When you have come to NexGen Hearing with your hearing loss needs, you entrust us with your personal information. NexGen Hearing is committed to the protection of your personal information and we have established policies and procedures regarding the way we treat your personal information.

Personal information about you

NexGen Hearing’s Privacy Officer is accountable for the protection of your personal information and for compliance with the Personal Information Protection Act, this policy, and where appropriate, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Information we collect

We only collect information about you if we have a reason to do so — for example, to provide our Services, to communicate with you, or to make our Services better. We collect this information from three sources: if and when you provide information to us, automatically through accessing our Services, and from direct communications between you and your practitioner.

Let’s review the information that we collect

  • Contact information: Through the contact forms on the website, we ask for your name, email, telephone number, postal code, country and preferred clinic location.
  • Communications with us: You may provide us with information when you engage in a chat, type a search query, respond to surveys, or communicate with our customer experience team about a support question, or through our social media channels.
  • Online hearing test: To send you the results of your free online hearing test we will collect your name, email and results of the test. Should your results be a failed test, you will receive an invitation to participate in further education about hearing loss.
  • Job applicant information:  If you apply for a job with us — we are great to work with! You may provide us with information like your name, contact information, resume or CV, and work authorization verification as part of the application process.
  • Client Intake Form/Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) Form with medical history:  This information will be sent via an encrypted form (online form submission) and will only be accessed by the participating clinic that you will be booking an appointment directly with. Consent for disclosure of this information must be received before NexGen Hearing can share it with your physician or benefits provider.
    • Contact information, name, address, email, phone number
    • Date of birth
    • Family physician and third-party hearing loss claim or file number (if applicable)
    • Preferred payment terms for our services
    • Personal Health Number
    • Personal and family medical history (relevant to hearing health care)
    • Hearing test results
    • Measurements necessary to provide hearing devices or hearing loss services

Use of information

Except where permitted to do so by law, we only collect and use your personal information after we have provided you with the purpose for which we collect the personal information, and after you have consented to our doing so. We will not use your personal information for any additional use unless we advise you of the additional intended use and obtain your consent.

NexGen Hearing will make reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal information is as accurate, complete and current as required for the purposes for which we collect it.

How we use cookies on our website

A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Pixel tags (also called web beacons) are small blocks of code placed on websites and emails. NexGen Hearing website uses cookies and other technologies like pixel tags to help us identify and track visitors, usage, and access preferences for our Services, as well as track and understand email campaign effectiveness and to deliver targeted ads.

Both website and HTML emails may also contain other tracking technologies such as “web beacons” or “pixels.” These are typically small transparent images that provide us with statistics, for similar purposes as cookies. They are often used in conjunction with cookies, though they are not stored on your computer in the same way. As a result, if you disable cookies, web beacons may still load, but their functionality will be restricted.

Types of cookies

The table below explains the types of cookies we use on our website and why we use them.

Category of cookies

Why we use these cookies

Strictly Necessary

These cookies are essential for websites on our services to perform their basic functions. These include those required to allow registered users to authenticate and perform account related functions, as well as to save the contents of virtual “carts” on sites that have an e-commerce functionality.

Functionality

These cookies are used to store preferences set by users such as account name, language, and location.

Security

We use these cookies to help identify and prevent potential security risks.

Analytics and Performance

Performance cookies collect information on how users interact with our websites, including what pages are visited most, as well as other analytical data. We use these details to improve how our websites function and to understand how users interact with them.

Third Party / Embedded Content

To provide the services and products we have been retained to provide; such as WorkSafe BC, Veterans Affairs or insurers of your personal information necessary to fulfill our contractual requirements with them pursuant to which we provide our services to you and to be paid for our products and services.

How do we use and disclose your personal information?

  • Third party contact:  To provide the services and products we have been retained to provide; such as WorkSafe BC, Veterans Affairs or insurers of your personal information necessary to fulfill our contractual requirements with them pursuant to which we provide our services to you and to be paid for our products and services.
  • To improve our services to you:  NexGen Hearing reserves the right to disclose your personal information as allowed or required by law.
  • To market our services and measure, gauge, and improve the effectiveness of our marketing:  For example, by targeting our marketing messages to groups of our users (segmented according to their identified interests and hearing needs), advertising our services, analyzing the results of our marketing campaigns (such as how many people chose to contact us for a free hearing test, or request more information after receiving a marketing message), and understanding and forecasting user retention.
  • To communicate with you:  For example we may email or text you to request feedback about your recent appointment, share tips for getting the most out of our products, or keep you up to date on events happening at a local clinic near you; texting you to verify your appointment; or calling you to share offers and promotions that we think will be of interest to you. If you don’t want to hear from us, you can opt out of marketing communications at any time. Don’t worry if you opt out, we’ll still send you important updates relating to your appointments.

How do we ensure the security of your personal information?

NexGen Hearing is committed to ensuring that the appropriate security measures are employed with regard to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. Access to your personal hard copy file is strictly limited to employees of NexGen Hearing who need to use the personal information to provide our services to you. Our offices are equipped with locking filing cabinets and/or alarm systems for the building. Any hard copy records not required will be rendered unreadable, typically by shredding, before disposal.

Electronic records kept on our computers are protected by passwords, firewalls, and where appropriate encryption. Where a hard drive containing personal information is no longer used, all personal information will be removed or rendered unusable before the hard drive is disposed of.

While NexGen Hearing is committed to taking all reasonable steps to ensure the security and privacy of your personal information, it is possible that, despite our best efforts, our security systems may be breached (for example, break-in, computer hacking). If a privacy or security breach occurs, NexGen Hearing will notify you and/or the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of BC, of the nature of the breach, what personal information has been taken or compromised and what steps we have taken to correct the breach and retrieve the information.

Where your hearing services are being paid for through a third party such as WorkSafeBC or Veterans Affairs, we will, where legally permissible, notify the third-party provider of the nature of the privacy and/or security breach, and any personal information that was taken or compromised. Where appropriate, we will notify the police and in the course of doing so, may notify them of any personal information that was taken or compromised.

How long do we keep your personal information?

  • We maintain your personal information while you are a patient and during the time it is required to serve you or while there are legal requirements to do so. When destroying, deleting or disposing of personal information, we have strict procedures in place to prevent unauthorized access.
  • All patient personal information in our custody or control is only stored in and is accessible only from Canada.
  • We do not transfer, sell or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third parties without your consent, except as required for the purposes of administering your hearing services and providing information requested from authorized government organizations (i.e. Veteran’s Affairs, WorkSafe BC, etc.).

How do I access my personal information?

Except where we are required or permitted to refuse access to your personal information by law, you have at all times during regular business hours the right to access your personal information in our custody or control. We require two business days notice, and reserve the right to charge for photocopying documents and for searches for your personal information, but shall advise you in advance if we intend to charge and what any charge will be. If we refuse access to your personal information, we will notify you of the reason why.

How to reach us

We are committed to assisting you with any questions or concerns about how we collect, use, or disclose your personal information or how to obtain access to your personal information. If you have questions or concerns, please contact us through our web form or via email at info@nexgenhearing.com. These options are the most effective way to get a response to your inquiry, but you can also contact us by calling toll free: 1-866-889-3301.