CoBank Online Privacy Notice
Last Updated: August 4, 2023
CoBank, ACB and our affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, “CoBank”) respect your privacy. When you visit our websites (e.g., CoBank.com), online platforms, and mobile apps that link to this Online Privacy Notice (collectively, “Online Services”), we may collect personal information about you to provide our products and services, operate, evaluate and improve our business, and otherwise fulfill our mission. This Online Privacy Notice describes the types of personal information we obtain on our Online Services, how we use the information, with whom we may share it and the choices available to you regarding our use of the information. We also describe measures we take to protect the information and how you can contact us about our privacy practices.
Information We Obtain
We may obtain certain personal information through your use of Online Services, including:
- Contact information, such as name, telephone number and postal and email address;
- Account information, such as login credentials (e.g., username and password), preferences and interests;
- Professional and employment information, such as your occupation and job title, the name and location of the organization you represent;
- Financial account information, such as account number, customer identifier, and transaction-related information;
- Government-issued identification numbers, such Social Security number;
- Demographic information, such as age, date of birth, citizenship status and income;
- Information you provide in connection with a job application, such as your resume information (e.g., employment history and education, legal work eligibility status, and salary requirements); and
- Other information you or the organization you represent choose to provide, such as through emails or other communications, surveys, registrations, sign-up forms, requests for services or information, and information you or your organization publish or post on our Online Services.
When you visit our Online Services, we (and our service providers on our behalf) may obtain certain information by automated means, such as cookies, web beacons, web server logs, device logs and other technologies. A “cookie” is a text file that websites send to a visitor’s computer or other Internet-connected device to uniquely identify the visitor’s browser or to store information or settings in the browser. A “web beacon,” also known as an Internet tag, pixel tag or clear GIF, links web pages to web servers and cookies and may be used to transmit information collected through cookies back to a web server. The information we collect in this manner may include your IP address, unique device identifier or characteristics, web browser characteristics, device settings and configurations, WiFi network identifier and signal, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs or emails, dates and times of visits or usage, and pages and documents visited and other actions taken.
We may use these automated technologies on our Online Services to collect information about your equipment, browsing actions, and usage patterns. These technologies help us (1) remember your information so you do not have to re-enter it; (2) track and understand how you use and interact with our Online Services; (3) tailor the Online Services around your preferences; (4) measure the usability of our Online Services and the effectiveness of our communications; (5) protect the safety and security of our Online Services; and (6) otherwise manage and enhance our products and services, and help ensure they are working properly.
Your browser may tell you how to be notified about certain types of automated collection technologies and how to restrict or disable them. Please note, however, that without these technologies, you may not be able to use all of the features of our Online Services. For mobile devices, you can manage how your device and browser share certain device data by adjusting the privacy and security settings on your mobile device.
How We Use The Information We Obtain
We may use the personal information we obtain about you when you visit and use our Online Services to:
- Provide our products and services;
- Process and fulfill transactions in connection with our products and services;
- Communicate with you (including providing you with offers and other communications about our products and services), respond to inquiries and offer customer support;
- Establish and manage accounts;
- Verify your identity;
- Personalize your experience on our Online Services;
- Advertise and market our products and services;
- Administer participation in surveys, sweepstakes, promotions or other programs;
- Manage career opportunities at CoBank, including for recruitment purposes, candidate screening and evaluation, and employee onboarding;
- Establish and manage our business relationships;
- Perform analytics (including, but not limited to, market research, trend analysis, financial analysis, and analysis of our customer base), and anonymization of personal information;
- Operate, evaluate and improve our business (including developing new products and services; enhancing, improving and analyzing our products and services; managing our communications; and performing accounting, auditing and other internal functions);
- Maintain and enhance the safety and security of our Online Services, products and services and prevent misuse;
- Protect against, identify and prevent fraud and other criminal activity, claims and other liabilities;
- Exercise our rights and remedies and defend against legal claims; and
- Comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards and CoBank policies and terms, including, but not limited to, those relating to anti-money laundering, economic sanctions, and anti-terrorism.
We also may use the information in other ways for which we provide specific notice at the time of collection.
Third-Party Analytics Services
We may use third-party analytics services on our Online Services, such as Google Analytics. The information we obtain through the Online Services may be disclosed to or collected directly by these services. To learn more about Google Analytics, please visit https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.
Interest-Based Advertising
On our Online Services, we may obtain information about your online activities to provide you with advertising about products and services that may be tailored to your interests. This section of our Online Privacy Notice provides details and explains how to exercise certain choices.
You may see our ads on other websites because we use third-party ad services. Through these ad services, we can target our messaging to users considering demographic data, users’ inferred interests and browsing context. These services track your online activities over time and across multiple websites and apps by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of cookies, web server logs, web beacons and other similar technologies. The ad services use this information to show you ads that may be tailored to your individual interests. The information that ad services may collect includes data about your visits to websites that serve CoBank advertisements, such as the pages or ads you view and the actions you take on the websites or apps. This data collection takes place both on our Online Services and on third-party websites and apps that participate in these ad services. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.
Our Online Services are not designed to respond to “do not track” signals from browsers.
To learn how to opt out of interest-based advertising, please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance, the Network Advertising Initiative and TRUSTe Advertising Choices.
How We Share The Information We Obtain
We may share the information we obtain about you with our affiliates and subsidiaries. We also may share the information we obtain about you with our professional advisors (e.g., auditors, accountants, law firms, and other consultants), third-party researchers, and third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf (e.g., data analytics, IT storage and support, security, and fraud prevention). In addition, we may share the information with (1) farm credit institutions; (2)other financial institutions; and (3) consumer reporting agencies.
We may disclose personal information (1) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (such as a court order or subpoena); (2) in response to requests by government agencies, such as law enforcement authorities; (3) to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights; (4) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical or other harm or financial loss; (5) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity; or (6) otherwise with your consent.
We reserve the right to transfer any personal information we have about you in connection with a prospective or actual sale, merger, transfer or other reorganization of all or parts of our business or assets (including in the event of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or liquidation).
How We Protect Personal Information
We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use.
Children’s Privacy
Our Online Services is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under the age of 13, or such other age as may be stipulated by applicable law.
Third-Party Links And Features
For your convenience and information, our Online Services may provide links to other online services, and may include third-party features such as apps, tools, widgets and plug-ins. These online services and third-party features may operate independently from us. The privacy practices of the relevant third parties, including details on the information they may collect about you, are subject to the privacy statements of these parties, which we strongly suggest you review. To the extent any linked online services or third-party features are not owned or controlled by us, we are not responsible for these third parties’ information practices.
Updates To This Privacy Notice
This Online Privacy Notice may be updated periodically and without prior notice to you to reflect changes in our personal information practices. We will indicate at the top of the Online Privacy Notice when it was most recently updated.
How To Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Online Privacy Notice, please e-mail your questions by using the Contact link. You also may write to us at: 6340 S. Fiddlers Green Circle, Greenwood Village, CO 80111