Internet Privacy Statement Effective Date: 12/18/03
Advantage Bank recognizes the importance
our customers place on the privacy and security of their personal information.
Our goal is to protect your personal information in every way that we interact
with you, whether it's on the telephone, in our lobby, at one of our ATMs, or on
the Internet.
We think it is important for you to be
informed of the policies, procedures, and security measures we have in place to
safeguard your personal and confidential information. With that in mind, we have
developed this policy to help you to understand the steps we take to protect
your personal information when you utilize our Internet services.
Advantage Bank may utilize the services
of third party providers to assist us in providing online services, such as web
site hosting, Internet Banking, Bill Payment, and aggregation services. These
third party providers are referred to within this policy as “Service Providers”.
Information Collected on the Internet
If you are just browsing through our web site, we do not request any personally
identifiable information, nor do we collect unique identifying information about
you unless you voluntarily and knowingly provide us that information, such as
when you send us an email or complete an application online. If you provide us
this information, it is only used internally and in furtherance of the purpose
for which it was provided.
As part of providing online financial
products or services, we may obtain information about our customers and web site
visitors from the following sources:
Information we receive from you on applications,
emails, or other forms;
Information you provide when you choose to
customize our web site;
Information about your transactions with
Advantage Bank and our affiliates;
Information we receive from a consumer-reporting
agency;
Information that is generated electronically when
you visit our web site; and
Information that is generated electronically when
you use our Internet Banking Services.
Service Providers hosting our web site
and our Internet Banking Service may collect general information on our web site
visitors simply to help us provide banking and other financial services to you
online. They collect the following information on our behalf for security and
statistical purposes:
The Internet address (referral site) which
brought you to our web site;
The date and time you access our site;
The name and version of your web browser;
The Internet Service Provider you used when you
accessed our site;
Your Internet Protocol (IP) address; and
The pages visited in our web site.
Our Service Providers may use cookies to
collect some of the above information. They may also use cookies for security
purposes within our Internet Banking product. Additionally, cookies may be used
for customization and personalization of our web site.
Additional information about IP addresses
and cookies are provided below.
Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses An IP address is a number that is automatically
assigned to your computer whenever you are on the Internet. Web servers, the
computers that "serve up" web pages, automatically identify your computer by its
IP address. When collecting information for us, our Service Provider does not
link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable; however, Advantage Bank
and its Service Providers may use IP addresses to audit the use of our site. We
can and will use IP addresses to identify users when necessary for security
purposes.
What is a Cookie? A cookie is a very small text file sent by a web
server and stored on your hard drive, your computer’s memory, or in your browser
so that it can be read back later. Cookies are a basic way for a server to
identify the computer you happen to be using at the time. Cookies are used for
many things from personalizing start up pages to facilitating online purchases.
Cookies help sites recognize return visitors and they perform a very important
function in secure Internet Banking.
Our
Service Provider uses cookies for security purposes within our Internet Banking
product and to facilitate the customization and personalization of our web site.
For your security, our Service Provider does not store any personally
identifiable information in cookies which are further described below.
Internet Banking Cookies
Our Internet Banking product uses encrypted cookies that do not pass to your
computer’s hard drive. Instead, the cookie is stored in your computer’s memory,
identifying only your computer while you are logged on. Only our Service
Provider can read the information in these cookies. The Internet Banking cookie
facilitates the processing of multiple transactions during a session without
requiring you to reenter your passcode for each individual transaction. The
cookies for Internet Banking simply provide another level of security for our
Internet Banking product. When you log off, or close your browser, the cookie is
destroyed. A new cookie is used for each session. That way, no one can use the
prior cookie to access your account. For additional security, the cookie expires
after 10 minutes of inactivity. It must then be renewed by reentering your
passcode. We do not (and cannot) use this cookie to collect or obtain new
personal information about you. You must allow your browser to accept this
cookie so you can use the Internet Banking product.
Web site Cookies:
When you register on our web site and select the “Remember Me” checkbox, our
Service Provider sends a cookie to your hard drive, which enables you to
customize the web site and bypass the login process each time you revisit. These
cookies are retained on your computer until you either delete them or click on
the logout link within the web site. These cookies only contain a unique user
identification number and do not contain or collect any personally identifiable
information.
When registered users login to the web
site, our Service Provider may also send cookies called “per-session" cookies or
"server-side" cookies. These cookies reside in the browser and are only used to
monitor the session by a unique identification number. These cookies are used
for security purposes and you must allow your browser to accept these cookies in
order to use the web site. These cookies are destroyed after eight hours.
When you click on advertisements in our
web site or advertisements on linked third party web sites, you may receive
another cookie. You do not have to accept these cookies to visit the web site
Use of
Information Collected
We do not disclose any non-public personal
information about our customers, former customers, or web site visitors to
anyone, except as permitted or required by law.
In order to provide online services such as:
Internet Banking and Bill Payment, we must disclose certain customer account
information to our Service Providers.
We do not sell any of
your personal information.
We will not disclose
any medical information that you provide to us, unless you specifically
authorize its disclosure.
We may disclose
aggregate (not personally identifiable) customer information that we collect
on our web site to Service Providers, companies, and/or financial institutions
that perform marketing and research services on our behalf and with whom we
have joint marketing agreements. Our contracts require these Service
Providers, companies and/or financial institutions to protect the
confidentiality of your personal information to the same extent that we must
do.
Email Policies
We may send you email notices for certain required disclosures if you agree to
accept electronic disclosures and/or online account statements. If you have
agreed to accept disclosures electronically, we may send you an email with
updates to this policy and/or we may send you an email at least annually to
remind you where the Privacy Policy can be viewed from our web site. For more
information on how to enroll for electronic disclosures, please contact us at
405-419-1000.
We may also send you emails marketing our
products and services. We will always provide you an opportunity to opt-in or
opt-out of email advertising promotions as required by law.
If you send us an
email, please do not include any non-public personal or sensitive information,
as email messages may not be secure and/or confidential. We offer secure
messaging through our Internet Banking Service. You should use the secure
messaging service anytime you send us sensitive personal information.
External Third Party Links
Our web site may include numerous links to other third party sites. These links
to external third parties are offered as a courtesy and a convenience to our
customers. When you visit these sites, you will leave our web site and will be
redirected to another site.
Advantage Bank does not control linked
third party sites. We are not an agent for these third parties nor do we
endorse or guarantee their products. We make no representation or warranty
regarding the accuracy of the information contained in the linked sites. We
suggest that you always verify the information obtained from linked web sites
before acting upon this information. Also, please be aware that the security and
privacy policies on these sites may be different from our policies, so please
read third party privacy and security policies closely.
While using our web site, you may still
see our logo when visiting other third party sites. A technique called
“Framing” allows us to display our logo and look and feel while allowing you to
browse another site at the same time. It’s important to note that while you may
still see our logo and frame, any information you provide to a third party is
not covered by our privacy or security policies.
If you have questions or concerns about
the privacy policies and practices of linked third parties, please review their
web sites and contact them directly. This privacy policy applies solely to
information collected by Advantage Bank.
Security Advantage Bank and its Service Providers have
developed strict policies and procedures to safeguard your personal information.
We restrict employee access to your sensitive personal information on a "need to
know" basis. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that
comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information. We
educate our employees about the importance of confidentiality and customer
privacy. We take appropriate disciplinary measures to enforce employee privacy
responsibilities.
Our Internet Banking Service Provider has
developed a top-of-the line security system to ensure your customer information
is protected on the Internet and within the data center environment.
Privacy of Children
Advantage Bank respects the privacy of children. We do not knowingly collect
names, emails addresses, or any other personally identifiable information from
children. We do not knowingly market to children, nor do allow children under
18 to open online accounts.
Our web site
may include linked third party sites that would be of interest to children. We
are not responsible for the privacy and security practices of these sites.
Parents should review the privacy policies of these sites closely before
allowing children to provide any personally identifiable information.
Privacy Updates
New product releases may require changes to our Privacy Policy. The effective
date of our policy will always be clearly displayed. If we make any changes
regarding the use or disclosure of your personal information, we will provide
you prior notice and the opportunity to opt-out of such disclosure if required
by law.
Questions If you have any questions about our privacy policy or
concerns about our privacy practices, please contact us at 405-419-1000.