Effective August, 2006
GE Money - Americas, including its financial institutions GE Money Bank and GE Capital Financial Inc. (collectively, “GEMA”) is committed to protecting any personal information that you may provide to us. In particular, we believe it is important for you to know how we treat information about you that we may receive from this Web site. This Privacy Policy currently is applicable only the GEMA's United States customers and visitors and only when they access and use this site, and may not be applicable to transactions performed and information collected in other channels than this site.
Please read this policy carefully.
Information Collected
In general, you can visit this Web site without telling us who you are or revealing any information about yourself. Our web servers collect the domain names, not the e-mail addresses, of visitors. Our web servers also seek (as many Web sites do) to place a "cookie" (a small data file) on your computer's hard drive which allows the server to determine the computer when it visits again in order to track statistical information about navigation to and throughout certain areas of our site and to GEMA promotions on other sites. This cookie is not used to obtain your name or any personal data, and the information that is tracked is used only for internal purposes, such as to improve site navigation and to measure the effectiveness of our promotional placements, and is not shared with anyone other than GEMA affiliates and contractors who assist GEMA in these efforts and who are bound to confidentiality. However, if you prefer not to accept cookies, you can set your browser to reject them or to alert you before one is placed.
We use a third-party technology to place our advertisements on other Web sites. This technology will install a small "cookie" file on your computer when you view our ad. These cookies will not contain any information that personally identifies you (such as your name or e-mail address) but they will contain a randomly generated number that is unique to your browser and can be recognized by a "Web beacon" (transparent GIF file) on our site if you click through to our site from one of our ads. This allows us to keep track of how many unique visitors we have to our site and from what ads they entered, so that we can measure the effectiveness of our ads and ad placements. The privacy policies of the Web sites on which we advertise, and through which the cookies are installed should inform you about the cookie, and you may of course set your browser to reject cookies.
In addition, there are portions of this Web site where we may need to collect personally identifiable information about you (such as your address, phone number, social security number, mother's maiden name and information about transactions, checks cashed, items purchased, payments and payment method), for identification, account management, servicing and marketing purposes. We obtain information about you directly from you (such as on application forms), through your use of our products and services and from third parties (such as credit bureaus and demographic firms).
This Web site is not intended for persons under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly solicit or collect personal information from or about children under 13 and we do not knowingly market our products or services to children under 13.
Use of Collected Information
We may use and share all of the information we collect, subject to applicable law, with the following (these examples are not intended to be all-inclusive):
- Service Providers , (including our affiliates) to assist us in servicing your GEMA account, like preparing periodic statements and promotional materials, and responding to customer inquiries. We also may use marketing firms, such as modeling companies, to assist us in our own marketing efforts.
- Financial Institutions with Whom We Jointly Offer Financial Products, such as loan products or credit insurance. If your billing address is in Vermont, this information will be limited to your name and contact information, and transaction and experience information on your account.
- Our Affiliates, Who are Other Companies in the General Electric Company Corporate Family ("GE Family"), for servicing or marketing purposes, subject to your right to opt out of sharing of credit eligibility information, such as certain information from credit bureaus and your application, as provided in the It's Your Choice section below.
- Third Parties, Who are Interested in Offering Special Products or Services to You, subject to your right to opt out as provided in the It's Your Choice section below. For example, we may disclose information to financial services providers offering products such as insurance, mortgages or loans, and non-financial companies offering consumer products and services. We may disclose name, address and telephone numbers, as well as GEMA Account transaction and performance history.
- Others: We may report information, such as balances and payment information, to credit bureaus. In addition, we may buy and sell assets, lines of business and/or accounts. When this occurs, customer information generally is disclosed to bidders and is one of the transferred business assets. We also disclose information about you to third parties in certain other circumstances, as permitted or required by law. For example, we may disclose information to law enforcement agencies or state and federal regulatory authorities.
It's Your Choice - You have the right to opt out of our sharing of information with certain third parties. If you have provided us personally identifiable information in connection with a consumer product or service offered by GE Money Bank on this site, please refer to the privacy policy covering such product or service provided with the disclosures for such product or service to review your opt out options and to exercise your choice. Business purpose products or services offered by GE Capital Financial Inc. are not subject to the opt out provisions of this Policy.
- Please understand that, even if you opt out, we will continue to share information with joint marketing partners and service providers as described in this policy, the policy under which you opted out, and as otherwise permitted by law. And we will continue to share information that identifies you, and about your transactions and experiences with us, with companies within the GE Family.
- Even if you opt out, we will continue to provide you with periodic statement inserts and mail notices of special offers and new benefits.
- Vermont Residents: If (and while) your billing address is in Vermont, we will treat you as if you had exercised the opt out choice described above and you do not need to contact us in order to opt out. If you move from Vermont and you wish to restrict us from sharing information about you as provided in this Policy, you must then contact us to exercise the opt out choice described above.
We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard nonpublic personal information about you. We limit access to personal and account information to those employees and agents who assist us in providing products and services to you. We also require third parties to whom we disclose nonpublic personal information to adhere to this Privacy Policy and to establish information security procedures.
Your Access to Information
We provide you access to information about your GEMA Account by sending you monthly periodic statements outlining your transactions, and other GEMA Account information, and by providing customer service representatives to answer your questions. You may review and update your personal information that you provide to us through this Web site.
How This Policy Applies to You
The examples contained in this Privacy Policy are illustrations only, and are not intended to be all-inclusive. If you decide to terminate your GEMA Account or become an inactive customer, or if we close or suspend your GEMA Account, we will continue to adhere to the privacy policies and practices described in this notice to the extent we retain information about you. We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time, and we will inform you of changes as required by law. You may have other privacy protections under state laws and we will comply with applicable state laws when we disclose information about you.
Links to Other Sites
Our Web site may contain links to other sites such as GE Family distributors and sales affiliates. While we try to link only to sites that share our high standards and respect for privacy, we are not responsible for the content, security, or privacy practices employed by other sites.
Changes to this Policy
Please check this privacy policy periodically to inform yourself of any changes. Although we reserve the right to modify or supplement this privacy policy, we will provide notice to you on this Web site of any major changes for at least 30 days following the change.
