The Global Commercial Insurers’ Association (GCIA) is staffed by a professional association management company committed to serving members in a courteous and professional manner.  GCIA and its management firm are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information we collect in the course of servicing its members

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) applies to gciassociation.ca (the “Site”) and to information collected through other means in the course of our relationship with you. The Policy defines our commitment to carefully manage and protect your personal information. GCIA reserves the right to modify this Policy at any time, and such modification shall be effective immediately upon posting on this Site.

What is personal information?

Personal information is any information about an “identifiable individual” where there is a serious possibility that an individual could be identified through the use of that information, alone or in combination with other information.

Business contact information such as information on your business card, including your name, position name or title, work addresses and work telephone numbers or work electronic address when used to communicate or facilitate communication with you in relation to your employment, business or profession is not subject to federal privacy legislation (PIPEDA).

Personal information can also include information collected through your activities on this Site, such as your browser type and IP address.

Information about corporations is not considered personal information.

What information do we collect?

GCIA will only collect personal information that is necessary for identified purposes. The information that we may collect includes, but is not limited to:

• business contact information

• information about membership renewals and event registrations

• information collected when you use our Site, including:

o   the Internet domain for your Internet service provider, such as "company.com" or "service.ca" and the IP address of the computer accessing the website, such as "ppp-55";

o   the type of browser (such as Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, Samsung Internet, Opera, MSN Explorer) you are using;

o   the type of operating system you are using (such as Macintosh, Unix, or Windows)

o   the date and time you visit our site and the web pages that you visit on our site, along with the address of the previous website you were visiting, if you linked to us from another website;

o   your user name (if you are logged into this Site) may be recorded along with the date and time of your visit, which pages you viewed, etc.

o   "cookie" information that identifies you as a return visitor. A cookie is a piece of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then store the cookie on your hard drive.  

How do we collect your information?

Most of the personal information that GCIA collects is provided directly by you, including when you:

• communicate with us

• apply for membership or register for an event

• subscribe to our communications, such as newsletters

 GCIA may also collect personal information when you use our Site as described above.

For what purposes may we collect, use, or disclose your information?

The information you provide to GCIA allows the association to fulfill your benefits of membership and inform you about association programs and initiatives. GCIA may aggregate and use the aggregated data about the composition of our membership to better understand the association’s membership.  

GCIA uses the information collected from the use of our Site for statistical analysis, to help us make our Site more useful to visitors. We may disclose this information in aggregate only to third parties such GCIA members and/or use it for auditing purposes.

GCIA may use cookie information to tailor your experience to suit your individual preferences when you visit our Site again. The goal is to save you time and provide you with a more meaningful visit and to measure website activity. Website browsers allow you to disable cookie collection if you wish, or inform you when a cookie is being stored on your hard drive.

To whom might your information be disclosed?

 Aggregated data may be shared with third parties such as GCIA members. We do not rent or sell personal information to third parties.

How do we protect your information?

GCIA is responsible for the protection of personal information in its possession. Access to personal information is limited to those with a specific "need to know" in order to provide services to the membership and to others as permitted or required by law. We maintain contractual, physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect against the misuse of personal information under our control. GCIA has a record retention schedule and an information governance framework which oversees the lifecycle of personal information. We may retain your personal information as needed to provide you services or as necessary to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Your data is stored in Canada but may be stored outside of Quebec.

How can I access or change my information?

To access your personal information on file, please send a request in writing to our Privacy Officer at the address provided below. Please specify the kind of information you are seeking. You will be contacted by our Privacy Officer and asked to provide some form of identification to confirm your right to access this information. Please note that there are certain circumstances where the law does not require us to provide you with access.

GCIA will use its best efforts to ensure that personal information is as accurate, complete and up-to-date as is necessary for the identified purposes. To change or correct any personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer.

What if I have a question, concern or complaint?

If you have a question, concern or complaint about privacy or our personal information handling practices, please contact our Privacy Officer at the address or number listed below or visit our website for details on how to bring your concern to our attention.

General Manager and Privacy Officer
Global Commercial Insurers’ Association

1-189 Queen Street East

Toronto, Ontario

M5A 1S2

Telephone: 416-968-0183

Email:  manager@gciassociation.ca

If you are not satisfied with the way we have responded to a complaint or believe that GCIA has contravened this Policy, you can file a written complaint with the Privacy Commissioner serving your province, or the Federal Privacy Commissioner who will conduct an investigation and take appropriate action.

Revised 02.18.2025