendar year. To exercise your rights, you may make one request each year by emailing us at mail@cfpboard.org with "Request for California Privacy Information" on the subject line and in the body of your message. Be sure to provide in the request sufficient information to properly identify you and/or the members of your family.

How You Can Contact Us
Should you have additional questions, comments, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, or to opt-out of certain information dissemination as permitted under this Privacy Policy, please contact us by regular mail, email, fax or phone:

CFP Board
1425 K Street NW #800
Washington, DC 20005
Email: mail@cfpboard.org
Fax: 202-379-2299
Phone: 800-487-1497

Changes to Our Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is subject to revision and changes. We encourage you to visit this page periodically to review our current Privacy Policy.