Privacy Policy

First Down Funding does not distribute personal information that is provided through our website. We keep all information confidential; we do not solicit, send junk email or sell contact information to mailing sites. Any information you send us is strictly received and protected for internal use only.

We may provide links to a number of other sites that we believe can offer you useful information and services. However, we are not responsible for any actions of those third-party websites.

Privacy notice

Effective: January 1st, 2023
Last reviewed: July 7th, 2022

Welcome to the FDF privacy notice (the “Notice”). For purposes of this Notice, the terms “FDF” and/or “First Down Funding” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to FDF, DBA First Down Funding. “You” or “your” refers to you, as a user of our services, including any use of our websites and business financings, including loan services, whether operated by us or on our behalf (“Services”).

This Notice describes:

How we protect your information
How we use your personal information
How share your personal information with third parties
Personal information we collect
Choice & opt-out
How we collect your personal information
California privacy rights
Questions about this notice
Changes to this notice

How we protect your information

We endeavor to incorporate reasonable safeguards to help protect and secure your Personal Information. However, no data transmission over the Internet, mobile networks, wireless transmission or electronic storage of information can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. It may be possible for third parties to intercept or access transmissions or private communications unlawfully. Any such transmission is done at your own risk.

How we use your personal information

Our primary purpose for collecting Personal Information is to provide you with information, products, and services you request. We may also use your Personal Information for the following business purposes:

Customer administration and management, including relationship management, and for account administration and management purposes.
Transaction processing, monitoring and analysis activities to develop and manage FDF’s products and Services.
Undertaking Customer due diligence checks for the prevention and detection of financial and other crimes and undertaking checks, including on Related Parties, in relation to identity verification, credit checks, anti-money laundering, compliance and risk screening.
Communicating with the Customer and Related Parties from time to time about products, Services, events offered by FDF, our affiliates, subsidiaries and other communications such as research and insights, that may be of interest to the Customer and Related Parties.
Complying with legal obligations to which it is subject and co-operating with regulators and law enforcement bodies.
Exercising its legal rights where it is necessary to do so, for example to protect FDF against harm to its rights and property interests, to detect, prevent and respond to fraud or other violations of law, for legal and dispute management purposes, and for debt collection and recoveries purposes.
For purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information or as otherwise set forth in this Notice.

How we share personal information with third parties

We share your Personal Information with third parties only in the ways that are described in this Notice and with our business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors in order to provide you with our Services and perform any contract we enter into with them or you.

Information you instruct us to share

You may be presented with an option on our Service to have us send certain information to third parties or give them access to it. If you choose to do so, your Personal Information and other information may be disclosed to such third parties and all information you disclose will be subject to the third-party privacy policies and practices of such third parties.

Service providers

We may use third-party service providers to perform certain business services on behalf of us or the Service and may disclose Personal Information to such service providers as needed for them to perform these business services. Service providers are only allowed to use, disclose or retain the Personal Information to provide these services and are prohibited from selling Personal Information. Business services provided include, but are not limited to, maintenance and repair services, hosting services, software as a service, document management services, communications services such as email, text, and chat services, software and website development services, data processing, collection services, accounting and audit services, compliance services, quality control services, analytics services, call center services, and marketing services.

Internal third parties

We may share Personal Information with our parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates and other companies owned by or controlled by FDF who may use the Personal Information for the purposes described above.

Business transactions

We may do business with third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your Personal Information in the same way as set out in this Notice.

Legal process

Subject to applicable law, we may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law, regulation or legal process, such as a subpoena; (ii) in response to requests by government entities, such as law enforcement authorities; (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical, financial or other harm, injury or loss; or (iv) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual unlawful activity.

Personal information we collect

“Personal Information” means any information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to any individual or a household. It does not include anonymous or aggregated data that cannot be associated with an individual or household.

If your business (“Customer”) applies for our Services, we will collect and process certain Personal Information about the following individuals associated with the Customer (referred as “Related Parties”):

Yourself, such as where you are operating as a sole trader.
Individual members of a partnership.
Individual members of a co-ownership.
Individual directors, company secretaries or other equivalent individual office holders and beneficial owners of the company.
Guarantors and third-party security providers.
Individuals associated with the directors and beneficial owners of the business.
Any employees, contractors, representatives, officers or agents of the business.
Legal representatives and other individuals authorized to act on behalf of the business.

The categories of information that FDF collects about the Customer and Related Parties include:

Personal details (e.g. name, date of birth, identification information).
Contact details (e.g. phone number, email address, postal address, mobile number).
Business-related details (e.g. relationship with the business or Related Parties, business information, information about any shareholdings, business contact details).
Transactional details (e.g. information about services, requests, queries or complaints).
Financial details (e.g. information about business accounts, financial history, information from credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies).
Technical Information (e.g. internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location).
Marketing and Communications Information (e.g. marketing campaign data, clickthrough’s, your preferences and consent in receiving marketing from us and our third parties, and your communication preferences).

Cookies and tracking technology

FDF uses cookies and similar technologies on its websites, mobile apps, and in its emails. Cookies are text files that hold small amounts of information, which an individual’s computer or mobile device stores when they visit a website or use a mobile app. When the individual returns to the websites or mobile apps – or visit websites and mobile apps that use the same cookies – they recognize these cookies and therefore the individual’s device. FDF and its partners use cookies or similar technologies to analyze trends, administer the website, track users’ movements around the website, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level, but if you choose to disable cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions on our website or service. For more information about cookies and about turning off cookies, visit https://www.allaboutcookies.org. If you turn off your cookies, some of the features of the services may not function properly.

Information you provide to a third party

The Services may include links and plug-ins to websites operated by third parties such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram buttons (“Third-Party Sites”). FDF does not control any Third-Party Sites and is not responsible for any information they may collect. The information collection practices of a Third-Party Site are governed by the privacy policy of such third parties. It is your choice to enter any Third-Party Site. We recommend that you understand its privacy practices if you choose to do so.

Children’s privacy

The Services are intended for business purposes and adult use only and is not directed towards children, minors, or anyone under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 13, you are not authorized to provide us with any Personal Information.

Choice & opt-out

Text messaging

FDF may send you operational and informational text (SMS) messages about the Services at the phone number you provided us. We may also send marketing or other promotional messages to the extent that you have provided the appropriate opt-in consent. Standard text messaging charges applied by your cell phone carrier will apply to text messages we send. Your agreement to receive promotional texts is not a condition of any purchase or service offered by FDF. Texts, calls, or prerecorded messages may be generated by automatic telephone dialing systems. If you change or deactivate the phone number you provided to FDF, we ask that you update your account information to help prevent us from inadvertently communicating with anyone who acquires your old number.

Opt-out

You may opt out of receiving text messages from FDF at any time by replying STOP to any text message from FDF or by emailing your opt-out request to info@firstdownfunds.com. You may continue to receive text messages for a short period while the we process your request, and you may also receive text messages confirming the receipt of your opt-out request.

Email

FDF may send you emails concerning our products and services, as well as those of third parties. You may opt-out of promotional emails by following the unsubscribe instructions in a promotional email or by emailing info@firstdownfunds.com. This opt-out will not apply to operational or informational emails related to your FDF account. You may continue to receive promotional email messages for a short period while the we process your request.

How we collect your personal information

We may collect Personal Information from a variety of sources and methods. This includes:

Directly from the Customer and Related Parties when they give us Personal Information by filling in forms, filling out a financing application, or by corresponding with us by post, phone, text, email, Contact Us and Get Started forms, Sign Up to Our Newsletter form or Become a FDF Partner form.
FDF will check its own records for information about (i) any accounts belonging to the Customer or any associated businesses and (ii) the Customer’s shareholders who are beneficial owners of the businesses.
FDF may carry out searches using credit reference agencies and financial crime prevention agencies for information relating to the Customer and Related Parties.
FDF may search publicly available sources, such as media stories, for information relating to the Customer and Related Parties.
FDF may also receive Personal Information from third party referral sources, brokers, and strategic partners.

Information we collect from third parties

We collect Personal Information from various third parties, including those listed below. The collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information received from third parties is governed by the privacy practices listed on the website where the information was submitted by the user. Third parties may send their own cookies and pixel tags to you and may collect information and use it in a way inconsistent with this Notice. Please carefully review these third-party privacy practices to understand how your information may be collected, used and disclosed by these third parties.

Third party service providers

We collect Personal Information from service providers including where we operate accounts on third-party platforms, such as online application submission and management platforms, email platforms, and social media platforms.

Third party advertising partners

We collect Personal Information received from third party advertising partners, including partners who host and manage various advertisements and online forums where you can request additional information.

Google Analytics

We use third party cookies provided by Google Analytics to assist us in better understanding our website visitors. These cookies collect IP address and usage data, such as the length of time a user spends on a page, the pages a user visits, and the websites a user visits before and after visiting our website. Based on this information, Google Analytics compiles Aggregate Data about website traffic and interactions, which we use to offer better user experiences and tools in the future. For more information on Google Analytics, visit https://support.google.com/analytics.

Third party cookies

We may engage third-party service providers, including Google, Facebook, and Instagram to serve ads to you about our products and services as you browse the Internet. These third-party providers may use their own cookies tags to track your online activities and purchases in order to deliver targeted advertising based on your interests. You can learn more about Google’s advertising cookies and opt-out options by visiting https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/types/. You can learn more about Facebook’s advertising cookies and opt-out options by visiting https://www.facebook.com/policy/cookies/. You can learn about Instagram’s advertising cookies and opt-out options by visiting https://help.instagram.com/1896641480634370?ref=ig.

Your ‘do not track’ browser setting

Some web browsers incorporate a Do Not Track (“DNT”) feature that signals to the websites that you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. At this time, we do not respond to browser DNT signals. Other third-party websites may keep track of your browsing activities when they provide you with content, which enables them to customize what they present to you on their websites.

California privacy rights

California Consumer Privacy Act

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) provides California residents with specific rights regarding their Personal Information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.

Upon verification of your identity you may:

No more than twice in any 12-month period, request disclosure of the following information:
- Categories of Personal Information we collect.
- Categories of sources from which Personal Information is collected.
- Categories of Personal Information sold or disclosed to third parties.
- Categories of third parties with whom such Personal Information is sold or disclosed.
- Business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling Personal Information.
- Specific pieces of Personal Information we collect.
Request deletion of your Personal Information, subject to the exceptions provided by law.
Opt-out from having your Personal Information sold to third parties, if applicable.

Requests can be submitted by email to info@firstdownfunds.com or using our Contact Page Online at https://firstdownfunding.com/contact/

Please note that these rights apply only to select California consumers and exclude job applicants, employees, and business contacts. Only you, or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your Personal Information. You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child.

The verifiable consumer request must:

Include your full legal name and phone number, which we will need to contact you in order to verify that you are the person about whom we collected Personal Information or an authorized representative.
Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Information relates to you. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. One of our representatives with contact you with further information on how to verify your identity.

We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to:

Complete the transaction for which we collected the Personal Information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our 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 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 us.
Comply with a legal obligation.
Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

We endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded.

No discrimination

The CCPA provides the right to be free from discrimination if you choose to exercise your rights under the statute, and FDF will not discriminate by:

Denying you goods or services.
Charging you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
Providing you a different level or quality of goods or services.
Suggesting that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services

Other California privacy rights

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents who have provided personally identifiable information to us or our third-party advertisers and marketing partners, if any, to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personally identifiable information to third parties for direct marketing purposes. Requests should be submitted via email to info@firstdownfunds.com and should include ‘California privacy rights’ in the subject line. We will need your first and last name, mailing address, and email address in order to process your request. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the requirements of Section 1798.83 and only information on covered sharing will be included in our response. This request may be made no more than once per calendar year.

Questions about this notice

For questions or comments regarding this Notice or our Privacy practices, please contact info@firstdownfunds.com. FDF may also be contacted directly at the following address and phone number:

FDF
1125 West St
STE 200
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: (833) FDFUNDING

Changes to this privacy notice

FDF may modify or update this Notice from time to time. We encourage you to revisit this page often to remain fully informed of our practices or you can contact us at any time to obtain the latest copy of this Notice. Where changes to this Privacy will have a fundamental impact on the nature of how we collect, use, or share your data, FDF will give advance notice of such changes.