Northern and Countryside Credit Union Online Privacy Policy

Last Modified: June 2023

Introduction

Northern Credit Union (“Northern”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it as described in this policy.

This Online Privacy Policy (“Policy”) explains how we collect, share, use, and protect information when you visit or use this website (https://www.mynorthern.com/) and  Countryside.org (https://countryside.org/), the website of Countryside Credit Union, a Division of Northern Credit Union (together, the “Websites”). This policy covers Northern’s many online services, including the Websites, mobile application, and Northern-branded social media sites or pages, as well as any interactions you may have while viewing content provided through one of our digital advertising campaigns (collectively, “Online Services”).

If you have a financial product or service with us, we will use and share any information that we collect from or about you in accordance with our U.S. Privacy Notice, which offers you certain choices with respect to the use and sharing of your Personal Information (as defined below).

This Policy does not apply to information collected by any third party including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Websites or other Online Services.

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is to not use our Online Services. By accessing or using the Websites, you agree to this Privacy Policy.  This Policy may change from time to time (see Changes to Our Privacy Policy). Your continued use of the Websites after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Policy periodically for updates.

Children Under the Age of 13

Our Websites and Online Services are  not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any information to or on the Websites or Online Services. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on the Websites. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at https://www.mynorthern.com/contact-us/.

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

We collect different types of information from and about users of our Online Services. Through the use of our Online Services, we may collect:

  • Personally Identifiable Information: We may collect data about you by which you may be personally identified, such as name, telephone number, email address, mailing address, account numbers, limited location information (for example, a zip code to help you find a nearby ATM), username and password, or other similar information that can be used to identify you. We may also collect payment card information, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, income, account balances, payment history, credit history, credit scores and other credit report information, when you provide such information while using our Online Services or request that such information be sent to us, and where we believe it is reasonably required for ordinary business purposes (collectively, “Personal Information”).
  • Usage Data: Data may be collected from you automatically when you access our Online Services about how you access and use our Online Services (“Usage Data”). Usage Data may include information such as your device’s Internet Protocol address (for example, IP address), internet domain, browser type, browser version, the pages of our Websites that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. When you use our mobile application, we may collect additional information such as unique device identifiers for your mobile device, device settings, information about your location, and analytical information about how you use your mobile device.
  • Aggregate Data: We may collect data that is about you but does not individually identify you, such as statistical information and analytic data relating to the Websites or other Online Services usage.

We collect information:

  • Directly from you when you provide it to us such as through the use of the Contact Us form.
  • When you correspond with us, such as records or copies of correspondence (including email addresses) if you contact us.
  • Automatically as you navigate through the Online Services.
  • When you provide information to us in a member application, deposit account information, loan application, credit card application, or other applications for services we provide.

 Technologies Used for Automatic Data Collection

We may use “cookies” to collect certain information, specifically Usage Data, to ensure that you get the most out of our Online Services. A cookie is a file stored on your computer or device to uniquely identify your browser or to store information or settings on your computer or device. For example, when you visit our Websites again, the cookie allows the Websites to recognize your browser. Cookies allow us to monitor usage of the Websites, improve the Websites’ usability and to personalize the content for you.

If you do not wish to receive cookies for these purposes, you may change the settings on your internet browser to reject cookies. Please note that if you do set your browser to reject cookies, you may not be able to use all of the features of our Online Services.  Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Online Services.

We may also use geolocation or other location-based services for purposes outlined in this Policy.

Third Party Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Third-party services providers that we engage may also place their own cookies on your device. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you. The information that they collect may be associated with your Personal Information or they may collect information, including Personal Information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used. Please note that this Privacy Policy covers only our use of cookies and does not describe the use of cookies by any third parties.

Google, as a third-party vendor, may use cookies to serve ads or other functions on our Websites, including Google Analytics (see below), Google Tag Manager, or Google DoubleClick IDE. Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on previous visits to our Websites and other websites on the Internet, and Google DoubleClick IDE similarly stores information about how you use the Websites to present you with relevant ads according to your user profile. Users may opt-out of the use of the DART cookie or DoubleClick IDE by visiting the Google Ad and Content Network privacy policy.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics website offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Websites. This data is shared with other Google Websites. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.

You can opt-out of having your activity on the Websites made available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visit activity. For more information about the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy Terms web page at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

In addition to the Google cookies outlined above, additional cookies that may be used on our Websites include:

  • _fbp; This cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the Websites.
  • Hot Jar: Used to track where people click on a webpage to determine best practice and user experience.
  • AWS: Amazon Web Services uses this cookie to track and manage traffic on the Websites.
  • Silvercloud: chatbot on the Websites.
  • brandcdn_uid: Unique, randomly generated value that allows BrandCDN to track individual users and browsers for purposes of retargeting.

Some of our Online Services are developed, hosted, and managed by third party service providers. Some of the information collected through our Online Services is not collected directly by Northern but is collected by our service providers. By using our Online Services, you understand that your Personal Information collected through downloading, registering with, and using our Online Services may be shared with and/or collected by our service providers. For more information, please contact us at https://www.mynorthern.com/contact-us/.

Third Party Links

The Websites or Online Services may contain links to other websites or access to applications, including social media websites and applications, that are operated by third parties. Please be aware that Northern is not responsible for the privacy practices of any third party, including any third party with whom it has an affiliation or business relationship. We do not control, and we shall have no liability or responsibility whatsoever for, any third party websites, and this Privacy Policy does not apply to those websites. Please consult the terms and conditions and privacy policies of those third party websites to find out how they collect and use your information and to determine whether and how they use cookies.

We may receive some information that you submit to a third party website or application that you access through the Websites or Online Services.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information, including any Personal Information:

  • To process applications and transactions, and maintain your account(s);
  • To verify your identity;
  • For account and credit related purposes;
  • To offer our products and services to you, including for joint marketing with other financial companies, and for our affiliates to market to you;
  • To respond to requests and communicate with you;
  • To present our Websites, Online Services, and their contents to you;
  • To provide you with information that you request from us;
  • To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide Personal Information;
  • To notify you about changes to our Online Services;
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Websites and Online Services;
  • To prevent and detect criminal and/or fraudulent activity that would be damaging to you and us;
  • To respond to court orders and legal investigations, and to comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, contractual obligations and our policies; and
  • For any other purpose with your consent or as provided by applicable law and/or regulation.

 Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose aggregated information about our users and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.

We may disclose Personal Information that we collect, or you provide, as described in this Privacy Policy:

  • For marketing purposes to offer our products and services to you;
  • To our subsidiaries and affiliates, including for marketing purposes;
  • To other financial companies to bring you co-branded services, products or programs and for other marketing purposes;
  • To contractors, service providers, affiliates and other third parties we use to support our business;
  • To credit bureaus;
  • To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Northern’s assets in which Personal Information held by Northern about our members is among the assets transferred;
  • To fulfill the purpose for which you provide Personal Information;
  • For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information; and
  • With your consent.

We may also disclose your Personal Information:

  • To comply with any court order, law, regulation, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request;
  • To enforce our agreements, contracts or other legal documentation; and
  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of Northern, our members, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

Where appropriate, we will limit sharing of your information in accordance with the choices you have provided us in response to our U.S. Privacy Notice.

If you would like more information about our affiliates and joint marketing partners, please visit our U.S. Privacy Notice.

 Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:

Tracking Technologies and Advertising

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of the Websites may then be inaccessible or not function properly.

Promotional Offers

If you do not wish to have your Personal Information used by Northern for marketing purposes to offer our products and services to you, for joint marketing with other financial companies, or by our affiliates to market to you, you can opt-out of these uses of your Personal Information by clicking this link. This opt-out does not apply to information provided to Northern for our everyday business purposes, such as to process your transactions, maintain your accounts, respond to court orders and legal investigations, or report to credit bureaus as described in our U.S. Privacy Notice.

Data Security

The security of your Personal Information is very important to us. Northern uses commercially reasonable safeguards that are designed to protect and limit unauthorized access, acquisition, disclosure, destruction, alteration, misuse of, or damage to, your Personal Information. However, please remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Websites or via another means, prior to the change becoming effective and we will update the “Last Modified” date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

To ask questions or comment about this Privacy Policy and our privacy practices, contact us at https://www.mynorthern.com/contact-us/ or at 315-782-0155.