Why did you send me a notice about its commitment to privacy (Privacy Notice)?

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) and a variety of state laws require insurance companies, including Unum's insuring subsidiaries, to give a Privacy Notice to certain applicants and customers.

What is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act?

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) is a federal law that concerns financial services industry reform for financial institutions. It includes a section (Title V) relating to consumer privacy. Title V addresses the security and confidentiality of consumers nonpublic personal financial information, including rules about how financial institutions may share that information. Insurance companies are considered financial institutions and must comply with GLB.

When I receive a Privacy Notice, do I need to sign it and send it back to you?

No, you do not need to sign the notice or send it back to Unum. Our Privacy Notice is for your information only.

What is nonpublic personal information (NPI)?

"Nonpublic personal information (NPI) is personally identifiable information regarding a person's financial affairs or health. For example, financial information would include any information that may be found on a credit report. Health information would include information about a person's physical, mental or behavioral condition that might be found on a doctor's report used for underwriting or claims management.

With whom is NPI shared?

We share NPI as needed to service your insurance policy or as otherwise permitted or required by law. This could include sharing information with (companies within our affiliates). We may also share information with contracted parties, such as producers, who help us service your policy.

What is an insurance support organization?

An insurance support organization is an entity that regularly engages in the practice of assembling or collecting information about individuals for the primary purpose of providing the information to an insurance company. Consumer reporting agencies and the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) are insurance support organizations.

May I request that your company not share NPI about me with non-affiliated third parties (may I opt out)?

GLB requires that we give you the opportunity to opt out only if we share nonpublic personal financial information in certain ways. For example, if we share nonpublic personal financial information about you with non-affiliated third parties for reasons that are unrelated to insurance functions or outside certain marketing exceptions, you may instruct us not to share (opt out). Because we do not share NPI with non-affiliates for those purposes, we do not offer an opt out.

May I request that your company not share NPI about me with affiliates?

Under GLB, we are permitted to share nonpublic personal financial information with our affiliates without offering an opt out.

What safeguards are taken to ensure that NPI is protected?

We have physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in place to protect NPI. For example, only authorized employees handle NPI in servicing policies. In addition, we use industry standard electronic methods, such as firewalls, to safeguard the confidentiality of online information.

How often will customers receive a Privacy Notice?

New group policyholders will receive an initial Privacy Notice when their policy is issued. Individual applicants and policyholders will receive an initial Privacy Notice with their application and/or when their policy is issued. Unum also sends a Privacy Notice to its group and individual policyholders annually.

Do group policyholders receive a Privacy Notice?

We issue our group policies to employers and other entities, such as associations. We provide our Privacy Notice to group policyholders, which means the employers and other entities receive the Privacy Notice. In most circumstances, the employees or other individuals covered under the group policies (insureds or certificate holders) do not receive a Privacy Notice. Group claimants in certain states, however, will receive a Privacy Notice as required by state law.

If I am an employer with a group policy, may I share your Privacy Notice with my employees who are insureds under the policy?

Certainly. We encourage you to share the Privacy Notice with your employees.

How do I obtain a copy of your Privacy Notice?

If you are an insured under a group policy, you may obtain the Privacy Notice by requesting a copy from your employer or the entity to which the group policy is issued. The Privacy Notice is also available on www.unum.com/privacy or www.coloniallife.com; or by writing to: Privacy Officer, Unum Group, 2211 Congress Street, B267, Portland, Maine 04122.

Do you share nonpublic personal health information about me for marketing purposes?

No, we do not share nonpublic personal health information about you to market any products or services to you.

Do you share nonpublic personal financial information about me for marketing purposes?

We do not share nonpublic personal financial information about you with companies that want to sell you products and services that are not related to insurance or other financial services. For example, we do not sell your name to catalog companies or telemarketers. GLB allows us to share nonpublic personal financial information, without offering an opt out, for certain marketing purposes. We may share information with companies that help us market our own insurance products and services. For example, these companies may provide mailing or labeling services to us. We may also share information with other financial institutions, such as insurance companies and banks, to jointly market financial products and services. Financial products could include insurance policies or annuities. We do not, however, frequently participate in this type of joint marketing arrangement.

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act and why is it mentioned in your Privacy Notice?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is a federal law that has been in effect for years. Like GLB, it addresses the sharing of consumer information. GLB requires that we mention the Fair Credit Reporting Act in our Privacy Notice.

The Privacy Notice says I may review information you have collected about me. How do I do that?

You may request to review information we collected when you applied for coverage by writing to Privacy Officer, Unum, 2211 Congress Street, B267, Portland, Maine 04122.

If I request copies of documents that contain information about me, the Privacy Notice says you may charge a copying fee. What is the fee?

Although we reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee, we do not currently charge any fee for copying costs associated with Privacy Notice access requests.