Opta : Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Last Update: December 14, 2022

Opta Information Intelligence Corp., a Verisk Company (“Opta”, “we”, or “us”) values and respects your privacy. We have prepared this privacy policy to describe the manner in which we collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of providing our solutions to our customers, through our website (the “Website”), as well as through other interactions with us. Opta is a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (“Verisk”) and a member of the Verisk global group of companies (“Verisk Group of Companies”).

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

COLLECTION AND USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Opta collects and uses limited personal information in the course of providing solutions to our customers. In certain contexts, we may collect personal information on our own behalf, such as in connection with visits to our Website, job applications, and to send marketing communications.

Our customers are responsible for providing all required notices, obtaining all necessary consents, and otherwise complying with applicable privacy laws with respect to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in connection with the use of our solutions.

Information we process on behalf of our customers:

Our Solutions:  We provide a range of property intelligence and insurance risk management solutions to businesses. In the course of providing these solutions, we may collect, use and disclose personal information that our customers provide to us or that we collect on their behalf about their clients or prospective clients (such as name, address and insurance policy number). Depending on the solution, we also collect and analyze property-level data in order to generate peril and other property scores. Examples of the manner in which we may collect, use and disclose personal information on behalf of our customers when we provide our solutions include:

  • Inspection Products: We may collect personal information such as: photographs of properties, year of built, and other specifications such as dimensions, area and width of properties, foundation type, architectural style, number of kitchens, bathrooms and related information.,  when we conduct property inspections and loss control assessments on behalf of our customers. Please note that data elements will vary depending upon the nature of inspection ordered.
  • Survey Products and Customer Communications: We may collect personal information through surveys that we facilitate on behalf of our customers. For example, we may send surveys on behalf of our insurance company customers in order to obtain feedback on customer claims experiences. We may also collect information on vehicle insurance through surveys. In addition, we offer certain ancillary customer support services, such as sending communications to our customers’ clients regarding the status of their insurance.
  • Insurance Leads: We facilitate lead generation for insurance companies. In the course of offering these services, we collect personal information such as name and contact information about individuals from their mortgage provider and provide that information to our insurance carrier customers for the purpose of connecting prospective clients to insurance carriers. 
  • Auto Insurance Services: We provide insurance-related services to automobile companies, which include verifying client insurance coverage and authenticating registered clients on behalf of our customers. To provide these services, we may collect name, email address, phone number, VIN number and policy number. We may record calls for quality assurance and training purposes.
  • Programmatic Marketing: We provide advertising services to help our customers reach targeted audiences. In doing so, we may share addresses of properties without any personal identifiers with third parties for the purposes of delivering targeted ads on behalf of our customers.

Information we collect and use through our Website and other interactions:

We may collect personal information when you:

  • Sign up to receive marketing communications
  • Attend one of our events
  • Apply for a job at Opta
  • Contact us with a question, comment or complaint

Marketing Communications: If you sign up to receive email marketing communications, we will collect your name, job title and name of your employer, and work email address to send you newsletters and other communications about our products and services. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of each email. Alternatively, you can opt out of receiving email marketing communications by contacting us at the contact information provided in the “Contact Us” section below. Please note that you may continue to receive transactional or account-related communications from us.

Online Webinars and Seminars: If you enrol in one of our complimentary seminars, we may collect your full name, email address, business title and work contact information in order to communicate with you and provide you with access to the seminar.

Events: If you attend one of our events (or visit a booth at an event), we may collect business contact information such as your first and last name, company name, work email address and phone number. We collect this information so that we can communicate with you about the event and contact you about future events.

Careers: In connection with a job application or related inquiry, you may provide us with certain personal information about yourself (such as that contained in a resume, cover letter, or similar employment-related materials). We use this information for the purpose of processing and responding to your application for current and future career opportunities. See our Privacy Notice for additional information https://www.verisk.com/privacy-trademarks-use/online-privacy-notice/

Contact Us: When you contact us with a comment, question, or complaint, you may be asked for information that identifies you, such as your name, address, and a telephone number, along with additional information we need to help us promptly answer your question or respond to your comment.  We may retain this information to assist you in the future and to improve our customer service and products.

SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We do not sell or disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent, except as set forth below or as required or permitted by law.

Service Providers: Your personal information will be transferred (or otherwise made available) to certain third parties (including our parent company, Verisk) that provide services on our behalf. We use service providers to provide services such as hosting the Website, providing call centre support, sending communications, maintaining or servicing our products, and providing advertising, analytics and marketing services. Our service providers are only provided with the information they need to perform their designated functions and are not authorized to use or disclose personal information for their own marketing or other purposes. Our service providers may be located outside the province in which you reside (which may, for individuals in Quebec, include transfer outside of Quebec), in Canada, or in the US, Ireland and other foreign jurisdictions.

Legal and Compliance: We and our Canadian, U.S. and other foreign service providers may provide your personal information in response to a search warrant or other legally valid inquiry or order, or to another organization for the purposes of investigating a breach of an agreement or contravention of law, detecting, suppressing or preventing fraud, or as otherwise may be required or permitted by applicable Canadian, U.S. or other law or legal process, which may include lawful access by U.S. or foreign courts, law enforcement or other government authorities. Your personal information may also be disclosed where necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims and to investigate or prevent actual or suspected loss or harm to persons or property. Where a disclosure of our customers’ information is required by applicable law, we notify our customer prior to complying with such requirements (to the extent we are not prohibited from doing so) and co-operate with our customer’s instructions with respect to our response.

Sale of Business: We may transfer any information we have about you as an asset in connection with a proposed or completed merger, acquisition, or sale (including transfers made as part of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings) involving all or part of Opta or as part of a corporate reorganization or other change in corporate control involving Opta or the Verisk Group of Companies.

INFORMATION ABOUT OUR WEBSITE

Visiting our Website:  In general, you can visit our Website without telling us who you are or submitting any personal information. However, we collect the IP (Internet protocol) addresses of all visitors to our Website and other related information such as page requests, browser type, operating system and average time spent on our Website. We use this information to help us understand our Website activity and to monitor and improve our Website.

Cookies: Our Website uses a technology called "cookies". A cookie is a tiny element of data that our Website sends to a user’s browser, which may then be stored on the user’s hard drive so that we can recognize the user’s computer or device when they return. You may set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie or to not accept certain cookies. However, if you decide not to accept cookies from our Website, you may not be able to take advantage of all of the Website features.

Analytics: We may use a third-party such as Google Analytics to help us gather and analyze information about the areas visited on the Website (such as the pages most read, time spent, search terms and other engagement data) in order to evaluate and improve the user experience and the Website. These third parties may use cookies and other tracking technologies. For more information about Google Analytics or to prevent the storage and processing of this data (including your IP address) by Google, you can download and install the browser plug-in available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.  You can also obtain additional information on Google Analytics’ data privacy and security at the following links:

Third-Party Links:  Our Website may contain links to other websites that Opta does not own or operate. We provide links to third-party websites as a convenience to the user. These links are not intended as an endorsement of or referral to the linked websites. The linked websites have separate and independent privacy policies, notices, and terms of use. We do not have any control over such websites, and therefore we have no responsibility or liability for the manner in which the organizations that operate such linked websites may collect, use, or disclose, secure and otherwise treat personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

SAFEGUARDS AND RETENTION

We have implemented reasonable administrative, technical and physical measures in an effort to safeguard the personal information in our custody and control against theft, loss and unauthorized access, use, modification and disclosure. We restrict access to personal information on a need-to-know basis to employees and authorized service providers who require access to fulfil their job requirements.

We have personal information retention processes designed to retain personal information for no longer than necessary for the purposes of providing services to our customers and in accordance with our contractual commitments or, with respect to the Website, for the purposes set out in this privacy policy, or to otherwise meet legal and business requirements.

YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

As indicated above, if you have signed-up to receive our email communications, you can unsubscribe any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link included at the bottom of the email. Alternatively, you can opt-out of receiving our marketing communications by contacting us at the contact information under “Contact Us” below.

If we receive a request from you to access or update personal information we maintain on behalf of a customer, we will direct you to the relevant customer. We will assist our customers wherever possible in responding to individual access requests.

Subject to limited exceptions under applicable law, you have the right to access, update and correct inaccuracies in your personal information in our custody or control, and to withdraw your consent to our collection, use or disclosure of your personal information (subject to legal and contractual restrictions). You may request access, updating and corrections of inaccuracies in your personal information in our custody or control, or withdraw your consent, by emailing or writing to us at the contact information set out below. We may request certain personal information for the purpose of verifying the identity of the individual seeking access to his or her personal information records.

UPDATES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

We may update this privacy policy periodically to reflect changes to our privacy practices. We encourage you to periodically review this page to ensure you are familiar with those changes. We will indicate at the top of this privacy policy when it was most recently updated.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or comments about this privacy policy or the manner in which we or our service providers (including our service providers outside Canada) treat your personal information, or to request access to or correction of your personal information, or to withdraw your consent, please contact us at:

Privacy Officer
Nancy Dean
VP Global Compliance & Privacy Services
Email: optaprivacy@verisk.com

If you have any questions regarding the personal information we process on behalf of one of our customers, we encourage you to first contact the customer directly and/or review their applicable privacy policy.