Updated 6/22/2021
This Website Privacy Policy (“Policy”) applies to your interaction with Austin Bank (“Bank,” “we,” “us,” “our”) at any online or mobile site or application that we own and control (collectively “website”) and describes how we may collect information from you when you visit our website or when you use our online financial services.
By using our website, you consent to this Policy, including your consent to our use and disclosure of information about you in the manner described in this policy.
We recognize the importance of the privacy and security of personal information.
We think it is important for you to be informed of the policies, procedures, and security measures that we have in place to safeguard your personal and confidential information. With that in mind, we developed this Policy to help you to understand the steps we take to protect your personal information when you utilize our online financial services.
Below are several definitions of terms used within this policy:
Visitor Information - Visitor Information refers to personally identifiable information about a consumer, customer or former customer of the Bank.
Internet Protocol (IP) Address - an IP address is a unique address that devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network. An IP address can be thought of as a street address or a phone number for a computer or other network device on the Internet. Just as each street address and phone number uniquely identifies a building or telephone, an IP address can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on a network. We may use IP addresses to monitor login activity and for identification purposes when necessary for security investigations.
Cookie - a Cookie is a very small data file that is transferred to your device so that it can be identified later. Cookies are a basic way for a server to identify the device 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 variety of important functions. We may also use cookies to enable certain features of our website and to preserve your preferences and customize your experience when you visit and return to our website.
Service Provider - We may use various third-party providers. These third parties provide services such as: website hosting, Internet banking, bill payment, and account aggregation. Third party providers are referred to within this policy as “Service Providers”.
Information Collected on the Website
If you are just browsing through our website, we do not request any Visitor 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 unique identifying 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 website visitors from the following sources:
- Information we receive from you on applications, emails, or other forms;
- Information about your transactions with this institution and our affiliates;
- Information we receive from a consumer-reporting agency; and
- Information that is generated electronically when you visit our website or use our online financial services.
Service Providers may collect general information of our website visitors for security and statistical purposes. Such information may include:
- The Internet address (referral site) which brought you to our website;
- The date and time you access our site;
- The name and version of your web browser;
- Your IP address;
- The pages visited in our website;
- The approximate location of the device you are using to access our website; and
- The duration of your online session.
Our Service Providers may use Cookies to collect some of the above information. In some cases, you must accept cookies in order to view our website. Note that most browsers provide controls whereby you can choose to block receipt of cookies, delete cookies, or be prompted before cookies are received by your device. Please note that the functionality of our website may be impaired if you delete or choose not to receive cookies from our website.
When you click on advertisements in our website or advertisements on linked third-party websites, you may receive another Cookie; however, you do not have to accept any Cookies from third party advertisements.
Information Use, Sharing and Disclosure
- We may disclose Visitor Information when required or permitted by law and to protect and defend our rights or property, or those of our customers. For example, Visitor Information may be disclosed in connection with a subpoena or similar legal process, fraud prevention, or security investigation.
- We may also share Visitor Information outside this institution when we have your consent, such as when you request an investment product from a third party financial services provider.
- We may also disclose aggregate (not personally identifiable) Visitor Information with Service Providers or financial institutions that perform marketing and research services on our behalf and with whom we have joint marketing agreements. Our contracts require all such Service Providers/or financial institutions to protect the confidentiality of your Visitor Information to the same extent that we must do.
- We do not disclose any Visitor Information about our customers, former customers, website visitors to anyone, except as permitted or required by law.
- We do not sell any of your personal information.
In addition to the uses identified above, we may use information as permitted by law for marketing or personalizing the presentation of our products and services; tracking website usage, such as number of hits, pages visited, and the length of your visit to our website; or improving the products or services provided on our website.
Beware of Phishing Attempts and Internet Scams
While email is convenient and has a good business use, it can also be misused by criminals for scams and various other fraudulent purposes. “Phishing emails” are frequently used by criminals to entice the recipient to visit a fraudulent website where they try to convince the recipient to provide personal information, such as ATM card numbers, account numbers, Social Security numbers, access IDs and passcodes. Some of these fraudulent websites may also be virus laden and can be used to download mal-ware to your device. Fraudulent websites often look identical to a legitimate site, so it’s important to look very closely at the website address.
Below we have listed a few tips to help protect your personal information on the Internet:
- Always be wary of links in emails, especially any links in emails purporting to be from us.
- Please remember that if we send you an email, we will never ask for personal information such as your account number, ATM card number, PIN number, or social security number.
- Bookmark financial websites and use these bookmarks every time you visit the website.
- Whenever you enter personal information like your access ID or passcode, always look for the lock symbol, or https: in the address bar. Always click on the lock symbol and review the certificate details.
- Update your Internet browser! Most browsers now offer free anti-phishing tool bars that can help alert you of fraudulent websites.
- If you send us an email, please do not include any confidential, personal or sensitive information in the email message, as email messages are generally not secure.
- Make sure that your computer always has up-to-date versions of both anti-spyware and anti-virus software.
- If you receive an e-mail that you think could be a scam, delete it immediately or forward the email to spam@uce.gov.
- If you have any questions about the legitimacy of an email, especially an email from Austin Bank, you can also call us at this number 1-800-644-9275 or forward the email to customercare@austinbank.com .
External Third Party Links
Our website may include links to other third party websites. These links to external third parties are offered as a courtesy and a convenience to our visitors. When you visit these sites, you will leave our website and will be redirected to another site.
Austin Bank does not control linked third party websites. 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 linked sites. We suggest that you always verify the information obtained from linked websites before acting upon this information.
If you have questions or concerns about the privacy policies and practices of linked third parties, please review their websites and contact them directly. This privacy policy applies solely to the Visitor Information collected by us.
Online Tracking and Advertising
We and third parties may collect information about your online activities to provide you with advertising about services tailored to your interests. You may see certain ads on other websites because we engage third-party ad services (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Google). Through such ad services, we can retarget our messaging to users of our website and applications through interest-based and contextual means. These services track your online activities over time and across multiple websites by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of third-party cookies, web server logs and web beacons. The ad services use this information to show you ads that may be tailored to your individual interests. The information our ad services may collect on our behalf includes data about your visits to websites that serve our ads, such as the pages or ads you view and the actions you take on the websites. This data collection takes place both on our website and on third-party websites that participate in these ad services. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.
Security
Austin Bank and our Service Providers have developed strict policies and procedures to safeguard your Visitor Information. Our policies require confidential treatment of your personal information. We restrict employee access to personal information on a "need to know" basis and we take appropriate disciplinary measures to enforce employee privacy and confidentiality responsibilities. We have established training programs to educate our employees about the importance of privacy and to help ensure compliance with our policy requirements.
Furthermore, Austin Bank and our Service Providers maintain strong physical, electronic and procedural controls to protect against unauthorized access to Visitor Information. Our computer systems are protected in the following ways:
- Computer anti-virus protection detects and prevents viruses from entering our website, email, and computer network systems.
- Firewalls and intrusion prevention systems block unauthorized access by individuals or networks.
- We use encryption technology, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Socket Layer (SSL), to protect the transmission of your confidential information. Whenever you login to our Internet banking product or schedule an online transaction through our system, the communication is encrypted. Encryption scrambles transferred data so it cannot be read by unauthorized parties.
We continually monitor technological advances and upgrade our systems to ensure your information remains secure.
Privacy of Children
Our website is not intended for use by children under the age of 13. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, protects children under the age of 13 from the collection of personal information on the Internet. Austin 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 we allow children under 13 to open online accounts.
Visitor Generated Content
Our website may allow visitors to post messages and submit their own content (e.g., stories, comments, blogs, postings, tweets, etc.), which may include personal information. Any information you post, tweet or otherwise submit via the website becomes public information and is not subject to this Policy. By posting or tweeting content, you agree that we may, at our discretion, use your real or social media user name and all or part of the content of your post or tweet (including all accompanying images) on our website to promote our institution, products and services for such time period as we wish. Institution is not responsible for the results of such postings.
Privacy Updates and Changes to this Policy
This Policy may be updated from time-to-time as new products and features may require changes to this Policy, or new legal requirements and guidelines may require changes to this Policy. Please check periodically for any updates. Information collected in connection with your use of our website after any changes to this Policy become effective will be handled in accordance with the revised Policy.
Questions
If you have any questions about our privacy policy or concerns about our privacy practices, please contact us at 1-800-644-9275 or customercare@austinbank.com.
How to Contact Us
We welcome your questions and comments regarding this information. You may contact us at 1-800-644-9275 or customercare@austinbank.com.
For California Consumers
If you are a resident of California, the information below also applies to you. Certain terms used in this section have the meaning given to them in California Civil Code §1798.100 et seq. and in the California Consumer Privacy Act Regulations §999.300 et seq. This section applies solely to California consumers.
Effective January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) permits consumers who are California residents to (a) ask a covered business which categories and pieces of personal information it collects and how the information is used; (b) request deletion of the information; and (c) opt out of the sale of such information, if applicable. These provisions of the CCPA do not apply to personal information collected, processed, shared, or disclosed by financial institutions pursuant to federal law. To contact us with questions about our compliance with the CCPA, call at 1-800-644-9275 or customercare@austinbank.com. Only you or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your personal information.
California Consumer Privacy Rights
You may have the right to request, twice in a 12-month period, the following information about the personal information we have collected about you during the past 12 months:
- the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you;
- the categories of sources from which we collected the personal information;
- the business or commercial purpose for which we collected the personal information;
- the categories of third parties with whom we shared the personal information; and
- the categories of personal information about you that we disclosed for a business purpose, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclosed that information for a business purpose.
In addition, you have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you. Austin Bank does not sell your personal information. We will not deny, charge different prices for, or provide a different level or quality of goods or services if you choose to exercise these rights.
You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child. You may make a verifiable consumer request to know or delete personal information twice within a twelve (12) month period. We endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time, which may take up to ninety (90) days, we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the preceding twelve (12) month period. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For right to know requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance. Please note, consumers will not receive discriminatory treatment for the exercise of the privacy rights conferred by the CCPA.
To submit a request, you may contact us at 1-800-644-9275 or customercare@austinbank.com. To help protect your privacy and maintain security, we take steps to verify your identity before granting you access to your personal information or complying with your request. You may also submit a request through an authorized agent, who is a person or business registered to conduct business with the California Secretary of State who you have authorized to act on your behalf. If you submit a request through an authorized agent, Austin Bank will require the authorized agent to submit signed permission from you to make the request or a power of attorney. We may also call you to verify your identity and may deny a request from an authorized agent that does not submit proof of authorization to act on behalf of the consumer. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we may charge a reasonable fee to comply with your request.
REPORT IDENTITY THEFT
The Federal Trade Commission established a toll-free telephone hotline for consumers to report identity theft and seek counseling. 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338)
REDUCE MARKETING FROM OTHER COMPANIES
If you prefer not to receive pre-approved offers of credit, you can opt out of such offers by calling: 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688)
If you want to remove your name from many national direct mail lists, send your name and address to:
DMA Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
If you want to reduce the number of telephone solicitations from many national marketers, send your name, address and telephone number to:
DMA Telephone Preference Service
P.O. Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014