Privacy Policy
May 2019
MetLife Insurance Limited (ABN 75 004 274 882) (“We/us/our”)
In the course of providing its financial products and services, MetLife Insurance Limited (MetLife) may collect personal information relating to its policyholders, insured persons, third parties, prospective or actual employees or contractors – (collectively referred to as “you” or “your”). Any personal information collected by us is treated with strict confidence and used solely for the purpose for which it was collected or as authorised by law.
In this Privacy Policy any reference to:
‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
(a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
(b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
‘Sensitive information’ means a sub set of personal information and concerns particular topics including information about health (including predictive genetic information), racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, philosophical or religious beliefs or affiliations, sexual orientations or practices, memberships of professional or trade associations or trade unions, criminal records or biometric information.
OUR COMMITMENT
MetLife recognises that your privacy is very important to you. We are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information in accordance with the Commonwealth Government’s Privacy Act 1988.
The Privacy Act 1988 details the Australian Privacy Principles (Privacy Principles) that set minimum standards for how private sector organisations should collect, use, disclose, keep secure and provide access to personal information.
This is our Privacy Policy and it sets out how we collect, store, use and disclose your personal information. We recommend that you read it carefully.
You do not have to provide us with your personal information, but if you do not do so we may not be able to provide you with our products or services.
By visiting any of our websites, applying for, renewing or using any of our products or services or providing us with your information, you agree to your information being collected, held, used and disclosed as set out in this Privacy Policy.
THE INFORMATION METLIFE COLLECTS
We collect the information necessary for us to provide you with the financial products and services you have requested from us, and to manage your claim.
The information we collect and store generally includes your name, address, date of birth, and contact details (such as your phone number, fax number and/or email address).
However, we may also collect and store other information required to provide our products, services or assistance to you, including your gender, employment, details of your previous
insurances, financial information (which may include your tax file number, transactional or account information), sensitive information (such as health information and criminal records- see below), and claims history.
We will only collect your sensitive information if you have provided us with consent to do so.
HOW METLIFE MAY COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION
We may collect your information in various ways, including via telephone, our website, hard copy forms or email. Whenever you choose to deal with us directly, we will where possible collect this information directly from you.
On all occasions, your information is collected, held, used and disclosed by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
We may also seek to collect information about someone else from you (for example, if you request a product or service jointly with another person). However, you must not provide us with information about another person unless you have clear consent from that person to do so and let them know about this Privacy Policy and where to find it.
WHAT ABOUT SENSITIVE INFORMATION?
Sensitive information we hold is subject to greater restrictions.
Sensitive information relates to a person's health (including predictive genetic information), racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, philosophical or religious beliefs or affiliations, sexual orientations or practices, memberships of professional or trade associations or trade unions, criminal records or biometric information. .
Some sensitive information is usually needed for applications for life insurance products and to manage claims on those products. It is MetLife’s policy that sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purposes for which it was provided, unless the customer agrees otherwise or the use or disclosure of this information is allowed by law. Documents asking for sensitive information will explain this.
HOW METLIFE USES YOUR INFORMATION
Unless otherwise required by law we only use your information for the purpose for which it was provided to us and related purposes. Such purposes include:
- responding to your enquiries;
- providing you with the assistance you requested of us in relation to our products and services (including processing requests for quotes, applications for insurance, verifying your identity, underwriting and pricing your policy, issuing you with a policy, assessing and managing your claim, processing payments, etc);
- maintaining/administering your account and policies and processing payments you have authorised;
- processing your survey or questionnaire responses for the purpose(s) notified in the survey or questionnaire (if you have chosen to participate in such);
- for market research so that we can better understand our customers' needs and tailor our future products and services accordingly;
- quality assurance and training purposes;
- monitoring and controlling illegal activity, including potential fraud, money laundering or terrorism funding; and
- any other purposes identified at the time of collecting your information.
If you are not a customer (for example, if you are a medical practitioner, investigator, expert, claimant or other third party), your information will only be used for the specific purpose or claim for which it was provided to us, unless you have consented to other uses.
DIRECT AND SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
On occasion, we, and our related companies, may use your personal information to provide you with information about the products and services we offer, including by email or on social media platforms.
If you do not wish to receive any of this information you may choose to opt-out of receiving marketing communication by contacting us on 1300 555 625 or by sending an email to auservices@metlife.com. You can control your preferences to receive social media marketing through the social media platforms or channels that you choose to interact with.
HOW METLIFE MAY DISCLOSE, USE OR EXCHANGE YOUR INFORMATION
Where appropriate we will disclose your information to our related entities and third parties who provide services to us or on our behalf, including:
To |
For |
Mailhouses |
Policy schedule production and other mail related services |
Administration and other technology services |
Data entry, data processing, data storage, continuity of business, account maintenance and documentation |
Investigators, medical practitioners and other allied health professionals, your employer, persons or entities from whom you may derive income, other insurers and reinsurers |
Assessing your application, underwriting and claims assessment and verifying health, vocational or financial information. |
Insurance industry and reference bodies |
Claims matching and cross referencing |
Professional and financial advisors |
Administering your policy or claim |
Superannuation fund trustees and other policy owners and brokers |
Administering your policy or claim |
Industry Disputes Resolution bodies |
Complaints and disputes resolution |
Government and regulatory bodies or courts and tribunals |
To comply with laws including anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws and regulations or for compliance related purposes, or to comply with discovery processes in court proceedings. |
DISCLOSURE TO OVERSEAS RECIPIENTS
Some of the third parties or related entities to whom we may disclose personal information may be located in other countries.
Where personal information is to be provided or exchanged with an entity in another country we will protect your personal information by ensuring that the entity to whom disclosure is made submits to similar privacy protections to those in this privacy policy under our contractual arrangements with them.
You can access a full list of countries in which disclosure, access to, use or storage of your personal information may occur.
SECURITY OF YOUR INFORMATION
We are committed to keeping your personal information secure and will use all reasonable precautions to protect it from loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration, including:
- physically securing external and internal premises;
- maintaining computer and network security such as user identifiers and passwords to control access to computer systems;
- restricting access to your personal information to employees or those who perform services on our behalf who are authorised to handle your personal information and on a ‘need to know’ basis;
- entering into confidentiality agreements with relevant employees and third parties;
- appropriate training of staff;
- retaining your personal information for no longer than it is reasonably required to service a policy or continue to provide any products and services requested by you, unless we are required by law to retain it for longer; and
- taking reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information that we no longer require.
ACCURACY, ACCESS AND CORRECTION
We take reasonable steps to ensure the information we collect and hold about you is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, we also rely on you to advise us of any changes to your information or corrections required to the information we hold about you.
Please let us know as soon as possible if there are any changes to your information or if you believe the information we hold about you is not accurate, complete or up-to-date.
We will, on request, provide you with access to the information we hold about you unless otherwise required or permitted by law. We will notify you of the basis for any denial to access your information. We may ask you to complete a ‘Personal Information Access Request Form’ and may charge you a service fee for retrieving and sending the information to you.
ANONYMITY AND PSEUDONYMITY
If you are subject to the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the option of not identifying yourself or of using a pseudonym unless we are required or authorised under Australian law or by a court/tribunal to identify you, or it is impracticable to deal with you anonymously or by a pseudonym.
WHAT IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT?
If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this Privacy Policy, the Australian Privacy Principles, or the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), you can contact us using the contact details below. You will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint, as well as any supporting evidence and/or information.
We will refer your complaint to our Privacy Officer who will investigate the issue and determine the steps we will undertake to resolve your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the determination of our Privacy Officer.
MetLife Privacy Officer
Mail: PO Box 3319, Sydney NSW 2001
Telephone: 1300 555 625
If you are dissatisfied with our response, you should refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC can be contacted on 1300 363 992 or on the internet at http://www.oaic.gov.au/
COOKIES
A 'cookie' is a packet of information that allows the server (the computer that houses the website) to identify and interact more effectively with your computer. When you use one of our websites, we send you a cookie that gives you a unique identification number. A different identification number is sent each time you use one of our websites. Cookies do not identify individual users, although they do identify a user's browser type and your Internet Service Provider (ISP). You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. Please refer to your browser instructions or help screens to learn more about these functions. If you reject all cookies, you may not be able to use our websites. To evaluate the effectiveness of our website advertising, we may use third parties to collect statistical data. No personal data is collected on these occasions.
REVISION OF OUR PRIVACY POLICY
We reserve the right to revise this Privacy Policy or any part of it from time to time. Please review this policy periodically for changes. If we make significant changes to this policy, we will notify you by email or by putting a notice on our public website www.metlife.com.au/privacy-policy.
Your continued use of our websites, products or services, requesting our assistance, applying for or renewal of any of our products or services or the provision of further personal or sensitive information to us after this Privacy Policy has been revised, constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
WITHDRAWING CONSENT
Having provided consent for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information, you are able to withdraw this consent at any time. You can contact us using the contact details below. Please note that withdrawing your consent for MetLife to collect, use and/or disclose your personal information may lead to MetLife no longer being able to provide you with our products or services.
HOW TO CONTACT US
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or its implementation, please email us at auservices@metlife.com or call us on 1300 555 625.
COUNTRIES DISCLOSURE
This information should be read together with the MetLife Insurance Limited (MetLife) Privacy Policy.
MetLife may disclose your personal information to, permit access to or use of your personal information by, and store your personal information with persons or organisations located outside of Australia.
Listed below are the countries where your personal information may be disclosed, accessed or stored on behalf of MetLife:
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* while some MetLife Australia customer personal information may possibly be stored in the EEA, this does not constitute MetLife Australia as being in scope for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as MetLife Australia does not offer services to or monitors the behaviour of individuals in the EU.