Introduction

ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. (hereafter referred to as “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect personal information when you use our website or communicate with us. It also outlines your rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable laws. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Data Controller and Contact Information

The data controller responsible for your personal data is ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C., a company legally based in the United Arab Emirates. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us at:

• Email: info@ascentauditing.com
• Postal Address: ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C., Office 1, 29^th floor, Prime Tower, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Please note: You can contact us using the above details for any inquiries about your personal data or to exercise the rights described in this policy.

Personal Data We Collect

You can browse our website without creating an account or providing any personal information. We do not use any cookies or tracking technologies to collect data about your browsing activities. The only personal data we collect is information that you voluntarily provide to us. This may include:

• Contact Information: Your name, email address, and any other contact details you choose to provide (for example, a phone number) when you fill out forms on our website or communicate with us via email, phone, or other direct methods.
• Inquiry Details: Any personal data contained in your message or inquiry. For instance, if you contact us through a form or email, we will collect the content of your communication, which may include additional personal details you choose to share (such as the nature of your inquiry or any attachments you send).

We do not collect sensitive personal data or any information not provided by you directly. Our website does not require user registration, and you may use the site without submitting any personal data if you choose.

Purpose and Legal Basis for Processing

We only process your personal data for clear and legitimate purposes, and in compliance with GDPR. The purposes and legal bases for our processing include:

• Responding to Inquiries and Providing Services: When you contact us (for example, to request information about our tax consulting services), we use your name, email, and any provided details to respond to your request and communicate with you. The legal basis for this processing is your consent (you provide your data voluntarily expecting a response) and/or that the processing is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract (if your inquiry is related to our services).
• Business Communication and Records: We may retain correspondence and related contact details as part of our legitimate interests in effectively running our business – for example, keeping records of communications, improving our customer service, or establishing a business relationship.
• Legal Obligations: In some cases, we may need to process or retain certain personal data to comply with legal obligations. For instance, if your inquiry leads to a transaction or contractual agreement, we may need to keep records for accounting, taxation, or regulatory compliance as required by law.

We will not use your personal data for any purposes that are incompatible with the above. In particular, we do not use your personal data for marketing unless you have explicitly opted-in to such communications. We also do not engage in any automated decision-making or profiling with your personal data.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website does not use cookies, analytics, or similar tracking technologies. We do not track your activities across other websites, and we do not collect technical information (such as IP addresses or device identifiers) for analytics or advertising purposes. You can navigate our site without any cookies being placed on your device by us.

(For clarity: basic technical logs may record standard data like your IP address when you visit our site, but this is generally a function of web server operations and is not used by ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. for tracking or profiling. We do not use any third-party analytics tools, and we do not use cookies to remember or analyze your behavior.)

Data Sharing and Disclosure

We value your privacy. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their marketing, advertising, or analytics purposes. Your information is used solely by ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. for the purposes described above. The only circumstances under which we might disclose personal data to third parties are:

• Service Providers (Processors): We may use trusted third-party service providers to support our business operations (for example, an email service to send and receive communications, or web hosting providers for our website). If such providers have access to personal data, they only process it on our behalf and under our instructions. We ensure they are bound by confidentiality and data protection obligations consistent with GDPR requirements.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose personal data if required to do so by law or lawful request by public authorities (for example, in response to a court order, legal process, or to comply with audit or reporting obligations). We may also share information when necessary to establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights or to protect the vital interests of individuals (for instance, to prevent fraud or security issues).
• Business Transfers: In the unlikely event that our company undergoes a major business transaction such as a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, personal data held by ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. may be transferred to the new owner or successor entity. If this happens, we will ensure the data remains protected and inform you of any significant changes to how your data is handled.

Aside from the above situations, no third parties will receive or process your personal information. In particular, we do not share your data with any advertising networks or social media companies, and we do not use external analytics services that would involve sending your data to third parties.

Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, as outlined in this policy, or to comply with legal and contractual obligations. Specifically:

• If you contact us with an inquiry or request, we will retain your personal data for as long as needed to respond to you and follow up as necessary. Typically, routine communications data (e.g. emails or contact form submissions) are kept for a certain period in our records (for example, up to [X] months or as required) in case further correspondence or reference is needed.
• If you become a client or engage our services, we may retain your data for the duration of our business relationship and for a reasonable period thereafter, in accordance with legal requirements (such as financial record-keeping laws) and our legitimate business needs.
• We periodically review the personal data we hold and erase or anonymize data that is no longer needed. The exact retention period may vary depending on the context and purpose of the data. For instance, legal and regulatory obligations may require us to keep certain information for a defined time (e.g., financial transaction records).

When we no longer have a legitimate need or legal obligation to keep your personal data, we will securely delete or anonymize it. If deletion is not immediately possible (for example, because the data is stored in backup archives), we will ensure that the data is securely isolated and protected until deletion is feasible.

Children’s Privacy (Users Under 16)

Our services are not directed to children, but our website may be accessible to individuals under the age of 16. Protecting the privacy of minors is very important to us. In accordance with the GDPR and other applicable laws:

• No Knowing Collection from Children: We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16 years of age without parental consent. If you are under 16, please do not submit any personal information to us without the permission of your parent or legal guardian.
• Parental Consent: If we need to process personal data of a user under 16 (for example, if a teenager under 16 sends us an inquiry), we will only do so with the authorization of a parent or guardian, as required by law. We may take steps to verify that appropriate consent is obtained.
• Deletion of Minor’s Data: If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 16 without parental consent, we will promptly delete that information from our records. If you believe that a child under 16 may have provided us with personal data without proper consent, please contact us immediately using the contact details in the Data Controller section above so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

We encourage parents and guardians to supervise children’s online activities and educate them about safe privacy practices.

Data Security

We take the security of your personal data seriously. ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction. These measures include, for example:

• Encryption: Our website is secured via industry-standard encryption protocols (such as SSL/TLS) to protect data transmitted between your browser and our site. This means that any information you submit through web forms is encrypted during transit.
• Access Controls: Personal data is stored in secure systems, and we limit access to those systems to authorized personnel who need the information to perform their duties. Our staff are bound by confidentiality obligations and trained on data protection principles.
• Organizational Measures: We maintain internal policies and procedures to safeguard data (for example, using strong passwords, up-to-date security software, and regular data backup routines). We also choose reputable hosting providers and service providers that adhere to high security standards.

While we strive to protect your information, please note that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security of information. However, we continuously monitor and improve our security practices to mitigate risks. In the event of a data breach affecting your personal data, we will follow all applicable breach notification laws and procedures, including informing you and relevant authorities as required by the GDPR.

Your Rights Under GDPR

If you are an individual in the European Union (or in a jurisdiction with similar data protection laws), you have certain rights regarding your personal data. ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. is committed to upholding these rights. You have the following rights:

• Right of Access: You have the right to request confirmation of whether we are processing your personal data, and if so, to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. This allows you to know and verify the lawfulness of our processing.
• Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data about you. We will promptly update our records and notify you of the correction.
• Right to Erasure: You have the right to request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances (this is also known as the “right to be forgotten”). For example, you can request erasure if the data is no longer necessary for the purposes it was collected, if you have withdrawn your consent (and no other legal basis for processing applies), or if you believe we are processing your data unlawfully. Please note that this right is not absolute – sometimes we may need to retain certain information to comply with legal obligations or establish/defend legal claims.
• Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to ask us to suspend or limit the processing of your personal data in certain situations. For instance, if you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our processing, you can request a restriction while we address your concern. When processing is restricted, we will still store your data but not use it further without your consent or unless allowed by law (e.g., for legal claims).
• Right to Data Portability: You have the right to obtain the personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to transfer that data to another controller, where technically feasible. This right applies when our processing is based on your consent or a contract with you, and is carried out by automated means.
• Right to Object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data when the processing is based on our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) or when we are processing your data for direct marketing purposes. If you object, we will consider your request and will no longer process the data unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue that override your rights, or if we need to continue processing for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims. If you object to direct marketing, we will cease such marketing communications to you. (Note: As mentioned, we currently do not process your data for marketing without consent.)
• Right to Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. For example, if you provided consent for us to use your contact details, you can request that we stop and we will honor your request. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal.
• Right Not to be Subject to Automated Decision-Making: You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects or similarly significant effects for you. As noted above, we do not engage in such automated decision-making processes.

These rights can be exercised free of charge (except in rare cases of excessive or unfounded requests where a reasonable fee might be charged as permitted by law). We will respond to your valid requests as soon as possible, and in any event within the timeframe required by law (generally one month, extendable by another two months if necessary, depending on the complexity and number of requests).

Exercising Your Rights and Contacting Us

To exercise any of your rights described above, or if you have any questions or concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us using the contact information provided in the Data Controller and Contact Information section of this Privacy Policy. For convenience: you can email us at info@ascentauditing.com with your request or inquiry. Please include sufficient information for us to verify your identity and understand your request. We may need to ask for additional information to confirm your identity before fulfilling certain requests, especially for access, deletion, or portability requests, to ensure we do not disclose data to the wrong person.

We will address and respond to all legitimate requests. If you believe that we have not been able to assist with your concerns or that we have processed your personal data in a way that is not in accordance with the law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory data protection authority.

How to Lodge a Complaint

If you are in the European Union and wish to lodge a formal complaint regarding our privacy practices or believe your GDPR rights have been infringed, you have the right to contact your local Data Protection Authority. You may do so in the EU Member State where you reside, where you work, or where the alleged infringement occurred. For example:

• In the United Kingdom, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
• In other EU countries, you can find the contact details of your national supervisory authority on the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) website or via the European Commission’s data protection authorities list.

We kindly ask that you consider contacting us first at ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. (using the contact details provided above) to give us the opportunity to address your concerns directly. We take privacy complaints seriously and will do our best to resolve any issue to your satisfaction. However, if you prefer to go directly to a supervisory authority, or if you are not satisfied with our response, you are fully entitled to do so.

Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update or revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. When we make changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the bottom of this policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your personal data. If we make any significant changes, we may also notify you through a notice on our website or by other appropriate means. Your continued use of our website or services after any changes to this Privacy Policy indicates your acceptance of the revised terms.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or about how ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C. handles your personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us:

• Email: info@ascentauditing.com
• Address: ASCENT TAX CONSULTANT L.L.C., Office 1, 29^th floor, Prime Tower, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

We are here to help and will respond to your inquiries as promptly as possible.

Last Updated: 04/11/2025 (This policy is effective as of this date.)