044-54 Wyo. Code R. §§ 54-3 - Definitions

(a) "Affiliate" means a company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company.

(b) "Clear and conspicuous" means a notice is reasonably understandable and designed to call attention to the nature and significance of the information contained therein.

(i) A licensee makes its notice reasonably understandable if it:

(A) Presents the information in the notice in clear, concise sentences, paragraphs, and sections;

(B) Uses short explanatory sentences or bullet lists;

(C) Uses definite, concrete, everyday words, and active voice;

(D) Avoids multiple negatives;

(E) Avoids legal and highly technical business terminology; and

(F) Avoids explanations that are imprecise and readily subject to different interpretations.

(ii) A licensee shall design its notice to call attention to the nature and significance of the information by using:

(A) Plain language headings to call attention to the notice;

(B) Typeface, type size, style, and graphic devices that are distinctive and easy to read;

(C) Wide margins and ample line spacing; and

(D) Boldface or italics for key words.

(iii) Notices on web sites shall call attention to the nature and significance of the information by using text or visual cues to encourage scrolling down the page to view the entire notice and to ensure other elements on the web site (such as text, graphics, hyperlinks, or sound) do not distract from the notice. The licensee shall either:

(A) Place the notice on a screen consumers frequently access, such as a page on which transactions are conducted; or

(B) Place a link on a screen consumers frequently access that connects directly to the notice and is labeled appropriately.

(c) "Collect" means to obtain information that the licensee can organize or retrieve by name of an individual, identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to an individual, regardless of the underlying source of the information.

(d) "Company" means a corporation, limited liability company, business trust, general or limited partnership, association, sole proprietorship, or similar organization.

(e) "Consumer" means an individual or that individual's legal representative who is seeking or who has obtained an insurance product or service from a licensee to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and about whom the licensee has nonpublic personal information and includes:

(i) An individual who provides nonpublic personal information to a licensee in connection with seeking or obtaining financial, investment, or economic advisory services relating to an insurance product or service regardless of whether the licensee establishes an ongoing advisory relationship.

(ii) An applicant for insurance prior to the inception of insurance coverage.

(iii) A consumer of another financial institution is not a licensee's consumer solely because the licensee is acting as agent for, or provides processing or other services to, that financial institution.

(iv) An individual is a licensee's consumer if the individual is:

(A) A beneficiary of a life insurance policy underwritten by the licensee;

(B) A claimant under an insurance policy issued by the licensee;

(C) An insured or an annuitant under an insurance policy or an annuity issued by the licensee; or

(D) A mortgagor of a mortgage covered under a mortgage insurance policy.

(v) Provided the licensee provides the initial, annual, and revised notices to the plan sponsor, group, or blanket insurance policyholder, group annuity contract holder, or workers' compensation policyholder, and the licensee does not disclose to a nonaffiliated third party nonpublic personal financial information about an individual other than as permitted under this regulation, an individual is not the consumer of the licensee solely because he or she is:

(A) A participant or a beneficiary of an employee benefit plan the licensee administers or sponsors or for which the licensee acts as a trustee, insurer, or fiduciary;

(B) Covered under a group or blanket insurance policy or group annuity contract issued by the licensee; or

(C) A claimant covered by a workers' compensation plan.

(vi) The individuals described in the above subparagraphs (v)(A) through (C) are consumers of a licensee if the licensee does not meet all the conditions of paragraph (v).

(vii) In no event shall the individuals, solely by virtue of the status described in subparagraphs (v)(A) through (C) be deemed customers for purposes of this regulation.

(viii) An individual is not a licensee's consumer solely because he or she is a beneficiary or named trustee for a trust.

(f) "Consumer reporting agency" has the same meaning as in Section 603(f) of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)).

(g) "Control" means:

(i) Ownership, control, or power to vote twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting security of the company, directly or indirectly, or acting through one or more other persons;

(ii) Control in any manner over the election of a majority of the directors, trustees, or general partners (or individuals exercising similar functions) of the company; or

(iii) The power to exercise, directly or indirectly, a controlling influence over the management or policies of the company, as determined by the Commissioner.

(h) "Customer" means a consumer who has a customer relationship with a licensee.

(i) "Customer information" means nonpublic personal information, whether in paper, electronic, or other form, maintained by or on behalf of the licensee.

(j) "Customer information systems" means the electronic or physical methods used to access, collect, store, use, transmit, protect, or dispose of customer information.

(k) "Customer relationship" means a continuing relationship between a consumer and a licensee under which the licensee provides one or more insurance products or services to the consumer to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

(i) A consumer has a continuing relationship with a licensee if the consumer:

(A) Is a current policyholder of an insurance product issued by or through the licensee; or

(B) Obtains financial, investment, or economic advisory services relating to an insurance product or service from the licensee for a fee.

(ii) A consumer does not have a continuing relationship with a licensee if the consumer:

(A) Applies for insurance but does not purchase the insurance;

(B) Purchases airline travel insurance from the licensee in an isolated transaction;

(C) Is no longer a current policyholder of an insurance product or no longer obtains insurance services with or through the licensee;

(D) Is a beneficiary or claimant under a policy and has submitted a claim under a policy choosing a settlement option involving an ongoing relationship with the licensee;

(E) Is a beneficiary or a claimant under a policy and has submitted a claim under that policy choosing a lump sum settlement option;

(F) Had a policy that lapsed, expired, or otherwise inactive or dormant under the licensee's business practices, and the licensee has not communicated with the customer about the relationship for a period of twelve (12) consecutive months, other than providing annual privacy notices, material required by law or regulation, communication at the direction of a state or federal authority, or promotional materials;

(G) Is an insured or an annuitant under an insurance policy or annuity, respectively, but is not the policyholder or owner of the insurance policy or annuity; or

(H) Has a last known address according to the licensee's records that is invalid.

(l) "Financial institution" means any institution whose business is engaging in activities that are financial in nature or incidental to such financial activities as described in Section 4(k) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843(k)). Financial institution does not include:

(i) Any person or entity with respect to any financial activity that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.);

(ii) The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation or any entity charged and operating under the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.); or

(iii) Institutions chartered by Congress specifically to engage in securitizations, secondary market sales (including sales of servicing rights), or similar transactions related to a consumer transaction as long as the institutions do not sell or transfer nonpublic personal information to a nonaffiliated third party.

(m) "Financial product or service" means a product or service a financial holding company could offer by engaging in an activity that is financial in nature or incidental to such a financial activity under Section 4(k) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843(k)).

(i) Financial service includes a financial institution"s evaluation or brokerage of information that the financial institution collects in connection with a request or an application from a consumer for a financial product or service.

(n) "Health care" means preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or palliative care, services, procedures, tests, or counseling that:

(i) Relates to the physical, mental, or behavioral condition of an individual;

(ii) Affects the structure or function of the human body or any part of the human body, including the banking of blood, sperm, organs, or any other tissue; or

(iii) Prescribing, dispensing, or furnishing to an individual drugs or biologicals, or medical devices, or health care equipment, and supplies.

(o) "Health care provider" means a physician or other health care practitioner licensed, accredited, or certified to perform specified health services consistent with state law, or a health care facility.

(p) "Health information" means any information or data except age or gender, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, created by or derived from a health care provider or the consumer relating to:

(i) The past, present, or future physical, mental, or behavioral health or condition of an individual;

(ii) The provision of health care to an individual; or

(iii) Payment for the provision of health care to an individual.

(q) "Insurance product or service" means any product or service offered by a licensee pursuant to the Wyoming Insurance Code.

(i) Insurance service includes a licensee's evaluation, brokerage, or distribution of information the licensee collects in connection with a request or an application from a consumer for an insurance product or service.

(r) "Licensee" means all licensed insurers, producers, and other persons licensed or required to be licensed pursuant to the Wyoming Insurance Code, except that "licensee" shall not include: a purchasing group; or an unauthorized insurer regarding surplus line business conducted pursuant to W.S. § 26-11-101 et seq.

(i) A licensee is not subject to the notice and opt-out requirements for nonpublic personal financial information set forth in Articles I, II, III, IV, and VII if the licensee is an employee, agent, or other representative of another licensee (the principal) and:

(A) The principal otherwise complies with and provides the notices required by this regulation; and

(B) The licensee does not disclose any nonpublic personal information to any person other than the principal or its affiliates in a manner permitted by this regulation.

(ii) Subject to subsection (iii) of this subsection, "licensee" shall also include an unauthorized insurer that accepts business placed through a licensed surplus lines broker in Wyoming, but only regarding the surplus lines placements placed pursuant to the Wyoming Insurance Code.

(iii) A surplus lines broker or insurer shall be deemed in compliance with the notice and opt-out requirements for nonpublic personal financial information set forth in Articles I, II, III, IV, and VII provided:

(A) The broker or insurer does not disclose nonpublic personal information of a consumer or a customer to nonaffiliated third parties for any purpose, including joint servicing or marketing under section 14 of this regulation, except as permitted by section 15 or 16 of this regulation; and

(B) The broker or insurer delivers a notice to the consumer at the time a customer relationship is established on which the following is printed in 16-point type:

PRIVACY NOTICE

"Neither the U.S. brokers that handled this insurance nor the insurers underwriting this insurance will disclose nonpublic personal information concerning the buyer to non-affiliates of the brokers or insurers except as permitted by law."

(s) "Nonaffiliated third party" means any person except a licensee's affiliate or a person employed jointly by a licensee and any company that is not the licensee's affiliate (but nonaffiliated third party includes the other company that jointly employs the person).

(i) Nonaffiliated third party includes any company affiliated solely by virtue of the direct or indirect ownership or control of the company by the licensee or its affiliate in conducting merchant banking or investment banking activities of the type described in Section (k)(4)(H) or insurance company investment activities of the type described in Section (k)(4)(I) of the federal Bank Holding Company Act (12 U.S.C. 1843(k)(4)(H) and (I)) or as otherwise defined by Wyoming Statute.

(t) "Nonpublic personal information" includes nonpublic personal financial information and nonpublic personal health information.

(u) "Nonpublic personal financial information" means personally identifiable financial information and any list, description, or other grouping of consumers (and publicly available information pertaining to them) derived using any personally identifiable financial information that is not publicly available.

(i) Nonpublic personal financial information includes any list of individuals' names and street addresses derived in whole or in part using personally identifiable financial information that is not publicly available, such as account numbers.

(ii) Nonpublic personal financial information does not include:

(A) Health information;

(B) Publicly available information, except as included on a list described in subsection (3)(t) above; or

(C) Any list, description or other grouping of consumers (and publicly available information pertaining to them) derived without using any personally identifiable financial information that is not publicly available.

(D) Any list of individuals' names and addresses that contains only publicly available information, is not derived in whole or in part using personally identifiable financial information that is not publicly available, and is not disclosed in a manner indicating that any of the individuals on the list is a consumer of a financial institution.

(v) "Nonpublic personal health information" means health information:

(i) That identifies an individual who is the subject of the information; or

(ii) With respect to which there is a reasonable basis to believe the information could be used to identify an individual.

(w) "Personally identifiable financial information" means any information:

(i) A consumer provides to a licensee to obtain an insurance product or service from the licensee;

(ii) About a consumer resulting from a transaction involving an insurance product or service between a licensee and a consumer; or

(iii) The licensee otherwise obtains about a consumer in connection with providing an insurance product or service to that consumer.

(iv) Personally identifiable financial information includes:

(A) Information a consumer provides to a licensee on an application to obtain an insurance product or service;

(B) Account balance information and payment history;

(C) The fact an individual is or has been one of the licensee's customers or has obtained an insurance product or service from the licensee;

(D) Any information about the licensee's consumer if disclosed in a manner indicating that the individual is or has been the licensee's consumer;

(E) Any information a consumer provides to a licensee or that the licensee or its agent otherwise obtains in connection with collecting on a loan or servicing a loan;

(F) Any information the licensee collects through an Internet cookie (an information-collecting device from a web server); and

(G) Information from a consumer report.

(v) Personally identifiable financial information does not include:

(A) Health information;

(B) A list of names and addresses of customers of an entity that is not a financial institution; and

(C) Information that does not identify a consumer, such as aggregate information or blind data not containing personal identifiers such as account numbers, names or addresses.

(x) "Publicly available information" means any information a licensee has a reasonable basis to believe is lawfully made available to the general public from:

(i) Federal, state, or local government records;

(ii) Widely distributed media; or

(iii) Disclosures to the general public required by federal, state, or local law.

(iv) A licensee has a reasonable basis to believe information is lawfully made available to the general public if the licensee has taken steps to determine:

(A) That the information is of the type available to the general public; and

(B) Whether an individual can direct that the information not be made available to the general public and, if so, that the licensee's consumer has not done so.

(v) "Publicly available information" includes:

(A) Information in government records including real estate records and security interest filings.

(B) Information from widely distributed media such as a telephone book, a television or radio program, newspaper, or a web-site that is available to the general public on an unrestricted basis. A web site is not restricted merely because an Internet service provider or a site operator requires a fee or a password, if available to the general public.

(C) Information a licensee has a reasonable basis to believe is lawfully made available.

(I) Mortgage information is lawfully made available to the general public if the licensee has determined the information is of the type included on the public record in the jurisdiction where the mortgage would be recorded.

(II) An individual's telephone number is lawfully made available to the general public if the licensee has located the telephone number in the telephone book or the consumer has informed licensee that the telephone number is not unlisted.

Notes

044-54 Wyo. Code R. §§ 54-3

Amended, Eff. 4/25/2023.