Privacy Policy... Farm Credit University (FCU) Internet Privacy and Information Policy At FCU, we recognize your expectation of privacy and confidentiality with regard to your personal information. We have taken great care in establishing and implementing policies and procedures and have committed to an ongoing review of those policies and procedures to protect your personal information. Your privacy is a top priority in all aspects of our business. Our employees are informed of their responsibility to protect your confidential information and are governed by strict standards of conduct, which prohibit unauthorized use of your information. Security procedures and internal controls are also in place to protect your privacy. On this site, we collect only the personally identifiable information necessary to provide you access to FCU tools, features and resources, only if specifically and knowingly provided by you. We do not give, sell or transfer any personal information to a third party. Information Collected and Stored Automatically On our Web site, we collect and store information about your visit for security, site research and enhancement. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:
Information Collected from E-mails and Web forms If you complete one of our interactive forms or submit an e-mail through our Web site, your information will be used as described at the point of collection. It will be seen and used by employees of FCU but will not be provided to a third party. If you are not comfortable providing the requested information to FCU via e-mail or Web forms, please contact us by calling 800-845-1745, ext. 635. We will not obtain personally-identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us. FCU limits the use and collection of all information to that which is necessary to maintain and administer this Web site, provide excellent service, and offer new products and services that may be of benefit to you. If, for any reason, you would like to be removed from our distribution list, please contact us at almorris@agfirst.com or call us at 800-845-1745, ext. 635. We may use third party suppliers and/or service providers to facilitate our services. For example, we may outsource one or more aspects of our site to a supplier or service provider who performs services according to our requirements. In all cases, we restrict how these suppliers or service providers may access, use or disclose your information. In general, we do not permit these suppliers or service providers to retain, disclose or sell your information to third parties. Security, Intrusion, and Detection If you are using a security-enabled browser (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer version 2.1 or greater, or Netscape Navigator version 2.0 or greater), the information you provide us is encrypted, making it extremely difficult to read, even if it is wrongly intercepted. Our Web site uses industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to allow for the encryption of potentially sensitive information such as your name and address and critically sensitive information such as your credit card number. For Web site security purposes and to ensure that this site remains available to all users, traffic on the site is monitored to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on to this Web site are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the law. Guidance for Our Customers Against E-Mail and Internet-Related Fraudulent Schemes E-mail and Internet-related fraudulent schemes, such as “phishing” (pronounced “fishing”), are being perpetrated with increasing frequency, creativity and intensity. Phishing involves the use of seemingly legitimate e-mail messages and Web sites to deceive consumers into disclosing sensitive information, such as bank or loan account information, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords, and personal identification numbers (PINs). The perpetrator of the fraudulent e-mail message may use various means to convince the recipient that the message is legitimate and from a trusted source with which the recipient has an established business relationship. Techniques such as a false “from” address or the use of seemingly legitimate company logos, Web links and graphics may be used to mislead e-mail recipients. In most phishing schemes, the fraudulent e-mail message will request that recipients “update” or “validate” their financial or personal information in order to maintain their accounts, and direct them to a fraudulent Web site that may look very similar to the Web site of the legitimate business. These Web sites may include copied or “spoofed” pages from legitimate Web sites to further trick consumers into thinking they are responding to a bona fide request. Some consumers will mistakenly submit financial and personal information to the perpetrator who will use it to gain access to financial records or accounts, commit identity theft or engage in other illegal acts. Ways We Are Working Protect Your Information from Fraud and Identity Theft
Additional Tips in Protecting Yourself from Fraud and Identity Theft The safest approach is to immediately delete e-mail from unknown sources, before opening the e-mail. Avoid clicking on any links in unsolicited e-mail, particularly e-mails that ask (either directly or by pointing to a Web site) for personal, financial, or identity information. Instead, directly type the Web site destination into your browser or use a trusted bookmark to verify the site or to log into your account directly. Always access our Web site by using a trusted bookmark of our site or by directly typing our Web site address into your browser. Check to ensure you have typed the address correctly before providing personal information on the site. If you receive an e-mail that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, do not reply or click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, contact the company cited in the e-mail using a telephone number or Web site address you know to be genuine. You may also wish to contact your Internet Service Provider for support in blocking e-mails or subscribing to a “spam” or junk e-mail filter they may offer. Ensure your home computer has adequate anti-virus software and remember to update it frequently. Reporting Suspicious or Fraudulent Communications and Transactions You should promptly report suspicious activity or e-mail communications to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Send the actual e-mail you received to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at ftc.gov, then visit the FTC's Identity Theft Web site ftc.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft. If you receive a suspicious message that appears to be coming from us, or discover a potentially phony FCU Web site, please let us know by contacting almorris@agfirst.com or calling us at 800-845-1745, ext. 635, so that we may take appropriate action. Web Linking & Children’s Online Privacy Protection Our privacy policy only addresses our activities from our Web site. This Web site is not directed at children nor do we collect any personally identifiable information from children. We may provide links to independent Web sites maintained by various federal agencies or other organizations, solely as a benefit to our customers. These other sites may have their own policies, which we do not control, and thus are not addressed by our policy. We do not endorse, approve or guarantee information, products, services, or recommendations provided at any of the sites to which we have provided links. We are not responsible for the content or accuracy of any of these links sites nor are we responsible for any loss or damage of any sort resulting from the use of a link on any linked Web sites. We are not liable for any failure of products or services advertised or provided on these linked sites. We offer these links on an "as is" basis. When you visit a linked Web site by using the link on our site, you will no longer be protected by our privacy policy or security practices. You should always familiarize yourself with the privacy policy and security practices of any Web site you visit.
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