Privacy
Our Commitment to Your Privacy
Sandhills Insurance Ltd. and its employees have always been committed to keeping our customer personal information accurate, confidential, secure and private. The Privacy Code that follows builds on this commitment. This code is based on the Model Privacy Code and on the Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information (CAN/CSA-Q830-96) included as Schedule 1 of the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. This Code describes how Sandhills Insurance Ltd. subscribes to the principles set out in those model codes.
Ten interrelated principles form the basis of Sandhills Insurance Ltd. Code for the Protection of Personal Information (“the Code”). Each principle must be read in conjunction with the accompanying commentary.
1. Accountability
Sandhills Insurance Ltd. is responsible for personal information under its control and will designate a Privacy Officer who is accountable for the agency’s compliance with the principles of the Code.
2. Identifying Purposes
The purposes for which personal information is collected will be identified by the agency when or before the information is collected.
3. Consent
The knowledge and consent of the Client are required for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information, except in specific circumstances as described within this Code.
4. Limiting Collection
The collection of personal information will be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the agency. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention
Personal information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the Client or as required by law. Personal information will be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfilment of those purposes.
6. Accuracy
Personal information will be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.
7. Safeguards
Personal information will be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
8. Openness
The agency will make readily available specific, understandable information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.
9. Individual Access
Upon request, a Client will be informed of the existence, use, and disclosure of their personal information, and will be given access to that information. A Client is entitled to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
10. Compliance
A Client will be able to question compliance with the above principles to the agency’s Privacy Officer. The agency will have policies and procedures to respond to the Client’s questions and concerns.
Web Site Privacy
On our web site, we collect only personal information that is required to improve the services we offer, to improve our site content and to contact you with information about our services. We will not share any personal information obtained on this web site with any other organization without your express knowledge and consent.
You can visit all public areas of our site without providing any personal information. Our site collects only non-personal information based on a visitor’s Internet Protocol (IP) address (this is not personally identifiable). Information collected includes the date and time of visit, the type of Internet browser used to access the site, the referring address (the link a visitor uses to access the site). This data is used to create statistics on site usage and improve online services.
If you send us an e-mail, any information provided by you will be used only for the purposes of responding to your inquiry or acting on your request. We will not use your name or e-mail address for any other purposes without additional consent.
Our web site contains links to other web sites that are part of, affiliated with, or have a business relationship with Sandhills Insurance Ltd. When you leave our site to visit one of these other sites, the only information transferred to the new site is the fact that you came from the Sandhills Insurance Ltd. web site (the referring address). Transmission of this referring address allows other sites to monitor their own web traffic, but does not disclose any personal information about you.
Questions & Concerns
If you have any concerns about how your personal information is handled or distributed, please contact us. Our Privacy Officer will be pleased to discuss your concerns with you.
Your inquiry or complaint must be written, signed and dated and must include the nature of the inquiry or complaint, your name and address and a daytime telephone number. You can mail this to the following:
Sandhills Insurance Ltd.
Attention: Privacy Officer
Box 490
Leader, SK S0N 1H0
If, for any reason, you feel your concerns were not appropriately addressed, you may then take the matter to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in Ottawa.
Download Full Privacy Code
Click here to download our full Privacy Code in PDF.