Legal, privacy and accessibility 

As an international financial service provider, Foresters Financial (“Foresters”) is committed to respecting your privacy rights and protecting the Personal Information you provide to us. Collecting and using this information to provide our products and services to you is essential to our success and to conduct our business. Our privacy commitment is more than complying with the laws of each jurisdiction where we operate. It is about doing the right thing for our members and customers whose lives we touch everyday by using their personal information however we collect or receive it. We collect only the personal information necessary for these purposes and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding that information. We also ensure that our employees, representatives, suppliers and service providers adhere to our principles and standards when dealing with Foresters business, members and customers.

Foresters – The Independent Order of Foresters, its subsidiaries, licensed representatives and employees.

Personal Information – Any information about an identifiable individual, such as name, age, address, gender, government identification numbers, financial information, health information and medical records. It does not include publicly available information. 

We adhere to the following ten principles when handling Personal Information:

1. Accountability: We are responsible for Personal Information under our control. We have established a framework for privacy management across all our business operations and have designated individuals who are responsible for monitoring compliance with our principles, policies, standards and procedures.
   
   
2. Identifying Purposes: We are transparent about our privacy practices and identify the purposes for which we collect, use, retain and disclose personal information.
   
   
3. Consent: Your knowledge and consent are required for the collection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, except as otherwise permitted or required by law. You may provide your consent in writing, verbally, electronically or through our or your authorized representative. Your consent may also be implied. This may occur, for example, where the law permits it, if you do not “opt out” of distribution of your Personal Information when we ask you.
   
   
4. Limiting Collection: We limit the collection of Personal Information to that which is necessary for the purposes we identify and we collect it fairly and lawfully.
   
   
5. Use, Disclosure and Retention: We do not use, disclose or retain Personal Information for purposes other than those for which we collected it, except with your permission, or as permitted or required by law. We restrict the disclosure of Personal Information to those who have a need for, and the legal right to, the information. This may include our employees, licensed representatives or service providers who need the information to perform their duties, some of our business areas and subsidiaries who may, from time to time, offer or promote other financial products, benefits or services, or those of select third parties, that we believe may be of interest to our customers. We may also have joint marketing or distribution agreements with other financial institutions that may offer or promote products that we believe may be of interest to our customers. In some instances, our subsidiaries, employees, service providers, representatives, reinsurers, and any of their service providers may be located in other jurisdictions. Personal Information may then be subject to the laws of those other jurisdictions. We will not keep Personal Information longer than is necessary and will destroy or delete it in a manner that is appropriate for the sensitivity of the information, the media in which it is stored or retained, and as required by law.
   
   
6. Accuracy: We make reasonable efforts to keep Personal Information accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which we use it.
   
   
7. Safeguarding information: We classify Personal Information and take reasonable measures to protect it by administrative, physical and technical security safeguards that are appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. We make every reasonable effort to prevent any loss, misuse, disclosure or modification of Personal Information, as well as any unauthorized access to Personal Information.
   
   
8. Openness: We make information about our privacy policies and practices readily available to you subject to any exceptions permitted by law.
   
   
9. Individual Access: Upon written request, we inform you of the existence, use and disclosure of your Personal Information and give you access to it, subject to those exceptions permitted by law. You may verify the accuracy and completeness of your information and have it amended as appropriate.
   
   
10. Inquiries and concerns: Our Chief Privacy Officer is located at our corporate head office in Toronto, Canada. We also have individuals responsible for privacy in each jurisdiction in which we operate. If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about the handling of your Personal Information at Foresters, please contact a local privacy officer. 

Canada privacy policy
UK privacy policy
US privacy policies

Chief Privacy Officer
789 Don Mills Road
Toronto, ON M3C 1T9
416 267 2530
privacy@foresters.com

Some of our websites may use online data collection tools or cookies to improve functionality, enhance security, evaluate the effectiveness of our websites and advertising campaigns, or provide visitors with a customized online experience. Please refer to our Cookie Policy.

Foresters is an international financial services provider operating in Canada, United States and the United Kingdom. We may supplement this privacy statement with more specific privacy policies that are in line with this statement and principles and, where appropriate, reflect the legal and operational requirements of our business operations or the countries in which we operate. We will provide you with these policies if they apply to your Personal Information. These specific policies will govern in the event of a conflict with this privacy statement.

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This website is owned by Foresters Financial. This cookie policy supplements our enterprise privacy statement and US and Canadian privacy policies.

Cookies are small files that websites place on the device you are using to browse the site. Cookies are commonly used to record some aspect of your visit to a site, such as choices you have made or preferences you have set during your visit.

We use cookies to give you the best experience when you visit our website. By using cookies, we can make it easier for you to do many things, such as managing your Foresters account, login details or applying for our products and services. Cookies can also allow us to tailor the content of our website so we can show you services or advertisements we think you may be interested in.

Our cookies do not store personal information such as your name, address, phone number or email in a format that can be read by others. The cookies we use cannot read or search your computer, smartphone or web-enabled device to obtain information about you or your family, or read any material kept on your hard drive.

We do use a small number of cookies that store encrypted versions of information where you have asked us to, such as the ‘Remember me’ function that allows us to remember your Account username for subsequent visits. We only retain this information for 3 months and it is encrypted so that only Foresters can read this information. The website that places a cookie owns that cookie. This means only that website and other sites that it has agreed to share information with can read the information stored using a cookie.

If you follow a link from our website to another website, please be aware that the owner of the other website will have their own privacy and cookie policies for their site. We recommend you read their policies as we are not responsible or liable for what happens at their site.

Your web browser provides settings that allow you to manage or switch off cookies. If you do switch off cookies, remember that you may not be able to use all of the services on our websites.

You can find out more about managing and switching off cookies at the independent website: allaboutcookies.org.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential for our online services and tools to work. They collect or record information that we need to make our site work.

Common uses for this type of cookie include:

• storing information so that shopping baskets can be provided
• storing information for e-billing
• allowing users to log in or access private areas of a site.

These cookies only last for a single browsing session – when you leave our site, they are removed.

Performance cookies

 These cookies help us to monitor and improve how our website works.

Common uses for this type of cookie include:

• collecting information about which pages visitors go to most often
• noting if visitors get any error messages from web pages
• understanding which links visitors like to follow (including advertisements) and which they choose not to.

The information collected using these cookies is anonymous and cannot be used to identify an individual visitor.

Functionality cookies

 These cookies allow us to provide you with enhanced features that need to remember your preferences and choices, such as your user name, language or region. They also let us monitor how our website is performing so we can keep on improving it.

Common uses for this type of cookie include:

• providing you with local information, such as health providers in your area
• remembering how you like to use our site, such as what text size you like or what media software you use
• remembering what topics you are interested in so we can provide you with related products, services and information.

The information we store in these cookies is encrypted so that only we can read it.

Targeting and advertising cookies

These cookies are sometimes referred to as retargeting cookies and are placed by Foresters or by advertising networks that we may work with. These cookies remember that you have visited our site as well as what interested you on our site, such as the pages you viewed.

We use these cookies to ensure that the advertising and website content that we serve you, on our site or other websites is aligned to your browsing habits. For example, to remind you of the products or services you have shown an interest in. These cookies are also used to limit the number of times you may see an advertisement/content and to tailor the messaging we serve you. They may also be used for market research and to help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.

Do Not Track Signals

Foresters does not track its customers or members over time in order to provide targeted advertising or for other purposes. Some browsers offer the capability to active a “Do Not Track” signal. We do not currently process or respond to “Do Not Track” signals from your browser. We and our third party service providers may collect personal information about our customers and members online activities. 

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Foresters Financial is committed to keeping your information secure. Foresters ensures the security of information and information systems by implementing adequate measures to protect the confidentiality and integrity of your information.

Your online account with Foresters Financial is protected from a wide variety of cyber threats.

Your user name and Password – All passwords are encrypted and we have implemented industry standard authentication systems to protect your online credentials. The protection mechanisms what we use are supporting to avoid unauthorized users.

Protect your Identity
The act of deliberately using someone else’s Identity is known as identity theft. Identity theft is a growing problem that affects thousands of individuals annually. Always be aware of new ways in which you are at risk for identity theft.

How do I prevent Identity Theft?

Identity theft can be prevented by not giving away unnecessary information. Sometimes it occurs as a result of negligence. To minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft, there are some basic steps you can take.

• Verify that your computer is protected by Antivirus software
• If you use a laptop for business or personal use, ensure that it is encrypted. That way, if it is stolen, the information contained on that machine is more difficult to retrieve
• Protect your various accounts with a strong password and change it on a regular basis
• Never click links in suspicious emails and don’t open attachments from untrusted senders
• Don’t respond to emails requesting your personal or account information
• Always look for the “security lock” icon before supplying credit card information on any website
• Do not input personal information on a computer in a public place, like a library, coffee shops, etc.

These are some additional steps you may consider while dealing with non-digital information.

• Be suspicious of any email message that asks for confidential personal information either through replying to the email or through a web site link.
• In some cases phishing emails will include a link to an external web site. The link may look very familiar and legitimate, however when you hover the cursor over the link, it may show an unknown web site.
• These emails may contain generic greetings such as “Dear User” or “Hello Email User” or sometimes no greeting at all.
• You should also look for phrases like “Verify your account”, or “During regular maintenance”, or “will result in account suspension” or “foresters.com contract” or “still no response from you yet...” or “internal attack – security statement”.
• The email messages are designed to give a sense of urgency to get recipients to react immediately and provide sensitive information.
• Remember, phishing emails may also contain official company logos in an effort to fool users.

How do I protect myself from Phishing scams?

• There are some good security practices that can help to protect your information:
• Protect your personal information
• Use Anti-virus software
• Protect your internet connection
• Keep Web-browsers and software up-to-date
• Backup your data

Protect Your Personal Information - Do not respond to unsolicited emails or website popups asking for your personal information. Foresters will never ask you to disclose sensitive information such as your password, SIN number, bank account details, security questions, etc. through such methods.

Use Anti-virus software – A computer virus is malicious software that can copy itself and infect computers. These malicious programs come in a number of forms including Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Spyware and others. Many computer viruses can be prevented by using Antivirus software and ensuring it is kept up to date.

Protect your Internet Connection – Computers connected to the Internet may pose more risks than computers not always connected to Internet. Although we may think that no one would be interested in our personal computers, but malicious hackers around the world can scan your computer and steal personal information. They can also use your computer to attack other computers on the same network. If you don’t need to use the Internet then it is a good idea to disconnect the computer from the internet connection. It is also important to avoid sharing your files and folders on the network. To help prevent malicious hackers who may try to exploit your computer, switch on the Firewall in your computer.

Use Secure Browsers – Web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Chrome, etc. are installed on many computers. It is important to setup web browsers securely. As detailed below, some specific web browser features need to be configured to secure your internet browsing.

• How and What to Backup - Backing up is easy if you set your folder structure properly. It's faster and easier to back up if all your files and subfolders are organized in a single parent folder.
• When to backup – depending on how frequently your files are getting changed. You may backup on a weekly or even daily basis.

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Foresters Financial™ is committed to supporting people with disabilities. Our commitment in fulfilling our mission is to strive at all times to provide our products and services in ways that respect the dignity and independence of people with disabilities. We are also committed to giving people with disabilities the same opportunity to access our products and services and allowing them to benefit from the same services, in the same place and in a similar way as other customers. As we move toward this goal, we expect that our services, benefits and facilities will be more and more responsive to the needs of people with disabilities.

Foresters Financial fully supports the standards of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and has developed plans to implement them in our organization. Our Multi-Year Accessibility Plan outlines what we will do to remove and prevent accessibility barriers in our organization for customers and-or employees.

Providing information in an accessible or alternate format is a way to help remove potential barriers to accessing and understanding information. Foresters Financial is committed to striving to provide accessible information and communication to its customers and recognizes that persons with disabilities may use methods other than standard print to access information. For more information on available accessible formats or to request an available accessible format document, please contact us.

Website accessibility refers to the practice of designing websites so that people with disabilities and those with different or diverse abilities can understand content, navigate and interact online and have equal access to information and functionality. We are actively working to improve our website to provide a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience. We are striving to ensure our website is consistent with the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and is usable with assistive technology.

We are committed to communicating with customers with disabilities in ways that take into account their disabilities. This means that employees communicate in a manner that enables customers to communicate effectively, and to use and receive information about our products and services.

We are committed to helping our customers with disabilities who use assistive devices, and ensuring our staff is familiar with various assistive devices that may be used while accessing our products or services.

Customers with disabilities may be accompanied and assisted by a support person, and may bring their service animal on the parts of our premises that are open to the public, subject to any other applicable laws. We strive to ensure that people involved in dealing with customers are appropriately trained in how to interact with customers in these cases.

Sometimes, we may determine that a service animal cannot enter a certain area, or a customer may need a support person to provide the necessary assistance but not have one available. In these circumstances, we will use our best efforts to suggest reasonable and appropriate alternatives to provide assistance.

We will notify our customers promptly in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption to services or facilities for people with disabilities. Our notification will include information about accessible alternatives for accessing our products, services or facilities, as well as the expected length of the disruption. We will provide notification in an accessible format which may include, but is not limited to, outgoing telephone messages or by posting on this website.

Our training for employees, volunteers, others who interact with the public on our behalf, and people who develop our customer service policies will comply with applicable accessibility laws, and may include:  

• How to interact and communicate with customers with various types of disabilities
• How to interact with customers with disabilities who use an assistive device or rely on the assistance of a service animal or support person
• How to use available equipment or devices that may assist with the provision of products or services to customers with disabilities
• What to do if a customer with a disability is having difficulty in accessing our products and services
• Our policies, practices and procedures relating to the provision of products or services to customers with disabilities
• A review of the purpose and requirements of any applicable laws or regulations, including the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 

Learn more about:

• Accessibility Policy for Customer Service
• Multi-Year Plan
• Accessibility Compliance Report

We are committed to continually learning about our customers, their priorities and needs and to improving access to our products and services. We welcome comments and feedback as we strive to meet our customers’ needs and expectations.  

Customers who wish to provide feedback on how we meet their accessibility needs can contact us using their TTY service, by telephone or in writing by regular or electronic mail. 

Please click here for our contact information.

We will use our best efforts to address or respond to a customer’s feedback immediately. However, it may sometimes be necessary to refer feedback to another Foresters Financial representative for response or to be handled through our regular complaint handling procedures.

Foresters Financial and Foresters are trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9) and its subsidiaries.

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