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| Since the Internet is a public network,
you will want to protect your privacy on-line. Safeguard
your banking information, credit card numbers, social
security number, and other personal data. Keeping your
personal information private means establishing that it
is kept secure; to learn more about how to do so, read
the Secure Banking on the Internet
section of this Web site.
Some consumers may also want to know how their personal
information is used, or whether their bank shares it
with affiliates
or other parties. Since July 2001, banks must give their
customers a copy of their privacy policy. You may receive
one in the mail or you may see a copy of it posted at
the bank's Web site. The privacy policy should tell
you what information the bank keeps about you and what
information, if any, it shares with other companies.
Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6801, et
seq.), banks must give you an opportunity to "opt
out" of any policy they may have to share your
non-public personal
financial information with a third party. If you
chose to opt out by notifying the bank in ways that
they specify, the bank must not share your information
with unaffiliated parties, except in certain limited circumstances. They
may, however, share your information with affiliates.
You will usually find information about opting out in
the same notice that the bank sends you about its privacy
policy.
You may have heard that some banks track your Web-browsing
habits while you are at their site by storing small
files on your computer's hard drive called "cookies."
Cookies record personal information such as your user ID and password and browsing
habits, and may help banks personalize the appearance
of their Web site for your future visits. If these practices
concern you, your Web browser may have the ability to
refuse cookies.
Banks also use cookies to get to know your interests so that they can market
particular products and services to you. You may want
to ask your bank whether it uses cookies or otherwise tracks your browsing habits.
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Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, banks are required to
notify you of the types of information that they may collect
about you. Most banks collect financial information about
their customers as a routine part of their business. When
you apply for a credit card or a loan, for example, you
provide personal information such as your name, address,
phone number, and income information. Banks can add to
this information by gathering credit reports from credit-reporting
agencies and from other banks. These reports will detail
your credit limits, merchants that you maintain accounts
with, and the timeliness of your payments. Banks can use
this information to market select products to you.
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Non-public personal information means any personally identifiable
financial information provided by a consumer to a bank
resulting from any transaction or otherwise obtained by
the financial institution.
This includes your name, address, account numbers,
social security number, types of accounts, or account
balances.
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Contact the appropriate banking supervisor and notify
them of the practice. To file a complaint about a bank,
please read the brochure entitled "How
to File a Complaint About a Bank" available at
the Board
of Governors' Consumer Information Web site. For further
information about filing a consumer complaint against
a bank and for access to an on-line complaint form, please
see this bank's consumer
complaint information and online complaint form. |
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