Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information is collected from its customers and how it is used. It also explains how you can ask questions, make suggestions, and complain about our privacy practices.

At RATESDOTCA, a division of RATESDOTCA Group Ltd., protecting the personal information that you provide to us at www.rates.ca is an important priority.

RATESDOTCA is part of the RATESDOTCA Group Ltd. family, the largest online insurance and financial comparison company in Canada. Also within the RATESDOTCA Group Ltd. family are:

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

What is personal information?

Personal information is any information about an identifiable individual.

What personal information do we collect when you are obtaining quote, and why?

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 information for specific, limited purposes. Information is collected by fair and lawful means.

We collect personal contact information (for example, name, address, email address and telephone numbers) if you: request a mortgage rate or insurance rate quote or other services; sign up for a newsletter or other email services; sign up a broker or lender to be listed on the website, or provide it to us when you click the submit button on our website forms. This information is used to fulfill your request, provide targeted advertising and respond to your inquiries and feedback.

Obtaining an insurance quote:

Depending on the type of quote you are seeking, some of the following information may be collected:

• Your age, gender, marital status, driving and insurance history for licenced drivers in the household, address details, and in certain cases pre-existing health conditions. These details are the basis of your risk profile used to determine the rates returned from our partner insurers.
• For certain provinces or products we may ask about your credit score, which will be used to provide different payment options and/or generate additional discounts on policy quotes.
• If looking to purchase a policy online, we may ask for your vehicle identification number, driver licence number, credit card number and / or bank account information. These help ensure that the details quoted online correspond correctly for policy processing purposes.
• If you agree to purchase a policy from the insurance company, it they may use your personal information for the purpose of fulfilling the requested insurance transaction and for future contact in accordance with the terms and conditions of their own privacy policy.
• This information, along with the other details you have provided will only be used to fulfill services you specifically request.

Obtaining a mortgage loan or are a mortgage broker or agent:

Depending on the type of request, some of the following information may be collected:

• If you agree to purchase a loan from the mortgage, it they may use your personal information for the purpose of fulfilling the requested mortgage transaction and for future contact in accordance with the terms and conditions of their own privacy policy.
• If you are a broker lender or affiliate, we retain your login ID and passwords so that upon request by you and receipt of identification we may remind you of them.

What we collect from you when you use our online websites:

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

Any information requested by the presentation of any form on our website will be clearly marked and no collection will take place unless you, not only fill in the form, but also actively consent and successfully submit that form's content to use.

Where we collect information from other sources, and why:

For service providers and advertisers, we may also collect financial information, for example, banking details and credit history, to assess credit risk, sales data to prepare royalty reports and other information to help us evaluate your services.

Whom do we share your personal information with?

We may share your personal information to our affiliates for internal audit, management, billing, administrative, marketing, promotion, or other business purposes.

These companies are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us and they are prohibited from using your personal information for any other purpose.

Our blog is also managed by a third-party application that may require you to register to post a comment. We do not have access or control of the information posted to the blog. You will need to contact or login into the third-party application if you want your personal information that was posted to the comments section removed.

Obtaining your consent:

In general, we seek consent to use your personal information in accordance with our opt-out policy. Except as set out in this section, we obtain your express opt-in consent to use or disclose sensitive personal information.

Any information requested by the presentation of any form on our website will be clearly marked and no collection will take place unless you, not only fill in the form, but also actively consent and successfully submit that form's content to us.

Your choices and preferences on how to use some online services:

Testimonials

With your consent, we may post your testimonials on our web site which may contain personal information. We do obtain your consent via email prior to posting the testimonial to post their name along with their testimonial.

Public Forums

You may choose to use our publicly accessible blogs or community forums. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them.

To request removal of your personal information from our blog or community forum, contact us through our email. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.

Social Media Features and Widgets

Our website includes Social Media Features, such as the Facebook Like button and Widgets, such as the Share this button or interactive mini-programs that run on our site. These features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our site, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. Social media features and widgets are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Site. Your interactions with these Features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it.

Managing Your Preferences:

Opting out

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. Any information requested by the presentation of any form on our website will be clearly marked and no collection will take place unless you, not only fill in the form, but also actively consent and successfully submit that form's content to us.

In general, we seek consent to use your personal information in accordance with our opt-out policy. Except as set out in this section, we obtain your express opt-in consent to use or disclose sensitive personal information.

If you do not wish to receive the RATESDOTCA email newsletter or Ratesbot email or other marketing offers, you may opt-out at any time by doing any of the following:

1. Follow the instructions at the bottom of any email or marketing offer you receive.
2. Call RATESDOTCA at 1-844-726-0907 and request that your personal information not be used for marketing offers.
3. Email RATESDOTCA at optout@rates.ca and request that your personal information not be used for marketing offers.

Please allow a reasonable time (approximately 10 business days) for processing of your request.

Generally, by providing us with your personal information, we will assume that you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of such information for the purposes identified or described in this Privacy Policy, if applicable, or otherwise at the time of collection. We reserve the right to use and disclose your personal information without consent where required or permitted by law, for example, if we have reasonable grounds to believe the information could be useful when investigating a contravention of a federal, provincial or foreign law, in order to protect or defend our legal interests, or to comply with applicable laws and lawful governmental requests.

Contests

If you enter a contest or other promotion, we use your personal contact information including login ID and password to administer the contest or promotion including contacting, announcing and promoting prize winners.

Surveys

Occasionally, we ask our customers to complete market research surveys. Survey results are aggregated and shared with our advertisers, sponsors and affiliates in a manner that does not disclose personal information. Other than as permitted or required by law, purposes for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information, which are not set out in this Privacy Policy, will be set out at the time of collection. You will be given a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of any additional purposes no later than the time of collection.

To whom do we disclose personal information, and why?

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.

In the event RATESDOTCA goes through a business transition, such as a merger, acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your personal information will likely be among the assets transferred. You will be notified via prominent notice on our website for 30 days of any such change in ownership or control of your personal information.

You will be disclosing information directly to mortgage and insurance brokers or agents, as well as to RATESDOTCA if you choose to receive a mortgage or an insurance quote from a mortgage or insurance broker or agent. This will be clearly indicated, and it is part of the quoting process.

We may also disclose your personal information under the following circumstances:

With respect to the quotes you get, the only information shared with the third party is the information required to provide you with an accurate quote. 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.

In some cases, we use third parties to provide the online quotes you receive on our site or to assist us in advertising our services to you.

• Other than as permitted or required by law, purposes for the collection use or disclosure of personal information, which are not set out in this policy, will be set out at the time of collection. You will be given reasonable opportunity to opt-out of any additional purposes no later than the time of collection.
• In order to provide you with marketing offers, we may disclose your personal contact information to affiliates and selected sponsors and advertisers. If you do not wish to receive marketing offers, you may opt-out at any time by following the procedure set out in our opt-out policy.
• We may transfer your personal information on a confidential basis to a third party (which party may be outside of Canada) acting on our behalf in order to perform processing and other specialized services, for example, prize fulfillment of our contests, collection of overdue accounts, product delivery, or credit card processing.
• 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 and, under the laws of these other jurisdictions, in certain circumstances foreign courts, law enforcement agencies or regulatory agencies may be entitled to access your personal information.
• When we need to disclose your personal information to unrelated parties, for example, if we find you have violated any stated terms of service or conditions of purchase, or if we need to comply with applicable laws and lawful governmental requests, other legal and regulatory authorities and other legal reasons.
• We may disclose your personal information to parties connected with the contemplated or actual financing, insuring, sale, assignment or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets, including for the purposes of determining whether to proceed or continue with such transaction or business relationship or fulfilling any records or other reporting requirements to such parties. We will require such parties to treat your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and to use and disclose it only for the purposes for which it was collected.
• We keep notes and special instructions on file for mortgage and insurance brokers and agents to help us fulfill your request and provide customer service. We may tape or monitor your telephone calls with our customer service representatives for quality assurance purposes.

By submitting your personal information to us, you signify your agreement to the terms and conditions of this.

Safeguards: We maintain personal information in a combination of paper and electronic files. We take technical, contractual, administrative and physical security measures to protect your personal information. For example, when you provide personal information to us, we work to help protect the security of your information by using industry standard secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption technology.

Accessing/ Correcting/ Deleting your personal information:

Upon request rate.ca will provide you with information about whether we hold any of your personal information. You may access, correct, or request deletion of your personal information by calling RATESDOTCA at 1-844-726-0907 and we will make the changes upon receipt of appropriate evidence. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

We will give you access to the information we retain about you within a reasonable time, upon written request, satisfactory identification and proof of entitlement. 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.

We will retain your Personal Information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

If you have any concerns:

We are committed to providing excellent service to you. However, if you have a concern or complaint, please contact us, because we are also committed to working with you to achieve a resolution and following through to a successful conclusion as quickly as possible. In most cases, complaints are resolved simply by discussing it with us. You should be able to get swift results by contacting us at:

RATESDOTCA
360 Adelaide Street West, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1R7
Canada
Phone: 1-844-726-0907
Email: support@rates.ca

If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact our U.S.-based third party dispute resolution provider (free of charge) at https://feedback-form.truste.com/watchdog/request.

Additional resources:

If you require further assistance with resolving your privacy concern after speaking with one of our customer service representatives, you may contact the: Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPCC). Their website is www.priv.gc.ca , phone number is 1-800-282-1376; Mail 30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, QC K1A 1H3

How we use 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.

If you are concerned about cookies, it is possible to turn them off in your web browser preferences. However, please be aware that by disabling cookies, you may not be able to use all portions of our websites, particularly pages requiring registration. Amar out.

Anyone can navigate this website without giving us personal information.

Advertising

We partner with a third party to display advertising on our website or to manage our advertising on other sites, including ads pertaining to our clients' products. Our third party partners may use cookies or similar. RATESDOTCA Group Ltd. adheres to the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada’s (the DAAC) self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising.

We may place advertising or other links on our sites that originate from outside advertisers. If you view these ads, the advertisers may assign a cookie. We do not control these cookies, nor are we responsible for any marketing or other use of your name by these advertisers.

We generally use your personal information for the purposes of: managing, administering, collecting or otherwise enforcing accounts; maintaining business records for reasonable periods of time and generally managing and administering our business; and meeting regulatory, legal, insurance, audit, security and processing requirements.

Our online usage and affiliate tracking systems do not gather or store personal information. These include Google Analytics and Google Campaign Manager 360.

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.

Policy governance:

The collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by RATESDOTCA are governed by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (the "Act"), and any applicable provincial legislation.

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. We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email or by means of a notice on our homepage prior to the change becoming effective.

Last updated January 3, 2023.