Our Commitment to Confidentiality and Respecting Your Privacy
Our commitment
Maintaining the confidentiality of information you provide to the companies of the AXA Group in Canada (“AXA”) and respecting your privacy are principles to which we wholeheartedly subscribe. You can safely entrust information to us, via our authorized agents and representatives, or via brokers who sell our insurance products and other financial products, or on the Internet, knowing that we will give the information provided all the protection it is due.
Principles and laws regarding the protection of personal information
AXA respects the ten principles for the protection of personal information provided for under Canadian law. We also rigorously apply provincial laws relating to the protection of personal information which are currently in effect, namely, those in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, and will respect other similar laws that may come into effect in the future.
Collection of personal information
AXA collects only the personal information that is necessary for the conclusion or execution of insurance contracts or other contracts for financial products and services. This personal information is obtained directly from the client or, with the client’s consent, from third parties whose identities and activities are made known to the client in advance. Such is the case, for example, with credit checks, which are only performed with your consent. Your consent must also be obtained in connection with investigations relating to insurance claims. If an investigation is required, your consent will be obtained when you submit a claim.
Our clients’ physical files established for a purpose that relates to “financial services and insurance” are held in the jurisdiction of the company of the AXA Group in Canada with whom they do business, unless indicated otherwise.
Use of personal information
The personal information we hold is used only for the purpose for which it was originally obtained. Such information is generally used to underwrite an insurance contract, establish the premium and follow up on your file. Similarly, if you are purchasing other types of financial products or services, your personal information is used to make the contract, provide you with the services required, and provide follow-up on the file.
Personal information may also be used to make recommendations to you about other financial products and services offered by the companies of the AXA Group in Canada based on our assessment of your needs. We believe it is our duty and in your interest to inform you of these financial products and services, unless you indicate that you do not wish to receive such offers or recommendations.
Any change in use requires us to obtain your consent.
Confidentiality and security of personal information and other information
The personal information that AXA holds about its clients is confidential, and physical, administrative and technological measures are taken to ensure confidentiality.
Within each company of the AXA Group in Canada, your personal information is accessible only to those of our employees who need it in order to perform their duties, that is, to provide you with the services or products that you have requested.
Unless we have obtained your consent to do so, or where such communication is authorized by law, your personal information is not communicated to third parties. Naturally, we may need to exchange information with the broker or the intermediary with whom you do business. Our service providers (external auditors, data processing companies, etc.) may also acquire knowledge of your personal information when necessary to allow them to perform the tasks that we entrust to them. Strict measures are then taken to ensure that the confidentiality and security of your information are respected.
Only the personal information that is necessary to offer you goods and services based on your needs will be exchanged between the companies of the AXA Group in Canada, unless you object to such exchange. The information concerned will then be subject to the standards of security, confidentiality and use contained in Our Commitment to Confidentiality and Respecting Your Privacy.
Retention of personal information
The personal information we hold is kept in our files during the period necessary to provide you with the insurance and financial products and services required. When a file is closed, the information is securely handled and kept in accordance with our retention schedule and our legal obligations. Files are destroyed when there is no longer any possibility of them being used for administrative or legal purposes or because we are obligated to do so by law.
Privacy and the Internet
When you use the websites of the AXA Group in Canada, including this one, to obtain information about our products and services or to perform a transaction, you can be sure that all necessary precautions are taken to ensure the security and confidentiality of your personal information and any other information that you exchange with us. Our commitment to confidentiality and respecting your privacy applies to information transmitted or exchanged via the Internet.
AXA does not collect any information when you simply visit its website, subject to the possible use of cookies. When you apply online for a quote on insurance or other financial products or services, the necessary personal information is collected at that time. The same applies when you order brochures or other documents or sign up for a specific service online. The personal information you submit online through our websites is secure and cannot be intercepted by a third party. If no transaction is concluded, the information is kept for a sufficient period of time to allow you to reconsider our quote.
Unless you object, we may keep your contact information, including your email address, so that we may occasionally send you information on our products and services.
AXA does not sell personal information to third parties under any circumstances.
The websites of the AXA Group in Canada may contain hyperlinks enabling you to explore sites run by other companies. AXA has no control over those sites and in no way assumes responsibility by listing them on its site. All information you exchange with those sites will be subject to the confidentiality policies of those sites.
Rights of access, rectification and withdrawal
You have the right to consult the personal information we hold about you, subject to the restrictions provided for by law, and, as the case may be, to request that the information be rectified if it is inaccurate, incomplete, ambiguous or collected in violation of the law.
You may also inform us that you do not wish to receive offers and promotions regarding products and services provided by the AXA Group in Canada.
A request to that effect must be sent in writing to the AXA Privacy Officer at the following addresses:
AXA Pacific Insurance Company
Privacy Officer
999 West Hastings Street, 3rd Floor, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2W2
Tel.: 1-888-669-0595
Fax: 604-669-3894
AXA Assurances Inc.
Privacy Officer
2020 University Street, Suite 700, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A5
Tel.: 1-800-561-7251
Fax: 514-282-6110
AXA Insurance (Canada)
Privacy Officer
5700 Yonge Street, Suite 1400, North York, Ontario M2M 4K2
Tel.: 1-800-268-0008
Fax: 416-218-5715
AXA General Insurance
Privacy Officer
Robert Charles Anthony Building
35 Blackmarsh Road, PO Box 8485
St. John’s, Newfoundland A1B 3N9
Tel.: 709-758-5650
Fax: 709-579-4500
Right to file a complaint and obtain information
If you believe that the applicable laws relating to the protection of personal information or Our Commitment to Confidentiality and Respecting Your Privacy have not been respected, you may file a complaint with the Privacy Officer. If, after an investigation, your complaint is deemed justified, AXA will take the appropriate steps to correct the situation. If you are not satisfied with the results of the investigation or the corrective measures taken, you may exercise the remedies available to you under the law concerned by contacting the appropriate Privacy Commissioner.
You may contact the AXA Privacy Officer at any time to obtain additional information regarding the protection of personal information and respect for privacy within the companies of the AXA Group in Canada.
