Privacy
If you are an existing Highmark Casualty customer or claimant, we have a Privacy Policy in place to protect your confidentiality. To view this Policy, please select the following:
The following disclosure regards our information gathering and dissemination practices for this Internet site:
ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY
At Highmark Casualty Insurance Company we take the issue of privacy very seriously. We want to assure Users of our Web sites (meaning any individual, including site visitors as well as those individuals who provide personal information via this Web site, herein referred to as “User(s)”) that their information is secure and maintained in confidence, consistent with applicable state and federal laws. Please read through the following pages, which describe our online privacy policy.
I. Information Collected Online
A. General
How you use the Web site will determine whether or not we need to collect information from you and how much information we collect. For many features, we do not require any information on who you are or ask questions about you. For some of our features, we need to either verify your identity through a login process, or collect sufficient information from you to provide the service of that feature.
B. Email, Product Inquiry
We invite Users to send us email messages regarding products or services. We retain copies of these email messages for 1000 days, but do not disclose email messages to any non-affiliated third parties.
The information provided through the use of these email messages and feedback forms will be used by our representatives or other appropriate third parties who need to view this information to respond to the inquiry.
Users are encouraged to send emails and access products and services from unrelated service providers through the links on the Web site pages. Users should also review the privacy policies contained on these Web sites for information regarding how the service providers use the information.
C. Use of Cookies
A cookie is a small piece of information about an Internet session that may be created when an individual accesses a Web site.
Cookies can contain a variety of information, including the name of the Web site that issued them, where on the site the User visited, passwords, and even Users’ contact information that has been supplied via forms. Note that most Web browsers can be modified by the User to prevent cookies from being attached to the User.
Our Web site and certain sites it provides links to use cookies to facilitate easier navigation within the sites and provide a higher level of convenience for Users. The use of cookies by the linked site is subject to the company’s own privacy policies and in some circumstances is subject to our contractual obligations with the company.
II. Use of Information Collected Online
Highmark Casualty Insurance Company does not sell your non-public personal information to anyone.
All information submitted by any individual to Highmark Casualty Insurance Company may be retained to provide a record of such communications and to comply with any applicable legal and/or regulatory requirements and may be verified for accuracy. In addition:
Highmark Casualty Insurance Company uses any information submitted by you on the Highmark Casualty Insurance Company sites as well as information submitted by you on sites of related and/or non-related service providers that are linked to Highmark Casualty Insurance Company to provide improved customer service, to provide relevant insurance related information, to update information we have about you and/or your group, and to monitor the effectiveness of our online services. In some cases, Highmark Casualty Insurance Company may use such information to provide you with access to information on products and services offered by Highmark Casualty Insurance Company or our affiliates.
If you request to receive e-mail Web site updates and special notices from Highmark Casualty Insurance Company Web sites, Highmark Casualty Insurance Company will use the name and e-mail information you supply to provide those e-mails through its own facilities or those of a contracted service supplier. You may remove yourself from these mailings at any time by following the removal instructions included in all such messages. Your e-mail address information will be used only for Highmark Casualty Insurance Company-related mailings and will not be given, sold or rented to any other party for any other use without your prior approval.
Information may also be “cleansed” by Highmark Casualty Insurance Company (stripped of any information which could identify you personally, such as your name or e-mail address), aggregated with other data, and used for general research, classification purposes, marketing, or other purposes without permission, but only in non-individually identifiable forms.
III. Access to Information Collected Online
A. Employees
Certain employees may be provided with information regarding Users in order to respond to the individual’s needs and provide requested information regarding specific products or services. Certain employees will also be provided with information regarding Users in order to administer their or their group’s insurance benefit programs and to monitor the effectiveness of our online services. Employees are required, by written confidentiality agreements, corporate policies, and state or federal laws or regulations to maintain the confidentiality of personal information and to use strict standards of care in handling the information. Employees who do not conform to these confidentiality requirements are subject to disciplinary sanctions that may include dismissal.
B. Highmark Casualty Insurance Company Affiliates and Service Providers
We may disclose personal information of Users collected through this Web site as permitted by law to affiliates including, but not limited to, unrelated service providers that assist in meeting the needs of customers and clients. Information collected by affiliates and unrelated service providers may also be shared with us as permitted by law. All such information will be disclosed to respond to the individual’s needs and to provide information about products or services offered by or through our affiliates and the unrelated service providers. Personal information is treated with the same standards of confidentiality that we apply to other confidential information.
The affiliates are subject to the same corporate policies regarding privacy and confidentiality and unrelated service providers are legally bound by contract to employ at least the same strict standards of confidentiality as we employ.
C. Third Parties
Other than as set forth above, we do not transmit any personal information collected through the Web site to any third party without the permission of the individual. Personal information may be transmitted, however, if there is a specific need to complete a transaction requested by the individual. In some cases, group insurance plan representatives will have access to online enrollment applications, but not to other personal information collected online.
D. Online Communications Services
We have access to messages sent by or to customers and clients who choose to use any online communications services. We will not release the content of specific messages to any third party without the customer’s or client’s consent, unless permissible or required under applicable state or federal law.
IV. Compliance Assurance
A. Security
We use commercially reasonable computer security technology selected and implemented to provide adherence to the security and privacy policies described in this online posting. Although reasonable efforts have been made to protect your information from unauthorized use or alteration, Users should be aware there is always some risk in sending information over the Internet.
B. Account Access
Consistent with the requirements set forth under certain state and federal laws, we grant access to personal information only to those employees, affiliates, and third parties as required to provide insurance products and services, or as you permit. All such employees, affiliates and third parties are subject to privacy policies, at least as restrictive as the policy described in this online document.
C. Internal Compliance Program
We maintain an internal privacy compliance program to ensure compliance with this online privacy policy. This program includes oversight of the compliance program by a Privacy Officer whose function is to create, maintain, and enforce privacy procedures in accordance with this policy. Our compliance programs also include ongoing employee training, ongoing maintenance and updating of security systems and practices and maintenance of customer feedback and complaint resolution process. We reserve the right to amend this policy at any time.
D. Questions and Concerns
If you have questions about this online privacy policy, or concerns regarding your personal information, please send us your question by clicking Contact Us from the top of any of our Web pages.
© Copyright Notice 2006 Highmark Casualty Insurance Company
