Morningstar India Privacy Policy
Last updated: 8 December 2020
Morningstar India Private Limited and Morningstar Investment Adviser India Private Limited are each indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. In this Privacy Policy, "Morningstar", “us”, “our”, or “we” refers to the specific Morningstar India entity with whom you are contracting for the products or services in question, and “you” refers to any person about whom we collect or hold personal information hereunder, as more fully described below (“personal information”).
We recognize that maintaining the privacy of your personal information matters to you, and we are committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines the types of personal information we may gather about you, how we may use it, with whom we may share it, the means by which we keep it secure, and the choices you have about information that you choose to share with us or we gather about you.
This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we hold that is collected in India. By using our products or services, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of any personal information and any related information in the manner described in this Privacy Policy. Under the current laws of India, "personal information" consists of information relating to your passwords; financial information, such as your bank account, credit card, debit card, or other payment instrument details; physical, physiological, and mental health conditions; sexual orientation; medical records and history; and biometric information.
Personal information we collect
We offer a variety of products and services to individuals and non-individuals. The types of information, including personal information, that we collect from you will depend on the product or service you receive from us. We may ask you for, or obtain with regard to you, the following categories of information:
- Your name, phone number, physical address, and email address.
- Demographic information, such as your age, gender, occupation, income range, investment preferences, etc.
- Your bank account, credit card, and/or investment account details.
- Password (if/when an online subscription is established with you).
- The name of your employing company, certain details about your employing company, certain details about your role at your employing company, etc.
Why we collect personal information
Morningstar may collect, store, and process certain personal information pertaining to you to provide you with our products and services; conduct marketing and research-related activities; supply other administrative services (e.g., setting up new accounts); respond to inquiries; provide information about other products and services that we or our related companies offer from time to time, etc. In addition, we may, from time to time, review your usage of our products and services in order to assess how we can improve them.
How we collect personal information
We will collect personal information directly from you, unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so. The personal information we collect may be captured from a variety of sources including, but not limited to:
▪︎ Direct contact with us or use of our products or services, including, without limitation, any of our websites.
▪︎ Registration/application to receive any product or service that we offer.
▪︎ Information from third parties, such as mutual fund distributors, registered investment advisers, and third-party service providers.
▪︎ Voluntary submissions (e.g., requests for information on our products or services).
▪︎ Reviews of product/service usage patterns.
Use of and access to your personal information by others
As a general rule, we will not make the personal information gathered using our products and services available to anyone outside of the Morningstar group of companies, except as instructed by you or where required or permitted by law.
Please note, however, that there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, if we use third-party service providers, these service providers may have access to your personal information to perform contractually specified services on our behalf. Or, if you indicate that you are interested in receiving information about a particular third-party's products/services, or you opt to receive certain products or services through us, we may provide your personal information to that third party for purposes of fulfilling your request(s).
With respect to service providers, Morningstar contractually requires that all personal information be kept confidential. Additionally, Morningstar takes reasonable steps to ensure that third parties receiving information about you at your request maintain the confidentiality of that information. We collect, store, and process your personal information so we can administer and support the products and services we make available to you.
We may also use your personal information to send you information about other products or services offered by the Morningstar group of companies. Your personal information may, if required for reasons such as backup, be stored outside India, subject to any restrictions or obligations imposed under applicable law.
Use of cookies
A cookie is a small file that can be downloaded on a device when you access our website and then is sent back to the website each time you access it. Cookies may collect and store your information.
We use cookies and similar technologies to set users’ preferences, gather basic tracking information (such as login, password, date, time of visit, preferences, etc.), and monitor presentation of the website. Cookies allow us to recognize your devices and thereby personalize your experience and improve the quality of our website.
We also use analytical cookies, which allow us to recognize and count the number of users on our website and how those users move around our website. This helps us make sure that users can easily find what they need.
You can control how cookies are used on your device by changing your browser settings. Please note that some of our products/services may not function properly if cookies are disabled. The use of cookies on our website or other sites that use Morningstar information does not identify you by name or provide access to your device.
Protection of your personal information
We take all reasonable steps to ensure that any personal information about you that we hold is:
- Secure: Protected from misuse, interference, and loss, and from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.
- Appropriate: Accurate, complete, up to date, relevant, and not misleading having regard to the purpose for which it is held and may be used.
Your personal information may be kept in various formats by us, our related companies, and/or relevant third-party providers. The Morningstar group of companies operates secure data networks protected by industry-standard firewalls and password protection systems. Our security and privacy policies are periodically reviewed and enhanced as necessary, and only authorized individuals have access to the information provided.
We restrict access to personal information to our employees and contracted third- party providers that need to know that information in order to process it for us and are subject to strict contractual confidentiality obligations. They may be disciplined or their contract terminated if they fail to meet these obligations. We may need to maintain records for a significant period of time but will destroy or de-identify personal information if we no longer need it for any authorized purpose and are not required by law to retain it.
Links to third-party websites
We may provide links to one or more third-party websites. We have no control over these third-party websites, and we strongly encourage you to read their privacy policies before you provide them with any personal information.
Remarketing
We may also use your personal information to advertise our services to you when you visit other websites that have the necessary functionality. Morningstar and our service providers, such as Google, use cookies to show advertisements relevant to your past usage of our website.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites for you to access. You should be aware that the privacy policies of the operators of those other sites may not be the same as ours, and you should refer to their privacy policies.
Accuracy of your personal information
You are responsible for checking to ensure that any personal information is updated and correct.
How to update or review personal information
If you want to update any personal information, you may do so by emailing us at privacyenquiries@morningstar.com. For those persons who are receiving products/services from Morningstar Investment Adviser India Private Limited, you may alternatively contact your distributor/adviser.
Your consent
By using our products/services/websites, you consent to the collection and use of any personal information and any related information in the manner described in this Privacy Policy.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time by distributing and/or posting a new Privacy Policy without notice. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy on a regular basis so that you are aware of any changes to it. If you have any questions or concerns about the privacy practices of Morningstar, please send an email to privacyenquiries@morningstar.com, and your questions will be directed to the appropriate team to deal with your enquiry.