Your Personal Information

What is personal information?

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. This includes, for example, an individual's race, ethnic origin, colour, age, marital status, religion, education, medical information, criminal record, employment history, financial records, address, telephone number, e-mail address, Social Insurance Number or fingerprints.

Why do we collect it?

We hold personal information about members to help us meet and maintain the highest standards of financial service. This information can include your name, address, age, income, use of accounts and credit history.

We obtain this information from you directly, and from the product and service arrangements you have made with or through us. Information is also obtained with your permission from credit bureaus, other financial institutions and from the references you provide us.

Your personal information is collected for one or more of the following purposes:

• To verify your identity;
• To understand your needs and eligibility for products and services;
• To open, maintain and administer your accounts and provide financial services that meet your needs;
• To obtain credit reports and evaluate your credit rating and credit worthiness;
• To administer and manage security and risk in relation to your accounts and the financial services provided to you;
• To comply with legal and regulatory requirements;
• To assist in dispute resolution;
• To offer and provide you with other products and services of the Credit Union and of its affiliates and service suppliers.

The law requires us to ask for your Social Insurance Number (SIN) when you open an interest bearing account. We also ask for your SIN to identify you with credit bureaus and other financial institutions for credit matching purposes. Using the SIN is the best way to ensure the credit information actually refers to you. Giving us your SIN is not a condition on service.

Who do we share your personal information with?

We use trusted and reputable suppliers to provide cheque and statement printing, data processing, research and payment clearing services. We provide them with only that information which is necessary to perform the required services. They are not allowed to use this information for any other purpose than what we contract them for. Our suppliers and their employees are required to protect your information in a a manner that is consistent with our Privacy Code.

Your information is sometimes shared within the Co-operative Financial Services Group™ of companies so we can offer you a full range of financial products and services. These affiliates include: Credit Union Members Insurance Society (CUMIS), Credential Financial Inc., Concentra Financial, The Co-operators Insurance, Credit Union Payment Services (CUPS), CUETS and Celero Solutions. Any product or service offering that is derived from this sharing of information comes directly from us and not from our affiliates.

How can you access and verify your personal information?

You have the right to review your personal information held by Horizon Credit Union and to verify its accuracy. To gain access to this information, contact us at our Melville branch. You can expect that it will take up to 30 days for us to gather the information. You will be charged a fee of $15.00 per hour to cover the expense of providing you with the information.

Should you discover upon review of your personal information that changes are required, please inform us.

The 10 Principles

The following is a summary of the 10 Principles of the Credit Union Code for the Protection of Personal Information.

1. Accountability - We have designated a Privacy Officer who is accountable for our compliance with the principles of the Code.
   
   
2. Identifying Purposes - When we ask you for personal information, we will identify the purposes for which it will be used or disclosed.
   
   
3. Consent - We require your knowledge and express or complied consent for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information.
   
   
4. Limiting Collection - The collection of personal information is limited to the purposes we have identified for you.
   
   
5. Lmiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention - We will use or disclose your personal information only with your express or implied consent, or as required by law. We will retain your information for only as long as is necessary to fulfill identified purposes.
   
   
6. Accuracy - We will keep your information accurate, complete and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.
   
   
7. Safeguards - We will protect your personal information with appropriate security safeguards.
   
   
8. Openness - We will make specific, understandable information readily available to you about our personal information policies and practices.
   
   
9. Individual Access - When you request it, we will give you access to your personal information, how we use it and who we disclose it to. You are entitled to question its accuracy, its completeness and its uses.
   
   
10. Challenging Compliance - You are entitled to question the Privacy Officer about our compliance with any of these principles.
    

View Horizon Credit Union's Privacy Code