Protecting your Privacy

Protecting your information is one of our highest priorities and as such we have instituted policies and procedures and use vigorous security safeguards to protect your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information. The protection of your personal information is an integral part of our service commitment to you.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information. Personal information is information about you as an identifiable individual and may include such information as your age, marital status, education, employment history, identification numbers and financial information. It does not include publicly available information, such as a public directory listing of your name, address, telephone number, title, and electronic address.

Why do we collect, use, and disclose personal information about you?

We collect, use and disclose personal information to provide you with the protection and services you need. The collection, use, and disclosure of personal information allow us to:

  • Establish your identity; Understand and assess your needs and eligibility for products and services;
  • Protect you and us from error, fraud, and illegal activity;
  • Communicate with you;
  • Ensure quality assurance;
  • Establish and maintain responsible commercial relations with you;
  • Develop, enhance, market, or provide products and services;
  • Analyze business results and report to appropriate regulatory or industry entities;
  • Compile statistics, conduct market research in accordance with prudent practices;
  • Comply with the law or requests of law enforcement officers or regulators;
  • Provide ongoing service; and Survey your customer and claims experiences and satisfaction.

Your personal information will not be used for any other purpose without your consent.

What personal information do we collect?

We obtain most of your personal information directly from you. However, we may need to collect information from other sources. We will only collect information pertinent to the appropriate purpose. The personal information we may need includes:

  • Name, address, telephone numbers, fax numbers, or e-mail address;
  • Birth date, gender, marital status;
  • Employment information;
  • and Customer experience and satisfaction.

How do we collect your information?

We may gather information from the following sources:

  • You, on applications for service products, or other forms filled out in person or through telephone, email, or online;
  • Government, industry and other entities, that have information on your claims history or pertinent to an application for insurance;
  • Consumer reporting agencies; or
  • Reputable, third party market research agencies.

Your personal information may be used or disclosed amongst us, or third parties and we may verify such information, or obtain additional personal information about you by checking with government agencies, credit bureaus, and other fact collecting and verifying entities.

We use session cookies (small data files that a site sends to your computer). They do not contain personal identifiable information. We use cookies and IP addresses to obtain non-personal information from online visitors and determine how many people visit the website. If you don't want cookies, you can turn off all cookies or have your computer notify you when cookies are being sent by following the instructions for your particular web browser.

How may you give your consent?

There are many ways you can give consent. You may express your consent in writing, verbally, or through electronic means. Alternatively, where permitted by law, your consent may be implied through an action you've taken or when you continue to use a product or service after we've notified you of a change. You may indicate your consent by:

  • Providing your personal information to us for the purposes of acquiring a service, including information previously provided to us;
  • Your express consent or acknowledgement contained, for example, within a written, verbal, or electronic application process;
  • Your express consent solicited by us for a specific purpose;
  • Your receipt of this privacy policy until you notify us of a withdrawal of this consent; or
  • Your consent given through your authorized representative such as your legal guardian, agent, or holder of power of attorney.

By providing personal information about a third party such as a family member you represent that you have obtained their consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of such personal information in accordance with this privacy policy.

With whom do we collect or share information about you?

We do not share or transfer personal information to any unrelated third party for any secondary marketing purpose.

We may collect or share information with:

  • You;
  • Any person authorized by you;
  • Any person required or permitted by law to have access to your personal information;
  • Any person as is necessary to protect our interests;
  • Affiliates and subsidiaries and divisions;
  • Insurers, agents or brokers, as necessary;
  • Professionals, such as lawyers or accountants working with or retained by us;
  • Credit and payment services financial organizations;
  • Third party service providers, such as collection agencies, marketing and research agencies, or service providers; and
  • Industry data collection agencies for the purpose of analyzing business results.

When we share personal information with third parties, we provide only that information that is required in the circumstances. Information provided to third parties is used only for the purposes stipulated and is subject to strict terms of confidentiality.

May you withdraw your consent for us to collect, use and disclose your information?

Subject to certain legal and contractual obligations you may, on reasonable notice, withdraw your consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information. If you do not wish to consent or if you withdraw your consent we may not be able to provide you with a particular product or service. We will explain the impact of withholding or withdrawing your consent, to help you with your decision.

If you wish to withdraw your consent, you should contact our Privacy Officer at the address or telephone number listed below. Unless we hear otherwise from you, you are giving to us your consent for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information as provided in this Policy. We may contact you to offer other products and services through direct mail, telephone, or other means. If you would rather not receive such information, please use the contact information below to let us know.

How long will we retain your personal information?

We will retain your personal information only as long as necessary to satisfy legal or business obligations. The length of time we keep your information depends on the product or service and the nature of the personal information. We have retention standards that meet customer service, legal, and regulatory needs. When the information is no longer required, we securely destroy it or convert it to an anonymous form.

How do we keep your personal information accurate and secure?

We make every effort to ensure the information in our records is correct and up to date. We rely on you to tell us when your personal information changes.

As part of our effort to keep your personal information secure, we limit access to your personal information and store it securely by a variety of physical, technological, and organizational safeguards. Depending on the nature of the information, it may be stored in various secure computer systems, or in archives in various locations across Canada.

Access to your personal information is only given to those who require it to provide our products and services. Employees who have access to your information are made aware of how to keep it confidential. We have procedures to instruct outside suppliers to maintain the confidentiality and security of personal information and not to use it for unauthorized purposes.

Do you have the right to access your personal information?

Yes, you have a right to access your personal information that we have in our possession or control. You also have a right to know which third parties have received your information from us.

To access your personal information, please make your request in writing to our Privacy Officer, being as specific as possible as to which personal information you are requesting. We will advise you if for some reason we cannot respond right away. We may charge you a reasonable fee for providing access to your personal information, but only after first advising you of the approximate cost.

In providing you with a list of the organizations to which we have disclosed any of your information, we will try to be as precise as possible. When it is not possible to provide an exact list of such organizations to which we have actually disclosed your personal information, we shall provide a list of organizations to which we may have disclosed the information.

We have the right to refuse your request for access to personal information if: the information is protected by solicitor-client privilege; granting access would reveal confidential commercial information; doing so would reasonably be expected to threaten the life or security of another individual; the information was collected for purposes related to the detection and prevention of fraud; the information was generated in the course of a formal dispute resolution process; or the information would likely reveal personal information about another individual.

What if you have a question or concern about your privacy?

We are responsible for the personal information under our control and have designated a Privacy Officer to ensure compliance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy spells out the responsibility of Elemental4, and your rights as our applicant, customer, former customer, or claimant (you or your), regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information.

If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy practices or compliance with our privacy policy or procedure, please email the Privacy Officer at privacy@Elemental4.com, who will respond to your question or investigate your complaint. If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy related inquiry or complaint, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or your provincial privacy commissioner, if applicable. The privacy policy may change from time to time.

* In this Policy, "we" or "us" means, Elemental4 and their subsidiaries involved in general products and services. In certain locations Elemental4 operates under various trade names and styles that it owns.

** In this instance, "you" and "your" includes any individual that has requested, applied for or been supplied with products or services by us.