Online Privacy Policy

This Online Privacy Policy only applies to personal information collected on websites with a link to this Online Privacy Policy, and does not apply to information collected by MetLife through any other means.

It covers how we collect, use, and share personal information as of the date that this Online Privacy Policy is posted.

It also covers information submitted and collected online, and does not necessarily apply to information that MetLife collects offline.

And it only covers websites maintained by MetLife for our domestic operations.  Also, this policy doesn’t apply to any other websites maintained by other companies or organizations to which we link.  MetLife is, therefore, not responsible for the content or activities provided on those websites.

Personal information is information that identifies you and can be used to contact you directly.  We only collect personal information voluntarily given to us by our visitors.  Generally, we don't require you to give us personal information to access public areas of our website.  Certain secure web areas, however, enable or require you to provide personal information online when you use specific features on our website.  For example, we collect personal information from you when you:

1. Apply for or obtain a MetLife product or service
2. Register to access your financial account information
3. Ask to have a MetLife representative contact you
4. Ask to receive information about our products or services
5. Purchase merchandise from our online store
6. Participate in any MetLife promotion or survey
7. Request customer or technical support

For example, this information may include:

1. name
2. account or policy number
3. social security number
4. credit card number
5. telephone number
6. email address, and
7. postal or billing address

Additionally, we may also collect other types of information like your age or date of birth, gender, occupation, hobbies, and other preferences. 

Children

We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. 

Information We Collect Through Technology

We collect information through technology to enhance our ability to serve you.  For example, when you come to one of our websites, we collect your IP address.  An IP address is often associated with the portal you used to enter the Internet, like your ISP (Internet service provider), company, association, or university.  Standing alone, however, your IP address is not personally identifiable.  At times, we also use IP addresses to study the frequency that our visitors visit various areas of our websites.  We may combine this information with personal information. Finally, our websites do not respond to browser Do Not Track signals or other similar mechanisms.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Our websites also use cookies and web beacons to collect and store information.

Cookies are pieces of information that a website sends to your computer while you are viewing the website. We use cookies for a variety of purposes. For example, when you return to one of our websites after logging in, cookies provide information to the website so that the website will remember who you are.  You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies.  You can do this through your browser (e.g., Netscape or Internet Explorer) settings.  Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.  If you turn cookies off, you won't have access to many features that make your web experience smoother, and some of our services may not function properly.

Web beacons are small pieces of data that are embedded in images on the pages of websites and in our email communications.  We also use these web beacons to analyze the traffic patterns, such as the frequency users visit various areas of our websites.  These technical methods may involve transmitting information either directly to us or to another entity authorized by us to collect information on our behalf.  We also use web beacons in HTML e-mails that we send our visitors to determine whether our visitors have opened those e-mails or clicked on links in those e-mails.

Network Advertisers.  Advertisements managed by third parties may be placed on our websites.  These companies are called 'network advertisers.'  Network advertisers placing advertisements on our websites may also use cookies and web beacons to collect information when you click on or move your cursor over one of their banner advertisements.  You may not realize this information is being collected.  In some cases, we may have access to information from web beacons and cookies used by network advertisers on our sites, and this information may permit us to identify other sites that you have visited that are also associated with the network advertiser.  In doing so, however, network advertisers do not collect personal information, and we do not give any personally identifiable information to them.

For more information about our ad service provider and its cookies, including information about how to opt out of these technologies, go to www.doubleclick.net/us/corporate/privacy

Finally, once you've clicked on an advertisement and have left our websites, our Online Privacy Policy no longer applies, and you must read the privacy policy of the advertiser to see how your personal information will be handled on their website.

Whatever the purpose may be, we will only collect information to the extent reasonably necessary to fulfill your requests and our legitimate business objectives.  We may also use and disclose your personal information to our affiliates and others for any purpose allowed by law.

MetLife Online Activities and Updates

For example, we use and may disclose your personal information to:

• authenticate your identity
• provide you with online planning tools
• process an application for our products and administer your account information
• respond to your product or service information requests
• send you customer newsletters and updates
• provide you with additional materials that may be of interest, including marketing materials, 
• for other everyday business purposes, such as product development and website administration

e-Cards

When you send an e-card describing any of our products to your friends and family, we delete both sender and recipient email address information after you send the e-card.

Purchase or Sale of Businesses

From time to time, we may purchase a business or sell one or more of our businesses and your personal information may be transferred as a part of the purchase or sale.  If we purchase a business, the personal information received with that business would be treated in accordance with all of our privacy policies, including this Online Privacy Policy, if it is practicable and permissible to do so.  If we sell a business, we will include provisions in the selling contract requiring the purchaser to treat your personal information in the same way required by our privacy policies.  The provisions of this paragraph will also apply if we are sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

Disclosures Required By Law and Disclosures to Help Protect the Security and Safety of Our Websites and Others

We may disclose any information as permitted or required by law, when we believe in good faith it is necessary for safety purposes, required for legal reporting, or to protect our legal rights or enforce our Terms of Use or any contest rules.  We may also disclose information about you to our auditors, regulators, legal advisors, or to respond to a subpoena.

We don’t share our customer’s personal information with unaffiliated third parties for their own direct marketing purposes. 

If you signed up to receive newsletters or other e-mail messages from us, you can opt-out any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the message.  You may also choose to opt-out from receiving marketing materials from us by making a request at www.metlife.com/optout.

Finally, at this time, our websites do not respond to browser Do Not Track signals or similar mechanisms.

The security and confidentiality of your information is extremely important to us.  That’s why we have technical, administrative, and physical security measures in place to protect your personal information from unauthorized access and improper use.  For example, the areas of our website that enable or require you to submit personal information online use encryption to protect that information.  We also review our security procedures periodically to consider appropriate new technology and updated methods.  But, despite our reasonable efforts, no security measure is ever perfect or impenetrable.

You can contact your Agent directly to update your personal information.  You can also use our  to submit any changes to your contact information.

If you have questions or wish to send us comments about this Online Privacy Policy, e-mail us at privacy@metlife.com or call or write to us at:

MetLife, Inc.
Attn.: Privacy Policy Administrator
P.O. Box 489
Warwick, RI 02887-9954
(877) 638-7684

You can also contact us through our  form. 

We may amend this Online Privacy Policy at any time.  If we make any material change in how we collect your personal information online, or how we use or share it, we will prominently post notice of the changes on the websites covered by this Online Privacy Policy.  Any material changes to this Online Privacy Policy will be effective 10 days after our posting of notice of the changes on the websites covered by this Online Privacy Policy.