Dimensional’s Privacy Policy Summary
This Privacy Policy is provided by:
Dimensional funds, including each Series and Portfolio of:
The DFA Investment Trust Company,
DFA Investment Dimensions Group Inc.,
Dimensional Investment Group Inc.,
Dimensional Emerging Markets Value Fund, and
Dimensional ETF Trust, and
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, and
DFA Securities LLC
Dimensional’s Privacy Policy and this summary relate to individuals who have direct accounts with the Dimensional funds or who have accounts managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (referred to collectively as “clients” in this Privacy Policy and this summary), but do not apply to institutional accounts or accounts through third parties such as omnibus accounts. Naturally, we strive to protect the confidentiality of information maintained for all accounts, but we typically do not have access to non-public personal information for individuals who invest through such third-party accounts. For information regarding how personal information of California residents is handled, please see here.
Commitment to Privacy
We consider client privacy to be fundamental to our relationship with our clients. Since we were founded, we have been committed to maintaining the confidentiality, integrity and security of clients’ non-public personal information entrusted to us. Internal guidelines have been developed to protect this confidentiality, while allowing client needs to be served. The guidelines address how we handle non-public personal information within our administrative, technical and physical systems. Our employees are required to follow procedures with respect to maintaining the confidentiality of our clients’ non-public personal information. To guard clients’ non-public personal information, we have imposed physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that we believe are reasonably designed to comply with federal standards to guard clients’ non-public personal information. A client’s right to privacy extends to all forms of contact with us, including telephone, written correspondence, and electronic media, such as the internet.
The Information We Collect
In the course of providing products and services, we may collect non-public personal information about clients. We may collect this information from sources such as account opening documents and applications or other forms or communications with us. In addition to non-public personal information you provide directly to us, our service providers, or our agents, we may receive such information from third parties (such as financial advisors, brokers or data vendors). We may receive non-public personal information about you from your broker, financial or investment adviser, or consultant. The non-public personal information we receive may include:
- Name and address, including e-mail address.
- Social Security or taxpayer identification number.
- Assets.
- Account balance.
- Investment activity.
- Information captured on our website.
We may obtain non-public personal information from third parties to verify your identity, to prevent fraud, or to help us identify products and services that may benefit you.
The information we collect and store during normal website usage includes your internet address, the name and version of your internet browser, the website that referred you to us, the pages you request and the date and time of those requests. We may collect non-public personal information on our websites (including any information captured through the use of “cookies” or other technologies). We may also collect data from third party analytic tools. We use this information to generate statistics and measure site activity to improve the usefulness of customer visits.
There are instances where we require personally identifying information such as name and address to provide the website visitor a service (registration to our password-protected website). The information you provide is used by us and our affiliates to understand who our service users are, and to contact you regarding our and our affiliates' services, subject to applicable law. The Dimensional entities generally do not, except for information with respect to employees, obtain information from a consumer reporting agency or information that is derived from a consumer report that identifies an individual. If Dimensional obtains a consumer report on an individual client or potential client, Dimensional will take reasonable steps to erase and/or destroy such information that identifies an individual, subject to applicable recordkeeping or other legal or regulatory requirements.
This privacy policy summary describes our privacy practices for both current and former clients. We may disclose non-public personal information about former clients to the same extent as for current clients.
Sharing of Information
Sharing Information with Affiliates. We share non-public personal information with our affiliates with the goal of better serving client accounts, including processing transactions or account changes, and may share such information with affiliates to make clients aware of other financial products or services we offer or sponsor, to the extent permitted by law.
Sharing Information with Third Parties. Client non-public personal information is disclosed to third parties only in the limited circumstances permitted by law. For example, we may share your non-public personal information to complete transactions or account changes that you request or authorize. In the normal course of serving clients, non-public personal information we collect may be shared with companies that perform various services for us, such as transfer agents, custodians, proxy solicitation firms, agents that perform back-office, middle-office or other services, companies that assist us with our own marketing efforts, or printers or mailers that may assist us in the distribution of investor materials. The organizations that receive client information receive information that we believe is necessary or advisable to carry out the organizations’ assigned responsibilities, and they are authorized to use that information for the services required. In addition, such organizations are not permitted to share or use this information for their marketing and sales purposes.
In addition, we may disclose or report non-public personal information in limited circumstances where we believe in good faith that disclosure is required or permitted by law (for example, to cooperate with regulators or law enforcement authorities, such as responding to a subpoena, regulatory information request, or other legal process, or to protect accounts from fraud) or to resolve client disputes. We may also share your non-public personal information with third parties pursuant to your request, authorization or consent.
The Internet and Third-Party Sites
As our website is linked to the internet, and the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot provide any assurance regarding the security of transmission of information you communicate to us online. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the internet. Accordingly, any personal information or other information which you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.
We may provide experiences on social media platforms and third-party sites that enable online sharing and collaboration among users who have registered to use them. We may collect information you provide by interacting with us via social media or other third-party sites. Any content you post, such as pictures, information, opinions, or any personal information that you make available to other participants on these social platforms or third-party sites, is also subject to the terms of use and privacy policies of those platforms or sites. Please refer to them to better understand your rights and obligations with regard to such content.
Notices and Future Changes
We may revise our policy or this summary in the future and will promptly post the new policy summary on our website.
Contact Us
If you believe that your privacy has been compromised or your non-public personal information that we store is in error, please contact our Compliance Department using the contact information below and provide details of the incident so that we can investigate it. We request that complaints about potential breaches of privacy be made in writing, so we can be sure about the details of the complaint. After we have completed our enquiries, we will contact you, usually in writing, to advise the outcome, unless prohibited by law or a law enforcement agency requests otherwise. If we receive a response from you, we will assess it and advise if we have changed our view.
For questions concerning this policy, please contact us by writing to: Privacy Policy c\o Compliance, Dimensional Fund Advisors, 6300 Bee Cave Road, Building One, Austin, TX 78746. Alternatively, you may contact us through the form or telephone numbers posted on our public website on the “Contact Us” page.
Effective Date: June 11, 2021