Privacy Policy

Sparks Family Finance understands that your privacy is important to you. We are committed to protecting the privacy of your personally identifiable information as you use this website and our services. This Privacy Policy tells you how we protect and use the information we gather from you. By using this website, you consent to the terms described in the most recent version of this Privacy Policy. You should also read our Terms of Service to understand the general rules about your use of this website, and our Disclosures for how we are compensated. “We,” “our,” and “us” mean Sparks Family Finance, LLC, trading as Sparks Family Finance, and its affiliates. “You,” “your,” “visitor,” or “user” means the individual accessing this site.

Personal and non-personal information

Non-personal information is information that cannot identify you. If you visit this website to read information, such as information about one of our services, we may collect certain non-personal information about you from your web browser: the type of browser and device, the pages you view, the site that referred you, and the approximate region of your connection. Because non-personal information cannot identify you or be tied to you in any way, there are no restrictions on the ways we can use or share it.

Personal information is information that identifies you as an individual, such as your name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number. Because we arrange business financing, the personal information we collect goes further than most websites: when you apply, we collect your business name and structure, industry, revenue, time in business, the purpose of the requested financing, and the ownership details a lender requires, including a Social Security number and date of birth. To evaluate a request we also collect business bank statements, tax returns, and financial statements, and with your authorization we obtain business and personal credit reports.

We may collect personal information from you in a variety of ways:

• When you send us an application, a contact request, or any other form
• When you upload documents to your client portal
• When you speak with us by phone, text, or email
• When we collect information in support of a transaction, such as a credit report

Cookies and similar technologies

We may use cookies and related technologies on our website. A cookie is a small text file placed on your device by a web server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. They are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued them. We use cookies to keep you signed in to your client portal and to remember choices you make on the site. We may also use cookies and similar technologies to understand how visitors use the site — which pages are visited and how people arrive here — on an aggregated basis. If we engage a third-party analytics provider for this purpose, that provider may set its own cookies; any such data is used solely by or on behalf of Sparks Family Finance and is shared externally only on an anonymous, aggregated basis.

We do not allow third parties to serve advertisements on this website, and we do not share your personal information with advertising networks.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline them. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to sign in to your client portal or fully use the interactive features of this website.

How Sparks Family Finance uses personal information

We may keep and use the personal information we collect from or about you to evaluate your financing request and identify suitable lenders; to submit your application to lenders you have authorized us to approach; to provide you with access to your client portal; to respond to your requests and communicate with you about your application and your account; to provide ongoing service and support; to contact you with information about products and services of ours that may be of interest to you; for record keeping, compliance, and analytical purposes; and to research, develop, and improve our services.

Personal information collected online may be combined with information you provide to us through other sources, such as a phone conversation or a document you upload. We may also remove your personal identifiers (your name, email address, Social Security number, and so on), in which case you would no longer be identified as a single unique individual. Once we have de-identified information, it is non-personal information and we may treat it like other non-personal information.

Finally, we may use your personal information to protect our rights or property, to protect someone’s health, safety, or welfare, and to comply with a law or regulation, court order, or other legal process.

Does Sparks Family Finance share personal information with others?

We will not share the personal information we collect from this website with an unrelated third party without your permission, except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy.

Lenders and funding partners. When you ask us to arrange financing, we share your application and supporting documents with the lenders and funding partners we believe are a fit for your request. That is the service you are asking us to perform. Those lenders use your information under their own privacy policies to evaluate your request, and where a lender collects information directly from you, we do not control how it is used.

Service providers. In the ordinary course of business, we share some personal information with companies we hire to perform services on our behalf — for example, secure document storage, email and text message delivery, and credit reporting agencies. In every case in which we share your personal information with a third party for the purpose of providing a service to us, we do not authorize them to keep, disclose, or use your information with others except for the purpose of providing the services we asked them to provide.

We will not sell, exchange, or publish your personal information, and we do not share it with other brokers or lead buyers, except in conjunction with a corporate sale, merger, dissolution, or acquisition.

We may be legally compelled to release your personal information in response to a court order, subpoena, search warrant, law, or regulation. We may cooperate with law enforcement authorities in investigating and prosecuting website visitors who violate our rules or engage in behavior that is harmful to others or illegal. We may disclose your personal information to third parties if we believe that the disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or property, protect someone’s health, safety, or welfare, or to comply with a law or regulation, court order, or other legal process.

How is personal information used for communications?

We may contact you periodically by email, mail, or telephone to provide information regarding your application, your account, and services that may be of interest to you. Some of the features on this website allow you to communicate with us using an online form. If your communication requests a response from us, we may send you a response by email, and that response may include your personal information. We cannot guarantee that our emails to you will be secure from unauthorized interception.

Text messages (SMS)

Text messages are optional. You can apply, be underwritten and be funded without ever agreeing to receive one — consent to texts is never a condition of any financing. If you do opt in, you do it by ticking a box on our application form (/apply) or contact form (/contact) that is separate from every other authorization on that form and is not ticked for you. How the program works is set out on our Text Message Program page.

No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties, and this exclusion applies to all of the sharing categories described in this policy, including any corporate sale, merger, or acquisition.

We do not sell or share your SMS opt-in data or personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. That includes your mobile number and your consent to texts, which we do not share with any third party for that party’s own marketing. Your consent to texts stays with us. This is separate from, and does not change, what we do with your application: to obtain offers for you we share your application and supporting documents with funding sources, which is described above and is the service you are asking us to perform.

Messages we send by text relate to your own application — that we received it, documents underwriting needs, changes to your file’s status, and appointment confirmations. We do not send promotional offers or rate quotes by text. Message frequency varies with what is happening on your file. Message and data rates may apply.

Reply STOP to any message to opt out, and HELP for help. Opting out of texts does not withdraw your application or affect it in any way, and we will continue to reach you by phone and email. See our Terms of Service for the full text message program terms.

How is personal information secured?

We have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personally identifiable information from loss, misuse, alteration, or destruction. Information is transmitted over encrypted connections and stored with an access-controlled provider; the most sensitive identifiers you give us, such as a Social Security number, are additionally encrypted before storage and every access to them is logged. Only authorized personnel and third-party vendors have access to your personal information, and they are required to treat it as confidential. Despite these precautions, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized persons will never obtain access to your personal information.

Links

This site contains links to other sites that provide information we consider useful, including the websites of lenders and government programs. Sparks Family Finance is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those websites.

How can you access, change, or delete personal information?

You may access, correct, update, or ask us to delete the personally identifiable information you have submitted to us, subject to our legal and regulatory obligations to retain records of financing applications. You may also unsubscribe from any mailing list or opt out of text messages at any time. To make a request, contact us at klark@sparksfamilyfinance.com.

Children’s privacy

Sparks Family Finance will not intentionally collect any personal information from children under the age of 13. If you think that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 13, please contact us.

Changes

Sparks Family Finance reserves the right to modify this statement at any time. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be reflected on this page with a new “last updated” date, and if such changes are material, a notice will be included on the homepage of the website for a period of time.

Contact

If you have any questions about privacy at this website or about our practices, please contact us at:

Sparks Family Finance
klark@sparksfamilyfinance.com
(208) 361-2291