Website Privacy Policy | Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada

Last Updated: September 10, 2024

The Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (“HIROC”) is dedicated to protecting the confidentiality and privacy of information entrusted to us. HIROC collects business information, when it is provided voluntarily by visitors, for the purpose of providing information related to our products and services.

This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) explains how HIROC collects, uses, protects, processes, and discloses information in relation to HIROC’s website. This Policy should be read in conjunction with, and forms part of, the Terms and Conditions of HIROC’s website.

Overview

“Personal Information” is any information that identifies you or another individual. This information may include, but is not limited to: name, personal mailing address, personal telephone number, and personal email address. It may also include technical information, such as your IP address, browser settings and device ID, but only when this information can identify you as an individual. Personal Information does not include professional or business contact information. Except as detailed in this Policy, the HIROC website does not require or ask visitors to provide their own personal information.

“Business Contact Information” includes your name, job title, business address, business telephone, business email address, etc. Some pages on our website may require visitors to provide business contact information for the purposes identified on the site (e.g. Request an Insurance Quotation, setting up a Subscriber portal access, subscription to our communication channels, etc.).

Unless permitted or required by law, no personal information will be collected, used or disclosed without first obtaining consent of the individual.

HIROC does not rent, sell, or trade any personal, professional or business information collected.

Collecting Personal Information

HIROC limits personal information collections to what is reasonably required to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected.

Directly from you

HIROC generally collects personal information directly from you when you interact with the HIROC website or when you interact with us directly. For example, HIROC may collect personal information directly from you:

when you contact us or send us questions, comments, suggestions or complaints, we may collect contact information and information about your inquiry that is necessary in order to address it or to respond to you;
when you apply for a position, we may collect contact information and other information to process your employment application;
when you create or access an account on our website, we may collect information to identify you;
when you use our website, we may collect information about how you use the website and where you are located, as further discussed below; and
we may collect any other personal information you voluntarily provide to us in connection with any other matter.

Through our website

HIROC or our service providers may also collect the following information relating to your access to and use of our website:

IP Address: An IP address is a number assigned to a computer/device whenever the internet is used. It allows computers/devices and servers to communicate with each other. IP addresses of the visitors to our website may be automatically recorded and potentially shared with third parties to report malicious attacks or as required by law. This information may also be collected and used to support enhancements to website experience and to aggregate and evaluate website performance.
Cookies: Cookies are small data files stored on your device which are used to access and use the HIROC website. HIROC uses cookies and Google Analytics to automatically collect information about how the website is used by visitors, including IP addresses. HIROC creates aggregate-level reporting to better understand visitors’ needs and to improve the website. Some examples of website traffic reports include frequently visited pages, frequently downloaded resources, geographic location of visitors, and number of unique visitors. Please note that cookies and beacons might be necessary to access or use certain features of our website. For additional information on how HIROC uses Cookies, please visit the Cookie Policy page.

Using Personal Information

HIROC generally uses your personal information as part of its normal business operations and to provide you with HIROC products and services. More specifically, HIROC uses personal information:

to process any requests and provide HIROC products and services which are requested;
to provide services to you and to respond to inquiries or requests;
to improve HIROC product and service offerings;
to manage and improve Subscriber experiences and the HIROC website;
to monitor, analyze and assess the access and use of the HIROC website, including the registration and authentication of your account, if applicable;
to customize the content of our website and advertising;
to communicate with you about HIROC products and services (if you no longer wish to receive HIROC commercial electronic messages, please follow the unsubscribe procedure included in each of those messages);
to detect and prevent fraud;
to maintain appropriate records for internal administrative purposes, including for staffing and personnel
management; and
to comply with legal requirements.

Disclosing Personal Information

HIROC does not disclose or share personal information without your consent to any company or person other than as authorized by law or as follows:

to detect and prevent fraud;
if HIROC believes that the disclosure is necessary in the investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity, or in response to a request by law enforcement authorities; and
if such disclosure is done in a way that it would not directly identify you, such as through aggregate information.

HIROC also uses third-party service providers to store, handle or process your information on our behalf (e.g. cloud computing, application hosting, managed services, etc.). HIROC uses contractual and other means to ensure industry-standard level of information protection and privacy protocols are applied while information is stored, handled or processed by those service providers. Service providers are only permitted to use personal information as part of their service performance for HIROC. Service providers that store your information may be located outside your jurisdiction of residence (for example, outside your province or outside of Canada) and may be required by law or court order to disclose information to legal authorities in that jurisdiction, including law enforcement and national security authorities of the countries the information is stored in. Subject to these laws, HIROC will to the best of its abilities use contractual measures to maintain protections that are at least equivalent to those that apply in Canada.

Security and Integrity

HIROC is committed to protecting the website and its content from potential security threats that may affect its integrity, availability, security and confidentiality. HIROC has employed various security measures, including network monitoring, to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, prevent service interruptions and other incidents intended to cause harm.

HIROC is also committed to protecting the information gathered through the website from unauthorized access, use, modification or destruction. HIROC has employed necessary physical and logical controls to prevent information security events.

Retaining Personal Information

HIROC will only retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the above purposes or as required by law. Once no longer required, your personal information will be securely destroyed or anonymized, in compliance with applicable laws.

Your Privacy Rights

You have choices about the way HIROC handles your personal information. You can always choose not to receive marketing or promotional messages from HIROC by email by clicking on “unsubscribe” in any email you receive. Please note that even if you have indicated your choice not to receive commercial messages from us, we may still communicate with you in connection with a service or product we provide to you, in accordance with our contractual arrangement including without limitation the Subscribers Agreement, policies and applicable law.

We use technology to enhance your experience and present you with offers, including personalised advertising. Through technologies such as cookies, our website recognizes you when you use or return to it and can provide you with a seamless experience. You can remove or disable some of these technologies at any time through your browser. However, if you do so, you may not be able to use some of the features of our website.

Please refer to your browser instructions or help screen to learn how to block, delete and manage cookies on your computer or mobile device.

You may withdraw your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with this Policy at any time upon reasonable notice in writing, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. To do so, please contact us at as described in the “Contact Us” section below. Withdrawing your consent may affect HIROC’s ability to continue to provide the products and services you have or would like to receive because the continued use and disclosure of your personal information may be a necessary part of making the product or service available to you.

You may be entitled to access your personal information and request the rectification of information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or no longer up to date, subject to limited exceptions set out in applicable laws. To submit a request, please contact us in writing using the relevant contact information listed in the “Contact Us” section below.

Website Terms of Use

The Terms and Conditions contains important provisions that governs the use of this website. It includes provisions related to the applicable governing law and jurisdiction for the resolution of any disputes regarding the use of the website. The provisions included in the Terms and Conditions also apply to this Policy.

Other Websites

HIROC’s website provides links to other third-party websites. Some of these sites may use cookies to collect personal information for commercial purposes. HIROC does not endorse and is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites and advises you to review the privacy policies of those sites.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Policy is current to the date listed above. HIROC may update this Policy to reflect changes in our privacy practices. Changes to the Policy will take effect immediately upon posting to this website.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact HIROC by email at [email protected]. We can also be reached by phone at 416-733-2773 or 1-800-465-7357 (during regular business hours).