• • •  
• GENERAL DISCLOSURES
• WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT
• HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
• WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION
• COOKIES POLICY
• ADVERTISING AND ANALYTICS
• HOW TO RESTRICT COOKIES
• SOCIAL MEDIA
• LINKING SITES
• HOW LONG WE RETAIN YOUR INFORMATION
• WEB ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT
• CHILDREN’S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT (COPPA) COMPLIANCE AND RELATED INFORMATION
• SECURITY
• CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
• CONTACT US

This Policy is supplemented by the Auto-Owner’s California Consumer Privacy Policy.

Each of the sites is hosted in the United States. If you are visiting the sites from outside of the United States, please note that by providing your information it is being transferred to, stored or processed in the United States, where our data center and servers are located and operated. If you are outside the United States and do not wish to allow the transfer of your personal information to the United States, you should not use these sites and disable all cookies. Suggestions for how to disable cookies can be found in our Cookies Policy.

We take your privacy and the protection of your personal information seriously. We will only store, process and disclose your personal information in accordance with applicable law. We will make it clear when we collect your personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it. We do our best to protect your privacy through the appropriate use of information security measures.

1. Information That You Provide To Us Directly

Auto-Owners may collect different information from or about you depending on the manner in which you use our sites or Services. For example, we routinely obtain information through applications and forms related to our products or Services, your visiting our sites, and your transactions with us.

The type of information that we collect depends on the Services we are providing to you. Auto-Owners collects information from various types of individuals in its ordinary course of business including insureds, agents, claimants, vendors, visitors to its websites, etc. The following categories of information and associated examples are provided to help you understand the information we may collect through your use of the sites or in the course of us providing our Services to you.

• Identity Information includes first name, middle name, last name, date of birth, gender, username or similar identifier, Social Security number, driver’s license number, tax identification number, passport number, occupation, and marital status.
• Contact Information includes personal mailing address, home address, email address, and telephone number.
• Medical Information includes medical history and current medical condition. Note that we only obtain your Medical Information with your permission, or as otherwise allowed or required by law.
• Property Information includes real property, such as acreage, building, home information, alarm systems, geolocation, fixtures, real property records; and personal property, such as automobile descriptors (VIN, car type and model, etc.), and personal property records.
• Financial Information includes loan numbers, mortgage numbers, bank account information, and payment card details.
• Insurance Information includes claims history; credit history; household member Identity Information, driving record; and insurance policy information, such as coverages, limits, deductibles.
• Claims Information including police reports, recorded statements, and Insurance Information.
• Transaction Information includes details about the products and services you have purchased from us and any corresponding transactions, including with your independent agency.
• Technical Information includes internet protocol (IP) address, login data, time zone setting and location (geocodes), logs, pages visited, pages viewed, events and page loads, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access the sites.
• Profile Information includes your username and password, your preferences, and Contact Information.
• Usage Information includes information about how you use our website, products and Services.

2. Information We Receive From Other Sources

To assist in providing you our Services, including underwriting and servicing your policy, we may obtain personal information about you from external sources such as our affiliates, independent insurance agents and service providers, governmental agencies and consumer reporting agencies.

We may also receive information if you access our sites through third-party platforms, such as Facebook. If you use our sites on or through a third-party platform, including via any mobile and/or other Internet-connected device, or click on third-party links, the collection, use, and disclosure of your information and your use of the sites will also be subject to the privacy policies and other terms of such third parties or third-party platforms. You should review such privacy policies, terms, and other agreements. However, all personal information that you provide to such third parties or third-party platforms is subject to those third-parties’ privacy policies.

3. Collection Of Technical Information And Usage Information

When you access Auto-Owners’ sites, we automatically collect Technical and Usage Information. This Technical Information and Usage Information, which may be linked to your personal information, is collected through the use of server logs and tracking technologies, including cookies, web beacons, and/or similar technology. For more detailed information regarding how we use cookies and other technology, please review the additional information in our Cookies Policy.

4. Collection Of Information From Claimants Who Are Not Insureds 

Individuals not insured through Auto-Owners might provide personal information, either directly or through a third party, when filing a claim with Auto-Owners. Such personal information could include any of the information listed above.

We may use information about you for a number of purposes, including:

1. Providing, Improving And Developing Our Services

• Underwriting your policy;

• Processing and handling claims;

• Processing or recording payment transactions or money transfers;

• Displaying your historical transaction information;

• Developing new products and improving our Services;

• Delivering the information and support you request;

• Improving, personalizing and facilitating your use of our Services;

• Otherwise providing you with the Auto-Owners Services and features you choose to use, including responding to claims from those who are not insured through Auto-Owners; and

• Measuring, tracking and analyzing trends and usage in connection with your use or the performance of our Services.

2. Communicating With You About Our Services

• Respond to your questions or concerns;

• Send you information you have requested from us about our Services;

• Provide updates about your policy and/or claims, and

• Manage your account preferences and registration information and establish your profile.

3. ​​​​​​Protecting Our Services And Maintaining A Trusted Environment

• Preventing fraud;

• Enforcing our Terms of Use or other applicable agreements or policies;

• Verifying your identity;

• Complying with any applicable laws or regulations, or in response to lawful requests for information from the government or through legal process;

• Fulfilling any other purpose disclosed to you in connection with our Services;

• Analyze trends and user traffic, track purchases and usage information; and

• Contacting you to resolve disputes and assist you with our Services.

4. Other Uses

• Reviewing and analyzing user browser and wireless device technical information;

• Reviewing user activity across sites (for example, Auto-Owners analyzes trends, user traffic and usage information to determine the performance of content, research reports or events); and

• For any other purpose disclosed to you in connection with our Services from time to time.

 1.  When and How We May Share/Disclose Your Information 

We may also share Technical Information relating to your computer or mobile device with our marketing and advertising partners for the purposes of remarketing.

2. Corporate Transactions

We may share all or part of your personal information with other business entities in connection with the sale, assignment, merger or other transfer of all or a portion of Auto-Owners’ business or assets to such business entity (including due to a sale in connection with a bankruptcy).

3. Disclosure Of Information For Legal Purposes

Auto-Owners may disclose all or part of your personal information when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be violating any agreement with Auto-Owners, including our Terms of Use, or may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property, other users of our sites, or anyone else that could be harmed by such activities. We may disclose information in response to a subpoena, search warrant, in connection with judicial proceedings, or pursuant to court orders, legal process or other law enforcement measures. Auto-Owners may disclose or access personal information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it, such as to our governmental or industry regulators, to establish our legal rights, or to defend against legal claims, and for other administrative and legal purposes.

4.  Analytics Services

To provide site visitors with better service, the sites may use analytics software to track usage activity of the sites.  In addition to basic analytics software, our sites may also employ remarketing technologies, Google Display Network Impression Reporting, or Google Demographics and Interest Reporting from the data obtained through this analytics software.

We also use analytics service providers, such as Google Analytics, to advertise online. These service providers, including Google and similar sites, may show our ads on websites across the Internet. By using Google Analytics software, we are able to obtain third-party audience data. We use this data to make improvements to the sites and may also utilize Google’s interest-based advertising services. For more information, including how to restrict this functionality, see the Advertising And Analytics section below and our Cookies Policy, also below.

5. Aggregated, Anonymized Or De-Identified Information

We may process your personal information into aggregated, anonymized or de-identified form for any purpose. Aggregated, anonymized or de-identified information is information that can no longer reasonably identify a specific individual and is no longer “personal information.” We will only maintain and use this type of information in deidentified form and we will not attempt to reidentify this information, except for the purposes of validating our deidentification process.

Cookies are small pieces of code placed on a computer or device by a website while browsing the Internet. They are used to collect, store, and share bits of information about user activities. We may use cookies to customize your experience on our site. Cookies can contain information about you, your computer, your browser, your session, the websites you visit, and other information about you or others who use, or have used, the computer or browser you use to access the Internet.

 There are several types of cookies:

• Session cookies provide information about how a website is used during a single browser session while a user is visiting a website. Session cookies usually expire after the browser is closed.

• Persistent cookies remain on your device between different browser sessions for a set amount of time in order to enable the website to remember user preferences, settings, or actions across other sites. A persistent cookie will remain on a user’s device for a set period of time specified in the cookie.

• First-party cookies are cookies set by the operator of the website you are visiting.

• Third-party cookies are cookies set by third parties that are different from the operator website you are visiting.

• Web beacons, tags and scripts may be used with the sites or in our emails to help us to deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage and campaign effectiveness and determine whether an email has been opened and acted upon.

We, our partners, affiliates, and analytics or service providers use cookies and other similar technologies across the sites. We group the cookies that we collect into the following categories based upon their function (note that all types of cookies, as described above, may be found in each category):

Third parties may use cookies on your computer or mobile device to advertise through our sites. These third-party companies may use information about your visits to the sites to advertise goods and services that may be of interest to you. They may also employ technology that is used to measure the effectiveness of the advertisements. The third-party companies can accomplish this by using cookies or web beacons to collect information about your visits to the sites. The information collected through this process does not enable us or them to identify your name or contact details unless you choose to provide them. The cookies from these third-party companies vary based on which company is providing the advertisement, therefore they may not be captured in this Privacy Policy.

1.  Analytics

We may use service providers to provide site metrics and other analytics services. These service providers may use cookies (see above); web beacons (also called clear GIFs or pixels), which are small blocks of code that allow us to measure the actions of visitors using the Auto-Owners’ sites; and other technologies to collect information, such as your IP address, identifiers associated with your device, other applications on your device, the browsers you use to access our sites and Services, webpages viewed, time spent on webpages, links clicked and conversion information (e.g., transactions entered into). This information may be used by Auto-Owners and its service providers on behalf of Auto-Owners to analyze and track usage of our sites and Services to determine the popularity of certain content and to better understand how you use our sites and Services.

To provide visitors with better service, each site may use analytics software to track usage activity of that site. If, at any time, you choose not to participate in the use of analytics software, please use your search engine’s (i.e. Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) available opt-outs for the web as described in the section How To Restrict Cookies. In addition to basic analytics software, the sites may also use remarketing technologies, Google Display Network Impression Reporting, or Google Demographics and Interest Reporting from the data obtained through analytics software.

2. Advertising

We use remarketing with our service providers to advertise online, such as through Google Analytics Advertising. Their services may come from sites such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Adroll, and any other display advertising partner (collectively the “Platform Advertisers”) to advertise on third-party websites to previous visitors to our site. These vendors may show our ads on websites across the internet.

We may use Facebook Custom Audiences and Pixels to deliver advertisements to site visitors. You may learn more about Facebook Custom Audiences by visiting here. Please click here if you would like to revoke your permission. All information collected directly by Facebook or any other Platform Advertiser is governed solely by that platform’s privacy policy. You may learn more about Facebook’s Privacy Policy in general by visiting https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy. 

Do Not Track (“DNT”) is an optional browser setting that allows you to express your preferences regarding tracking across websites. Most modern web browsers give you the option to send a Do Not Track signal to the websites you visit, indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. However, there is no accepted standard for how a website should respond to this signal, so we do not take any action in response to this signal. Auto-Owners does not have a mechanism in place to respond to DNT signals. Instead, in addition to publicly available third-party tools, we offer you the choices described in this Privacy Policy to manage the collection and use of information about you.

Auto-Owners does track some activity across websites and we may continue to collect information in the manner described in this Privacy Policy from web browsers that have enabled DNT signals.

You can adjust the settings in your browser in order to restrict or block cookies that are set by the sites (or any other website on the Internet). Your browser may include information on how to adjust your settings. Alternatively, you may visit www.allaboutcookies.org to obtain comprehensive general information about cookies and how to adjust the cookie settings on various browsers. This site also explains how to delete cookies from your computer.

You can control and delete these cookies through your browser settings through the following:

• Google Chrome

• Mozilla Firefox

• Safari

• Opera

• Microsoft Internet Explorer

• Microsoft Edge

• Safari for iOS (iPhone and iPad)

• Chrome for Android

You can also use the following cookie management and disposal tool from Google Analytics by downloading and installing the browser plug-in from the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.  The companies we work with may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). The NAI allows you to limit or opt out of interest-based advertising by using a tool available at https://optout.networkadvertising.org.

Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact the functionality of the Services. Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. Additional general information about cookies, including how to be notified about the placement of new cookies and how to disable cookies, can be found at www.allaboutcookies.org.

We may collect information from other sources, such as social media platforms that may share information about how you interact with our social media content. We do not control how your personal information is collected, stored or used by such third-party websites or to whom it is disclosed. You should review the privacy policies and settings on any social media website that you subscribe to so that you understand the information they collect and may be sharing. If you do not want your social media websites to share information about you, you must contact that website and determine whether it gives you the opportunity to opt-out of sharing such information. Auto-Owners is not responsible for how these third-party websites may use information collected from or about you.

Further, our sites may include social media features. Our integration of these features may allow third-party social media to collect certain information, such as your IP address and which page(s) you are visiting when using our sites and Services, and to set a cookie to enable that feature to function properly. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it. Some social media sites provide analytics and remarketing tools. For more information on how Auto-Owners leverages these tools, see the Advertising And Analytics  sections above.

The sites contain links to other websites. Please note that this Privacy Policy applies only to our sites, and not to other companies’ or organizations’ websites to which we link. Auto-Owners is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites, including any websites that may indicate a special relationship or partnership with us (such as co-branded pages or “powered by” or “in cooperation with” relationships). Other linked websites may collect personal information from you that is not subject to our control. To ensure protection of your privacy, always review the privacy policy of the websites you may visit by linking from the sites.

For instance, information collected through Google Analytics is shared with Google and its partners who may combine it with other information you provided to them or they collected from your use of their services. This information is stored in Google’s servers according to their privacy practices.

Your personal information will not be kept for longer than is necessary to fulfill the specific purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, and to allow us to comply with our legal requirements and in accordance with our internal document retention policy. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. We may retain copies of information about you and any transactions or Services you have used for a period of time that is consistent with applicable law, statute of limitations, or as we believe is reasonably necessary to comply with legal requirements and regulation, legal process or governmental request, detect or prevent fraud, collect fees owed, resolve disputes, address problems with our Services, assist with investigations, enforce other applicable agreements or policies, or to take any other actions consistent with applicable law.

Please see our Accessibility Statement located here: Web Accessibility.

The Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) regulates online collection of information from persons under the age of 13. It is our policy to refrain from knowingly collecting or maintaining personal information relating to any person under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18, please do not supply any personal information through the sites. If you are under the age of 18 and have already provided personal information through the sites, please have your parent or guardian contact us immediately using the information provided under Contact Us so that we can remove such information from our files.

We take reasonable measures, including administrative, technical, and physical safeguards, to protect your information from loss, theft, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. We hold information about you both at our own premises and with the assistance of third-party service providers. Further public disclosure here of our security measures could aid those who might attempt to circumvent those security measures. If you have additional questions regarding security, please feel free to contact us directly using the information provided under Contact Us. To ensure that our employees comply with our privacy policies, we have developed a training program that provides all employees with the tools and knowledge to protect your personal information in all aspects of their work. Any employee who violates our privacy policies may be subject to disciplinary action.

This Privacy Policy may be revised from time to time as we add new features and Services, as laws change and as industry privacy and security best practices evolve. We display an effective date on this Privacy Policy at the bottom of this Privacy Policy so that it will be easier for you to know when there has been a change. If we make any material change to this Privacy Policy regarding use or disclosure of personal information, we will provide advance notice on our sites. Changes will apply to information collected after the change is effective. Please check this Privacy Policy periodically for changes. Small changes or changes that do not significantly affect individual privacy interests may be made at any time and without prior notice. Your use of the sites constitutes acceptance of the provisions of this Privacy Policy and your continued usage after such changes are posted constitutes acceptance of each revised Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy or any revised Privacy Policy, please exit the sites immediately. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of the sites or your dealings with the sites, you can contact us by using the information provided under Contact Us.

Please contact Auto-Owners with any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy.

• Phone: 844-359-4595 (toll free)

• Email: privacyrequest@aoins.com

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy, or if you believe our Privacy Policy or applicable laws relating to the protection of your personal information have not been respected, you may file a complaint with Auto-Owners using the contact information listed above, and we will respond to let you know who will be handling your matter and when you can expect a further response. We may request additional details from you regarding your concerns and may need to engage or consult with other parties in order to investigate and address your issue. We may keep records of your request and any resolution.