Approved by Audit Committee March 13, 2008 and
Board March 14, 2008
OUR COMMITMENT TO PRIVACY
Quest is committed to maintaining the security, confidentiality and privacy of your personal information. This Privacy Policy documents our on-going commitment to you and has been developed in compliance with relevant privacy legislation.
SCOPE OF POLICY
This Policy addresses personal information about identifiable individuals and does not apply to information collected, used or disclosed with respect to corporate or commercial entities.
This Policy does not impose any limits on our collection, use or disclosure of the following information:
- information that is aggregated or otherwise made anonymous; and
- your business contact information.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Quest is accountable and responsible for personal information under its control. Quest has designated a Privacy Officer who is responsible for Quest’s compliance with this Policy. The contact details for Quest’s Privacy Officer are set out at the end of this Policy.
PURPOSES FOR COLLECTION
Quest collects your personal information for the purposes described in this privacy policy and as otherwise may be identified to you at the time of collection. Generally, we only collect your personal information in connection with the extension and administration of the products and services you obtain from us and in connection with our relationship with you.
SOURCE OF YOUR INFORMATION
Most of your personal information will be collected directly from you through the various contracts and other documents you complete and through discussions with our representatives. Some of your information may be collected from other sources such as credit bureaus, financial institutions, employers, landlords, and government sources.
PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
The personal information we collect about you will depend on the nature of the services and/or products that you receive from us. Generally the following types of personal information will be collected: your name, address, birthdate, employment information and relevant financial information.
We will not collect personal information indiscriminately and will limit our collection of your personal information to what is reasonably necessary to provide a product or service either directly or indirectly and which is reasonably necessary for the purposes outlined in this Policy or for purposes which you may otherwise consent to. We may also collect information as authorized by law.
HOW WE MAY USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Quest and its representatives may collect and use your personal information for the following purposes:
- authenticating your identity;
- determining whether to grant financing to you or your company;
- assessing your credit-worthiness (including through credit and reference checks);
- providing and administering requested products and services;
- processing and collecting payments and debts owed to us;
- administering and enforcing guarantors’ obligations to us;
- initiating and prosecuting litigation to enforce security or other obligations in connection with loans and other transactions;
- defending against any claims or litigation;
- protecting Quest, you and others from fraud and error;
- reporting to credit bureaus or other financial institutions;
- providing credit references to other financial institutions; and
- as otherwise permitted or required by law.
If we want to use your personal information for a new purpose, we will obtain your consent to do so.
HOW WE MAY DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Quest and its representatives may disclose your personal information for the following purposes:
- since our products and accounts are assignable, to the extent your personal information is needed in connection with any products and accounts that are assigned, (for example in the case of an acquisition or merger, loan syndication, securitization or sale of mortgages, the provision of security for a credit facility or the change of a supplier) your personal information will be transferred to the assignee;
- if insurance coverage is obtained in connection with the products and services you receive from Quest, your personal information will be transferred to the applicable insurance companies in connection with such coverage;
- if you have indicated your consent to us, Quest may use your social insurance number as an aid to identify you with credit bureaus and other financial institutions for credit history file matching purposes;
- your personal information may be transferred to our service providers who assist with the provision, administration and management of the services and products we offer. We require all of our service providers to adhere to applicable laws;
- Your credit history information may be disclosed from time to time to other lenders or credit reporting agencies in order to support the credit process; and
- Your information may be disclosed to government departments and agencies, regulatory bodies, financial institutions, legal advisors and other third parties as permitted or required by law.
If we want to disclose your personal information for a new purpose, we will obtain your consent.
CONSENT
We will obtain your consent to collect, use or disclose personal information except where we are authorized or required by law to do so without consent. For example, we may collect, use or disclose personal information without your knowledge or consent where:
- the information is publicly available, and such collection, use or disclosure is permitted by statute or regulation;
- we are obtaining legal advice; or
- we reasonably expect that obtaining consent would compromise an investigation or proceeding.
Your consent can be express, implied or given through an authorized representative such as a lawyer, agent or broker. It can also be given verbally, in writing, electronically, through inaction (e.g. if we notify you that we want to collect, use or disclose your personal information for various purposes and you do not object) or otherwise. This Privacy Policy forms part of our account agreement with you. By executing our account agreement you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as contemplated in this Privacy Policy.
You may withdraw consent at any time (subject to legal, contractual and other restrictions) if you give reasonable notice in writing to us. After we have received such notice, we will inform you of the likely consequences of withdrawing consent, which may include our inability to provide certain services to you or to continue our relationship with you.
LIMITS FOR USING, DISCLOSING AND RETAINING PERSONAL INFORMATION
We will only use and disclose your personal information for the purposes described in this Policy, for any other purpose you have consented to or for other purposes which are authorized or required by law.
We will keep personal information used to make a decision affecting you for at least one year after using it to make the decision.
We will destroy, erase or make anonymous documents or other records containing personal information as soon as it is reasonable to assume that: (a) the original purpose is no longer being served by retention of the information, and (b) retention is no longer necessary for legal or business purposes.
We will take due care when destroying personal information to prevent unauthorized access to the information.
ACCURACY
We will make a reasonable effort to keep personal information we are using or disclosing accurate and complete. In most cases, we will rely on you to ensure that certain information, such as your street address, e-mail address or telephone number, is current, complete and accurate.
If you demonstrate the inaccuracy or incompleteness of personal information, we will amend the information as required. If appropriate, we will send the amended information to third parties to whom the information has been disclosed.
When a challenge regarding the accuracy of personal information is not resolved to your satisfaction, we will annotate the personal information under our control with a note that a correction was requested but not made.
SAFEGUARDING PERSONAL INFORMATION
Quest protects the personal information in its custody or control by implementing physical, organization and technological safeguards to protect against unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or similar risks.
Quest will utilize contractual or other reasonable means, to require a comparable level of personal information protection from our suppliers, agents and others who assist in providing products and services to you.
Note that confidentiality and security are not assured when information is transmitted through e-mail or wireless communication.
PROVIDING ACCESS
- You have a right to access your personal information held by us.
- Upon written request and authentication of your identity, we will provide you with your personal information under our control, information about the ways in which your personal information is being used and a description of the individuals and organizations to whom such information has been disclosed.
- We will make personal information available within 30 days or provide written notice where additional time is required to fulfill the request.
- In some situations, we may not be able to provide access to certain personal information. This may be the case where, for example, disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual, the personal information is protected by solicitor/client privilege, the information was collected for the purpose of an investigation or where disclosure of the information would reveal confidential commercial information that, if disclosed, could harm our competitive position. We may also be prevented by law from providing access to certain personal information.
Where an access request is refused in whole or in part, Quest will notify you in writing, giving the reason for refusal and outlining further steps which are available to you.
COMPLAINTS, INQUIRIES OR QUESTIONS
Upon your request, we will provide information regarding our complaint procedures.
Any inquiries, complaints or questions regarding this policy or our compliance with privacy legislation should be directed in writing to our Privacy Officer as follows:
Name: Rosita Brisebois
Phone: (416) 367-9834
Facsimile: (46) 367-4624
E-mail: rbrisebois@quest-mail.com