PRIVACY POLICY

1. APPLICATION OF POLICY

HSBC Bank Canada and its affiliates (“HSBC”, “we”, “us” and “our”) recognize the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of Personal Information (as defined below). HSBC believes in protecting your privacy. This policy (the “Policy”) outlines how we manage your Personal Information and safeguard your privacy in relation to the Business Without Borders website (the “Website”).

By providing Personal Information to us or by using the Website or any of the products or services available on the Website you agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by the terms of this Policy. If you do not agree to this Policy, please do not use the Website. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify this Policy at any time, and such modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting of the modified Policy. You agree to review the Policy periodically to be aware of such modifications and your continued use of the Website shall be deemed your conclusive acceptance of the modified terms.

We are also committed to continuous improvement and value your input. We welcome your comments and/or suggestions on improving this Policy. If you have any concerns, please contact us at the address at the end of this Policy.

This Policy applies only to your experience in relation to the Website, and does not apply to any other products or services you may obtain from HSBC, any other HSBC websites, or to your customer information if you are a customer of HSBC for any of its products or services. This Policy does not alter in any way the terms or conditions of any other agreement you may have with HSBC for other products or services or use of any other HSBC websites. This Policy does not apply to the practices of companies or other entities that HSBC does not manage or control. This Policy does not apply to information regarding corporations or other non-individuals.

2. DEFINITIONS

The following definitions are used for the purposes of this Policy:

“Contact Information” means information to enable an individual at a place of business to be contacted and includes the name, position name or title, work address, or work telephone number of the individual.

“Personal Information” means information about an identifiable individual, excluding Contact Information, and includes things such as gender, age, ethnicity, personal interests, personal address information, consumer preference information, customer profiles, ID numbers and any other data assigned to an individual.

“Summarized Data” mean records which have been stripped of information potentially identifying individuals, or which have been manipulated or combined to provide generalized or anonymous information.

3. COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

This Policy covers our treatment of Personal Information that we collect through or in relation to the Website. This Policy also covers our treatment of any information shared with us by third parties through or in relation to the Website.

4. USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

4.1 HSBC may collect and use your Personal Information for the following purposes:

• to administer and build your Website registration (if you choose to register);
• to enable and perform your use of the Website or the Website’s services; or
• as required or permitted by law

4.2 HSBC may also collect and use your Personal Information for the following purposes:

• to send you newsletters, articles, blogs, information, images, audio, video or other material that we believe will be of interest to you;
• to tell you about events and promotional activities of HSBC or selected third parties that we believe will be of interest to you;
• to invite you to participate in surveys and market research;
• to market new products and services of HSBC or selected third parties that we believe will be of interest to you;
• to improve our understanding of Website users’ needs;
• to create marketing profiles of Website users;
• to customize the content and advertising you see; or
• to determine if you are an existing HSBC customer.

5. OPTING OUT

You may wish to opt out of the collection and use of your Personal Information for the purposes listed in Section 4.2, above. You may do so by using any “unsubscribe mechanism” that is contained in the message you receive, or by contacting us at privacy@bwob.ca.

6. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

HSBC does not and will not sell, rent, share or disclose your Personal Information without first receiving your permission or as disclosed in this Policy.

Under certain circumstances, HSBC may disclose your Personal Information:

• when you have consented to the disclosure;
• to fulfill the purpose for which the Personal Information was collected;
• when the services we are providing to you require us to give information to third parties;
• where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
• if we engage a third party supplier, agent or contractor to provide services to us (like computer services or file storage) and the third party is bound by confidentiality and security obligations;
• if the information is already publicly known; or
• when we are required or permitted by law to do so.

Except where we are required by law to disclose Personal Information, where commercially practicable we will use contractual arrangements to protect Personal Information disclosed to third parties.

HSBC may also disclose your Personal Information as part of a corporate or business transaction, such as a merger or acquisition, joint venture, corporate reorganization, financing, or sale of company assets (including for due diligence purposes for a proposed transaction), provided that the Personal Information disclosed continues to be used by the person receiving the information either for evaluation of the transaction or, on completion of the transaction, for the purposes permitted by this Policy.

Personal Information collected through or in relation to the Website may be stored and processed in Canada or any other country in which HSBC or its suppliers, agents or contractors maintain facilities. By using the Website, you consent to the transfer of Personal Information outside of the country where you reside. While in another jurisdiction for processing, the Personal Information may be accessed by the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities in the other jurisdiction. If you would like further information about the policies and practices of HSBC with respect to the use of suppliers, agents or contractors on behalf of HSBC outside Canada or have any questions regarding collection, use or disclosure of your information by such suppliers, agents or contractors, please contact us at the address at the end of this Policy.

7. SUMMARIZED DATA

We may also use your Personal Information to generate Summarized Data for internal use or for sharing with our affiliates, advertisers or business partners. Your identity and Personal Information will be kept anonymous in Summarized Data. Summarized Data will be used for planning or marketing purposes.

8. CONSENT

By providing Personal Information to us or by using the Website or any of the products or services available on the Website, you voluntarily consent to the collection, use or disclosure of Personal Information as specified in this Policy. Without limiting the foregoing, we may on occasion ask you to consent when we collect, use, or disclose your Personal Information in specific circumstances, in which case we may ask for your consent in written form although in some circumstances we may accept your oral consent. Sometimes your consent will be implied where appropriate and reasonable to do so based on your conduct with us and the sensitivity of the Personal Information. In addition, we may collect, use or disclose Personal Information without your consent when we are required or permitted by law to do so.

9. WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT

Individuals have the right to withdraw their consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of Personal Information at any time, except where that withdrawal would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation by HSBC. Upon reasonable written notice given to HSBC, all Personal Information collected by HSBC in relation to the Website that is identifiable to that individual will be removed from our records and a notice of the impact of that removal will be provided to the individual. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you acknowledge that:

• if you withdraw consent HSBC nonetheless reserves the right to retain, collect, use or disclose Personal Information without your consent where we are required or permitted by law to do so; and
• in the ordinary course of HSBC’s business and as a part of its customary practices, after the removal of records containing Personal Information as provided above, electronic copies of records containing Personal Information may still remain on archives, hard drives, backup tapes and similar formats, and you further acknowledge that, provided such Personal Information is not used or disclosed by HSBC contrary to the terms of this Policy, such remaining copies will not be deemed a breach of this paragraph.

10. ACCESS TO AND CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Individuals have the right to know what Personal Information HSBC has collected about them, how that information is being used and to whom it has been disclosed, as well as to verify and amend that information if it is incorrect.

Upon receiving a written access and/or correction request and any required administration fees (if any) as set out below, and where the identity of the requestor can be confirmed, information held by HSBC that identifies the requestor, as well as information on use and disclosures of that information, will be released to the requestor within a reasonable time period, except where that release is not required or is prohibited by law, and if necessary HSBC will correct the Personal Information of the requestor. Generally we will respond to inquiries free of charge, but if the inquiry is sufficiently complex to warrant a charge we will provide an estimate of the amount in advance.

11. CAN I BE DENIED ACCESS TO MY PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Your rights to access your Personal Information are not absolute. We may deny access:

• when denial of access is required or permitted by law;
• when granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on other people’s privacy;
• to protect our rights or property; or
• where the request is frivolous or vexatious.

If we deny your request for access to, or refuse a request to correct Personal Information, we will explain why.

12. WEBSITE

Please remember that you control what Personal Information you provide to HSBC while visiting the Website. You can visit the Website without registering or providing any Personal Information at all, although in order to access certain portions of the Website you will be required to register and the registration may require you to provide certain Personal Information about yourself.

We cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of any e-mail communications or information sent by you to us via the Website or posted by you on the Website. If you wish to send us confidential information, please notify us first to make arrangements.

Our Website contains links to other websites, which are not governed by this Policy. You should read the individual privacy policies of such other websites, and make an informed decision whether or not to use these other websites based upon their privacy practices.

Like most other commercial websites, the Website may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information. We may automatically (i.e., not via registration) collect or compile certain information that is not personally identifiable when you access the Website. Examples of this type of information include the aggregate and unique number of visitors to the Website, the dates and times of visits to the website, the domains/countries of visitors, the pages of the Website visited and the content accessed, the browsers, operating systems, search engines and search terms used to visit the Website and HTTP errors generated. We use this information in order to optimize the Website and to assess usage of the Website. We may provide such information to our Website suppliers, agents or contractors for these purposes, but this information does not include any personally identifiable information.

Cookies

The Website may use persistent cookies as a means of collecting non-sensitive information on general Website usage. In particular, the cookies enable HSBC and its service providers to determine which pages on the Website are visited most frequently and how long visitors spend on the Website. These cookies are not designed to identify you personally and the information they gather is used only to guide improvements in navigation, enhance content and provide a means for us to ensure that the Website continues to meet site users’ needs. These cookies are not used for any promotional purposes. If you would like to browse the Website you may do so without accepting cookies.

13. IS MY PERSONAL INFORMATION SECURE?

HSBC takes reasonable commercial steps to ensure that your Personal Information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. Among the steps we take in order to protect your information are:

• premises security;
• restricted file access to Personal Information;
• deploying technological safeguards like security software, firewalls and encryption to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access; and
• internal password and security policies.

14. RETENTION OF CONTACT INFORMATION AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal Information will be retained in accordance with this Policy only for as long as may be necessary or relevant for the identified purpose of collection, or as may be required or permitted by law, after which time it will be made anonymous or destroyed unless you further consent to its continued retention. Personal Information that you may provide to HSBC that is in excess of what is necessary for the identified purpose of collection will not be retained by HSBC.

15. MISCELLANEOUS

Any disputes arising hereunder shall be governed exclusively by the laws of the province of British Columbia and the laws of Canada applicable therein, without giving effect to their conflict of laws principles. You expressly consent to the exclusive forum, jurisdiction, and venue of the courts of British Columbia and/or the Federal Court of Canada in British Columbia, or any other judicial district or jurisdiction as HSBC may determine in any and all actions, disputes or controversies relating hereto. This Policy constitutes and contains the entire agreement between you and HSBC with regard to its subject matter and supersedes any prior oral or written agreements. No waiver by either HSBC or you of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. If any provisions contained herein shall be determined to be void, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this Policy and such determination shall not affect the remaining provisions contained herein. Wherever in this Policy the context so requires, the singular number shall include the plural number and vice versa and any gender herein used shall be deemed to include the feminine, masculine or gender neutral and “person” shall include an individual, partnership, corporation, joint stock company, trust (including a business trust), unincorporated association, joint venture, or other entity or a government or governmental authority or any agency, department or instrumentality thereof. The terms “hereof”, “herein”, “hereunder” and similar expressions refer to this Policy and not to any particular Section or other portion hereof and include any agreement supplemental hereto. The terms “provision” and “provisions” refer to terms, conditions, provisions, covenants, obligations, undertakings, warranties and representations. The term “includes” or “such as” shall be construed as meaning “includes without limitation” and such as without limitation”, as the case may be.

16. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRIVACY

Ultimately, you are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and/or any Personal Information in your possession. Always be careful and responsible regarding your Personal Information.

17. NEED MORE INFORMATION?

Should you have any further questions or concerns about the privacy of information you provide to HSBC, please feel free to contact us at the following email address:

Privacy@bwob.ca

If you have a question, concern or complaint about the way in which personal information is collected, used or disclosed by HSBC, please contact the Privacy Administrator found in each HSBC office.

Unresolved questions, concerns or complaints may be directed to the Privacy Officer of HSBC. Receipt of your complaint will be acknowledged in writing or by telephone. Upon completion of a detailed investigation, the Privacy Officer will provide a written response. You may contact the Office of the Privacy Officer at the following:

The Office of the Privacy Officer
HSBC Bank Canada
4th Floor 885 West Georgia Street
Vancouver BC V6C 3E9
Telephone: 1-866-373-2738
(8:30 am – 5:00 pm Pacific Time)
Fax: (604) 647-2758
Email: privacy_officer@hsbc.ca