MIB Privacy Policy

• Medical/Non-Medical Information. MIB member companies report limited information that is significant to underwriting an application of life, health, disability income, critical illness or long-term care insurance. The reports, if any, are brief résumés of one or more medical conditions, avocations or test results that are reported by the company in a confidential coded format. MIB does not receive or collect information from doctors, hospitals, clinics or other medical or medically-related facilities. An MIB record does not indicate the member company’s underwriting decision, the amount of insurance being applied for, or whether a policy was issued and taken.
  
  
• Sources of Information.  Except for certain limited governmental records, MIB receives information only from its member life and health insurance companies. MIB members may report information to MIB only if the information was obtained directly from their applicant or, with their applicant's consent, from doctors, hospitals or other medical or medically-related facilities that treated, tested or examined the applicant. All information is encoded using a confidential and proprietary coding system designed by MIB to protect the confidentiality of the information. MIB does not employ investigators to collect information. 
  
  
• Dissemination of Information. At the time a proposed insured applies for individually underwritten life, health, disability income, critical illness or long-term care insurance with an MIB member company, he or she is provided with an MIB Pre-Notice about MIB. The MIB Pre-Notice notifies the individual that a report regarding the person’s medical conditions and avocations may be made to MIB and further, that if he or she later applies for life or health insurance (or files a claim for benefits) with an MIB member company, then MIB may supply such company with an MIB report. After receiving the MIB Pre-Notice, the applicant is thereafter asked to sign an authorization allowing the MIB member company to exchange underwriting information with MIB. The authorization establishes the individual’s affirmative consent for the MIB member company to obtain his or her MIB record, if any. MIB information sent to a member company is encoded using MIB's confidential and proprietary coding system.
  
  From time to time, MIB performs mortality and morbidity studies through the Actuarial and Statistical Research Group of its wholly-owned subsidiary, MIB Solutions, Inc. Information published as a result of these studies has been aggregated and de-identified so that it is no longer attributable to particular individuals.
  
  
• Security. Before sending information to MIB, the reporting member insurance company encodes the information using a confidential and proprietary coding system designed by MIB to protect the confidentiality of the information and the privacy of the individuals to whom it pertains. Personally identifiable information held by MIB is only available to an MIB member insurance company. Through an Enterprise Information Security Program, MIB has implemented standards and policies to protect the security and confidentiality of any consumer protected information to which it has access, including measures designed to:
  
  
  • Ensure the security and confidentiality of personally identifiable information;
  • Protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of the information; and
  • Protect against unauthorized access to or use of the information.

MIB’s efforts range from providing a secure facility in which to store the data to state-of–the-art Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) software.

Fair Information Practices

MIB and its members subscribe to the following fair information practices:

MIB will not collect information about you from a member unless its member has provided you with a notice about MIB. Before you complete your application for individually underwritten life, health or disability income, critical illness or long-term care insurance with an MIB member company, you are provided with the "MIB Pre-Notice", which describes MIB, the circumstances under which a brief report may be sent to us by our members, the conditions under which we will disclose the report to another member insurance company and the address to contact us at MIB for disclosure and correction of your MIB record, if such a record exists.

Personally identifiable MIB information will only be used by a member life or health insurance company to detect and deter insurance fraud or abuse or for compliance activities.

No member will search for, or obtain, your MIB record, if any, without your affirmative consent. Before a member life insurance company may request MIB information from us, it must have an authorization signed by you that names MIB as an information source.

MIB will not report information about you that is deemed to be obsolete.

You have the right to find out what is in your MIB record. Anyone can arrange to find out if they have an MIB record by contacting the MIB Information Offices in Braintree, Massachusetts or Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

To find out how to obtain your MIB record, if any, please click on the link below:

Request Your Record

You may correct inaccurate information in your MIB record. If you believe that your MIB record is inaccurate, you may request a correction by contacting the MIB Information Office. Upon receipt of your request, we will initiate a reinvestigation. If the reinvestigation determines that the record is inaccurate, we will delete or correct it, as appropriate. In addition, if you so request, we will notify any member company that received a copy of your MIB record during the twelve months preceding the correction. If the reinvestigation confirms the accuracy of the original report, no change will be made to the MIB record, but you will be given the opportunity to file a "Statement of Dispute" setting forth the reasons that you think the record is inaccurate.

Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act  

Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), as amended by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”) in 2003, MIB may be defined as a “nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency” because it is a “consumer reporting agency” that issues “consumer reports” that are not credit reports. MIB complies with FCRA on an enterprise wide basis. Through MIB, Inc., its subsidiary operating company, MIB maintains a secure and confidential consumer database for the sole benefit of its member companies, issues consumer reports containing coded information to its members, provides free annual disclosure to consumers of their MIB files, and extends FCRA rights and privileges to consumers. To the extent that its other wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MIB Solutions, Inc., may be required to comply with FCRA in the course of performing risk management services for member companies, then compliance responsibilities under FCRA are assumed and managed by MIB, Inc. 

Changes to Privacy Policy

If MIB should decide at some future time to make material changes to its privacy policy, such changes will be prominently posted on this web site.

If you have any questions or comments about MIB's privacy policy, please e-mail privacy@mib.com.

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