Hicks Financial abides by Ten Privacy Principles. These principles are based on the federal government’s privacy legislation, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

1. Accountability: We are responsible for personal information under our control. We have a designated individual who is responsible for monitoring our ongoing compliance with the Privacy Principles.

2. Identifying purposes:  The purposes for which personal information is collected, will be identified by Grant Hicks or representatives of Hicks Financial.

3. Consent: Your consent is required for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, subject to certain exceptions. Such exceptions are set out in the law and include where legal, medical or security reasons make it impossible or impractical to seek consent. Your consent may be expressed in writing. It may also be given verbally, electronically, or in certain circumstances, it may also be implied.

4. Limiting collection: The collection of your personal information must be by far and lawful means, and be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified.

5. Limiting use, disclosure and retention:  Your personal information may only be used or disclosed for the purposes for which it was collected, other purposes you consent to, or as required or permitted by law. It may only be kept for as long as is necessary to satisfy the purposes for which it was collected, or a required or permitted by law.

6. Accuracy: Any personal information that is collected, used or disclosed should be as accurate, complete and as up-to-date as is necessary for the purpose for which it is to be used.

7. Safeguards: Personal information shall be protected by security safeguards that are appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, in order to protect your personal information from unwarranted intrusion, release or misuse.

8. Openness: Information about our privacy policies and practices for managing your personal information shall be made available to you upon request.

9. Individual access: Upon written request, you will be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of your personal information, and you will be given access to it, subject to certain exceptions, as permitted by the law. You may also verify the accuracy and completeness of your information, and request that it be amended, if appropriate.

10. Inquiries and concerns: You may contact Tracy Levirs if you have inquiries or concerns about our privacy policies and practices.

 

The information we collect…
Personal information is information that refers to you, specifically.

For any Hicks Financial service/product you obtain, we will tell you the purposes for which we need the personal information we collect.

We will use fair and lawful means to collect your personal information. We will only collect information that is pertinent and consistent with the purposes of the collection. Whenever practical, we will collect the required information directly from you in completed applications and forms, through other means of correspondence, such as telephone, mail or the Internet, and through your business dealings with us.

In some cases, and with your consent, we may need to ask an independent source to verify or provide supplemental information. These sources could include service providers we retain, other insurance companies or financial institutions, your employer or credit reporting agencies. In the case of your medical or health-related information, additional sources could include your doctor(s), other healthcare providers or facilities.

What we need to know and why…
We collect information from you and about you, only with your consent, or as required or permitted by law. In general, we will collect personal information such as your name, address and telephone number(s) or other identifying information such as Social Insurance Number (SIN) or date of birth.

The type of additional information we gather will depend on the type of product or service involved. For example, it would depend on whether the product or service is banking, insurance or investment related. The information gathered may be financial, which would include such information as place of employment, annual income, assets and liabilities. It may be investment or advice related, requiring information on such things as your financial goals and retirement plans. IF you are applying for insurance or group related insurance benefits, it may also include health information or lifestyle related information, such as your occupation, travel history and plans, driving record or criminal record.

Generally, we collect, use and disclose your personal information to:

• Confirm your identity, and to protect both you and us against errors, fraud or other misrepresentations;
• Evaluate your financial need and determine the suitability of our products and services for you;
• Determine your eligibility for products and services;
• Properly administer the products and services we provide, including the assessment of claims;
• Comply with a variety of legal requirements, including tax reporting obligations under the federal Income Tax Act;
• Assist us to understand the current and future needs of our clients, for example to conduct client surveys

We will only keep your personal information in our records for as long as it is needed to fulfill the identified purposes, or as required or permitted by law.

Personal information that is no longer required will be destroyed, erased or made anonymous.

When we destroy personal information, we will use safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to the information during the destruction process.

Your Social Insurance Number
There are a number of reasons why we may ask for your Social Insurance Number (SIN). Where there may be interest income or other income to be reported, your SIN is required by law in order to meet tax-reporting requirements under the federal Income Tax Act.

Your consent…
We collect, use and share your personal information only for disclosed purposes related to the products and services we offer, and only with your consent, or as permitted or required by law. Your consent may be expressed in writing, or it may be given verbally or electronically.

You may withhold or withdraw your consent for us to collect, use and disclose your personal information, as long as there are no legal or contractual reasons preventing you from doing so. Depending on the circumstances, however, the withdrawal of your consent may impact our ability to continue to provide you with the products and services you have requested, or, in the case of insurance and group insurance benefits, it may prevent us from keeping your coverage in force, or properly evaluating and processing any claims.

Generally, the disclosure of your personal information will be restricted to those who have a need for, and the right to, the information.

Your personal information will only be provided to, or be accessible by:

• Our employees and associates who need the information in the performance of their duties for us;
• Our affiliates, to:
  • Resolve your concerns about any related products and services with us
  • Assist in other required investigations
• Service providers, which need the information in the performance of their duties for us, and to satisfy their obligations to us (eg. Paramedical);
• Any person or organization to whom you gave consent; and
• Anyone who is otherwise authorized by law

Accessing and amending information…
We will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that any personal information we collect and keep is accurate, complete and as up-to-date as required for the identified purposes. To do so, we will rely to a large extent on you to provide us with accurate information and to inform us of any changes, such as changes in your contact information. You have the right to access and verify your personal information maintained in our files, and to request that any factually inaccurate personal information be corrected, if appropriate. Depending on the circumstances, we may not always be able to five you access to all information. Should this happen, we will explain why.

We are committed to protecting your information…
We are committed to protecting your personal information from unauthorized access or use, by ensuring that the necessary physical, organizational and technological safeguards are in place, that are appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. Essentially, this means that personal information is protected:

• Physically, by building security measures and physical barriers;
• Technologically by , for example, where appropriate, the use of passwords, firewalls, anti-virus and anonymizing software.

All of our employees and associates who act on our behalf, are required to abide by our privacy policies and practices.

If we receive a request to release your personal information, we will only do so upon satisfactory identification and proof of entitlement of the requestor, or as required and permitted by law.

Who we are..
In the Statement of Privacy Principles and Practices, we, us and our mean Hicks Financial Services Inc. (Hicks Financial, Hicks). You and your mean individuals whose personal information we are collecting, using and disclosing.

Contact us…
If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policies and practices, or you want to know more about the process for accessing and/or correcting your personal information, please contact us:

Chief Privacy Officer
Hicks Financial Services Inc.
172 Weld Street, Box 1950
Parksville, BC V9P 2H7
Tel: 250.954.0247