Privacy Policy
At Park Georgia Insurance Agencies, we are, and have always been, committed to protecting all of the personal information you share with us in order to maintain your privacy. It is our priority to respect and uphold your need for confidentiality.
Since January 1, 2004 new privacy legislation is in effect. Therefore, we want to clearly explain why we ask for your personal information, how we use the information and then provide you with choices.
What is personal information?
This refers to information that specifically identifies you as an individual. It includes information that you provide when completing insurance applications with us or that we collect from other sources with your permission in the standard process.
Why do we ask for your personal information?
We collect and use your personal information primarily to help us in the writing of insurance policies, along with assisting us in the day-to-day servicing of your accounts. More specifically, we ask for personal information for the following reasons:
- To verify your identity and protect you and our company against fraud;
- To provide you with information about our products and services that we believe may be of interest to you;
- To set up and manage products and services you have requested from us;
- To satisfy the regulatory obligations of our industry
Who do we disclose your personal information to?
We share your personal information with others in order to serve your needs. These other parties commonly include:
- Insurance Companies
- Other insurance brokers or agents
- Credit organizations
- Financial institutions. For example, the organization that carries your mortgage.
Our commitment
- We will not collect, use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than those that we identify to you.
- We will keep your personal information only for as long as we need it to fulfill the stated purpose or as required by law.
- We will maintain your personal information in as accurate, complete and up-to-date a form as possible.
- We will safeguard your personal information to the best of our ability.
- We will respond to any request you may make to access or correct the personal information we hold about you.
- We will obtain the appropriate consent from you for the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information.
Consent
We may obtain your express consent or we may determine that consent has been implied by the circumstances.
- We might ask you for your express consent in writing, for example in a signed consent or application form.
- We may ask for your express consent in person or over the telephone.
- We may determine that by seeking insurance through our Agency, your consent has been implied for us to deal with your personal information in a reasonable manner.
There are also legal exceptions in which we will not need to obtain your consent or explain the purposes for the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information. For example, this could apply when there is an emergency situation, or if it is necessary for your protection or ours.
Your choices
You could refuse to allow us to obtain, use or share your personal information or you could also withdraw a previously given consent at any time. However, by doing so, you may be limiting or even preventing our ability to provide you with the product or service you desire.
Accountability, Openness and Customer Access
Park Georgia Insurance Agencies is responsible for all personal information under its control and has designated a Privacy Officer who is accountable to Senior Management for the Agency’s compliance with its Privacy Policy.
For more information, to file a complaint, to make enquiries, please contact the Privacy Officer in writing:
Head Office
Park Georgia Insurance Agencies
201-5701 Granville St, Vancouver, BC, V6M 4J7
Fax: 604-688-8246
PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION & ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS ACT (PIPEDA)
PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION AND ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS ACT (PIPEDA)
Applicable to Business Owners – Effective November 1, 2018
As of November 1, 2018, new regulations have come into effect that require all organizations to report any breaches of security safeguards to the Privacy Commissioner and anyone else affected. Significant harm includes bodily harm, humiliation, damage to reputation or relationships, loss of employment, financial loss, identity theft, negative effects on credit record and/or damage to loss of property. The Real Risk of Significant Harm is determined based on the sensitivity of the personal information involved in the breach and the probability of this information being misused in the past, or for it to be misused in the future.
What are Security Safeguards?
Measure used by the business to keep personal/sensitive information safe which includes the following:
1. Physical: such as locked filing cabinets, restricted access in offices
2. Organizational: security clearances and limiting access on a “need to know” basis
3. Technological: protection of passwords, banking, credit card data and personal information
What does this mean to you?
If any of your security safeguards are breached (e.g. lost, stolen or accessed) all businesses will now be required to report any real risk of significant harm to the Privacy Commissioner and those affected, and also maintain a record of ALL security safeguard breaches (regardless of reporting) for a period of 24 months. Failure to do so can result in a fine from the Privacy Commissioner of up to $100,000.00 per individual.
Note, the new regulations also state that if your business does not currently have established security safeguards in place, this is also considered a security safeguard breach.
Some Questions for your business to consider on how to avoid Data Breaches:
1. Do you have an action plan of when to report data breaches to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada?
2. How will you notify your clients of the breach? What has been done to minimize the breach?
3. With technology becoming the most widely used method to store your client’s information, do you currently carry a Cyber insurance policy to cover any loss from a technology or data breach?
At Park Georgia Insurance Agencies, we are here to support you and your organization with any questions you may have regarding this new legislation. In addition, we also offer a variety of Cyber Insurance solutions that can help your business handle a security breach and help you notify your clients of a potential data breach for your company. Due to the nature of this new legislation, we our encouraging our clients to look into obtaining Cyber coverage for their business. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about some of the Cyber products that we offer.