Our privacy code informs you of our policies and procedures on privacy and tells you about the ways we ensure that your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information is protected.
Protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information has always been fundamental to the way we do business and is the responsibility of every employee of BBD Inc. As Canada's leading administered benefits agency, we strive to provide you with the best customer service. The range of products and services we offer our groups and benefit plan participants continues to expand and the technology we use continues to change. But, no matter how our business changes, we are committed to protecting and respecting your right to privacy and confidentiality.
Benefits by Design (BBD) is committed to the protection of any personal information collected by it or in its custody, including any information transferred to a third party to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected. Personal information includes any information, recorded or not, about an identifiable individual. Examples of personal information that are identifiable include: names, age, sex, social insurance numbers, health status, health history, financial information, benefit claims data, etc. It also includes information that can be matched with other information in order to establish an individual's identity.
Our privacy code informs you of our policies and procedures on privacy and tells you about the ways we ensure that your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information is protected. The code is based on the Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, a nationally recognized standard developed by the Canadian Standards Association CSA. Our adoption of this code sends a powerful message to the general public that we have policies and procedures in place that control the collection, use and disclosure of personal information; it also reinforces our existing commitment to customer service.
Our privacy code balances the privacy rights of our groups and benefit plan participants, and our employees with the legitimate information requirements to provide customer service and to meet our human resource requirements. It consists of the following key principles:
When you first become a group and benefit plan participant of Benefits by Design, your personal information is obtained and used only with your consent.
Your consent can be either express or implied. Express consent can be verbal or written. For example, when you sign an enrollment form you are giving us written consent to use your personal information to provide you and/or your dependents with benefits; when you submit a claims form, you are giving us written consent to use your personal information to reimburse you for benefit costs that you incur. Consent can be implied or inferred from certain actions. For example, if you present your benefit identification card to a pharmacist/dentist in lieu of paying for a prescription/dental procedure, it can be implied as consent for the pharmacist/dentist to provide your personal information to the insurer to obtain payment for the service rendered, and for the insurer to process the related claim for payment.
For our existing groups and benefit plan participants, we will continue to use and disclose your personal information previously collected in accordance with our current privacy code, unless you inform us otherwise. We will infer that consent has been obtained for the continued use or disclosure of your personal information by the processing of any existing or future benefit claims that you submit for reimbursement.
Our employees who have access to your personal information are made aware of how to keep it confidential. As a condition of employment with Benefits by Design Inc., each employee signs an Agreement requiring all information that they have access to be treated confidentially. We have security standards to protect our systems and your personal information against unauthorized access and use. This protects your personal information at all times when it is stored in data files or handled by our employees.
We keep your personal information only so long as we need it for the products and services you are using, to offer you products and services when you are a group and benefit plan participant and for a reasonable time thereafter, or to meet any legal, regulatory, or tax requirements. We have retention standards, which meet these requirements. We destroy your personal information when it is no longer needed, or we remove your name from the information.
You can check your personal information to verify its accuracy. To update and correct it, and to have any incorrect information removed, you must tell your plan sponsor to advise us of these changes. You can ask our Customer Service Representatives by phone at 1-800-668-2295 to obtain the personal information we hold about you, or do so in person by visiting our head office in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.
There is no charge for verifying or correcting your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, there may be a minimal charge for personal information that you request. We will inform you if there is a charge. Please note that we may not be able to provide information about you from our records if it contains references to other persons, is subject to legal privilege, contains information proprietary to BBD, is too costly to retrieve, or cannot be disclosed for other legal reasons. If we have obtained information about you from other people, upon your request, we will let you know the person or organization we got it from.
Whenever possible, we will correct any personal information which we may have given to an outside organization. If a third party, such as an insurer has given us personal information which you tell us is wrong, we will give you the name and address of that party so that you can correct the information.
If you ask, we will let you know the names of outside companies or organizations we've given personal information to, or direct you to the appropriate individual to ask for such information.
We will deal quickly with your request to see your personal information and always respond to you promptly.
There may be files that include information about you and other benefit plan participants, or that have information confidential to BBD or are the property of BBD. Because we must protect everyone s confidentiality and legal rights, we cannot make these files available to persons outside of BBD. However, we will make available to you any factual information about you contained in such files.
We have policies and procedures in place to assist our employees in adhering to the BBD Privacy Code. Our internal audit department monitors the adherence to this Code on a regular basis.
If you have any questions or complaints about our Privacy Code, or about how we are living up to them, let us know right away.
This web site ("Website") is operated by or on behalf of Benefits by Design (BBD). All content on this Website is the copyrighted property of BBD and/or its various third party providers and distributors. Except to the extent that you have been granted express prior permission from BBD, none of the content or data found on the Website may be reproduced, republished, distributed, sold, transferred, modified, posted, transmitted or distributed. You may download, display and print the materials presented on this Website for your personal use.
Certain names, words, titles, phrases, logos, icons, graphics or designs in the pages of this Website may constitute trade names, registered or unregistered trade-marks or service marks ("Trade-marks") of BBD and used under license by BBD. However, the display of Trademarks on pages at this Website does not imply that any license has been granted to any third party.
Any unauthorized downloading, re-transmission, or other copying or modification of Trademarks or other contents of this Website may be a violation of statutory or common law rights which could subject the violator to legal action.
You represent, warrant and covenant that your use of the Website shall not:
Some of the areas of the Website ("Secure Areas") require passwords or other forms of access control in order for a user to gain access and use the Website's functionality. If you are permitted to access and use one of the Secure Areas of the Website, it is your responsibility to keep your password or other access control methodology private so that it cannot be used by others. BBD will not be liable for any damages, losses or expenses suffered by you or any third party as a result of any unauthorized person gaining access to any of the Secure Areas through use of your password or other access methodology, and you agree that you will indemnify BBD for any damages, losses or expenses that it may suffer, including any claims made against BBD by third parties, as a result of such access or use by an unauthorized person.
In no event will BBD be liable for any damages, including without limitation direct or indirect, special, incidental, or consequential or punitive damages, losses or expenses, whether or not BBD, or representatives thereof, are advised of the possibility of such damages, losses or expenses, arising in connection with:
Information on the public areas of this Website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial, legal, accounting or tax advice and should not be relied upon in that regard.
Information provided by BBD on its Website is believed to be accurate and reliable, but we cannot guarantee that such information is accurate or complete or current at all times. While we endeavour to keep the information current, such information is subject to change at any time without notice.
BBD makes reasonable commercial efforts to make the Website available, however, it is not responsible for any service interruptions. BBD will not be liable for any loss resulting from a cause over which it does not have direct control, including, but not limited to, failure of electronic or mechanical equipment or communication lines, telephone or other interconnect problems, computer viruses, unauthorized access, theft, operator errors, severe weather, earthquakes, or natural disasters, strikes or other labour problems, wars, or governmental restrictions.
BBD makes no representations whatsoever about any other web site which you may access through this Website. When you access a non-BBD web site, it is independent from BBD, and BBD has no control over the content on that web site. In addition, a link to a non-BBD web site does not mean that BBD endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or use, of such web site. It is your responsibility to take precautions to ensure that whatever you select for your use is free of such items as viruses, worms, trojan horses and other items of a destructive nature.
Links from or to web sites outside this Website are meant for convenience only. BBD does not review, endorse, approve or control, and is not responsible for any web sites linked from or to this Website, the content of those web sites, the third parties named therein, or their products and services. Linking to any other web site is at your sole risk and BBD will not be responsible or liable for any damages in connection with such linking. Links to web sites offering downloadable software are for convenience only and BBD does not endorse any such software and is not responsible or liable for any difficulties or consequences associated with downloading the software. Use of any such downloaded software is governed by the terms of the license agreement, if any, which accompanies or is provided with such software.
This Website and your use of it will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.
At Benefits by Design (BBD), information security is fundamental to the way we do business and is the responsibility of every employee. It is specified in our employment agreements and regularly confirmed in writing.
Whether you choose to access our services online, over the telephone, or in person, we follow rigorous security procedures to protect your information and transactions against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and misuse.
We design Information Security to protect the information, the information systems and communications that deliver the information from harm resulting from failures of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The following are key principles considered in our security processes:
While we do our utmost to ensure security and confidentiality, there are steps you can take as well to enhance your security when using the Internet and when conducting business online.
Many Internet sites are secured through encryption. Encryption encodes the information that flows between your computer and our computer systems protecting it from unauthorized interception, viewing and alteration.
The transmission of BBD web pages on our Internet site that maintain and display your personal information is secured through encryption. In addition, personal information forwarded to us through these web pages is also secure.
Log-on IDs and passwords are used by computer systems and websites to verify your identity. A log-on ID and password allow you to access services and information specific for your private use. Anyone who can access your log-on ID and password can also access your information.
Your log-on ID and password will not be saved and must be re-entered each time you log-on to a secured online service page.
Cookies are used by BBD to maintain security during a session, ensuring that each session is unique and authorized between you and BBD's web based systems.
When you send us an email or ask us to respond to you by email, we learn your exact email address and any information you have included in the email. We use your email address to acknowledge your comments and / or reply to your questions, and we will retain your communication and our reply as required under appropriate legal, regulatory and BBD business practices. We will never send you an email asking for passwords and we will not make your email address available to anyone else.
Email sent or received over the Internet may not be secure and we recommend that you use caution when forwarding email messages to us.
If you have any questions regarding the authenticity or security of email you have received from BBD, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-668-2295.