Privacy Policy

Section 01Introduction

World Financial Screen LLC ("World Financial Screen," "we," "us" or "our") is a licensed insurance agency based in Greenbelt, Maryland, licensed in Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Washington DC, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Connecticut. We help families, individuals and business owners understand life insurance, retirement and savings strategies, and we place coverage with licensed third-party insurance carriers.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use and protect it, and the choices you have. It applies to worldfinancialscreen.com, our consultations (in person, by phone and by video), our booking calendar, and our email and text communications.

This policy is effective as of the date shown at the top of this page. Insurance carriers you apply with have their own privacy notices, which govern the information they hold.

Section 02Information we collect

Information you give us

• Contact details: name, email address, phone number, mailing address and preferred contact times.
• Household and financial details: date of birth, marital status, dependants, income, debts, existing coverage, savings, retirement accounts and financial goals shared during a needs analysis.
• Coverage and application information: details required by carriers to apply for life insurance, such as beneficiary information, occupation, tobacco use and, where an application requires it, health and medical history.
• Claims information: documents and details beneficiaries provide when we help them file a claim with a carrier.
• Identity and payment information: Social Security number, driver's licence number or bank details, collected only when a carrier's application requires them and transmitted directly into the carrier's secure systems.
• Career enquiries: résumé, licensing status and contact information if you ask about joining our team.

Information from third parties

With your authorisation, insurance carriers and their service providers may obtain consumer reports, motor vehicle records, prescription histories or information from the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) as part of underwriting. Those reports are ordered by the carrier and governed by the carrier's privacy notice and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Information collected automatically

When you visit our website we and our service providers may collect your IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referring website and the date and time of your visit, using cookies and similar technologies described in Section 07.

Section 03How we use your information

• To schedule and conduct consultations, financial education sessions and needs analyses.
• To prepare your written plan summary and compare coverage options that fit your budget.
• To help you complete and submit insurance applications to carriers, and to service your policies after they are issued.
• To help beneficiaries gather documents and follow up on claims with the issuing carrier.
• To respond to your questions and send appointment confirmations and reminders.
• To send educational content and information about our services, where you have agreed to receive it. You can opt out at any time.
• To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including state insurance licensing, record-keeping and anti-fraud requirements.
• To detect and prevent fraud, protect our systems and enforce our Terms of Service.
• To understand how our website is used so we can improve it.

We do not use your information to make decisions about you based solely on automated processing. Underwriting and eligibility decisions are made by the insurance carrier, not by World Financial Screen.

Section 04How we share your information

We share personal information only as needed to provide our services:

• Insurance carriers and financial institutions you choose to apply with, so they can underwrite, issue and service your coverage or account.
• Service providers who support our business under contracts that require them to protect your information and use it only on our behalf, such as our booking and customer-relationship platform, email and text-messaging providers, secure document storage and IT support.
• Our affiliated agency and licensed professionals who work on your file, where needed to advise or service you.
• Regulators and law enforcement when required by law, subpoena or court order, or to cooperate with an insurance regulator such as the Maryland Insurance Administration.
• Other parties with your consent, or as part of a merger, acquisition or transfer of our book of business, in which case the recipient must honour this policy.

Section 05Text messages and phone calls

If you provide your mobile number and agree to receive text messages, we may send appointment confirmations, reminders, follow-ups and service updates. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Consent to receive texts is not a condition of any purchase.

• Reply STOP to any message to unsubscribe. Reply HELP for help, or call +1 240-425-9518.
• Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

We honour the National Do Not Call Registry and our internal do-not-call list for telemarketing calls.

Section 06How we protect your information

• Encryption in transit (TLS) for our website, booking calendar and email, and encryption at rest for stored client files.
• Access limited to licensed professionals and staff who need it to serve you, protected by unique logins and multi-factor authentication.
• Sensitive identifiers, such as Social Security numbers, entered directly into carrier systems wherever possible rather than stored by us.
• Privacy and security training for everyone who handles client information, and regular reviews of our safeguards.
• A written information security program designed to meet the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Safeguards Rule and applicable Maryland requirements.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a breach affecting your personal information occurs, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by law.

Section 07Your rights and choices

Access and correction

You may ask to see the personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct anything that is inaccurate. For information held by a carrier, we will help you contact that carrier.

Deletion

You may ask us to delete your information. We will do so unless we are required to keep it by law, regulation or an open policy or claim, in which case we will tell you why.

Marketing

You can opt out of marketing emails with the unsubscribe link in any email, opt out of texts by replying STOP, or ask us by email or phone to stop marketing contact altogether. We will still send messages about an active application, policy or claim.

State privacy rights

Residents of certain states where we do business, including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas and Maryland, have additional rights under state privacy laws, such as the right to know what we collect, to request deletion, to correct information and to opt out of sale or targeted advertising. Much of the information we handle is governed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and state insurance privacy laws, which may exempt it from those state laws; we will still respond to every request and explain how it applies to you. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any privacy right.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Our website does not change its behaviour in response to Do Not Track browser signals. Where required by law, we treat a Global Privacy Control signal as a valid request to opt out of sale or sharing.

To make a request, contact us using the details in Section 11. We may need to verify your identity before responding, and we aim to respond within 45 days.

Section 08Cookies and tracking

Cookies are small files stored by your browser. We use:

• Essential cookies that make the website and booking calendar work.
• Analytics cookies that tell us, in aggregate, which pages are visited and how visitors find us.
• Embedded content from our booking provider, which may set its own cookies when the calendar loads.

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may prevent the booking calendar from working.

Section 09How long we keep information

We keep client records, including needs analyses, applications, policy servicing notes and correspondence, for at least seven years after the end of our relationship with you, or longer where state insurance regulations, a carrier agreement, an open claim or a legal matter requires it.

Enquiries that do not lead to a client relationship are kept for up to three years. Website analytics data is kept in aggregate form. When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it securely.

Section 10Third-party websites

Our website may link to carrier websites, regulators and other third-party sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any information.

Children's privacy

Our website and services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13. Information about minors, such as a child named as a beneficiary, is collected only from a parent or legal guardian as part of an application.

Section 11Contact us and complaints

Questions, requests or complaints about this policy or our privacy practices can be sent to our Privacy Officer:

We will acknowledge your complaint within 10 business days and aim to resolve it within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the insurance regulator in your state. In Maryland, that is the Maryland Insurance Administration, 200 St. Paul Place, Suite 2700, Baltimore, MD 21202. Phone 410-468-2000 or 1-800-492-6116 (TTY 1-800-735-2258). insurance.maryland.gov.

Section 12Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as our services or the law change. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we use information we already hold about you, we will notify you by email or at your next consultation before the change takes effect.

Your continued use of our website or services after an update means you accept the revised policy.