Internet privacy statement

Effective Date: 5.1.10

Information we collect about you online

We want you to get the most out of your visits to our website. From offering special promotions to new users, to providing clients of RiverSource and Columbia Management entities and brands with secure online account access and management options, we strive to make the most of every unique user visit to our website. To provide our users with these and other online tools, we will, from time to time, request that you provide us with your personal information, such as your name, address, email address and telephone number. We may also receive your contact information via a third-party website if you request information about financial products and services on another website.

Website users: We will ask you for certain contact information when you register for online services and products, or request information online.

RiverSource and Columbia Management clients: We will ask you for certain personal information if you want to access your RiverSource and Columbia Management accounts online or request online services and products so we can provide you with secure online account access or the requested services or products.

We will maintain information about your account, online account activity, online services and products requested and your usage of our website to help us administer your online account needs and to continually improve your online experience by providing you with customized, relevant information and offers.

TO PARENTS OF CHILDREN UNDER 13: We do not knowingly solicit data online from or market online to children under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian of a child under the age of 13 and believe that personal information may have been collected about your child, please read "How we use the information we collect" below.

How we use the information we collect

We use personal information collected on our website to handle the transactions you initiate. In some instances, we will share your contact information with carefully selected service providers to assist us in processing your online transactions or to deliver the services, products, and marketing you request online. For example, in order to mail you the financial guide you request online, we will supply your contact information to a third party vendor who will process and mail the guide, and other materials you request on the behalf of RiverSource and Columbia Management.

In an effort to ensure that you get the most out of your visits to our website, we may use your personal information in combination with other information we have about you as a RiverSource and/or Columbia Management client and information provided to us by third parties to present you with customized and relevant information and offers.

Tracking activity on our website

In order to make your visit to our website as productive as possible, we track activity on our website. However, we want you to know that the tracking technology we use does not identify any personal information about you. It cannot retrieve data from your hard drive, pass on computer viruses, or capture any personal information about you, such as your name, address, phone number, or email address. We only know who you are if you tell us. You may, however, be asked to provide personal information such as name, address, phone number or email address to us when you register for online services or products.

Cookies: One way we track activity is by using cookies. A "cookie" is an electronic file that holds small strings of text. When you visit our website, we send a cookie to your browser so that we can recognize it when you or another user of your computer returns to our website. We want to recognize your browser so we can make the best use of your time when visiting our website. For example, when you visit our website, we present an introductory page to all new users. The fact that you have already visited the introductory page is recorded in a cookie so you won't see the introductory page again. For your security, if you are registered for online services and/or have an account with RiverSource or Columbia Management, we can not give you access to your account information on our website unless your browser is set to accept cookies from us.
Advertising: When you visit our website by clicking on certain banner ads or special offers on our partners' websites, we track this information to improve navigation and deliver relevant information when you arrive at our website. We also do this because we want to determine if our ads and special offers are appealing to our users.

In the course of serving our ads to you, a unique third-party cookie may be placed or recognized on your browser. In addition, we use web beacons, provided by our third-party ad server, to help manage and optimize our online advertising. These web beacons enable us to learn which ads we place on third-party sites bring users to our website. They do not capture or convey any personal or sensitive information about you. We also place web tags on certain pages of our website. These tags enable selected companies with which we have strategic alliances to determine if you initiate action on a joint offer. This allows the other company to avoid serving you ads for the same offer on subsequent visits to their website.
Browser settings: You can adjust many browser preferences so that you are alerted when a cookie is placed in your browser, or adjust preferences to decline cookies altogether. Recognize that cookies enable you to visit our website without reviewing introductory information. In addition to allowing us to recognize you, cookies also enable us to securely provide our registered users with account information.

How we use your email address

We recognize that email can be the preferred mode of communication for some of our website users. If you provide us with your email address when registering for an online service or product or when accessing your account online, we will use it to contact you about online services and products for which you have registered or about your account.

We may use your email address to send you the following types of email messages:

Service notifications related to your accounts(s)
Email newsletters related to RiverSource and Columbia Management
Occasional updates about our products and services as well as RiverSource and Columbia Management marketing offers

Also, once you have requested information from us, we may communicate with you via email regarding your request to provide additional information. We will never ask you to send personal information such as account or Social Security numbers by non-secure email.

To make our email offers more relevant to you, we may use information you provided in your initial transaction with us, in surveys, from information we have about you as a RiverSource or Columbia Management client and information available from external sources. To opt out of receiving our communications, you may click on the "Unsubscribe" link found in a communication you previously received from us. You may also receive email offers from other companies for RiverSource or Columbia Management products and services if you registered to receive offers on their website, or if you receive ongoing email newsletters from the other companies that include third-party ads. In certain circumstances, you may receive email offers for RiverSource and Columbia Management products and services from other companies during the time period when we are processing your opt-out request. To opt-out of receiving offers or email newsletters from other companies, follow the instructions provided by those companies.

We do not share your email address with non-affiliated companies for them to market their products or services directly to you. However, we may partner with selected non-affiliated companies to offer certain products or services we believe may be of interest to you.

Email communications sent to you by RiverSource, Columbia Management or their service providers may contain web beacons. The web beacons allow RiverSource and Columbia Management to know which email are opened and acted upon so we can provide more relevant content or offers in the future.

Ads that link to our website

RiverSource and Columbia Management may use third parties to place banner ads on other websites and will perform tracking and reporting activities through use of ad servers. We do not provide ad servers with your personal information and ad servers do not collect your personal information.

Ad servers are subject to their own privacy policies. If you would like more information about the privacy policies of these ad servers, including information on how to opt-out of their tracking methods, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative website.

Websites that we link to

Websites that you link to from the RiverSource or Columbia Management site or a RiverSource or Columbia Management email may contain privacy provisions that differ from the provisions of our Privacy Statement. To ensure your privacy is protected, we recommend that you review the privacy statements of other Internet sites you visit.

How We Safeguard Your Information

RiverSource and Columbia Management realizes how important security is to you, so we've taken a number of steps to enhance the protection of personal or confidential information sent to, or from RiverSource and Columbia Management over the Internet. First, we require that a "secure session" be established, using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Technology. This is done any time you supply or access personal or confidential information in one of our secure online areas.

SSL Technology creates a private conversation that only your computer and RiverSource and Columbia Management systems can understand. The SSL Technology encodes information as it is being sent over the Internet between your computer and RiverSource and Columbia Management systems, helping to ensure the transmitted information remains confidential. The use of SSL requires two components: an SSL-compatible browser and a Web server to perform the "key-exchange" that establishes a secure connection to the RiverSource and Columbia Management Web servers. In addition, all of our secure sites require that your browser support 128-bit encryption.

Second, many areas of the site require the use of a user ID and password as an additional security measure that helps protect your confidential information. This allows RiverSource and Columbia Management to verify who you are, thereby allowing you access to your account information, and preventing unauthorized access.

When you have finished using a secure area of this website, make sure you always click on the "Log Out" link which appears on the top of every secure page. When you click on it, no further secure transactions can be conducted without re-entering your user ID and password. This also helps prevent unauthorized access to your account if you walk away from your computer.

You should be aware that browser software often "caches" a page as you look at it, meaning that some pages are saved in your computer's temporary memory. Therefore, you may find that clicking on your "Back" button shows you a saved version of a previously viewed page. Caching in no way affects the security of your confidential user ID or password. If you use a computer in a public place to access your account information, simply quit/exit the browser software before leaving to minimize the possibility of anyone else viewing your confidential information.

Third, in order to bring you the many online products and services offered on riversource.com, we work with carefully selected vendors and non-affiliated companies. If we have to share any information with these companies in order to provide a product or service to you, we first conduct a careful evaluation of their information and security systems and practices, and require administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of RiverSource and Columbia Management client information. At any time, we may audit these companies to verify the continued security of their systems and practices.

Lastly, RiverSource and Columbia Management computer systems are protected by a firewall that blocks unauthorized access. This means that no one without the proper web browser configuration can view or modify information contained on our systems. Only authorized people — employees, advisors, approved contractors, etc. — can use RiverSource and Columbia Management computer systems, and only people who need to know confidential client information have access to that information.

How you can protect yourself online

Spyware, Anti-Virus and Firewall Software

Spyware is software that is installed on your computer without your consent to monitor the way you use your computer. It can be used to display pop-up ads, send you to websites you did not mean to visit, monitor the websites you surf or record keystrokes, meaning the software could record your usernames and passwords.

Clues that spyware may have been installed on your computer are:

Onslaught of pop-up ads
Your browser taking you to sites you did not enter in the address box
A change to your Internet home page that you did not make
New toolbars
New icons in your browser window
Keys that don't work properly
Random error messages
Slow performance when opening programs or saving files

Tips to help protect your computer from spyware

Update your operating system and Web browser software to make sure you have the latest protection.
Only download free software from sites you know and trust.
Don't install any software without knowing exactly what it is.
Set your security setting to at least "medium" to avoid unauthorized downloads.
Avoid links in pop-up windows.
Don't click on links in spam that claim to offer anti-spyware software.
Install a personal firewall to stop uninvited users from accessing your computer.

How to get rid of spyware

If you think your computer might have spyware on it, follow these steps:

Get an anti-spyware program from a vendor you know and trust, choosing one that can undo changes spyware makes to your system.
Set it to scan on a regular basis — at least once a week — and every time you start your computer, if possible.
Delete any software programs the anti-spyware program detects that you don't want on your computer.

Source: onguardonline.gov

Anti-virus software and a firewall can help protect you when you make financial transactions online.

Anti-virus software works by removing or quarantining suspected viruses. It's best to choose one that updates regularly so that you don't have to worry about making sure the software is up-to-date.
A firewall functions much like a fire door in a building by preventing unauthorized parties to access your computer or network. It is important to set up your firewall properly.

Personal information and phishing

Phishing refers to the unlawful and fraudulent attempt to acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, Social Security numbers and credit card information. Phishers send email or create pop-up windows posing as reputable companies, such as Internet service providers (ISP), banks and online payment services, and ask consumers to update, validate or confirm account or other personal information on a website that looks legitimate.

Don't reply to or click on links in email or pop-up messages that ask for personal information. Legitimate companies will not attempt to collect personal information outside of a secure website. If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization mentioned in the email or pop-up.
Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software and a firewall. Some phishing emails contain software, such as spyware, that harm your computer or track your activities on the Internet. Anti-virus software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files.
Don't email personal or financial information. Regular email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. Some companies, including Ameriprise Financial, offer a secure email service that you can use when you need to exchange sensitive information.
Use caution when opening attachments or downloading files from email. These files can contain viruses or other software that can weaken your computer's security.
Report phishing attempts to the company being impersonated. Most organizations have information on their websites about where to report suspected phishing incidents. To report an incident to Ameriprise Financial, you can email us at anti.fraud@ampf.com.