The South Carolina Department of Insurance (SCDOI) values consumer privacy and collects the personal information necessary to fulfill legitimate public purposes and requests for services by consumers, our users or licensees.  This Privacy Statement describes the type of information we may collect from you when you visit the website at http://doi.sc.gov (Website), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting and disclosing that information.  This privacy statement does not apply to information collected by the SCDOI via third party applications, sites or content (including advertising) that may link to, or be accessible from, or on the Website.

Purpose

The purpose of the statement is to inform users of this Website of the SCDOI’s policies regarding the collection and use of personally identifiable information. Nothing herein should be construed to, nor does it, create any new or different rights than those available under existing State and federal laws. Please read this statement carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we plan to treat it.

By accessing or using this Website, you are agreeing to this privacy statement.

Changes to this Statement

The SCDOI may modify or update this privacy statement from time to time. If we change this privacy statement at some point in the future, we will post the changes on our Website. Your continued use of our Website after changes are posted is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, and this privacy statement, as modified.

INFORMATION COLLECTED THROUGH AUTOMATIC DATA COLLECTION TECHNOLOGIES

When you visit our Website, we may automatically gather and store the information about your visit so that we can track how our Website is used to make improvements. This information is stored and used in the aggregate only and is not used to contact you personally.

If you are using this site to read or download information, we may collect and store the following information for statistical purposes:

• the IP address from which you access our Website.
• the name of the domain from which you access the Internet.
• the type of browser and operating system used to access our Website.
• the date and time you access our Website.
• the pages, files, documents, and links that you visit on our Website.
• the website URL that referred you to this Website (the address for the last website you visited before visiting this one).

The SCDOI collects, retains, and uses personal information only when it is lawful and is essential to administer and to provide services and other opportunities requested by an individual or user from the SCDOI. 

INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE US

The information we collect on or through our Website may include:

• Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website. This includes information provided at the time of subscription to a service or notification, upon applying for a license or other services, filing a complaint or requesting other information.
• Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us.
• Your responses to surveys that we might ask you to complete for research purposes.
• Details of transactions you carry out through our Website.
• Your search queries on the Website.

DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY

Users are not required to provide personal information simply to visit the SCDOI Website or to download information. The SCDOI may request personally identifiable information (PII or information) to provide requested services, but such information is generally handled as it would be on an in-person visit to a government office.   For the purposes of this statement, PII is defined by South Carolina law and includes information relating to an identified or identifiable individual who is the subject of the information such as names, addresses, social security numbers and credit card numbers, etc.  In the course of performing their jobs, SCDOI employees may be able to view, or have access to, the personal information you provide.

The SCDOI strives to protect the data submitted to the agency in accordance with applicable law and state policies and procedures. The SCDOI has implemented the security policies and procedures required by the State of South Carolina.  The South Carolina Division of Information Security’s policies and procedures may be viewed at http://www.admin.sc.gov/technology/information-security.  Although the SCDOI has implemented privacy and security controls to protect confidential information, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you.  If the SCDOI has given you a password to access certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping this password or other login information confidential.  Do not share your password or login information with anyone.

The SCDOI is not responsible for the circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on our Website. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information via the internet is at your own risk. 

Information May Be Subject to Public Disclosure or shared in accordance with applicable law

FOIA Laws

The SCDOI is a state agency, and information collected by the SCDOI may be subject to disclosure under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other applicable laws.  There are exemptions within FOIA laws to the public’s right to access certain records to preserve the privacy of individuals. Such exemptions may be authorized by both State and federal FOIA laws. Information collected by the SCDOI, like information collected during an in-person visit to a government office, may be subject to inspection and copying by the public unless an exemption in the FOIA or other law exists.  In the event there is a conflict between this privacy statement and a state or federal law governing the disclosure of public records, the applicable state or federal law shall control. 

Subpoena or Other Legal Process

We may also be required by law to disclose your data without your consent and without notice to comply with valid legal process such as a subpoena, court order or search warrant. 

S.C. Family Privacy Protection Act

The Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002 prohibits persons or private entities from using any personal information obtained from the SCDOI’s Website for commercial solicitation purposes. A person knowingly violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties specified in S.C. Code Ann. § 30-2-50(D). 

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA)

This Website is not geared towards children under 13 years of age.  Younger visitors must check with their parents or guardians before entering information on any website. We strongly encourage families to implement and discuss guidelines regarding the sharing of personal information online.

Use of Cookies

The SCDOI Website does not create “cookies,” i.e., packets of data sent by a server to a browser and used to identify the user or track their access to the server. However, some applications available via the State’s network create “cookies” to hold user information. These “cookies” are then sent to, and stored on, the user’s computer. Any application or webpage that uses “cookies” will identify itself as such. This information is handled in the same way as other PII obtained by State systems. No user information will be gathered using “cookies” except that which is required to run the specific application(s) being accessed by the user.

Use of Email Addresses

Email addresses may be collected by the SCDOI for communication and other business purposes.  The information collected is subject to the access and confidentiality provisions of the State’s FOIA and other applicable sections of the South Carolina Code of Laws and/or federal law. Email or other information requests sent to the SCDOI Website may be maintained to enable the SCDOI to: respond to the request, forward that request to the appropriate agency, communicate updates to the SCDOI page that may be of interest to users, or provide the SCDOI web designer with valuable customer feedback to assist in improving the site. Individuals will be provided with the option to subscribe/unsubscribe to communications regarding new service updates at any time. 

Certain licensees are required by law to provide the SCDOI with current email addresses. 

Non-SCDOI WebSites

Various websites may be linked through the SCDOI. This may include websites of other governmental agencies, as well as websites of private entities. Many of these sites may not be subject to the South Carolina Code of Laws or may operate under different privacy standards. Visitors to those websites are advised to check the privacy statements of those sites and be cautious about providing PII without a clear understanding of how the information will be used.

Once you leave the SCDOI’s Website, you are subject to the privacy policy for the sites you are visiting. The SCDOI is not responsible for the content of any other non-SCDOI webpage or site. A link to a page does not constitute an endorsement of the page or its contents.

CONTACT US

Concerns or questions about this privacy statement may be directed to privacymatters@doi.sc.gov.