Collecting your personal information

We (Royal Bank of Canada) may from time to time collect financial and other information about you such as:

• information establishing your identity (for example, name, address, phone number, date of birth, etc.) and your personal background;
• information related to transactions arising from your relationship with and through us, and from other financial institutions;
• information you provide on an application for any of our products and services;
• information for the provision of products and services; and
• information about financial behaviour such as your payment history and credit worthiness.

We may collect and confirm this information during the course of our relationship. We may obtain this information from a variety of sources, including from you, from service arrangements you make with or through us, from credit reporting agencies and financial institutions, from registries, from references you provide to us and from other sources, as is necessary for the provision of our products and services.

You acknowledge receipt of notice that from time to time reports about you may be obtained by us from credit reporting agencies.

Using your personal information

This information may be used from time to time for the following purposes:

• to verify your identity and investigate your personal background;
• to open and operate your account(s) and provide you with products and services you may request;
• to better understand your financial situation;
• to determine your eligibility for products and services we offer;
• to help us better understand the current and future needs of our clients;
• to communicate to you any benefit, feature and other information about products and services you have with us;
• to help us better manage our business and your relationship with us;
• to maintain the accuracy and integrity of information held by a credit reporting agency; and
• as required or permitted by law.

For these purposes, we may:

• make this information available to our employees, our agents and service providers, who are required to maintain the confidentiality of this information;
• share this information with other financial institutions; and
• give credit, financial and other related information to credit reporting agencies who may share it with others.

In the event our service provider is located outside of Canada, the service provider is bound by, and the information may be disclosed in accordance with, the laws of the jurisdiction in which the service provider is located.

Upon your request, we may give this information to other persons.

We may also use this information and share it with RBC companies (i) to manage our risks and operations and those of RBC companies, (ii) to comply with valid requests for information about you from regulators, government agencies, public bodies or other entities who have a right to issue such requests, and (iii) to let RBC companies know your choices under “Other uses of your personal information” for the sole purpose of honouring your choices.

If we have your social insurance number, we may use it for tax related purposes if you hold a product generating income and share it with the appropriate government agencies, and we may also share it with credit reporting agencies as an aid to identify you.

Other uses of your personal information

• We may use this information to promote our products and services, and promote products and services of third parties we select, which may be of interest to you. We may communicate with you through various channels, including telephone, computer or mail, using the contact information you have provided.
• We may also, where not prohibited by law, share this information with RBC companies for the purpose of referring you to them or promoting to you products and services which may be of interest to you. We and RBC companies may communicate with you through various channels, including telephone, computer or mail, using the contact information you have provided. You acknowledge that as a result of such sharing they may advise us of those products or services provided.
• If you also deal with RBC companies, we may, where not prohibited by law, consolidate this information with information they have about you to allow us and any of them to manage your relationship with RBC companies and our business.

You understand that we and RBC companies are separate, affiliated corporations. RBC companies include our affiliates which are engaged in the business of providing any one or more of the following services to the public: deposits, loans and other personal financial services; credit, charge and payment card services; trust and custodial services; securities and brokerage services; and insurance services.

You may choose not to have this information shared or used for any of these “Other uses” by contacting us as set out below, and in this event, you will not be refused credit or other services just for that reason. We will respect your choices and, as mentioned above, we may share your choices with RBC companies for the sole purpose of honouring your choices regarding “Other uses of your personal information”.

Your right to access your personal information

You may obtain access to the information we hold about you at any time and review its content and accuracy, and have it amended as appropriate; however, access may be restricted as permitted or required by law. To request access to such information, to ask questions about our privacy policies or to request that the information not be used for any or all of the purposes outlined in “Other uses of your personal information” you may do so now or at any time in the future by:

• contacting your branch; or
• calling us toll free at 1-800-769-2511.

Our privacy policies

You may obtain more information about our privacy policies by asking for a copy of our “Financial fraud prevention and privacy protection” brochure, by calling us at the toll free number shown above or by visiting our web site at www.rbc.com/privacysecurity