Privacy

Introduction

The Insurance Council of British Columbia (“we”/“our”/the “Insurance Council”) is a regulatory body under the Financial Institutions Act (the “Act”). We are responsible for the licensing and regulation of insurance agents, insurance salespersons, and insurance adjusters. We are committed to protecting the Personal Information of all individuals who interact with the Insurance Council.

Our designated Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring that our employees, members and third-party service providers comply with our Privacy Policy, and for coordinating our compliance with the Act and the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FOIPPA”).
This Privacy Statement summarizes key provisions of our Privacy Policy. For complete information, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Statement:

• Contact Information means information to enable an individual to be contacted at a place of business, including their name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax number.
• Personal Information means recorded information about an identifiable individual as defined in Schedule 1 of FOIPPA, excluding Contact Information.
• Privacy Breach means the theft of loss, or the collection, use or disclosure that is not authorized by Part 3 of FOIPPA, of Personal Information in the custody or under the control of a public body.

Collection of Personal Information

In accordance with FOIPPA and the Act, we may collect Personal Information from:

• license applicants and registrants;
• individuals applying to write license qualification examinations;
• existing and former licensees;
• members of the public; and
• third parties, including insurers and service providers.

Personal Information about license applicants, licensees and former licensees may be collected from third parties without the consent of or notice to the applicant or licensee, for the purposes of:

• assessing license applications or registrations; or
• conducting investigations into a licensee or former licensee’s conduct, including investigating compliance with the terms and conditions of the licence, Insurance Council Rules and/or the Act.

Use of Personal Information

In accordance with FOIPPA and the Act, we use Personal Information about license applicants and licensees for purposes including:

• communicating with applicants for examinations or licenses;
• assessing applicants for licenses;
• compiling and maintaining licensee files;
• communicating with and providing services to licensees;
• regulating the conduct of licensees in accordance with our statutory mandate under the Act; and
• administering our continuing education program.

For a complete list of purposes for which Personal Information may be used, please review the Privacy Policy.

Disclosure of Personal Information

In accordance with applicable law including FOIPPA and the Act, and without the consent of or notice to the applicant or licensee, we may disclose Personal Information to third parties including:

• an applicant or licensee’s employer;
• insurers;
• other regulatory bodies;
• the Canadian Insurance Regulators Disciplinary Actions (CIRDA) database;
• the Canadian Insurance Participant Registry (CIPR) database; or
• law enforcement agencies.

We may disclose information that was obtained in accordance with our requests, or an obligation imposed upon us under the Act. We may disclose information for the purpose of administering the Act and governing regulations, for the purposes of a prosecution, or as otherwise required by law.
In accordance with FOIPPA and the Act, we may publicly disclose Personal Information about an applicant or licensee that is contained in a decision made by the Insurance Council. Wherever possible, we will anonymize the Personal Information of complainants and witnesses who are not applicants or licensees.

For a complete list of purposes for which Personal Information may be disclosed, please review our Privacy Policy.

Reviewing and Updating Personal Information

We are a public body subject to the access provisions in FOIPPA. Any requests for access to our records must be submitted to our Privacy Officer at privacy@insurancecouncilofbc.com.

We make every reasonable effort to ensure that Personal Information in our possession is accurate and complete. Individuals may request that we correct any errors or omissions in their Personal Information. Licensees may notify us of changes to their Personal Information via their account on the online portal, or by contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@insurancecouncilofbc.com.

Use of Our Website

By using our website, you consent to our use and storage of certain information about your visit in accordance with FOIPPA and other applicable legislation, including:

• the Internet Protocol Address and domain name used;
• the type of browser and the operating system used;
• the date and time of the visit; and
• the web pages or services accessed.

This information is used to manage and improve our website. We do not use this information to determine your identity unless required to do so as part of an internal investigation or for law enforcement purposes.

We may also use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to help understand activity on the Insurance Council’s website and support more effective communication. We do not store information tracked in this manner.

Record Retention and Disposal

We retain and dispose of Personal Information in accordance with the Act, FOIPPA and our retention schedules and records management policies.

Questions, Concerns or Complaints

We maintain an accessible and responsible complaint-handling process to ensure the public can express concerns about our compliance with FOIPPA. Questions, concerns or complaints regarding our collection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, breaches or suspected breaches of privacy, should be referred to our Privacy Officer at privacy@insurancecouncilofbc.com.

Unresolved privacy concerns may be referred to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.

Links to Other Sites

Please be aware that, if you follow a link to another site, this Privacy Policy will not apply. We are unable to influence or control, and therefore are not responsible for, the privacy practices or content of external websites.