|
|
 |
Why does Northwestern Mutual need customers' medical information? Has anything changed in the way the company treats customers' personal information? Will Northwestern Mutual share personal customer information with non-affiliated companies for marketing purposes? Here you'll find the answers to these important questions. Then read our Customer Privacy Notice to learn more. |
|
Why is the company sending out a privacy notice?
Customers are often particularly concerned about the confidentiality of medical records. Why does the company need customers' medical information?
Has anything changed in the way Northwestern Mutual treats customers' personal information?
Are Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Representatives required to maintain the confidentiality and security of personal customer information?
Will Northwestern Mutual share personal customer information with non-affiliated companies for marketing purposes?
Why doesn't Northwestern Mutual offer an opt-out?
The privacy notice indicates that Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Representatives may advise customers of additional financial products and services offered by Northwestern Mutual and its affiliates. Who are Northwestern Mutual's affiliates?
Under what circumstances does Northwestern Mutual disclose personal customer information to non-affiliated organizations?
|
|
Why is the company sending out a privacy notice? |
Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, Northwestern Mutual is required by law to provide notice of its privacy policies and practices to its customers at the start of their relationship and at least once annually thereafter. This new law affects the entire financial services industry, including insurance companies, banks and securities firms. |
|
 |
|
Customers are often particularly concerned about the confidentiality of medical records. Why does the company need customers' medical information? |
The company needs medical information to evaluate applications for coverage and to process claims for benefits. The premium paid for life, disability income or long-term care insurance is based on a number of factors such as gender, age, health, and occupation or hobbies, if exceptionally risky. The company groups people with similar characteristics and calculates a premium based on the group's level of risk. Those with similar risk pay the same premium. For example, nonsmokers usually pay less for insurance than do smokers; premiums may be higher for those with chronic illnesses than those without. Northwestern Mutual also uses medical information to process death claims and pay disability income benefits. |
|
|
|
Has anything changed in the way Northwestern Mutual treats customers' personal information? |
No. Northwestern Mutual has always been committed to protecting the privacy of the information that customers have entrusted to it. However, the company now has an obligation to inform them of its policies and practices when they become customers and annually thereafter. |
|
|
|
Are Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Representatives required to maintain the confidentiality and security of personal customer information? |
Financial Representatives have the same obligations as Northwestern Mutual and its employees to protect the confidentiality and security of all personal customer information. |
|
|
|
Will Northwestern Mutual share personal customer information with non-affiliated companies for marketing purposes? |
Northwestern Mutual does not sell or rent personal customer information to anyone. Further, Northwestern Mutual does not share personal customer information with non-affiliated organizations for purposes of marketing the products and services of those organizations, except at the customer's request or with customer consent. However, as permitted by law and described in its privacy notice, Northwestern Mutual may share certain non-medical personal information with other individuals and organizations for marketing Northwestern Mutual products and services. In these situations, the third party is working on Northwestern Mutual's behalf, performing Northwestern Mutual's work. The law permits this type of sharing of customer information, recognizing that companies need the flexibility to market their own products and services efficiently and effectively. |
|
|
|
Why doesn't Northwestern Mutual offer an opt-out? |
By law, consumers have the right to say no to ("opt-out" of) certain disclosures of their personal information to third parties (affiliates and non-affiliates), such as when the information is disclosed to a non-affiliated third party to market the third party's products and services. A financial services company is legally required to tell consumers in its privacy notice whether it engages in any sharing that the consumer has the right to opt-out of and how the consumer can exercise that right. And, if an organization which currently does not offer an opt-out changes its practices in the future, the consumer must be notified and given an opportunity to opt-out before the sharing begins. Northwestern Mutual does not offer an opt-out since the company only discloses personal customer information as legally permitted without an opt-out. |
|
|
|
The privacy notice indicates that Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Representatives may advise customers of additional financial products and services offered by Northwestern Mutual and its affiliates. Who are Northwestern Mutual's affiliates? |
The affiliates of Northwestern Mutual that offer products and services through the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network include: - Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
- Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (NMIS)
- Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company
- Russell Investment Group
- Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company®
- Estate Strategies Group®
|
|
|
|
Under what circumstances does Northwestern Mutual disclose personal customer information to non-affiliated organizations? |
Northwestern Mutual may disclose personal customer information to non-affiliated organizations in a variety of circumstances. For example, Northwestern Mutual may disclose personal information to its reinsurers when processing an application for life insurance. And, the company may share personal information with its medical consultants when processing a claim for disability income benefits. For group disability insurance, information is shared with a third party administrator to provide contract administration and service. At times, the company is required by law to disclose personal customer information such as in response to a subpoena or governmental authorities. In other situations, the customer has authorized or directed the company to make the disclosure. Also, there are occasions when non-affiliated organizations are hired to help conduct the company's business and personal customer information can be disclosed to accomplish the task. For example, the company contracts with a third party to mail the annual report to policyowners. The vendor must have customers' names and addresses, as well as other identifying information, so it can perform this service. However, whenever third parties are hired to help conduct Northwestern Mutual's business, they are expected to treat personal customer information as confidential and to abide by all applicable privacy laws. |
|
|
|
|
|
|