LINDE PRIVACY POLICY

Last updated: February 13, 2014

Please also refer to Linde's Privacy Statement.

In this Policy, “Linde” means Linde Canada Inc., and includes its affiliates in Canada. “You” and “Your” means the individual who discloses personal information to Linde.

Linde is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information that it collects, uses, discloses and stores. This Privacy Policy describes the principles that Linde has adopted and put into practice to maintain the privacy of personal information that it collects, uses, discloses and stores in the course of doing business.

Personal information is any information about an identifiable individual that relates to that individual’s personal characteristics (for example, sex, age, home address, phone number) or information that allows an individual to be identified.

Linde follows the following accepted principles to guide us in safeguarding your personal information.

1. Accountability:

Linde’s Privacy Officer is accountable for compliance by Linde with the privacy principles. Linde’s Privacy Officer may be contacted as indicated in Paragraph 10 below.

2. Identifying Purposes:
Prior to the collection of your personal information, Linde will explain to you the purpose for which we collect your personal information, and how your personal information will be used or disclosed. Except as expressly set forth in this Privacy Policy, Linde does not use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purposes for which we have informed you, unless we have obtained your consent to do so.

3. Obtaining Your Consent:
In general, Linde obtains your consent before collecting, using or disclosing to other persons your personal information, except where otherwise permitted or required by law. Depending on the circumstances and the type of personal information collected, your consent may be expressed orally, in writing or it may be implied. In certain circumstances, your consent will be implied when, acting reasonably, Linde can conclude that by taking a certain action, you have given your consent. In certain circumstances, we may obtain your consent through your authorized representative, such as your substitute decision maker.

We may collect, use, retain or disclose personal information about you without your consent for legitimate business purposes, including:

• to satisfy legal and regulatory requirements, or
• to collect a debt owed to Linde.

You have the right to refuse to give personal information to Linde. If you have given consent to Linde to collect, use and disclose your personal information, you may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting Linde’s Privacy Officer. If you choose to withdraw or refuse to give consent, Linde may not be able to provide or continue to provide certain services or information to you.

4. Collection:
Most personal information that we collect comes directly from you. For example, we collect information through order forms or direct personal contact for the purchase of products or services. In order to provide products or services to you, we may also collect personal information from third parties (for example, from credit bureaus).

Linde collects only personal information that is necessary for the purpose identified and that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances or as is otherwise permitted or required by law.

5. Use, Disclosure and Retention:

Generally, we use the personal information collected from you for various purposes, including without limitation:

• To provide products and on-going services to you;
• To determine your eligibility (for example, to verify status with credit bureaus and to determine coverage under health insurance plans where we are providing healthcare services to you and for billing purposes);
• To determine appropriateness of care or justification of charges in connection with the provision of healthcare products and services; and,
• To provide you with information about products and services that may be of interest to you.

To carry out its legitimate business purposes, Linde may from time to time disclose your personal information to government regulatory agencies, companies affiliated with Linde and other third parties to perform services on behalf of Linde for the purposes explained in this Privacy Policy and as permitted or required by law. When your personal information is disclosed to an affiliate or third party service provider, Linde will require that the affiliate/service provider to agree to protect your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

In the event of a sale, amalgamation, re-organization, transfer or financing of parts of some or all of Linde’s business, your personal information may be disclosed to an acquiring organization either as part of due diligence or on completion of the transaction. If your personal information is ever disclosed in this context, Linde will require the acquiring organization to agree to protect your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Other than as set forth above, personal information is not used or disclosed by Linde other than for those purposes for which it was collected without your consent or as permitted or required by law.

Personal information is retained by Linde only as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or as required by law. Linde does not sell personal information to third parties.

In order to facilitate our provision of products and services to you, Linde may transfer your personal information outside of Canada to an affiliate or a third-party service provider for storage and processing, including transfers to the United States (for example, for the purpose of conducting product recalls). In this case, your personal information would be subject to the laws of the country to which it is transferred and stored. That country may have laws that require that your personal information be disclosed to government agencies under different circumstances than would Canada. However, in the context of a transfer outside of Canada, Linde requires that your personal information be collected, used and disclosed only as permitted under applicable laws.

6.Accuracy:
Linde will make reasonable effort to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is collected. You have the right to request that Linde correct inaccurate information and may do so by contacting Linde’s Privacy Officer.

7.Safeguards:
Linde utilizes appropriate technological and physical security controls to safeguard unauthorized use or disclosure of personal information.

8.Openness:
We invite individuals who have additional questions or concerns about the privacy of personal information to contact Linde’s Privacy Officer. Linde’s Privacy Officer will respond to such questions or concerns within a reasonable timeline.

9. Individual Access:
Individuals may ask to view their personal information retained by Linde by writing to Linde’s Privacy Officer. We will correct any inaccurate personal information upon appropriate request.

In some cases, Linde may not provide access to personal information within our possession or control, including in the following circumstances:

• if doing so would reasonably be expected to threaten the life or security of another individual;
• disclosure would reveal confidential commercial information;
• the personal information is protected by solicitor/client privilege; or
• the information was collected during the investigation of a legal matter or for purposes related to the detection and prevention of fraud.

If we are unable to provide you with access to your personal information, we will advise you in writing of the reason for the refusal unless we are prohibited from doing so by law.

10. Compliance and the Complaint Process
If you have any questions or concerns about Linde’s Privacy Policy or practices, wish to verify, update or correct your personal information, make any inquiries or requests concerning your personal information or if you wish to lodge a complaint, you may do so by contacting Linde’s Privacy Officer in Canada, either:

In writing, addressed to:
Linde Canada Inc.
1 City Centre Drive, Suite 1200
Mississauga, Ontario, L5B 1M2
Attention: Privacy Officer – Human Resources Department

Email: privacy.officer.canada@linde.com

Or,

By confidential toll free telephone, at 1-866-896-6866

Please be sure to include your name, address, preferred method of communication, the nature of your complaint and relevant details, including your past communications with us.

We may update this Privacy Policy at any time by posting updated text on this site. When we make changes to this Privacy Policy we will notify you here so we encourage you to review this Privacy Policy from time to time. We may also attempt to notify you of any such changes to our Privacy Policy by placing a notice on our home page but are not required to do so.