Privacy and security

Your personal information is important

We take its protection seriously

iA Financial Group makes every effort to ensure the security of the personal information you entrust to us. That’s why we’re re-examining, revaluating and reinforcing our processes. It’s our commitment to you.

Read our Privacy Policy

Learn more

What we’re doing to protect you

The crucial steps we’re taking to ensure your personal information is secure.

We take the measures required to fortify our IT infrastructure. Access to your personal information is under the continuous protection of a team of professionals, as well as state-of-the-art monitoring tools and technology.

In addition, iA Financial Group websites are secured using various safeguards, including:

  • secure login procedures
  • two-step verification
  • data encryption
  • secure session management
  • public key certificates
  • firewalls
  • real-time fraud detection

Our employees and advisors are trained to handle your personal information with care and respect, and to follow best practices. We also insist that our suppliers follow these high standards.

More specifically, here are some of the standards that dictate how your information is processed at iA Financial Group:

  • Use and access to personal information is limited to the purposes for which it was collected and consented to and in accordance with applicable laws.
  • Access to personal information is limited to the employees who need it for the execution of their duties and is reviewed periodically.
  • Any use of your personal information must be validated by a manager.
  • Your personal information is stored only for the intended period of time necessary and will be deleted when your business relationship with iA Financial Group ends. Recently, almost 300,000 client data files were deleted.

Your information will only be disclosed with your consent and for essential, intended and legal purposes and our suppliers are required to exercise the same diligence.

Whether it’s online, on the phone or in person with your advisor, we will always confirm your identity. It’s to keep your information safe!

In addition, when gathering personal information we always follow the standards established by the company, including the following practices:

  • We will never ask you for your password or your PIN code.
  • Except for purposes of authentication when you contact us, we strongly encourage you to never disclose personal information over the phone (debit card number, date of birth, social insurance number, etc.).
  • We do not contact clients to obtain their confidential information.

Access to most of our buildings, as well as to our IT systems and infrastructure, is limited to authorized personnel only. Our buildings are under constant surveillance.

What you can do

3 simple reflexes you can develop to be more secure

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Avoid sharing your sensitive personal information online or over the phone with unknown parties.

Despite the many protective measures in place, when using the internet you have to keep in mind that security and confidentiality cannot be fully guaranteed beyond a doubt. It’s your responsibility to be careful with the information you choose to disclose. The personal information that fraudsters look for most is:

  • Your personal information (full name, date of birth, address)
  • Your bank account numbers
  • Your identification documents (social insurance, drivers license, passport)
  • Your passwords and the answers to your security questions

Be careful about the information you post about yourself on social media. As much as possible, limit your posts to smaller, private groups of people you trust. Don’t post everything publicly.

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Be vigilant when someone contacts you by email, by text or over the phone.

Fraudsters can be very creative when it comes to trying to get their hands on your personal information. Most of the time, they try to pass as a credible organization, but the supposed reason for contacting you is always surprising or alarming.

The strategies they use often have several points in common:

  • They signal a problem — E.g.: There has been suspicious activity related to your account. Please act quickly.
  • They say it’s very urgent — E.g.: You must immediately pay back an unexpected amount or risk serious problems.
  • They promise an unexpected gain — E.g.: You’ve won an amazing amount of money or a gift. Claim it now.

If you are unsure about the authenticity of a message or the sender:

  • Don’t click on any links in the message.
  • Don’t open any attached files.
  • Don’t reply to the sender, so that you don’t confirm the validity of your email address.

Learn more about different types of identity theft here.

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Use safe practices when using your electronic devices

Fraud techniques and attempts are constantly evolving. To protect your personal information, always be careful when using electronic devices.

Protect your computer

  • Keep your devices up to date and install protective measures such as security software and firewalls.
  • Make sure the websites you browse and the files you download are legitimate. Protect your mobile devices
  • Activate your phone’s screen lock and add a password, PIN or pattern to unlock it.
  • Only download applications from trusted sources and install the latest updates and security patches.
  • Don’t share sensitive information when you are logged into a public wifi network.

Wait until you have access to a secure network or use mobile data.

  • Don't leave your phone unattended and enable the phone's location and remote data wipe functions.
  • Back up your data regularly on a secure medium and then delete it from your device before you have it repaired, sold or traded.

Finally, make strong and unique passwords for each of your accounts. A strong password contains a minimum of 12 characters and combines upper case and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

For example:

  • Weak password: Kitten
  • Strong password: B85tz532*

Worried about a message you received from iA Financial Group or from one of its subsidiaries?

Contact us

If you suspect that individuals are acting fraudulently on behalf of iA Financial Group, please report it by writing to us at one of the following addresses:

fraud@ia.ca

For customers of an insurance or group savings product
investigation@ia.ca