Masters Title & Escrow’s Privacy Policy Regarding Non-Public Personal Information
Effective February 1, 2015
Masters Title & Escrow respects the privacy and security of your non-public personal information (NPI) and is dedicated to ensuring financial protection for our policyholders and others with whom we do business with by providing quality products and exceptional service.
In order to provide quality products and services, we may require access to certain NPI which is personally identifiable data such as information provided by a customer on a form or application, information about a customer’s transactions, or any other information about a customer which is otherwise unavailable to the general public. While access to NPI may be critical, the protection of that information is equally important.
NPI includes first name or first initial and last name coupled with any of the following: Social Security Number, driver’s license number, state-issued ID number, credit card number, debit card number, or other financial account numbers.
Masters Title & Escrow works hard to protect the security and confidentiality of your personal information. In accordance with the provisions of federal law, Masters Title & Escrow maintains policies and procedures regarding the collection and disclosure of information considered to be NPI.
This privacy statement applies to personal information we obtain anytime you interact with Masters Title & Escrow.
What Information We Collect, and Why. Masters Title & Escrow obtains nonpublic personal information about our consumers from information:
• we receive from you orally or in writing on transaction forms and applications
• we secure from our files or from our affiliates or others
• we receive from others involved in your transaction, such as the real estate agent or lender
• we may receive from a consumer reporting agency
We routinely ask for your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, financial information (which may include mortgage payoff information and sometimes debit/credit card information), and any other identifying data (such as driver’s license, state-issued ID, your social security number or date of birth) to facilitate the processing of our services and the management of our customers’ transactions and business.
Masters Title & Escrow does not collect any NPI from our website. Please do not send personal information to Masters Title & Escrow via an unsecured email message. We recommend that you send personal information to Masters Title & Escrow via postal mail, courier, phone or fax.
Your provision of any NPI constitutes your agreement to this privacy policy, which may be amended from time to time. Do not provide any NPI (or allow others to do so on your behalf) if you (or your principal, if you are acting as an agent) do not agree with all of the terms including this privacy statement and any applicable supplemental privacy statement.
Disclosing Personal Information to Others. Masters Title & Escrow strictly limits disclosure of NPI; however, we may share the necessary personal or transaction details only to the extent necessary with (a) financial and non financial entities (such as our agents, lenders, and underwriters) that perform a part of the transaction that you have requested, (b) our employees, agents, independent contractors, data processors, auditors, bankers, insurers, lawyers, consultants, and other service providers, and (c) government agencies in compliance with law or with a subpoena.
Masters Title & Escrow requires that employees having access to NPI take special precautions to protect the confidentiality of NPI. Access to NPI is limited to those who have a need for that information in order to perform their job responsibilities.
We shall not sell or rent the information we collect to third parties so that they can use it to directly contact you for their own promotional purposes. We will not provide your e-mail address, postal address, or telephone number to our business partners or other unaffiliated third parties for the purpose of allowing them to offer you products and services directly.
Security. Masters Title & Escrow employs technology, expert services, and operational procedures designed to protect the integrity and confidentiality of our communications and data processing and storage. These practices (including encryption, firewalls, physical access controls, and other appropriate techniques) meet or exceed the regulatory requirements and examination guidelines established by the relevant US federal, state financial services supervisory agencies and trade organizations.
Access to personal information is restricted to employees and service providers who need to have access to that information as described in this privacy statement. Our service providers are required to observe standards for the security, collection, use and sharing of personal information, and to comply with applicable law.
Documents containing NPI are required to be stored in secured areas or in computer applications having password protections. Documents containing NPI must be destroyed by placing them in the secured shredding boxes provided by Masters Title & Escrow’s shredding services vendor.
Preventing Identity Theft. Masters Title & Escrow recognizes the importance of protecting your personal information and is therefore committed to its protection. Please be advised that Masters Title & Escrow will never initiate requests for personal information or request such information from you by fax or email. Please do not send personal information to Masters Title & Escrow via unsecured email message. We recommend that you send personal information to Masters Title & Escrow via postal mail, courier, phone or fax.
Do not be misled by emails that appear to be from us and ask for personal information. If you receive a suspicious email requesting your personal information, please forward the email immediately to us.
Settlement is a private meeting. Settlement is not considered a public meeting. Audio and video recording is prohibited.
Our compliance officer has responsibility for monitoring compliance with our Privacy Policy.
Website Privacy Policy
Log Files. As true of most Websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system and date/time stamp data.
We use this information, which does not identify individual users, to analyze trends, to administer the site, to track users’ movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.
Cookies. A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s computer for record-keeping purposes. We DO NOT use cookies on this site.
Links to Other Sites. This Website contains links to other sites that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites.
We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy policies of each and every Website that collects personal information.
This Website privacy policy applies only to information collected by this Website.
Will Masters Title & Escrow sell data gathered to anyone? No, Masters Title & Escrow does not and never will sell any data to anyone.
Who monitors our privacy policy? Masters Title & Escrow’s policies are closely monitored by Masters Title & Escrow’s management team. Masters Title & Escrow is committed to inform users directly if there is any change in Masters Title & Escrow’s privacy policy.
Changes to our privacy policy. Masters Title & Escrow reserves the right to amend this policy at any time. Unless stated otherwise, any changes performed to this document will become effective as of the date a revised version is posted on our website.
If you have questions about information security, privacy, or usage of NPI at Masters Title & Escrow that were not answered here, please contact us at the following address:
Daniel P. Murphy, Esq.
Masters Title & Escrow
10411 Motor City Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20817
240 630-3700
dan@MastersTitle.com
