Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information RATESDOTCA Group Ltd. operating as RATESDOTCA ("RATESDOTCA”) collects from its customers and how it uses it. It also explains how you can ask questions, make suggestions, and complain about our privacy practices.

At RATESDOTCA, protecting the personal information that you provide to us at www.rates.ca is a priority.

RATESDOTCA is part of the largest online insurance and financial comparison company in Canada. Also, within the RATESDOTCA Group Ltd. family are (our “affiliates”):

• Scoop Insurance Brokers Ltd.
• Scoop Insurance Brokers Inc.
• Scoop Financial Ltd.
• Rates Insurance Service Ltd.

We are responsible for personal information under our control. Our employees are informed about the importance of privacy and receive periodic information to update them about our Privacy Policy and related policies. In addition, we have appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee personal information-handling practices of RATESDOTCA.

You can reach our Privacy Officer at:
privacy@rates.ca or
225 King St W, Suite 1000
Toronto, ON, M5V 3M2

Phone: 1-844-726-0907

What is personal information?

Personal information is any information about an identifiable individual.

How do we collect personal information?

Personal information collected by RATESDOTCA is used to provide you with a reference to a mortgage or insurance company or broker/agent or other service. We collect personal contact information (in a variety of ways, including if you: visit our website, request a mortgage rate or insurance rate quote or other services; complete and submit our website forms; create an account; connect with our customer service representatives or Privacy Officer; interact with our emails, public forums and social media features; and opt-in to marketing communications. With notice, we may tape or monitor your telephone calls with our customer service representatives for quality assurance purposes.

We collect personal information for specific, limited purposes as described in this privacy policy. In most cases, we collect personal information from you directly. With your consent, we may also collect personal information indirectly; for example, we may obtain financial information such as banking details and credit history to assess credit risk, advertising and sales data to prepare royalty reports, and other information to help us evaluate your services. If you have interacted with any of our affiliates, we may also collect your personal information from those affiliates for the purposes of providing a personalized and streamlined customer service experience.

If you sign up for a newsletter or other email services or submit one of our website forms, you will have the option to consent to have your personal information used to send you advertising that is tailored to your interests.

Cookies and online trackers

As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically through cookies.

An internet cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your internet browser and that can collect and store information. We use cookies to better understand how you use our websites, to make sure our ads and dynamic content are served correctly and to improve the performance of our websites. For example, a cookie may recall a set of preferences you have set for our website and record items that you have registered for. Storing cookies on your web browser allows us to present you with custom web pages and other content that are tuned with your preferences. For example, if you are a registered user, you may see a welcome page with your name on it. These activities are invisible to you, and are generally intended to improve your internet surfing convenience. Unless you have set your preferences so that you will be alerted when a cookie is being stored on your computer, you won't know about it.

Information collected by cookies may include Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, the files viewed on our site (e.g., HTML pages, graphics, etc.), operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data to analyze trends in the aggregate and administer the site.

Opting out of cookies

Some cookies are necessary to make our website work and cannot be disabled. Others are optional and you can disable them through your browser settings. You should know, however, that if you opt-out of optional cookies, some features of the site will no longer be available.

What personal information do we collect?

The types of personal information that RATESDOTCA collects depends on your use of our products and services, and how you interact with us. The personal information we collect may include the following:

• Your age and date of birth, gender, marital status, home address, email address, phone number, occupational status, smoking status, and, in some cases, information about pre-existing health conditions.
• Vehicle information, driver’s licence number, and driving, driver’s licence, and auto insurance history for licensed drivers in the household.
• Your home insurance history, and a list of other residents in your household.
• Your credit score, credit card number, and bank account information.
• Information that we generate about you, such as a unique customer identification number, policy number, and information about your transactions with us.
• Information you provide via our online blogs, community forums and social media features, which may include your name, social media handle, email address.
• Registration information, such as your username, password, password hints, and security information that is used for authentication purposes when you call us or access our online portal.
• Cookies and tracking information, such as IP address and other technical data that may uniquely identify your device, system or browser, as described in more detail above.
• Any other personal information for which we may obtain your consent from time to time.

Minors

If you are under 18, be sure to obtain your parent or guardian's permission before you send any

personal information to us, or anyone else, over the Internet. We encourage parents to get involved with their children's online usage and to be aware of the activities in which they are participating.

How do we use your personal information?

We use your personal information to carry out our business and meet our legal and regulatory requirements. In particular, we process personal information for the following purposes:

• Client onboarding:
  • Verifying your identity, assessing your request for insurance and mortgage quotes, and registering an online account;
• Client relationship management:
  • Communicating with you in relation to the services you request from us, addressing customer-service related matters, and otherwise developing and maintaining the customer relationship;
  • Gaining insights about you to provide a customized online experience through the delivery of targeted advertising and email communications;
  • Improving our customer service experience and promoting quality assurance;
• Service execution:
  • Generating the risk profile used to determine the rates returned from our partner insurers and mortgage providers;
  • Obtaining quotes from insurance companies and financial institutions for the insurance and/or mortgage products you express an interest in;
  • Assessing payment options applicable discounts on policy quotes;
  • Ensuring proper execution of our services, for example by properly identifying you before providing access to your accounts;
  • Improving the performance and security of our platforms;
  • Facilitating our community forums, blog, social media and public engagements features;
• Business development:
  • Evaluating whether and how RATESDOTCA and its affiliates may offer products or services that are of interest to you;
  • With your consent, communicating with you about new services or offerings from LowestRates.ca and any of affiliates that may be of interest to you;
  • Creating audiences for various digital platforms for targeted marketing purposes;
  • Administering contests and promotions;
  • Sharing client testimonials, with consent;
  • Engaging in targeting marketing initiatives and managing and displaying advertising on our website and on third party websites;
  • Completing market research for advertising and marketing purposes;
• Legal and regulatory compliance, including complying with reporting obligations, risk management, crime prevention, detection and investigation, and receiving and handling requests and complaints;
• Supporting, enhancing and maintaining RATESDOTCA’s technology and marketing activities:
  • Improving our services and the use of our technology and platforms, including testing and upgrading systems and processes, and analyzing the results of marketing activities to determine the effectiveness of our campaigns;
  • Conducting market research surveys, with your consent;
• Other purposes:
  • Your personal information may be used for other purposes for which we will obtain consent from time to time, or as otherwise permitted or required by law;
  • If you sign up for our newsletter or other email services, or submit one of our website forms, you will have the option to opt-in to advertising that is tailored to your interests. In that case, we will use your personal information for advertising purposes, as described in more detail below; and
  • If you submit an inquiry about our services from a region/jurisdiction that we do not operate in, we may direct you to our partners’ websites in those regions.

If you ultimately decide to purchase an insurance policy from an insurance company or a mortgage from a financial institution, that company/institution will use your personal information for the purpose of fulfilling the requested transaction and for future contact in accordance with the terms and conditions of their own privacy policy.

The site may provide links to other websites or resources over which RATESDOTCA does not have control. Such links do not constitute an endorsement by RATESDOTCA of those external websites. Your use of external websites is subject to the terms of use and privacy policies located on the linked to those sites. RATESDOTCA encourages you to review the privacy policy of any external website that you are directed to.

With whom do we share your personal information, and why?

RATESDOTCA is not an insurance or financial company or an insurance or mortgage broker or agent. We work with insurance and financial companies and insurance and mortgage brokers and agents on this website to provide you an insurance or mortgage quote upon request.

When you request an insurance quote, we disclose your personal information to insurance brokers, agents and companies that underwrite insurance policies in order to determine your risk profile and obtain insurance quotes, as requested by you. Any personal information that we provide to these third parties will be treated in accordance with the terms of their own privacy policies. The third parties may contact you regarding your inquiry and their products and services. RATESDOTCA is not responsible for how the third party insurance companies, brokers and agents handle your personal information.

When you request a mortgage quote, we will disclose your personal information to the mortgage brokers and agents and/or financial institutions that provide financial products and services that match your inquiry. Any personal information that we provide to these third parties will be treated in accordance with the terms of their own privacy policies. The third party mortgage brokers, agents, and financial institutions may contact you regarding your inquiry and their products and services. RATESDOTCA is not responsible for how the third parties handle your personal information.

RATESDOTCA is part of a large insurance and financial company. RATESDOTCA transfers and discloses personal information to our affiliates for the purposes identified above, in order to ensure a consistently high standard across our group, to provide products and services to you, and for internal audit, management, billing, administrative, or other business purposes. Our affiliates may process this personal information on our behalf, or for their own purposes as described in their privacy notices.

We transfer your personal information to third party service providers who assist us in delivering our services and carrying out our business objectives. Through our contracts with them, our service providers are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide their services to us; they are prohibited from using your personal information for any other purposes. Accountability for any personal information that is transferred to third party services providers remains with us.

Our service providers may be located in jurisdictions outside of the province in which you reside and/or outside Canada and will be subject to the laws of their respective jurisdictions. In certain situations, RATESDOTCA and our third party service providers may be required to disclose personal information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

If RATESDOTCA is considering a business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personal information is likely to be among the assets disclosed during the negotiation and upon completion of the transaction. Any such disclosure and subsequent notification would be conducted in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

At all times, we only share personal information that is reasonably necessary for the purpose intended. For example, when obtaining insurance quotes, RATESDOTCA will only disclose the personal information that third party insurance companies require in order to provide an accurate quote for the specific insurance product you have requested. Depending on the type of quote you are seeking, this information may be comprised of one or more of the following: your age, gender, marital status, smoking status, driving, and insurance history. This information is only shared as necessary for the third party to provide you with an accurate quote.

Be aware that our websites may contain links to other websites provided and maintained exclusively by third parties not subject to this Privacy Policy. If you are directed to a third party website, RATESDOTCA encourages you to review that website’s privacy policy.

Finally, in certain situations, RATESDOTCA may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.

Managing Your Preferences:
Opting out

Personal information collected and used by RATESDOTCA for the purposes described above.

You have a say in how we process your personal information. Generally, we process your personal information based on implied consent, as demonstrated when you provide us with your personal information for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Express consent may also be obtained from time to time.

If you wish to withdraw consent for some or all of our processing of your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer as provided at the top of this Policy.

If you have subscribed to receive the RATESDOTCA email newsletter or Ratesbot email or other marketing offers and wish to unsubscribe, you may opt-out at any time by clicking the unsubscribe button at the bottom of any email or marketing offer you receive, or by contacting our Privacy Officer. Please allow a reasonable time (approximately 10 business days) for processing of your request. Note that you will still receive transactional messages from us, including information about your account and responses to your inquiries.

Where we store your personal information?

Your personal information may be processed and stored outside of the province in which you reside and/or outside of Canada by us, an affiliate or a third-party service provider for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We only do so as allowed by law and with adequate protections. However, you should know that personal information is subject to the laws of the jurisdiction where it is stored. This means that, in certain circumstances foreign courts, law enforcement agencies or regulatory agencies may be entitled to access your personal information.

How long do we keep your personal information?

We will retain your Personal Information only for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. At the end of the retention period, your information is securely deleted.

Security Safeguards

We maintain personal information in a combination of paper and electronic files. We utilize technical, contractual, administrative and physical security measures to protect your personal information in transit and at rest.

Rights of access and correction

Upon request, RATESDOTCA will provide you access to your personal information. You may request access to your personal information by writing to our Privacy Officer at privacy@rates.com. In your request, please provide sufficient detail to enable us to identify any records in our custody or control that contain the information that you wish to access. We will make such personal information available to you to the extent permitted and required by law. This information will be provided to you in a form that is generally understandable, and will include an explanation of any abbreviations or codes. Prior to fulfilling an access request, we may require certain additional information from you for the purpose of verifying your identity.

In some cases, we may not provide access to personal information in our possession or control. If we deny your request, we will advise you in writing of the reason for the refusal and you may challenge our decision.

In certain circumstances, we may charge a fee for fulfilling an access request. In such cases, we will provide you with a fee estimate prior to processing a request, and may require that you pay a deposit before we proceed. Upon receipt of the fee estimate, you are able to withdraw your request, if you wish.

You may also request correction of your personal information if it is inaccurate or incomplete by writing to our Privacy Officer at the email address provided above. Again, we may require certain additional information from you for the purpose of verifying your identity before we process your request.

We will always aim to respond to your access and correction requests within 30 days. If we need an extension, we will notify you and provide justification.

If a correction is warranted, and where appropriate or required by law, we will transmit the amended information to third parties having access to your personal information. If we determine that a correction is not warranted or required, we will annotate the personal information to indicate the amendment that was requested but not made.

If you have any concerns:

We are committed to providing excellent service to you. If you have a concern or complaint regarding our compliance with this Privacy Policy or applicable privacy laws, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information provided at the top of this page.

Notification of changes:

This Privacy Policy is available to the public in electronic form at: https://rates.ca/privacy-policy. We review it regularly to ensure it reflects legislative changes and our ongoing commitment

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

Last updated, Sept 10, 2024.