privacypolicy

FARMERS ALLIANCE COMPANIES PRIVACY NOTICE

Protecting your information is important to us. The following guidelines set forth our general privacy practices and principles that apply to information we collect through our website located at fami.com (the “Website”), which is owned or operated by Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Co. and The Farmers Alliance Companies (collectively, “we”, “us”, or “our”).  This policy also applies to our mobile app available in the Apple App Store and Google Play (the “App”).  When we use the term “Website” in this policy, we also mean the App and our agent and customer portals at agents.fami.com and customer.fami.com.  This policy also applies to information we or our agents collect from you directly including forms and other documents that you complete in the insurance application and claims processes.  We use this privacy notice to clearly disclose to you our privacy practices in a manner that is easy to understand.  If there is something you do not understand about our privacy practices, please feel free to contact us at myfamisupport@fami.com.

This privacy notice applies to products and services provided through the Website and our network of independent insurance agents in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.  We do not intentionally collect information from persons under the age of 18, so please do not use this Website if you are under the age of 18. We may change this notice from time to time so please check back often.  If we significantly change our collection, use, or disclosure practices, we will try to send you a notice via email if you have provided us with an email address.  Please keep in mind that some of the services mentioned specifically in this notice may not be available on the site at this time.  This Privacy Notice is effective as of May 1, 2020.

Our Website and our network of agents are used to provide you information about the products and services we offer including:

·         property and casualty insurance for homes, autos, businesses and farms oriented to a predominantly rural market

·         personal and commercial insurance products

What information do we collect from you?

In brief:

As part of providing insurance products and services to you, we may collect information, including personal information about you.

As part of providing insurance products and services to you, we may collect information, including personal information, about you, your family or your business.  Personal information is data that can be used to identify you.  The information includes but is not limited to:

·         Name

·         Email address

·         Mailing address

·         Date of birth

·         Phone number

·         Gender

·         Account numbers

·         Driver’s license number

·         Social Security number

·         Employment history

·         Education history

·         Credit records

·         Credit score

·         Driving report (MVR)

·         Loss reports (CLUE)

·         Security questions and answers

·         Other information you disclose when you ask us a question about our Website or our products and services.

·         Technical information about your use of our site including IP address, device identifier, and viewing information

·         Geo-location information telling us from where you are accessing the Website

·         If you are an agent, we collect your username, agency number and password.

·         If you apply for a job, we also collect your resumé and other information to confirm your employment history and conduct background checks

·         If you are an employee, also collect information related to your employment and your benefits

How do we collect information from you?

In brief:

We collect information from you directly when you enter it into a form on our website.  We collect information from you indirectly and automatically through the use of cookies, web beacons and log files.

Direct Collection

We collect much of the information listed above directly from you when you submit it on our Website.  This includes information you share on the Contact Us page of our Website and through our Create an Account page.  The Farmers Alliance companies and their agents also collect information to process your insurance documentation through forms on paper and by email.

We may collect information from you or directly from minors in your household age 14 and older in order to process auto insurance coverage and claims.

Indirect Collection – Verification Services

When you apply for insurance coverage through Farmers Alliance, we use third party services, consumer reporting agencies and government records to verify the information you provide.  When you apply for a job with Farmers Alliance, we use third party services and government records to conduct background checks and confirm your prior employment.  We may also contact your employer and references.

Indirect Collection – Cookies and Other Technology

As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, we use cookies and other online tracking technologies to store and sometimes track information about you.  We may use these technologies to:

·                     Provide you with personalized content based on your use of our site

·                     Enable you to more easily use our site by remembering and using contact information, purchasing information, and registration information

·                     Evaluate, monitor and analyze the use of our site and its traffic patterns to help improve our site and services

·                     Assist us with ad reporting functions such as to learn which ads are bringing users to our Website

The types of technologies we use include:

Cookies.  A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive.  Cookies enable us to identify your browser as a unique user.  Cookies may involve the transmission of information from us to you and from you to us.  Cookies may also be used by another party on our behalf to transfer information to us in accordance with their privacy statement.  Some cookies are “persistent cookies.”  They are used by us each time you access our Website.  Other cookies are called “session cookies.”  Session cookies are used only during a specific browsing session.  We may use a session cookie, for example, to remember that you have already navigated through a particular menu, or that you have entered in age information for a portion of a site that is restricted by age.  We may also use “analytics cookies” that allow web analytics services to recognize your browser or device and, for example, identify whether you have visited our Website before, what you have previously viewed or clicked on, and how you found us.  This information is provided anonymously for statistical analysis only.  Analytics cookies are usually persistent cookies.

Web Beacons.  We also employ a software technology called a clear GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), also known as a pixel tag or Web beacon.  A clear GIF is a line of code that we place on our Websites or in e-mails which allows us to analyze our advertising and the general usage patterns of visitors to our Websites.

Log Files.  Like most standard website servers, we use log files.  Log files track Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks.  We utilize this information to analyze trends, administer the site, prevent fraud, track website navigation in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.

Social Networking.  The Website permits you to use a third-party social networking platform such as Facebook and Twitter. These plug-ins allow you to follow us on those services.   When you use social networking platforms and plugins, you share your information with them and their privacy notice applies to their disclosure of such information.  In addition, they may be able to collect information about you, including your activity or may notify your connections on the social networking platform about your use of our Website.  Such services may allow your activity to be monitored across multiple websites for purposes of delivering more targeted advertising.  Please note that their own privacy polices apply and we encourage you to read them.  We may add new social networking plugins and buttons to our Website from time to time.

What choices do you have about the collection of information about you?

In brief:

You can always choose not to submit information.  You can disable cookies in your browser.  You can choose not to use social networking plug-ins.  You can opt-out of our marketing related emails.

Direct Collection.  If you do not want to share your information, you can choose not to participate in a particular service or activity.

Cookies.  You may disable browser cookies in your browser or set your browser to warn you when a cookie is being sent.  You may lose some features or functionality when you disable cookies.  Remember, also, that disabling cookies is browser specific.  If you log on using Google Chrome, you must also disable cookies in Safari if you use that browser at a different time.

Web Beacons.  It is not possible to disable Web beacons.

Log Files.  It is not possible to disable log files.

Social Networking.  If you do not want to share your information, you can choose not to use social networking plug-ins.

Marketing Emails.  To ensure that you will not receive recurring marketing or other information from us unless you choose to, we will provide you with simple instructions on each marketing email from us for you to let us know that you have chosen to stop receiving such emails from us.

Do Not Track.  Do Not Track (DNT) is a privacy preference that users can set in their web browsers.  While the United States Federal Trade Commission has endorsed DNT, our Website does not support DNT codes.

Google Analytics.  You may opt-out of Google Analytics collection by downloading the browser plugin “Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on here.

 How do we use your information?

In brief:

Our main goal in collecting information is to provide you with insurance products and to improve the site and provide you with the best possible experience on the site.  For example, by using the information we collect, we can provide you with an easy to use and readily available forum to ask questions about our products and services.

We may use your personal information to:

·         Answer questions you may have about our products and services

·         Notify you of other products or services available from us and our affiliates

·         Personalize online content so that it applies to you and your interests

·         Provide you with advertising targeted on your interests

·         Provide policyholder assistance

·         Make our products, services, and Website better

·         Compile, analyze and do research on our users’ demographics and behavior

·         Detect, investigate and prevent activities that may violate our policies or be illegal

We use and share location data only to provide and improve our products and services.

Who is collecting your information?

In brief:

We collect your personal information and may use third party service providers to assist with that collection.

When you are on our site and are asked for personal information or when you provide your personal information to an agent directly, you are sharing that information with us and our agents, affiliates and service providers.  Although we generally operate the Website and collect the information, we may engage third party service providers to assist us in that collection.

Other websites to which we link may collect personally identifiable information about you when you visit those sites.  The information practices of other websites linked to our websites are not covered by this privacy notice.

With whom do we share your information?

In brief:

We share your information with companies who assist us in providing services, when we need to protect our Website or information and when we sell our businesses. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

We will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under the circumstances described below.  These are some of the ways that your information may be disclosed:

Agents

We disclose your personal information to your insurance agent within the Farmers Alliance network of agents.  We do this to enable your agent to facilitate your coverages, assist with claims and provide policyholder guidance.

Service Providers

We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, including packaging, delivering, or mailing, website development and operation, answering customer questions about products or services, sending postal mail or email, analyzing website use, processing payments, providing investor information and processing data.  We also use third party service providers to process job applications and perform human resource functions.  We will only provide those companies the information they need to deliver the service, and they are contractually prohibited from using that information for any other reason.

Data in the Aggregate

We may disclose “blinded” aggregated data and user statistics to prospective partners and other third parties.  Blinded data is data that does not identify an individual person.

Other

We also may disclose your information in special cases.  For example, when we believe that we must disclose information to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating our Terms of Use, or may be causing injury to or interference with our rights or property, other website users or customers and their information, or anyone else who may be harmed by such activities.  We may disclose, access or monitor your personal information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service and improve our products and services and our information security.

As we continue to develop our business, we may buy or sell businesses or assets.  In such transactions, confidential customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets.  In the event of a transaction involving the sale of some or all of our businesses, customer and site visitor information may be one of the transferred assets and may be disclosed in connection with negotiations relating to a proposed transaction.  In such case, the transferred information may become subject to a different privacy notice.

How can I control my personal information?

In brief:

We offer our customers choices for the collection, use and sharing of personal information.

You may contact us at myfamisupport@fami.com if you wish to view, edit, or delete your personal information from our database, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to accommodate your requestYou may also provide corrections to your personal information to your insurance agent directly.

If you believe that any inaccurate or inappropriate information has been obtained or provided to others through your use of this Website, you should contact a representative at myfamisupport@fami.com.

How do we protect your information?

In brief:

We use commercially reasonable efforts to protect your information.  The Website does not use encryption except where noted.

Security of Your Information

The security of your personally identifiable information and financial information is very important to us, and we take reasonable steps to protect the information you provide us from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. We follow generally accepted industry standards to safeguard your information; however, no data or electronic transmission is ever fully secure or error-free. Therefore, please take special care in deciding what information you send to us or provide when accessing or using the Website, the App or our services. We have reasonable safeguards in place to protect your information, and we have taken the following security measures:

·         Encryption and Transport Layer Security (TLS) We use TLS encryption when transmitting personally identifiable information to our servers when you enter that information on a secure webpage on our Website, such as the “Create an Account” page.  An icon resembling a padlock is displayed in most browsers during TLS sessions or the URL for a secure page will begin with https://  Alerts and reminders sent to your mobile device are not encrypted. Personally identifiable information collected from secure webpages is encrypted in transit and in storage pursuant to industry standard and internal security protocols.

·         Secure Storage – We deploy reasonable and appropriate industry standard physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to protect your personally identifiable information in storage.

·         Confidentiality Agreements – To protect the security and privacy of your information, we utilize industry standard confidentiality agreements to require vendors, agents, partners, and other third parties to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

·         Limit Employee Access – We limit access to your personally identifiable information to those employees who reasonably need access to such information in order to improve our services and process your information appropriately.

·         Data Transfers we use security techniques such as data masking and encryption when we transfer personal information to customers, agents, service providers and other third parties.

 

Who do you contact with questions or concerns about our Privacy Notice?

If you need further assistance, please send an e-mail with your questions or comments to myfamisupport@fami.com or write us at:

Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Co.

Attn: Privacy

P.O. Box 1401

McPherson, KS 67460-1401