Privacy
At Centract Settlement Services, we respect the privacy of our clients and we are
committed to keeping your personal information accurate, confidential, secure and
private. We have adopted the following Privacy Policy to ensure that Centract Settlement
Services continues to meet its commitment to your privacy.
The following sections, read as a whole, comprise the Centract Settlement Services
Privacy Policy:
- Introduction
- The Ten Principles of Privacy
- Application of the Ten Principles
- The kind of information we collect
- How we use your information
- When can we disclose your personal information?
- Who we share your information with
- How we safeguard your information
- Web site security
- Accessing your personal information
- Opting Out
- Cookies
- Questions, Concerns and Complaints About the Centract Settlement Services
Privacy Policy
Introduction
Centract Settlement Services provides a variety of products and services to appraisers,
mortgage lenders, Lawyers and the public. The Services include, but are not limited
to, providing real property appraisal, legal document management, debt recovery,
refinance and transfer mortgage document preparation and processing, software development
and customer relationship management services. In addition to these services, we
also provide desktop software and web-based technology products to mortgage lenders,
lawyers and appraisers.
In the course of providing these products and services, Centract Settlement Services
may collect certain personal information about borrowers.
"Personal Information" means information about an identifiable individual client.
This may include without limitation, the individual’s name, address, age, gender,
income, employment status, credit history, debts and liabilities, income, personal
preferences and other information about his or her family. Personal information
does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee
of an organization.
The Centract Settlement Services Privacy Policy is based on, and complies with,
Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA"),
which includes the Ten Privacy Principles outlined in the Canadian Standards Association
Model Code for the Protection of Personal Privacy. For more information about this
legislation, please visit the official web site of the Privacy Commission of Canada
at http://www.privcom.gc.ca.
This Privacy Policy describes the ten principles that Centract Settlement Services
follows to ensure that we protect our clients’ personal information when we collect,
use or disclose it in the course of carrying on commercial activities in Canada.
All of our employees who have access to personal information must adhere to the
Centract Settlement Services Privacy Policy and related procedures. To this end,
Centract Settlement Services has appointed a Privacy Officer to ensure compliance
by all Centract Settlement Services employees.
The Ten Principles of Privacy
The following ten principles govern our actions as they relate to the use of our
clients’ personal information:
Principle 1 – Accountability
Centract Settlement Services is accountable for all personal information in its
possession or custody, including personal information disclosed to third parties
for purposes of providing services requested by our clients or employees.
Principle 2 – Identifying Purposes
Centract Settlement Services collects personal information supplied to it by financial
institutions, lawyers and other clients that is required to permit Centract Settlement
Services to provide the services requested. We are obligated to protect the confidentiality
of your personal information, and we are prohibited from doing anything with this
information that we have not been authorized to do by our clients. It is our policy
to treat your personal information in a manner consistent with your financial institution’s
privacy policy.
Centract Settlement Services relies upon such financial institutions, all of whom
are bound by PIPEDA, to obtain their customers’ consent or rely upon an exemption
to PIPEDA, before providing Centract Settlement Services with their customers’ personal
information. Centract Settlement Services informs its clients of the purposes for
which it is collecting any personal information, before or at the time the information
is collected.
Principle 3 – Consent
Centract Settlement Services will obtain consent from its clients before or when
it collects, uses or discloses their personal information.
A client’s consent can be express, implied, or given through an authorized representative.
A client can withdraw consent at any time, with certain exceptions. Centract Settlement
Services, however, may collect, use or disclose personal information without the
client’s knowledge or consent in exceptional circumstances where such collection,
use or disclosure is permitted or required by law.
Principle 4 – Limiting Collection
The information collected from the client will be limited to those details necessary
for the purposes it has identified to the client. Information will be collected
by fair and lawful means.
Principle 5 – Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Personal information will only be used or disclosed for the purpose for which it
was collected unless the client and the individual forming the subject of the personal
information has otherwise consented, or when it is required or permitted by law.
Personal information may only be retained for the amount of time needed to fulfil
the purpose for which it was collected or to fulfil contractual obligations with
respect to record retention.
In certain exceptional circumstances, Centract Settlement Services may have a legal
duty or right to disclose personal information without client knowledge or consent
with respect to matters that concern the company’s or the public’s interest.
Principle 6 – Accuracy
Centract Settlement Services will keep personal information as accurate, complete
and current as necessary to fulfil the identified purposes for which it was collected.
Clients may have this information amended where it is found to be inaccurate or
incomplete.
Principle 7 – Safeguarding Personal Information
Personal information is safeguarded using measures appropriate to the sensitivity
of the information. See "How We Safeguard Information" below.
Principle 8 – Openness
Centract Settlement Services will make information available to its clients and
the general public about the policies and procedures Centract Settlement Services
uses to manage personal information. Clients and the general public have access
to this information through our web sites, or through alternate means if requested.
Principle 9 – Client Access
Upon written request, a client or a member of the general will be informed of the
existence, use and disclosure of their personal information, and will be given access
to it. Centract Settlement Services will respond to such requests as efficiently
as possible. If Centract Settlement Services is prohibited from providing such access
they will explain the reasons for the lack of access, except where prohibited by
law.
Principle 10 – Addressing Client Complaints and Suggestions
Clients and members of the general public in respect of whom Centract Settlement
Services has collected, used or disclosed personal information, may challenge Centract
Settlement Services’ compliance with this Privacy Policy. Centract Settlement Services
has policies and procedures to receive, investigate and respond to complaints and
questions. You may contact the Centract Settlement Services Privacy Officer to express
any concerns or to request access to your personal information. The contact information
for this individual is provided below.
Application of the Ten Privacy Principles – How we treat your personal information:
The kind of information we collect
Centract Settlement Services gathers and uses personal information in order to provide
its clients with the products and services they have requested. Providing us with
personal information is a choice made by your financial institution, however, we
may not be able to provide you or our financial institution clients with certain
products or services if we are not provided with certain information. For example,
we cannot provide appraisal or legal services if we do not know where you live.
The nature of our client’s product or service request will determine the kind of
personal information we might ask for.
Information that is typically required to provide our products and services includes:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number(s)
- Approximate market value of the property being purchased/re-financed/transferred
- Address of the property being purchased/re-financed/transferred
- Specific financing details related to potential loans are sometimes collected
- Documentation created and processed in connection with transactions that are stored
as a disaster recovery service for law firms using certain of our software packages
Centract Settlement Services may keep a file with your contact history to be used
for client inquiry or disaster recovery purposes.
How Your Information Is Used
At Centract Settlement Services we use personal information for three general purposes:
- To communicate with you in order to provide our products and services. Some services
may be provided by third party suppliers (such as appraisers or lawyers) to better
serve your needs.
- Transactional information to monitor our level of service and report back to our
clients to ensure satisfaction with the provision of such services.
- Disaster recovery protection.
We will only use personal information for the purpose that we have disclosed to
our clients. If we want to use your information for a different purpose, we will
notify you and our clients and obtain consent first.
When Can We Disclose Your Personal Information?
Centract Settlement Services is obliged to keep your personal information confidential
except under the following circumstances:
When Authorized by our Clients
Many of the services offered by Centract Settlement Services require us to obtain
personal information about you in order to perform the services we have been engaged
to provide. We will use this information to tailor programs to meet our clients’
needs and objectives. We will always obtain consent, and we will never use the information
for purposes other than those we have told our clients about.
For example, if we are going to provide an appraisal on your home we will need to
obtain information about your telephone number or address. You may withdraw your
consent at any time, subject to any legal implications (which we will inform you
or your financial institution about). If you withdraw your consent to use or disclose
certain personal information Centract Settlement Services may be unable to continue
to provide all or part of the services requested.
When Required by Law
The type of information we are legally required to disclose usually relates to government
tax reporting requirements. However in some cases, such as under a court order,
we may be required to disclose certain information to persons specified in the court
order. We will only provide the specific information requested and only upon being
satisfied that the authorities have legitimate grounds to request the information.
When Permitted by Law
The legislation has provided certain situations where Centract Settlement Services
is legally permitted to disclose personal information without your consent. Examples
include situations involving the collection of debt in arrears, medical emergencies,
or suspicion of illegal activities.
With Whom We May Share Your Information
Centract Settlement Services Employees
In the course of daily operations, access to sensitive personal information is limited
to those employees with a legitimate reason for accessing it. As a condition of
their employment, Centract Settlement Services employees are required to follow
all applicable laws and regulations, including this Privacy Policy.
Unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential client information by a Centract
Settlement Services employee is prohibited and may result in disciplinary measures.
Centract Settlement Services Affiliates
In order to better serve our clients, we may share some of your personal information
with our affiliates. We will only do this with your express consent and you may
withdraw this consent at any time. The procedure for withdrawing consent is outlined
below under the section"Opting Out".
Centract Settlement Services Third Party Suppliers
As you may know, we often engage and coordinate third party suppliers to provide
certain services offered through Centract Settlement Services. We use third party
suppliers to provide appraisal, legal and debt recovery services.
Such suppliers are only given the information that is needed to provide the specific
service for which we contract them to provide. Suppliers are contractually bound
to protect the confidentiality of your personal information, and they are prohibited
from doing anything with this information that we have not authorized them to do.
They are required to treat your personal information in a manner consistent with
the Centract Settlement Services Privacy Policy.
How We Safeguard Information
Centract Settlement Services has extensive controls in place to maintain the security
of its information and information systems. Client files are stored according to
the sensitivity of the information contained therein.
Centract Settlement Services uses network security tools, such as firewalls to safeguard
personal information. We also use unique identifiers to identify, authenticate and
authorize any employees, who can access, view or handle your personal information.
We use a minimum of 128-bit encryption to store information and we encrypt data
when we transport or communicate information on open communication channels to another
party.
Physical access to areas where personal information is gathered, processed or stored
is limited to authorized employees.
When you telephone a Centract Settlement Services employee to speak about your file,
you may be asked for some personally identifying information. This type of safeguard
is designed to ensure that only you, or someone authorized by you, has access to
your file.
Web Site Security
In order to serve you better, Centract Settlement Services offers clients and suppliers
access to certain information through its’ web sites.
- www.capsnet.com is a web-based
service available exclusively to appraisal clients that allows clients to order,
monitor and view appraisals on-line. This service requires that the client register
to receive a password that enables them to access the site.
- www.appraisernet.ca is
a web-based service available exclusively to appraisers (staff and contracted appraisers)
that allows appraisers to receive, bill and view appraisals on-line. This service
requires that the appraiser be contracted or employed with Centract Settlement Services
and must also register to receive a password which enables them to access the site.
- www.clnhighlander.ca
is a public website providing information about products and services available
from Centract Settlement Services legal services group. This website offers lawyers
and mortgage brokers to provide Centract with program registration information.
A Support and Services website is linked to www.clnhighlander.ca offering FAQ, knowledge
database and software upgrade information to registered users. This section of the
site requires a valid user id/password combination.
- www.centract.com is a public
website providing a brief description of Centract’s corporate vision as well as
links to the various Centract Services web sites that are available to the public.
There are no links to databases or other storage media that would contain personal
information. No login Ids or passwords are required.
Centract Settlement Services is committed to your privacy and will ensure that any
information accessed or provided through these sites remains secure. To safeguard
against unauthorized access to information, clients and service providers are required
to "sign-on" using an encrypted password to gain access. If the client or appraiser
is unable to provide the correct password, they will not be able to access the site.
Accessing and Amending Your Information
As a client, you have the right to access the personal information we keep in your
file and you have the right to verify or amend the information if it is shown to
be inaccurate. If you would like to view the personal information held in your file,
please make a written request to the Privacy Officer at the address listed below,
under "Questions, Concerns and Complaints". We will respond to your request as efficiently
as possible.
To make a change, please make a similar request in writing to the Privacy Officer.
Opting – Out
In order to provide you with our services and products, Centract Settlement Services
will, with your consent, share your personal information with other Centract Settlement
Services affiliates. Should you not want to receive promotional materials from or
have your personal information shared with these companies please contact Centract
Settlement Services at the address, phone number or email address provided below:
Lori Ingram
39 Wynford Drive
Toronto, Ontario
M3C 3K5
(416) 386-4339
lori.ingram@centract.com
Anonymous Information and "Cookies"
Centract Settlement Services may collect anonymous information about you. This means
that the information collected cannot be traced back to a specific person. For example,
our web servers may record certain information automatically when you visit Centract
Settlement Services web sites. This information is collected using "cookies" and
might include the pages you visited, your IP (Internet Protocol) address and other
site usage statistics. This anonymous information is used for research and analytical
purposes only (like evaluating how many visitors our web sites receive or which
pages they visit most often). It does not reveal any personal information about
you, the user. This aggregate data may be disclosed to third parties, but never
with personally identifying information.
"Cookies"
"Cookies" are small text files that contain a unique identification number that
allows our computers to identify your web browser (but not you) each time you visit
one of our web sites that uses cookies. The information helps Centract Settlement
Services improve the functionality of the site and enhance the navigation and security
of your session.
Cookies do not disclose the individual identity of a site user and cannot be used
to collect sensitive information about your computer or data residing on your computer.
Most major web sites use this technology and most browsers are set up to accept
them.
You may configure your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, and you
may refuse to accept them entirely. However, if you refuse to accept cookies, you
may limit the functionality that we can provide to you when you visit our site.
For example, the www.centractworx.ca web site requires cookies to recognize clients
with valid access to the database. If your browser does not accept cookies, the
site will not grant you access via the login and password.
Questions, Concerns and Complaints
If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about your personal information,
or about the Centract Settlement Services Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy
Officer using the contact information provide below:
Centract Settlement Services Privacy Officer is:
Mark Denham
39 Wynford Drive
Toronto, Ontario
M3C 3K5
mark.denham@centract.com
(416) 510-5806
If you have contacted this individual and are still not satisfied with the manner
in which we have dealt with your privacy concerns, please contact:
Max Cohen, Chief Privacy Officer
Centract
41 Wynford Drive
Toronto, Ontario
M3C 1K1
mcohen@cohenlaw.ca
(416) 380-7551