Privacy Policy
Privacy
At Teachers
Life we value you as a customer and we know how much privacy means to you. As
such, we would like to inform you of our policies for collecting, using, securing,
and sharing customer information.
Our Privacy
Principles:
We do not
sell customer information.
We require
any person or organization providing products or services on our behalf to
protect Teachers Life customer information.
We do not
share customer medical information with anyone unless you expressly authorize
it, or unless it is permitted or required by law.
We afford our
prospective and former customers the same protections as existing customers
with respect to the use of personal information.
Information
we may collect
We collect,
use, and share information we need to conduct our business, to advise you of
our products and services, and to provide you with customer service. We may
collect and maintain several types of customer information needed for these
purposes, such as those below.
We collect
information
From you, on
applications for our insurance, through telephone or in-person
interviews, your agent, and our Member Service Representatives, such as your
address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, medical and health
information, employment and income information as well as financial
information. From your transactions with us, such as your payment history,
underwriting, and claim records. From third parties such as medical/health professionals,
ministry of transportation, or consumer reporting agencies.
How we use
information about you
We use
customer information to underwrite your policies, process your claims, ensure
proper billing, service your accounts, and offer you other insurance or
financial services products that may suit your needs. These services may be
performed by Teachers Life and/ or our partners.
Information
disclosure
We share
information within Teachers Life and/or our partners to better serve you and to
help meet your current product and service needs. We share information with
service providers who need the information to perform their duties for us, as
well as to any person or organization you have given consent, or to
organizations authorized by law. Our partners are required to protect personal
information in a way that is consistent with our privacy policy and practices.
Links to
other Websites
Our website
includes links that connect to other websites. All linked websites are
completely independent of this site. Teachers Life makes no endorsements and no
assurance, representations or warranties as to the accuracy, quality, condition
or completeness of the information contained in those third party websites.
Website links to teachers’ federations or teachers’ associations do not
necessarily imply any formal or informal connection between those organizations
and Teachers Life nor does it imply any specific endorsement by Teachers Life
of their activities.
Consent
We collect,
use and disclose your personal information only for identified purposes and
with your consent. You may withhold permission for Teachers Life to use or
share your personal information and can withdraw previously given consent as
long as there are no legal or contractual reasons preventing you from doing so.
By withdrawing your consent, you may limit our ability to or prevent us from
providing you with the product or coverage you are applying for.
Protecting
your personal information
We protect
your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure by
ensuring that necessary organizational and technological safeguards are in
place and that these are appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
Access to
your personal information
You may
request access to your personal information at any time. Upon receiving a
written request, we will inform you of the information we have and any fee that
may be associated with an access request. In some circumstances, we may be
unable to provide access to all information due to legal and/or privacy
reasons. If this happens, we will explain these reasons to you.
If you have a
complaint about our privacy policy, or the manner in which we’ve handled your
personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer.
Privacy
Officer
Teachers
Life
50 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Suite 703
Mississauga, ON
L5B 3C2
In the event
you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concern, you may
contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 112 Kent St. Ottawa ON K1A 1H3.
Online
privacy statement
Your privacy
is extremely important to us. We want you to understand how we safeguard your
personal information and what types of information we receive and collect when
you visit our website.
Personal
information
You are not
required to provide personal information to use our websites, unless a certain
feature requires it. We have safeguards in place to help protect your online
personal information from unauthorized use or improper access. These safeguards
include:
Passwords –
Members can access their account information online only after providing
identifying information and a password. This information is an important step
in protecting your information online.
128-bit
encryption – Teachers Life uses a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to
protect personal information transmitted to us electronically. SSL transmitted
information is encrypted, or scrambled, to prevent unauthorized reading of the
electronic communication.
Although we
have physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that we believe are
adequate to protect personal information, any such systems may be subject to
human and operational error. In particular, because the Internet is an open
system, we cannot and do not guarantee that personal information entered by you
online will not be misappropriated, intercepted, modified, deleted or used by
others.
Improving our
website functionality and effectiveness
Teachers Life
sometimes gathers data, such as your IP address, regarding how visitors explore
our websites – information about the number of new and repeat visitors, where
on the website a visitor explores, how long they visit, where they are located
and other details. All of this information is collected in an aggregate form
and is used to improve our websites’ performance and functionality, create a
better experience for our visitors and measure the response to marketing
campaigns.
Teachers Life
or its agents on our behalf collect this information through the use of cookies
and electronic images known as web beacons.
What are
cookies?
A cookie is a
small piece of information that a website sends to your computer where it is
stored on your hard drive. The next time you visit our website, we may use the
information stored on your cookie to make your visit easier. A cookie does not
tell us your identity unless you have chosen to provide it to us. Cookies
cannot access other information or files from your computer. There are session
and permanent cookies.
A session
cookie is erased when you leave our website. A permanent cookie is a file that remains
on your computer when you close your internet. A permanent cookie can be read
only by the website that created the cookie when you revisit that site. Cookies
can identify a visitor only if the visitor has used a website’s login feature.
If you ask us to save your information to be used the next time you visit our
website, we will use a permanent cookie to store your information in an
encrypted format on your computer so that the next time you visit the website
you will be recognized when you sign in. Permanent cookies have expiry dates
and are automatically deleted from your computer after they expire. You can
also clear your stored cookies in your browser preferences. You can set your
website browser to notify you when you receive a cookie so that you can decide
whether to accept or reject it. Note: rejecting cookies may result in certain
parts of the website not functioning correctly or as well as if cookies were
allowed.
The permanent
cookies that may be placed on your computer by the Google Display Network
relating to web marketing campaigns are used to increase the relevance of
display ads you may see when you visit other websites that are serviced by the
Google Display Network. To opt out of these cookies, select the opt out button
on the Google Privacy Centre page.