Last Updated: April 30, 2026
YA Group (“YA Group”, “we”, “us”, “our”) respects the privacy of your personal information.
We are a technical consulting firm specializing in forensic engineering, building assessment, and construction consulting for clients in the insurance, legal, construction, and corporate sectors (“Services”). In the course of providing our Services, we collect, use, disclose, and otherwise process information, including personal information, relating to our clients and, in some cases, their customers, claimants, insureds, employees, representatives, or other individuals whose information is provided to us in connection with an engagement.
This Privacy Policy describes how YA Group and the affiliated companies, divisions, and business units that operate under the YA Group brand (collectively, the “YA Group,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collect, use, disclose, and otherwise process personal information. YA Group serves as the central public-facing organization through which visitors, prospective customers, customers, and other individuals interact with our business, and it coordinates engagement with the appropriate business units that perform services within YA Group. While some business functions are managed centrally on behalf of the YA Group, personal information is shared internally only as appropriate for those functions and, for client-related data, access is limited to the relevant business units and authorized personnel. Unless we state otherwise at the time we collect personal information, this Privacy Policy applies to YA Group and the business units operating under it.
In addition, when we process personal information on behalf of a client in connection with delivering our Services, we do so subject to the terms of our contract or other written agreement with that client, which acts as the relevant controller, business, or other responsible party under applicable law. In those circumstances, our client determines the purposes and means of processing, and this Policy does not override any separate contractual terms or privacy notices that apply to that client data.
Where required by applicable law, we implement contractual and operational safeguards governing our processing of personal information on behalf of clients and limit our use of such information to providing the Services, complying with law, protecting our rights, and other permitted purposes.
Please read this Policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal information and your rights and choices regarding that information. This Policy may change from time to time. We will post any updates here and revise the “Last Updated” date. If we make material changes affecting how we collect, use, or disclose personal information, we will provide additional notice as required by law. Where required by law, we will obtain any required consent before applying those changes.
If you are visiting this Website from Canada or UK/EEA, please see our Canada Addendum or UK/EEA Addendum for additional relevant disclosures.
“Personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with an identified or identifiable individual. For California residents, this term also includes “sensitive personal information,” where relevant, as defined under applicable California law. Personal information does not include deidentified information, aggregate consumer information, or publicly available information, as those terms are defined by applicable law.
The categories of personal information we collect vary depending on how you interact with us and may include the following:
We may collect the following categories of personal information from visitors to our Website:
We may collect the following categories of personal information from prospective clients and clients:
We may collect the following categories of personal information from job applicants and candidates in connection with recruiting and the application process:
We use this information for recruiting, evaluating candidates, communicating regarding opportunities, processing applications, verifying eligibility to work, conducting background checks or pre-employment screenings, where permitted by law, administering accommodations, complying with legal obligations, and related business and security purposes.
We collect personal information from the following categories of sources, depending on how you interact with us:
What Are Cookies and Similar Technologies?
Cookies are small text files placed on your browser or device when you visit a website. Similar technologies include pixels, tags, embedded scripts, local storage technologies, and tools used to analyze website performance and interactions.
These technologies help websites function, remember preferences, measure traffic and engagement, support analytics, improve performance, maintain security, and, in some cases, support business development, campaign measurement, and limited advertising activities.
Categories of Cookies and Similar Technologies We Use
We and our service providers may use the following categories of cookies and similar technologies on the Website.
A. Strictly Necessary Technologies
These technologies are used to operate the Website and support core technical and business functions, such as hosting, content delivery, security, fraud prevention, consent-preference management, accessibility, and form submission functionality.
Because these technologies are necessary for the Website to function, they generally cannot be disabled through cookie preference tools, although your browser may allow you to block or delete them. If you do so, parts of the Website may not function properly.
B. Functional Technologies
These technologies help the Website remember choices and preferences, such as language settings, region, consent selections, and other settings that improve usability and Website performance.
C. Analytics and Performance Technologies
These technologies help us understand how visitors use the Website, including which pages are visited, how users navigate the Website, whether technical issues occur, and how Website content and forms perform.
We use these technologies to operate, maintain, troubleshoot, and improve the Website, better understand engagement with our content, and evaluate the effectiveness of our communications and business development activities.
D. Business Development and Advertising Technologies
We may use certain cookies and similar technologies to support measured business development activities, including understanding engagement with our Website, evaluating the effectiveness of outreach and campaigns, supporting remarketing, and delivering or measuring advertising directed to relevant professional audiences.
These activities are intended to support our professional services business and outreach to prospective clients and business contacts. They are not intended for children or for broad consumer-oriented profiling.
In some circumstances, these technologies may support targeted advertising or cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under applicable law.
Categories of Personal Information Collected Through Cookies and Similar Technologies
Depending on the technology and configuration, cookies and similar technologies on the Website may collect or receive the following categories of personal information:
Where permitted by law, information collected through cookies and similar technologies may be associated with information you provide directly through Website forms or other interactions with us.
Categories of Third Parties Involved
Depending on the circumstances, cookies and similar technologies on the Website may involve the following categories of third parties:
How We Use Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Business Development Advertising, Targeted Advertising, and Sale / Sharing
We may use cookies and similar technologies, and may permit certain third parties to collect personal information from or through the Website, to support business development, advertising performance measurement, remarketing, and related outreach activities.
Depending on applicable law, some of these practices may constitute:
Where required by applicable law, we provide you with the ability to opt out of these activities through our Your Privacy Choices link, as applicable, or through the other methods described in our Privacy Policy.
Where required by law, we also honor opt-out preference signals.
Website Interaction Analytics
We may use tools that help us understand how users interact with the Website, such as navigation patterns, page engagement, technical errors, and form performance. We use this information to improve Website functionality, diagnose issues, and better understand how visitors engage with our content and contact pathways.
Where required by applicable law, these technologies will be used in accordance with the consent choices you make.
Forms, File Uploads, and Related Website Functions
The Website may include contact forms, intake forms, recruiting forms, or other submission tools. Cookies and similar technologies may be used in connection with these functions for security, functionality, analytics, submission management, and related operational purposes.
Information submitted through Website forms may be routed to internal teams, intake workflows, customer relationship management systems, or service providers based on the nature of the request, service line, or location.
File uploads submitted through Website forms are handled in accordance with our internal security practices and may be subject to additional controls based on the sensitivity of the information involved. Cookies and similar technologies generally do not store the contents of uploaded files themselves, but they may collect metadata or interaction data relating to submissions, errors, or completion status.
Your Cookie and Similar Technology Choices
Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have one or more of the following choices regarding cookies and similar technologies.
Retention
Some cookies operate only during your browser session, while others remain on your device for a longer period unless deleted earlier. The retention period depends on the purpose of the technology, operational requirements, legal obligations, and the settings established by us or the relevant third party.
For more information about our general retention practices, please see the How Long We Retain Your Personal Information section of this Policy.
We may use personal information for the following purposes:
We may create, use, and disclose aggregated or de-identified information for any lawful purpose, provided that it does not identify an individual and we maintain measures designed to help prevent re-identification. We do not attempt to re-identify such information and require recipients to do the same where required by law.
We may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients:
We do not disclose personal information to other affiliated companies for their own independent marketing or business purposes. In limited circumstances, authorized personnel within affiliated entities may access personal information as necessary to provide centralized legal, compliance, administrative, or other internal support services on behalf of YA Group, subject to appropriate confidentiality and access restrictions.
We may disclose sensitive personal information only as permitted by applicable law, including where reasonably necessary and proportionate to provide our Services, administer our business, maintain security, prevent fraud, manage recruiting and employment matters, and comply with legal obligations.
Depending on your state of residence and subject to applicable exceptions and limitations, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, which may include the right to:
Notice of Right to Opt-Out of Sale, Sharing and Targeted Advertising. We may use cookies and similar technologies and permit certain third parties, such as analytics, advertising, and social media partners, to collect personal information from or through our Website and online services for analytics, marketing, and advertising purposes. Under certain state laws, certain of these practices may constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, as well as targeted advertising. We will honor opt-out requests and opt-out preference signals where required by applicable law.
The availability of certain rights depends on your state of residence, the nature of your relationship with us, and how we process your personal information.
Exercising Your Rights
To exercise any privacy rights available to you under applicable U.S. state privacy law, you may submit a request by emailing us or writing to us using the information in the How to Contact Us section. Please indicate the right you wish to exercise and, if known, the state law under which you are submitting the request.
We may need to verify your identity before processing your request. To do so, we may request information sufficient to confirm your identity based on the information we already maintain. If necessary, we may request additional information for verification, security, or fraud-prevention purposes. Any additional information requested for verification will be used only for that purpose, except as otherwise permitted by law.
You may designate an authorized agent to submit certain requests on your behalf where permitted by law. If you use an authorized agent, we may require proof of the agent’s authority to act on your behalf, and we may also require you to verify your identity directly with us or confirm directly with us that you authorized the agent to submit the request, as permitted by law.
We will respond to verifiable requests within the time required by applicable law. In many states, including California, we generally respond within 45 days of receipt of the request, subject to extensions permitted by law where reasonably necessary. If we need additional time, we will notify you within the period required by law and explain the reason for the extension.
If we decline to take action on your request, we will explain the basis for our decision as required by applicable law. Depending on your state of residence, you may also have the right to appeal our decision. If an appeal right applies, our notice of denial will explain how to submit an appeal and any applicable deadlines.
If we deny your appeal, and your state law provides a further right to complain to a regulator or attorney general, we will provide information about how you may do so, as required by applicable law.
Where we collect personal information directly from you, we provide or make available a notice at or before the point of collection that describes the categories of personal information collected, the purposes for which the categories of personal information are collected or used, whether the information is sold or shared, and the applicable retention period or retention criteria.
For online forms, that notice may be provided through a conspicuous link near the relevant fields or submit button. For offline collection, notice may be provided on paper forms, through signage directing individuals to where the notice can be found online, or orally when collecting information by phone or in person.
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, acquisition, use, disclosure, alteration, destruction, and loss. These safeguards are appropriate to the nature of the personal information we process and the risks presented by our business and may include, as applicable, role-based access controls and least-privilege practices, encryption in transit, network and application security measures, vulnerability management, logging and monitoring, workforce training, incident response procedures, vendor and contractor security requirements, and data minimization and retention controls.
No method of transmitting or storing information over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you communicate with us by email, text message, or other non-secure channels, you should not send highly sensitive information unless we specifically direct you to do so through an approved secure method. Please contact us if you need a secure option for transmitting sensitive information.
You also play an important role in protecting your information. If you maintain an account with us, please keep your credentials confidential, use strong passwords, and notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorized access to your account or personal information.
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary and proportionate to achieve the purposes described in this Policy, or for other compatible purposes permitted by law, unless a longer period is required or permitted by applicable law. In determining retention periods, we consider the nature and sensitivity of the information, the purposes for which it was collected and used, legal and regulatory requirements, applicable limitation periods, security and fraud-prevention needs, and our business and recordkeeping obligations. When retention is no longer necessary based on the criteria described above, we delete, deidentify, aggregate, or otherwise securely dispose of the information, subject to applicable legal, operational, backup, archival, and recordkeeping requirements.
In general, we apply the following retention criteria by category:
Where personal information is maintained in backup systems or archived media, we retain it in accordance with applicable backup, archival, legal hold, recordkeeping, and business continuity processes. Information maintained in such systems may be retained for extended periods where reasonably necessary for legal, compliance, security, dispute-resolution, audit, recordkeeping, or operational purposes. We apply appropriate access controls and safeguards to such information and limit its use to purposes that are compatible with the reason for retention or otherwise permitted by law. Information maintained only in backup or disaster-recovery systems is generally not subject to active processing and is deleted or overwritten in accordance with applicable system cycles, unless preservation is required or permitted by law.
Where we deidentify or aggregate information, we may retain and use that information in deidentified or aggregated form in accordance with applicable law. We do not attempt to reidentify deidentified information and require recipients to do the same where required by law.
We also retain records of consumer privacy requests and our responses for at least 24 months, as required by applicable law.
Our Services are not intended for, and we do not knowingly collect any personal information from, children under the age of 18. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 18 years old without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information.
To exercise your rights or ask questions or comment about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, contact us via email at legal@yagroup.com or via the Contact Us form on our Website.
This Canada Addendum supplements the Privacy Policy and applies to personal information of individuals in Canada to the extent applicable Canadian privacy law applies, including the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and substantially similar provincial private-sector privacy laws, including in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec, where applicable.
Unless otherwise stated in this Addendum, the sections of the Privacy Policy titled:
apply to our processing of personal information in Canada.
Depending on the context, YA Group may process personal information in Canada as an organization acting on its own behalf, or on behalf of a client or other counterparty subject to contractual restrictions and applicable law. Where YA Group receives personal information indirectly from a client, insurer, adjuster, law firm, employer, or other representative, that party may have separate notice obligations under applicable law.
Where required by applicable Canadian law, we will obtain consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information, except where law permits or requires processing without consent. Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, consent may be express or implied. By providing personal information to us, or directing another person or organization to do so, you understand that we will process that information as described in the Privacy Policy and this Addendum, unless a different notice is provided.
Personal information may be stored, processed, or accessed outside your province or territory of residence, including in the United States and other jurisdictions where YA Group, its affiliates, clients, or service providers operate. When personal information is transferred across borders, it may be subject to the laws of the destination jurisdiction and may be accessible to courts, regulators, or law enforcement in that jurisdiction. YA Group uses contractual, technical, and organizational measures designed to provide an appropriate level of protection for personal information in its custody or control.
Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to request access to personal information, request correction of inaccurate personal information, and withdraw consent to certain processing, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. You may also have the right to ask questions about our privacy practices, including cross-border processing, and to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the applicable provincial privacy regulator.
Questions, requests, and complaints regarding this Canada Addendum may be directed to us using the contact details set out in the How to Contact Us section of the Privacy Policy.
This UK / EEA Addendum supplements the Privacy Policy and applies only to the extent YA Group is subject to the UK GDPR, the EU GDPR, the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, or other applicable data protection law with respect to personal data of individuals in the United Kingdom, European Economic Area, or Switzerland.
Unless otherwise stated in this Addendum, the sections of the Privacy Policy titled:
apply to our processing of personal data covered by this Addendum.
YA Group is a United States entity. To the extent YA Group processes personal data of individuals in the United Kingdom or European Economic Area in connection with offering goods or services to such individuals, monitoring their behavior, operating Websites, managing business relationships, recruiting, or otherwise conducting activities subject to applicable data protection law, this Addendum applies to that processing.
Depending on the context, YA Group may act as a controller or processor with respect to personal data covered by this Addendum. For example, YA Group may act as a controller when operating its Websites, managing recruiting, administering internal business functions, communicating with individuals, providing or marketing services or managing direct business relationships. YA Group may act as a processor or similar service provider when processing personal data on behalf of a client, insurer, law firm, employer, or other counterparty. In those cases, the relevant client or counterparty may be the controller and may provide separate privacy information.
We may collect personal data directly from you and from the other sources described in the sections of the Privacy Policy titled Categories of Personal Information That We Collect and How We Collect Your Personal and Other Information, including from employers, clients, insurers, legal representatives, adjusters, examiners, service providers, public sources, and other counterparties, where permitted by law.
We process personal data for the purposes described in the section of the Privacy Policy titled How We Use Personal Information. Depending on the circumstances, our lawful bases may include:
Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests may include operating and improving our business, Websites, and services; communicating with you; managing client, vendor, insurer, legal, employment, recruiting, and other business relationships; maintaining business records; preventing fraud; protecting the security and integrity of our systems; establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims; and complying with internal governance, audit, and compliance requirements.
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
Where YA Group processes special category data, it does so only where a valid Article 9 condition is available and, for UK processing where applicable, a relevant condition under the Data Protection Act 2018 also applies. Depending on the circumstances, this may include explicit consent, employment and social protection obligations, establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims, medical or occupational health purposes where applicable, substantial public interest, or other conditions permitted by law.
Personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the UK, EEA, or Switzerland, including the United States. Where required, YA Group uses an approved transfer mechanism, such as an adequacy decision, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement Addendum, or another lawful transfer tool, together with supplementary measures where appropriate.
Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to request access to your personal data, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection to processing, and data portability.
Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time. You may also have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests and to object to direct marketing.
You may also lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, an EEA supervisory authority, or another competent regulator, as applicable.
Where YA Group receives personal data indirectly from a client or another source rather than directly from you, YA Group may provide additional privacy information where required by applicable law, unless an exemption applies. Where appropriate, YA Group may rely on contractual arrangements requiring the relevant client or source to provide privacy information to affected individuals.
Questions or requests regarding this UK/EEA Addendum or our processing of personal data can be directed to us using the contact details set out in the How to Contact Us section of the Privacy Policy.