Privacy Policy
OBJECTIVE
To ensure that:
a. AssetPlus is in compliance with regulatory and self-regulatory requirements regarding Privacy (“Regulations”);
b. AssetPlus Privacy obligations are handled in a professional manner, in a secure environment and appropriately monitored.
POLICIES
Person(s) Responsible:
· Overall responsibility for application of the corporate Privacy policy rests with the Privacy Officer.
Our Commitment
At AssetPlus our Advisors and their clients are our business. As a financial services company, we are trusted with some of our clients’ most sensitive personal information. We must respect that trust and need those clients to be aware of our commitment to protect the information they provide in the course of doing business with us.
There are 10 principles that we must follow to be in compliance with PIPEDA.
1. Accountability: An organization is responsible for personal information under its control and shall designate an individual or individuals who are accountable for the organization’s compliance with the following principles.
2. Identifying Purposes: The purposes for which personal information is collected shall be identified by the organization at or before the time the information is collected.
3. Consent: The knowledge and consent of the individual are required for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information.
4. Limiting Collection: The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the organization. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention: Personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by the law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for fulfillment of those purposes.
6. Accuracy: Personal information shall 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 shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
8. Openness: An organization shall make readily available to individuals specific information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.
9. Individual Access: Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall be given access to that information. An individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
10. Challenging Compliance: An individual shall be able to address a challenge concerning compliance with the above principles to the designated individual or individuals for the organization’s compliance.
Applicability
The Act is applicable to personal information only. However, it has been suggested that in keeping with the spirit of the law, PIPEDA should also be applied to information obtained on closely-held corporations, which would be most, if not, all corporate clients.
AssetPlus Privacy Officer
Alfred Poon, Managing Director, is the Privacy Officer and all inquiries/complaints shall be directed to him at: alfredpoon@assetplus.ca
Information Collection and Use
We collect the information required for us to complete the task for which we are engaged, whether that is insurance or money products. This information is collected on the insurance company applications and may also be collected prior to and during the underwriting process.
Consent
The consent for us to establish a file and collect and maintain personal information is to be obtained by the advisor, signed by the client, and placed in the client file.
Protection of Personal Information
As the principals, management, and employees of AssetPlus we are granted access to client information and must understand the need to keep the information protected and confidential. Our training procedures clearly communicate that we are to use the information only for the intended purpose(s). When hired, all AssetPlus employees sign a non-disclosure/confidentiality clause that is included in their Policy and Procedure.
Retention of Personal Information
Personal information will be retained on file as long as is necessary to facilitate the underwriting and ongoing administration of the policy or as long as is legally required.
Privacy Choices
Clients may request copies of our privacy policies and procedures at any time.
Clients may request access to their information. We must respond to this request as quickly as possible, however no later than 30 days after the receipt of the request.
Clients may withdraw their consent at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer. However, they will be made aware that failure to provide adequate information may prevent us from completing the task for which we were engaged.
Complaints
Clients may file complaints about our privacy procedures as well as a breach in our privacy policy. Complaints should be received in writing and forwarded to the Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer will contact the client and obtain further details. The Privacy Officer will then review the circumstances of the complaint and determine if there is reason to alter the existing privacy policy. Insurance carriers should be notified of any complaint involving their clients/products.
Exceptions to client access
Organizations must refuse an individual access to personal information:
· if it would reveal personal information about another individual unless there is consent or a life-threatening situation
· if the organization has disclosed information to a government institution for law enforcement or national security reasons. Upon request, the government institution may instruct the organization to refuse access or not to reveal that the information has been released. The organization must refuse the request and notify the Privacy Commissioner. The organization cannot inform the individual of the disclosure to the government institution, or that the institution was notified of the request, or that the Privacy Commissioner was notified of the refusal.
Organizations may refuse access to personal information if the information falls under one of the following:
· solicitor-client privilege
· confidential commercial information
· disclosure could harm an individual’s life or security
· it was collected without the individual’s knowledge or consent to ensure its availability and accuracy, and the collection was required to investigate a breach of an agreement or contravention of a federal or provincial law (the Privacy Commissioner must be notified)
· it was generated in the course of a formal dispute resolution process.
Terms of Use
Please read carefully before using this Website:
AssetPlus Financial Servinces Inc. maintains this site for information and communication purposes. This webpage contains the Terms of Use governing your access to, and use of, www.assetplus.ca (the “Website”). If you do not accept the Terms of Use or you do not meet or comply with their provisions, you may not use the Website.
A. TERMS APPLICABLE TO ALL USER
1. Overview
Your use of this Website is expressly conditioned upon your accepting and agreeing to these Terms of Use.
Your use of the Website will be deemed to be acceptance of the terms and conditions of use of this Website as set out in Section A “Terms Applicable to all Users” (the “Terms of Use”).
If the Terms of Use are not completely acceptable to you, you must immediately terminate your use of this Website.
2. Changes to Terms
AssetPlus may, at any time and from time to time, for any reason and without notice to Users of this Website, (i) make changes to this Website, including its look, feel, format, and content, and, (ii) modify, revise or amend the Terms and Conditions of Use of this Website. Any modifications will take effect when posted to the Website. Therefore, each time you access the Website, you should review the Terms of Use upon which access and use of this Website is conditioned. By your continuing use of the Website after changes are posted, you will be deemed to have accepted such changes.
3. Jurisdiction
The Website is directed to those individuals and entities located in Canada. It is not directed to any person or entity in any jurisdiction where (by reason of nationality, residence, citizenship or otherwise) the publication or availability of the Website and its content are unavailable or otherwise contrary to local laws or regulations. If this applies to you, you are not authorized to access or use any of the information on this Website. AssetPlus makes no representation that the information, opinions, advice or other content on the Website (collectively, “Content”) is appropriate outside Canada. Those who choose to access this Website from other locations do so at their own risk and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws.
4. Scope of Use
You are only authorized to view, use, copy for your records and download small portions of the Content (including without limitation text, graphics, software, audio and video files and photos) of this Website for your informational, non-commercial use, provided that you leave all the copyright notices, including copyright management information, or other proprietary notices intact.
You may not store, modify, reproduce, transmit, reverse engineer or distribute a significant portion of the Content on this Website, or the design or layout of the Website or individual sections of it, in any form or media. The systematic retrieval of data from the Website is also prohibited.
The commercial use, reproduction, transmission or distribution of any information, software or other material available through the Website without the prior written consent of AssetPlus is strictly prohibited.
5. Copyrights
The materials at this Website, as well as the organization and layout of this Website, are copyrighted and are protected by Canadian and international copyright laws and treaty provisions. No right, title or interest in any of the materials contained on this Website is transferred to you as a result of accessing, downloading or printing such materials. You may not copy, modify, distribute, transmit, display, reproduce, publish, license any part of this Website; create derivative works from, link to or frame in another Website, use on any other Website, transfer or sell any information obtained from this Website without the prior written permission of AssetPlus.
Except as expressly provided under Section 4 “Scope of Use,” you may not use, reproduce, modify, transmit, distribute, or publicly display or operate this Website without the prior written permission of AssetPlus. You may not use a part of this Website on any other Website without AssetPlus’s prior written consent.
6. Links
For your convenience, we may provide links to various other Websites that may be of interest to you and for your convenience only. However, AssetPlus does not control or endorse such Websites and is not responsible for their content nor is it responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any information, data, opinions, advice, or statements contained within such Websites. Please read the terms and conditions or Terms of Use policies of any other company or Website you may link to from our Website. These Terms of Use apply only to AssetPlus’s Website and the products and services AssetPlus offers. If you decide to access any of the third party sites linked to this Website, you do so at your own risk. AssetPlus reserves the right to terminate any link or linking program at any time. AssetPlus disclaims all warranties, express and implied, as to the accuracy, validity, and legality or otherwise of any materials or information contained on such sites.
7. No Unlawful or Prohibited Use
As a condition of your use of the Website, you warrant to AssetPlus that you will not use the Website for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices. You may not use the Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Website or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Website. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available, or provided for, through the Website.
8. Termination
AssetPlus may immediately terminate the Terms of Use agreement by revoking all passwords if the User breaches or permits any breach of any provision of this agreement. Upon termination of this agreement, the provisions in sections 12, 13, and 14 will continue to apply following the termination and the Users rights hereunder shall immediately cease.
9. Governing Law, Location and Miscellaneous
These Terms of Use shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the Province of BC, Canada, without reference to its choice of law rules. If an applicable law is in conflict with any part of the Terms of Use, the Terms of Use will be deemed modified to conform to the law. The other provisions will not be affected by any such modification.
10. Separate Agreements
You may have other agreements with AssetPlus. Those agreements are separate from, and in addition to, these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use do not modify, revise or amend the terms of any other agreements you may have with AssetPlus.
11. No Professional Advice
The information available on the Website is intended to be a general information resource regarding the matters covered, and is not tailored to your specific circumstance. You should not construe this as legal, accounting, taxation, financial, actuarial or other professional advice. You should evaluate all information, opinions and advice available on this Website in consultation with your insurance specialist, or with your legal, accounting, taxation, financial, actuarial or other advisor, as appropriate.
12. No Warranties
The Website, and any content, are provided to you on an “as is,” “as available” basis without warranty of any kind whether express, statutory or implied, including but not limited to, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, quiet enjoyment, systems integration, accuracy, and non-infringement, all of which AssetPlus expressly disclaims. AssetPlus does not endorse and makes no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, or reliability of the content and AssetPlus will not be liable or otherwise responsible for any failure or delay in updating the Website or any content. We have no duty to update the content of the Website. AssetPlus makes no representations or warranties that use of the content will be uninterrupted or error-free. You are responsible for any results or other consequences of accessing the Website and using the content, and for taking all necessary precautions to ensure that any content you may access, download or otherwise obtain is free of viruses or any other harmful components.
13. Limitation of Liability
Your use of the content is at your own risk. AssetPlus specifically disclaims any liability, whether based in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise, for any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, consequential, or special damages arising out of or in any way connected with access to, use of or reliance on the content (even if AssetPlus has been advised of the possibility of such damages) or that arise in connection with mistakes or omissions in, or delays in transmission of, information to or from the user, any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission or delivery, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of records, programs or files, interruptions in telecommunications connections to the Website or viruses, whether caused in whole or in part by negligence, acts of god, telecommunications failure, theft or destruction of, or unauthorized access to the Website or the content. This limitation of liability may be different in connection with specific products and services offered by AssetPlus. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of liability, so this limitation may not apply to you.
14. Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold AssetPlus, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, and suppliers, harmless from and against any claims, actions or demands, liabilities and settlements including without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, resulting from, or alleged to result from, your violation of these Terms of Use.
15. Language
The official language of this agreement and all communications and documents relating hereto is the English language, and the English-language version shall govern all interpretation of the agreement.