Privacy policy
How Auto Approved Inc. collects, uses, discloses and safeguards your personal information.
What this policy covers
This Privacy Policy applies to Auto Approved Inc. (“Auto Approved”, “we”, “us” or “our”), 312 Nairn Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2L 0W9. It describes how we collect, use, disclose and safeguard personal information in connection with our website, our vehicle sales, financing, trade-in and referral services, and any other dealings you have with us, whether online, by telephone or in person.
Auto Approved’s privacy practices are governed by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada) and other applicable federal and provincial privacy legislation. By accessing our website or using our services, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. You may choose not to provide personal information; however, we may then be unable to provide the service or information you have requested.
1. Definitions
“Personal information” means information about an identifiable individual, but does not include aggregated information that cannot be associated with a specific individual.
“Consent” means voluntary agreement to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for defined purposes. Consent may be express or implied, and may be given orally, electronically or in writing.
“Service provider” means a third party that processes personal information on our behalf, such as a website hosting, form-handling or analytics provider.
“Lender” means a bank, credit union, finance company or other financial institution to which we submit a credit application on your behalf.
2. Personal information we collect
We collect personal information that is reasonably required to provide our services to you. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:
Identification and contact information, including your name, postal address, telephone number, email address and date of birth.
Credit application information, including your residential history, housing costs, employment history, employer contact details, income, financial obligations, and the corresponding information of any co-applicant. Where a lender requires it to obtain a credit report or to complete a financing agreement, we may also collect government-issued identification such as a driver’s licence.
Vehicle information, including the vehicle you are interested in and, if you are trading in or selling a vehicle, its year, make, model, mileage, condition, ownership documents and any outstanding lien.
Referral information, including the name and contact details of a person you refer to us. You must have that person’s permission before providing their information.
Correspondence, including any questions, comments or requests you send to us and our records of communications with you.
Technical information collected automatically when you visit our website, including your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, approximate location, referring website, and the pages you view. This information is collected through cookies and similar technologies and is generally used in aggregated form.
3. Purposes for collection and use
We collect and use personal information for the following purposes:
To verify your identity and respond to your enquiries.
To assess and process your credit application and submit it to lenders in order to obtain financing. Lenders may obtain a credit report from a credit reporting agency with your consent.
To enter into and perform transactions for the purchase, financing, trade-in or delivery of a vehicle, and to administer any related warranty, protection or insurance product you purchase.
To appraise a vehicle you wish to trade in or sell.
To administer our referral program.
To send you marketing communications about vehicles, financing and offers where you have consented to receive them. You may withdraw this consent at any time.
To operate, secure and improve our website and services, and to understand how they are used.
To detect and prevent fraud, error and other unauthorized or illegal activity.
To maintain business records and to comply with applicable federal and provincial laws, including consumer protection, motor vehicle dealer and cost-of-credit disclosure legislation, and to respond to lawful requests from regulators, courts and law enforcement.
We will not use personal information for a purpose materially different from those described above without first obtaining your consent, unless the use is required or permitted by law.
4. Consent
By providing personal information to us, you consent to its collection, use and disclosure for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. When you submit a credit application, you expressly consent to Auto Approved sharing your application with lenders for the purpose of obtaining financing, and to those lenders obtaining your credit report from one or more credit reporting agencies. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and reasonable notice; withdrawing consent may limit our ability to provide certain services to you.
5. Disclosure of personal information
Auto Approved does not sell or rent personal information. We may disclose personal information to:
Lenders and financial institutions, for the purpose of obtaining and administering financing. Once a lender receives your information, its use is governed by that lender’s own privacy policy.
Credit reporting agencies, where a lender obtains a credit report with your consent.
Providers of warranty, vehicle protection or insurance products that you elect to purchase.
Service providers that perform functions on our behalf, including website hosting, form processing, data storage, communications and analytics. Such providers are permitted to use personal information only as necessary to provide their services to us and are required to protect it.
A person who, in our reasonable judgment, is acting as your authorized representative.
Regulators, courts, law enforcement and other third parties where disclosure is required or permitted by law, including to comply with a subpoena, warrant or court order, to enforce our agreements, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Auto Approved, our customers or the public.
A prospective or actual purchaser in connection with a sale, merger or reorganization of our business, provided the recipient agrees to use the information in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy.
6. Safeguards
We protect personal information with administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity, including secure transmission of information submitted through our website, access controls that limit personal information to employees and service providers who require it, and secure storage and disposal of records. Our employees are informed of the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of personal information.
No method of transmission over the Internet or of electronic storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable measures to protect personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security, and we recommend that you not send sensitive financial information by email.
7. Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to meet our legal, regulatory and contractual obligations. Records relating to vehicle sales and financing are retained for the periods required by applicable law. Personal information that is no longer required is securely destroyed or rendered anonymous.
8. Accuracy, access and correction
We take reasonable steps to keep personal information accurate, complete and up to date for the purposes for which it is used. Upon written request and subject to verification of your identity, we will provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you, together with an account of how it has been used and disclosed, within a reasonable time and at minimal or no cost. Where information is shown to be inaccurate or incomplete, we will correct it and, where appropriate, advise third parties to whom it was disclosed.
In limited circumstances permitted by law, we may be unable to provide access to some or all of the personal information we hold, for example where doing so would reveal personal information about another individual, is subject to solicitor-client privilege, or was collected in the course of a legal investigation. In such cases we will provide the reasons for declining access.
9. Marketing communications
We send commercial electronic messages only with your consent and in accordance with Canada’s anti-spam legislation. Each message will identify Auto Approved and include a means of unsubscribing. You may also withdraw your consent by contacting us using the details below.
10. Cookies and analytics
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, remember your preferences and measure how the site is used. Analytics providers may set their own cookies to collect aggregated usage information on our behalf. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings; some features of the website may not function properly if cookies are disabled.
11. Third-party websites
Our website may contain links to websites operated by third parties, such as mapping, review and lender websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites, and this Privacy Policy does not apply to them. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any website you visit.
12. Children
Our website and services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If we learn that personal information has been collected from a minor, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.
13. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable law. The current version will be posted on this page with its effective date. Your continued use of our website or services after a change has been posted constitutes acceptance of the amended policy.
14. Contact our privacy officer
Questions about this Privacy Policy, requests for access to or correction of personal information, and any concerns about our handling of personal information should be directed to our Privacy Officer, Andrew, who will respond within a reasonable time.
Andrew, Privacy Officer, Auto Approved Inc., 312 Nairn Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2L 0W9