Effective Date: 1.5.10
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 RiverSource 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 clients: We will ask you for certain personal information if you want to access your RiverSource 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.
Whether you are a new website user or a RiverSource client, 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.
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 client and information provided to us by third parties to present you with customized and relevant information and offers.
To better meet your overall financial needs, we may also share your information with our affiliates that we believe can offer complementary services or products to our clients or that we believe may be of particular interest to RiverSource clients.
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.
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:
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 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 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 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 or its service providers may contain web beacons. The web beacons allow RiverSource to know which email are opened and acted upon so we can provide more relevant content or offers in the future.
RiverSource 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.
Web sites that you link to from the RiverSource site or a RiverSource 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 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 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 systems can understand. The SSL Technology encodes information as it is being sent over the Internet between your computer and RiverSource 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 RiverSource Web server systems. 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 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 RiverSource, 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 client information. At any time, we may audit these companies to verify the continued security of their systems and practices.
Lastly, RiverSource 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 computer systems, and only people who need to know confidential client information have access to that information.
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:
Tips to help protect your computer from spyware
If you think your computer might have spyware on it, follow these steps:
Source: onguardonline.gov
Anti-virus software and a firewall can help protect you when you make financial transactions online.
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.
Consider these tips to help you avoid phishing scams:
Source: onguardonline.gov