ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
The Word & Brown Companies (collectively, Word & Brown Insurance Administrators, Inc. and CHOICE Administrators Insurance Services, Inc., and referred to herein as “Word & Brown Companies”, “We”, “Us” or “Our”) understands your concern with privacy and the collection and use of your personal information while visiting or interacting with this website or any website owned or operated by Word & Brown Companies (“Word & Brown Companies Website(s)” or “Website”) and is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy sets forth Our current privacy practices with regard to the information We collect when you or your computer interacts with Our Website. By accessing this Website or any related or affiliated site, you acknowledge that you fully understand Word & Brown Companies’ Privacy Policy and knowingly and willingly consent to the information collection and use practices described in this Privacy Policy. The amount and type of information which We receive depends upon how you use the Website.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on December 1, 2023.
CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT
On January 1, 2020 the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) went into effect. The legislation is designed to provide broad consumer protections regarding your personal information, how it’s used, whether it can be sold, notifications if the information is improperly disclosed and a number of other important rights. Federal laws governing the Health Insurance Industry, primarily HIPAA, have many of the same protections specific to Our industry. As a result, to avoid conflict with laws already providing those protections, the CCPA exempts certain information from its terms provided such data is otherwise protected by other regulations including, without limitation, HIPAA, which provides a broad array of consumer and data protections which We are committed to following. For information on your specific rights under HIPAA go to www.hhs.gov.
LIMITATION ON SCOPE OF CONTENT
This Website contains information regarding Word & Brown Companies and its services. The services described in this Website are available only in those states and territories of the U.S. specifically referred to within the description of each such program. This Privacy Policy does not apply to Word & Brown Companies’ offline communications, data collection practices or other activities.
NORMAL WEBSITE USAGE & LOG FILES
If you visit Our Website, We may gather and store certain information about your visit. Unless specifically provided by you or an authorized party on your behalf, the information that We collect does not personally identify you and cannot be linked back to you unless you decide at some point to identify yourself. Whether you are visiting or browsing the Website, the following information may be collected: the type of browser and operating system used; the IP address; the date and time you access Our Website; the number of times you have accessed Our Website; whether your computer is enabled for Java or cookies, browser language, application and plug-ins; the pages you visit and if you linked to the Website from another site; and the address of that site. We use this information to generate statistics and measure site activity to provide you with a better user experience.
CATEGORIES OF THIRD PARTIES WITH WHOM WE MAY SHARE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT
The information We collect through this Website and from other sources is used to provide quotations for health insurance coverage through Word & Brown Companies’ health plans and to provide other products and services to Our brokers and/or other third parties. We may share information with Our contracting health plan carriers during the underwriting process, as well as affiliated businesses, as necessary, to provide services through such companies. In the event that Word & Brown Companies is acquired, or substantially all of its assets are acquired, Our customer information may be one of the transferred assets to the extent legally permissible. We may also release personal information if required by law or is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety interests of Word & Brown Companies, or other Website visitors. Word & Brown Companies may also share personal information, including without limitation, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Personal Health Information (PHI), and/or the like with other third party companies that We have hired or collaborate with to perform services on Our behalf, provided such is protected as required by Federal and State law.
LINKED SITES
This Website may contain hypertext links to other independent sites. Word & Brown Companies makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or authenticity of the information contained in any such hypertext links, and any hypertext link to the sites of another person or entity shall not in any manner be construed as endorsement by Word & Brown Companies of such person’s or entity’s site, products or services, and Word & Brown Companies will not be a party to, or in any way monitor any transaction between you and third party providers of products or services. Furthermore, Word & Brown Companies has no control over these sites, and the privacy policy of such sites may not conform to the Privacy Policy or Terms of Use maintained by Word & Brown Companies. As with the purchase of a product or service through any medium or in any environment, you should use your best judgment and exercise caution where appropriate. Your linking to any other off-site pages or other sites is at your own risk. Your confidential use of these sites cannot be guaranteed by Word & Brown Companies. Word & Brown Companies will not be responsible for any harm that you or any person may suffer as a result of a breach of confidentiality with respect to your use of these sites or any information you transmit through such sites.
USE OF COOKIES
Cookies are pieces of information that a site transfers to an individual’s hard drive for recordkeeping purposes so that We may track site and user activity. The use of cookies is an acceptable industry practice and you will find this practice at most major sites. We, Our affiliates, and/or Our business partners may use cookies on or through Our Website. By showing how and when visitors use the Website, cookies help Word & Brown Companies to better determine which areas of Our Website are popular and which areas are not. Many improvements and updates to the Website are based on such data as total number of visitors and pages viewed. However, usage of a cookie generally is in no way linked to any personal information while on Our Website. A cookie cannot be used to access or otherwise compromise the data on your hard drive. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you prefer, you can set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. The “Help” portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you have a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. If the user rejects the cookie, it is possible that some parts of Our Website will not function properly.
COLLECTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION TO PROVIDE A SERVICE OR CORRESPONDENCE
The Website receives and stores information which may be personally identifiable to you (personally identifiable information such as name, address, e-mail address, gender, age, type of request, and possibly additional information) whenever you and/or your broker provides such information to Us through this Website. This information is provided to Us in order to process any applicable transactions or provide services. We may also receive the aforementioned information when you use any online account management functionality through Us or Our affiliates. This personal information is collected and stored in a manner appropriate to the nature of the data, and may be passed on to Our affiliates. Once Our affiliates receive this information, that data also becomes the property of each respective affiliate. Any request to opt out of future communications from such affiliates must be made directly to each party. It is important to note that you do not have to provide Us with personal information, however, this may limit your ability to use certain functions of the Website or to request or apply for certain services, products, and/or information. We will only share your personal information with third parties as explained in this Policy and as otherwise permitted by law. We do not sell your information.
TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION & SECURITY
Even though We endeavor to ensure that all available procedural safeguards are integrated into Our Website and We adhere to the generally accepted standards of security in the industry for the purpose of protecting information provided by visitors to this Website. Transmission of information through Our Website has the potential of being unstable, unreliable and unsecure. Word & Brown Companies makes every effort to ensure the secure collection and transmission of sensitive user information using industry-accepted data collection and encryption methodologies such as TLS (Transport Layer Security), SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and FIPS (Federal Information Processing standards); however, there is a risk that such information may be illegally intercepted. We maintain up-to-date physical, electronic, and processing safeguards that restrict unauthorized access to your information. These security procedures include locked files and information system security measures such as user passwords, data encryption and firewall technology. Word & Brown Companies employees are regularly trained on, and are required to comply with Our policies and procedures focused on protecting the confidentiality of your information.
CHILDREN’S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION
This Website is not designed for or intentionally targeted at children thirteen (13) years of age or younger. This Website complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). COPPA, and its accompanying Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulation, protects the privacy of children using the Internet. Word & Brown Companies does not knowingly collect or solicit PII from children under 13. This Website is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under 13, and is designed to block Our knowing acceptance of any such information unless such information is provided by or with the consent of the child’s parents or legal guardians. It is possible that by fraud or deception We may receive information pertaining to children under 13. If We are notified of this, as soon as We verify the information, We will immediately obtain parental consent or otherwise delete the information from Our servers. If you want to notify Us of Our receipt of information by children under 13, please do so by emailing Us at: HelpDesk@wordandbrown.com.
CHANGES TO PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (PII)
You have the right to access and edit the PII that you have provided to Us. You may change any of your PII in your account online at any time by linking to your account in accordance with instructions posted elsewhere on this Website. You may also access and correct your PII and privacy preferences by writing Us at Word & Brown Insurance Administrators, Inc., 721 South Parker Street, Orange, CA 92868. You can also contact Us by email at HelpDesk@wordandbrown.com. You should be cautious about sending PII updates through unencrypted email. Please include your name, address, and/or e-mail address when you contact Us.
We encourage you to promptly update your PII if it changes. You may request that the information on your account be deleted or removed, however, because We keep track of past transactions, you cannot delete information associated with past transactions on this Website. In addition, it may be impossible to completely delete your information without some residual information because of backups.
E-NEWS AND PROMOTIONAL E-MAILS
From time-to-time, We may offer free e-newsletters and send out promotional e-mails as a service to Our visitors. We send e-mails only if the user has not opted out from receiving such communications from Word & Brown Companies through its Website(s) or its affiliates.
SOCIAL MEDIA
This Website may contain customized pages or channels to or from third party social media/networking sites and/or links to social media/networking sites. If you use any of these third party social media/networking sites, please be informed that Word & Brown Companies shall only be deemed a passive conduit of information and will not be liable for any information transmitted by or through any of these sites. Any information that is disclosed in and through third party social media/networking sites becomes public information. Please be advised that you should exercise caution before disclosing your personal information via any social media pages or channels, which you do at your own risk. If you chose to do so, you may receive unsolicited emails or spam. Word & Brown Companies cannot safeguard the privacy of personal information that is disclosed and can be viewed or accessed online in this manner.
CHANGES TO THIS STATEMENT
Word & Brown Companies has the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to update this Privacy Policy at any time without notice. It is your responsibility to review this Privacy Policy for any changes. When this Privacy Policy is updated, We will indicate the date of revision. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy to remain informed about how We are helping to protect the personal information We collect. Your continued use of the Website and service constitutes your agreement to abide by and be bound by this Privacy Policy, including any updates thereto.
CONSENT TO TERMS OF PRIVACY POLICY
If any provision of this Privacy Policy is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Policy, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term of this Policy shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of that term or any other term. Word & Brown Companies’ failure to assert any right or provision under this Privacy Policy or any other Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision. By using this Website, you signify your assent to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use this Website any further and exit this Website immediately.
CONTACTING THE WEBSITE
If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, the practices of this Website, or your specific dealings with this Website, you can contact Our Compliance Division by emailing compliance@wordandbrown.com or by calling (866) 251-4718.