Our goal is to make your online interaction with Pacific Blue
Cross (PBC) and British Columbia Life & Casualty Company (BC Life)
as valuable as possible, delivering information that is relevant to
your needs. We understand many people have concerns about the security
of their information, especially when providing their information via
the Internet. We are committed to protect the information you provide
us online in the same way we protect all our customer information. We
take the privacy of customer data very seriously at PBC/BC Life as you
can see in our
privacy commitment.
Your information is not automatically accessible via the Internet. Once
you request online access to your information, we request specific information
about you to confirm your identity. We then use several security measures
to confirm this information, and only then do we allow online access
to your information.
When making purchases via our Web site, your credit card information
is safe and secured. Reliable and trusted service providers who specialize
in processing online payments handle all credit card transactions on
our behalf.
How we protect your information online
On our Web site, we use a combination of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption,
firewalls and timed logouts to ensure confidentiality. The following
explains the technologies used to secure your information.
- A firewall: restricts unauthorized access
to our networks where your information is stored; and
- Timed Sign outs: which terminate
your connection to us after a certain period of inactivity
As well, all our systems are constantly monitored and we are alerted
to any suspicious activity.
The Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
SSL is an industry standard protocol used for communication between
your Web browser and our Web servers. It provides
authentication,
data integrity and
encryption.
Your browser may give you a message indicating you are entering a secure
Web site. You may also see a blue box outlining the secure page. And
if you usually see a broken key or open lock in the lower left corner
of your screen, you'll notice it change to a full key or closed lock.
Secured transactions are also indicated in location or address bar of
your browser by the prefix https:// rather than http:// (https stands
for hyper-text transfer protocol, secured).
- Authentication
Authentication confirms that you are who you say you are, and verifies
that you are communicating with a PBC/BC Life Web server. There
are two parts to the authentication process, digital certificates
as well as your identification and password.
The Secure Socket Layer uses digital certificates to confirm with
your Web browser that you are accessing our Web server. Our Web
site uses Verisign digital certificates, the strongest security
available for Web sites. Digital certificates let you verify whom
you are dealing with. Our certificate allows you to confirm that
you are dealing with Pacific Blue Cross (aka PBC Health Benefits
Society)/BC Life and that we own the Web site to which you
are connected.
You can check the digital certificate for our Web site to establish
that you have a secure connection by simply clicking on the Verisign
seal whenever you see it appear on our site.
Some of our services require you to have a personal digital ID certificate
installed on your computer. We provide specific instructions for
installing this personal digital ID only when it is required by
our systems. For most of the services we provide on our Web site,
this personal digital ID is not required.
Your user ID, or group and ID numbers as well as your password are
confirmed to ensure your information is provided only to the correct
identification and corresponding password. Incorrect identification
and/or password will result in failure to access your information.
- Data integrity
The Secure Socket Layer ensures that any alteration to the contents
of your message, either intentional or by accident, will be identified
and handled in an appropriate manner.
- Encryption
The Secure Socket Layer encrypts or "scrambles" the content
we transmit into an unreadable format using complex mathematical
equations, called algorithms before it travels across the Internet
to your Web browser. This makes it difficult for unauthorized interceptors
to understand. Encryption codes the information ensuring that only
your Web browser and our Web server can decode it effectively.
Your Web browser will display a closed padlock icon when data is
encrypted. An open lock or no image is displayed during an unencrypted
session.
Firewall
Our systems are protected by firewalls that are a combination of the
latest in computer hardware and software to separate the Internet
from PBC/BC Life Web servers and computer systems. The purpose
of a firewall is to prevent unauthorized access and malicious attacks
to customer information and business systems. By using a firewall,
PBC/BC Life is ensuring your information is always protected.
Timed Sign outs
Our Web services are time sensitive in that an online session will
be terminated after a certain period of inactivity. This is a security
measure to help prevent unauthorized access to our systems if an individual
leaves their computer unattended for an extended period of time while
connected to our Web site.
What you can do to keep your information secure
These are some easy steps you can take to keep your information secure:
- Memorize your user ID or group and ID numbers and your password
rather than keeping the e-mail we send or a printed hard copy. If
you must keep a hard or soft copy, separate the information and
keep it secure locations.
- Do not share your user ID, group and ID numbers or password with
anyone else.
- Do not leave your computer unattended while your Web browser is
still running.
- Empty your disk cache at the end of your Web session. To do this,
select the menu item that allows you to empty disk cache.
- Set your disk cache to 0.
All Web browsers have a default setting that caches their Web activity.
This means your browser copies the information you see on-screen, like
graphics and text files, to the memory and hard disk of your computer.
Once loaded into your cache, the browser no longer has to download the
information through the Internet, which makes revisiting a Web site
or exploring a new Web site faster.
Other people who access your computer can access the disk cache and
may be able to view the contents of your previous Web activity. You
can set your disk cache to 0 to ensure nothing is stored on your hard
disk. You won't be able to access previously viewed pages as quickly,
but your security will be enhanced.
