To learn about Making It Count's privacy policy, click the link below:
Making It Count Privacy Policy
The Ultimate Money Skills site is exclusively sponsored by Bank of America and contains links to helpful information on Bank of America's website, www.bankofamerica.com. Click the link below to learn about Bank of America's privacy policy.
Bank of America Online Practices Privacy Policy
Making It Count Privacy Policy
At Making It Count, we share your concerns about privacy. Since an essential function of this site is providing helpful information to students, parents and educators, we want you to understand what types of information we are collecting and what may happen to that information. Our privacy policy covers these areas:
- What types of information are collected by Making It Count
- How this information is used by Making It Count
- Who this information may be shared with by Making It Count
- What kind of security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under Making It Count's control
- How you can update any of your information
- What other provisions apply to your use of this site
How to Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, you may contact us at:
Support Services
Making It Count
10296 Springfield Pike, Suite #500
Cincinnati, OH 45215
Telephone: (513) 772-1188
Fax: (513) 772-2583
privacy@makingitcount.com
1. Collection of Information
Information may be collected from our users at several different points during your visit to Making It Count.
Registration -- A user must register to receive information such as e-newsletters, information from our partners, etc. During registration, a user may provide certain categories of information, such as name, address, email address, a password, date of birth, gender, and country of citizenship. In addition, a user may choose to provide other categories of information, such as career objectives, hobbies and other interests. Making It Count encourages its users to provide all of these fields of information so that users may maximize the effectiveness of the website.
Optional Information -- At various other points during your visit to Making It Count, you may be asked to provide information about yourself. For example, you may wish to participate in a survey or a contest. Participation in surveys or contests or the use of other services which require the input of additional information is completely voluntary on your part, and you have the choice about whether to disclose the information necessary to use these features of our site.
Passive Collection of Information -- In addition to the information which you actively provide to Making It Count by methods such as completing the registration form, Making It Count collects information about how you interact with our site. Making It Count collects passive information for purposes such as testing and improving a user's experience at the site and the compilation of broad aggregate demographic data and related usage information for internal purposes and for disclosure to third parties such as advertisers and content partners. The types of passive information collected by this site include, without limitation, your IP address, which type of browser you are using, where you go on our site, and how long you stay on any part of our site. Passive information does not identify you to Making It Count by name, and Making It Count does not link your IP address to your personally identifiable information.
Collection of Information from Children -- Making It Count abides by federal and state regulations regarding youth privacy. As such, Making It Count will not knowingly collect any personal information from or allow the registration of young people under the age of 13.
2. Use of Information
Making It Count uses your information in order to customize our site to your interests and enhance your overall experience at our site. Making It Count tries to recognize you using various methods, including having you log in with your email address and your password. Once Making It Count recognizes you, pages, advertisements and other content is customized for you so that you can see what interests you the most. In addition, as described above, Making It Count utilizes passive information to learn more about how you interact with our site. This passive information may be combined with your other information for purposes such as testing and improving your experience at our site and the compilation of broad aggregate demographic data and related usage information for internal purposes and for disclosure to third parties such as advertisers and content partners. This aggregate passive information does not contain any personal information which can identify any individual user.
Contacting You by Email -- Making It Count may use your contact information periodically in order to send you email regarding updates at the Making It Count site, such as new Making It Count opportunities and additional listings which may be of interest to you. The frequency of these messages will vary depending upon your profile, including the subjects you have indicated an interest in. In addition, we may send you free informational newsletters or notices relating to topics that may be of special interest to you, including financial aid, admissions tips, job opportunities and job advice. Finally, if you specifically provide Making It Count with permission at the time of registration, you may also receive commercial emails. Out of respect for the privacy of our users, we present the option to opt-out of receiving newsletters and/or commercial emails whenever such messages are sent by Making It Count, as described below. Email messages from third parties are not governed by the opt-out provisions of this Privacy Policy, but all such third parties are strongly encouraged to include opt-out procedures in their messages to you.
3. Sharing of Information
Making It Count will not knowingly sell, share, rent or otherwise transfer your information other than in accordance with the terms set forth in this Privacy Policy.
This privacy policy applies specifically to those registering on the Making It Count website. When high school students opt-in during the feedback form completion process in our live presentations their information is subject to a separate privacy policy.
- During the registration process, and at certain points thereafter in connection with specific offers, Making It Count asks you whether information about you may be sent to third parties who have products, services and opportunities that may be useful to you. Making It Count understands how important your information is to you. Therefore, Making It Count does not share any information that can be tied to you without your permission. If you opt-in, Making It Count may make the information you supply available to colleges and leading companies, so you'll receive free information on college financing and admissions, offers and promotions designed just for students, coupons from campus bookstores, freebies and more.
- Making It Count discloses information to companies and individuals we employ to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include third parties hosting our servers, analyzing data, providing marketing assistance, processing credit card payments and providing customer service. These companies and individuals will have access to your personal information as necessary to perform their functions, but they may not share that information with any other third party.
- Making It Count discloses information if legally required to do so, if requested to do so by a governmental entity or if Making It Count believes in good faith that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process; (b) protect our rights or property or our affiliated companies; (c) prevent a crime or protect national security; or (d) protect the personal safety of users or the public.
- Making It Count discloses and transfers information to its current affiliates and may disclose such information to a third party who acquires all or a substantial portion of our business, whether such acquisition is by way of merger, consolidation or purchase of all or a substantial portion of our assets. In addition, in the event Making It Count becomes the subject of a bankruptcy proceeding, whether voluntary or involuntary, Making It Count or our trustee in bankruptcy may sell, license or otherwise dispose of such information in a transaction approved by the bankruptcy court.
Regardless of your decision regarding the sharing of your personal information, Making It Count may share broad aggregate demographic data and related usage information with our business partners. This aggregate information does not contain any personal information which can identify any individual user.
4. Security
Making It Count has implemented commercially reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration or disclosure. You are the only user authorized to update your profile, unless you provide your password information to another party. However, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat those measures or use your personal information for improper purposes.
Making It Count helps protect personally identifiable information by utilizing both online and offline security methods, including firewalls, passwords and restricted physical access to the places where your information is stored. Our staff is trained to comply with our security procedures, and our security procedures are regularly reviewed and revised, if necessary, by the Privacy Team at Making It Count.
If you have any questions about security issues at our site, please send an email to privacy@makingitcount.com, and we will try to answer your questions.
5. How You Can Update Your Information
You can update your personal information by clicking here, or by following the instructions included in any email message you receive from Making It Count. Users who are experiencing problems with updating their information should contact us at privacy@makingitcount.com, and we will try to resolve your problems.
6. Other Provisions
Acceptance of Terms/Changes to Privacy Policy -- Your use of this site indicates an acceptance of the terms of the Privacy Policy. Making It Count reserves the right to update or amend this Privacy Policy at any time.
Disclaimer -- Making It Count provides information on many topics. Some of this information is created by Making It Count, and some of it is created by third parties. While our site strives to provide accurate expert advice, commentary and other information, Making It Count does not make any warranty regarding the accuracy, reliability or use of any information provided on this site, including award information, award deadlines, calculators and other tools.
Other -- In the event that Making It Count sells, assigns or transfers some or all of its business to a successor or acquirer, Making It Count may sell, assign or transfer all of your information, regardless of your opt status, to such successor or acquirer.
Links to Other Sites -- This site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Making It Count does not exercise control over the information, products, services or policies of third party companies accessible through our site. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy policies of each and every third party site. This Privacy Policy applies solely to the information collected by this site.
Choice/Opt-out -- Making It Count users are given the opportunity to "opt-out" of having their information used for purposes not directly related to our programs. You may opt-out from receiving specified types of communications from Making It Count by contacting us at privacy@makingitcount.com. Making It Count will only communicate with you according to your instructions. If you have any questions relating to opting-out, please contact us at privacy@makingitcount.com, and we will try to answer your questions.
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Your privacy is important to Making It Count. If you have questions about any of the provisions described above, please contact us at privacy@makingitcount.com or via the other contact information listed above.
Update effective April 2008.
Bank of America Online Practices Privacy Policy
The Online Practices Privacy Policy explains how we and our partners may collect information from you online when you visit a Bank of America Web site.
The Online Practices Privacy Policy, effective as of November 30, 2007, is for general guidance and subject to change. Please review periodically.
Customer information means personally identifiable information about a consumer or a consumer’s current or former customer relationship with Bank of America.
Privacy Policy for Consumers
In addition to the protections you enjoy through our Online Practices Privacy Policy, your online activities may also be covered by the Bank of America Privacy Policy for Consumers. This policy explains our collection, use, disclosure, retention and security of consumer information and applies to Bank of America products and services offered within the United States for consumer (not business) purposes. In addition, the Bank of America Privacy Policy for Consumers provides consumers with information on Setting Your Marketing Preferences.
How to manage your privacy online
- Maximize your experience on our site
- Browsing our site
- Using Cookies
- Collecting Information
- How we may share information
- Making sure information is accurate
- Online advertising
- Online surveys and sweepstakes
- Planning tools
- Aggregation sites
- Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P)
- Linking to other sites
- E-mail scams
- Looking out for children
- Changes to the Online Practices Privacy Policy
Maximize your experience on Bank of America Web sites
You can get more out of your Bank of America Web site experience when you tell us who you are. You can choose to do this through a number of online opportunities - for example, by registering for an online service, completing an e-mail profile, or applying for a product on one of our Web sites. As a result, we'll work hard to move information, products and services that best fit your profile to the front of your browsing experience.
Browsing our site
You can browse our sites anonymously by choosing not to provide us with any personally identifiable information, such as your name or e-mail address, during your visits to our sites.
Browsing anonymously after you've identified yourself involves setting your browser to disable cookies and similar files or by deleting the cookies and similar files that you have accepted from us. To do this, you'll need to follow your browser's instructions for disabling cookies or deleting cookies. Please note that the use of certain online products, such as Online Banking, do require the acceptance of cookies or similar files.
Cookies and Similar Files
Cookies are pieces of information stored directly on the computer you are using. Bank of America or our third party advertising service providers may place cookies or similar files on your hard drive for security purposes, to facilitate site navigation and to personalize your experience while visiting our site. This includes selecting which of our advertisements or offers are most likely to appeal to you and displaying such advertising or offers while you are on Bank of America Web sites. In all cases, cookies and similar files that we place on your computer do not contain any personal information unless encrypted, and we never use cookies or other files to track your use of other web sites.
If you do not accept these cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of some online products. For example, for Online Banking we will not be able to recognize your computer and you will need to answer a challenge question each time you log on. You also may not receive advertising or other offers from us that are more relevant to your interests and needs.
Bank of America uses cookies in two ways:
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Web Browsing Cookies
Cookies used for Web browsing can contain a variety of information, such as a simple count of how often you visit a Web site or information that allows customization of a Web site for your use or customization of Bank of America advertising or offers you receive when you are on the Bank of America Web sites. Bank of America uses cookies and other technologies to display information more effectively to you and to gather data about the usage of our website.
Cookies allow us to collect technical and navigational information such as browser type, time spent on our site, and pages visited. Cookies do not contain or capture unencrypted customer specific data. We may also use cookies in online advertising to track consumer responses to Bank of America advertisements. Other technologies we use may capture customer specific data to help us understand how customers use our site and to assist us with resolving customers’ questions regarding the use of our site. Cookies and other technologies provide us the capability to monitor the use of our site so we can continually improve the design and functionality to better serve you.
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Online Banking
Bank of America uses cookies during your Online Banking Session. For example, to identify the state you are banking in so that we do not ask you to enter your state information more than once. We may also use information regarding the state you are banking in to help us deliver you offers for products and services tailored to you. Cookies are also used for security purposes in conjunction with our SiteKey service to recognize your computer. Any time a cookie is used, personal information is encrypted and used solely to support your Online Banking activity.
Similar Files
Some web sites use technologies similar to cookies to store information. For example, Bank of America also uses files called Flash Objects in connection with Online Banking. This is used to help assure security as part of our SiteKey service. As with cookies, we never store personal information unless encrypted.
Collecting Personally-Identifiable information
When you visit our Web site, we may collect the following information in order to service your accounts, save you time and money, and better respond to your needs:
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Application information
Information that you provide to us online in applications and other forms. Examples include your assets, income and debt.
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Identification Information
Information that identifies you such as name, address, telephone number and Social Security number.
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Transaction and experience information
Information about your online transactions and account experience, as well as information about our online communications with you. Examples include your online bill payments and your activity on the Web site, such as collecting information on product information reviewed.
How we may share information
Bank of America may share Customer Information we collect from you online with our family of companies and with companies that work for us. All non-affiliated companies that act on our behalf and receive Customer Information from us are contractually obligated to keep the information we provide to them confidential and to use the Customer Information we share only to provide the services we ask them to perform. These companies may include financial service providers such as payment processing companies, and nonfinancial companies such as check printing and data processing companies.
We also may disclose Customer Information we collect about you online to credit bureaus and similar organizations and when required or permitted by law. For example, Customer Information may be disclosed in connection with a subpoena or similar legal process, fraud prevention or investigation, risk management and security, and the recording of deeds of trust and mortgages in public records.
Customer Information may also be disclosed to companies that process your requests for products or services or in connection with the sale of your account to another financial institution. We also may share Customer Information outside Bank of America companies when we have your consent, such as when you request a specific insurance rate quote from a third party insurer.
For customers with credit cards and Sponsored Accounts we may share Identification Information, Transaction and Experience Information, as well as Other General Information we collect about each of your Bank of America or MBNA credit card accounts and Sponsored Accounts with selected third parties. Examples of these organizations include colleges, sporting teams, retailers and other affinity organizations such as charities.
For more information on how Bank of America shares your Customer Information, please refer to the Bank of America Privacy Policy for Consumers.
We may share aggregated or anonymous data about our customers and visitors to the Bank of America Web sites with our advertising service providers and with companies that help us understand how you use our website.
Making sure information is accurate
Keeping your account information accurate and up to date is very important. If your account information is incomplete, inaccurate or not current, please call or write to us at the telephone number or appropriate address for such changes listed on your account statement, bank records or other account materials.
Advertising on the Bank of America Web Sites
Bank of America advertises its products and services, including pre-screened offers of credit, on pages within the Bank of America Web sites. These advertisements may take the form of banner ads, splash ads (ads that appear as you sign-on or sign-off of Online Banking), and other formats. We may use information about your relationship with us, such as what types of accounts you have, as well as high-level transactional information. This information may include whether you have signed up for direct deposit and the state in which you bank to tailor advertisements to you while you are on web pages within the Bank of America Web sites.
Behavioral Information Opt-Out
We also use advertising service providers to help us determine which of our advertisements are most likely to be of interest to you while you are on Bank of America Web sites. These advertising service providers may use anonymous behavioral information such as how you navigate the Web site to provide relevant advertisements to you while you are on the Bank of America Web sites. These advertising service providers to do not have access to or collect personally identifiable information such as your name, address, email address, account number, or telephonenumber. If you prefer not to have anonymous behavioral information used in this way, opt out of behavioral information use. Or, set your browser to not accept cookies, but, doing so may cause you to experience some inconvenience in your use of Bank of America Web sites, as described above.
Bank of America's advertising service providers serve advertising to you through the use of cookies and web beacons. The web beacons tell our advertising service providers the internet address of the Bank of America Web site pages viewed by users.
Information collected by our advertising service providers through cookies and Web beacons includes the number of people who look at each of the pages on the Bank of America Web sites, search engine referrals, browsing patterns within the Bank of America Web sites, and responses to advertisements and promotions on the Bank of America Web sites. Information collected may also include other trends and activity on the Bank of America Web sites, basic information about whether you have visited the site before, and your Internet connection and computer settings, such as your browser, your IP address, and your time zone.
From time to time consumers will experience 'Pop Ups' from other companies while visiting our site. Pop Ups are generated by 'Adware' placed on your computer when other sites have been visited. Bank of America does not participate in the use of Adware.
Advertising on Other Web Sites
Bank of America sometimes contracts with advertising companies to advertise our accounts and services on Web sites not affiliated with the Bank. If you click on one of our ads, you link to the Bank of America Web site that offers the advertised account or service. These ads may contain cookies that allow tracking of your response to our advertisements. These cookies do not identify you personally. We prohibit any company that places our ads from using this information for any purpose other than to assist us in measuring the effectiveness of our ads
Online surveys and sweepstakes
From time to time, you may be asked to participate in online surveys or sweepstakes on Bank of America Web sites. Online surveys are used so that we can gather information to better serve you. Based on the information you provide to us, we may inform you of accounts and services from Bank of America. As always, if you have asked us not to contact you with direct marketing offers, your request will be honored (see Your Privacy Preferences). You are not required to complete online surveys, sweepstakes or promotions.
Planning tools
Bank of America provides customers visiting its Web site with a variety of planning tools, such as mortgage and savings calculators. Information that you enter into one of these planning tools or calculators may be stored for your future access and use. We will let you know when we do plan to store information, and we will give you the option not to have this information saved.
Aggregation sites
Aggregation sites are Internet sites that allow you to consolidate account information from several sources to be viewed on one site. To do this, an aggregation provider may request access to your personal financial information. You should ensure that the aggregator company has appropriate policies to protect the privacy and security of any information you provide or to which they are gaining access.
- My Portfolio. Bank of America offers aggregation services through My Portfolio accessed through Online Banking. Through My Portfolio, you can consolidate your accounts from different sources (Bank of America, its affiliates and other financial institutions) so that you can view all your accounts at one online location. Bank of America uses this information to help optimize your personal use of My Portfolio and to understand what account or service offers may be most beneficial to you. The account information you choose to provide and aggregate is protected in the Bank of America Privacy Policy for Consumers.
- Using other aggregation sites. If you provide information about your Bank of America accounts to an aggregator company, we will consider that you have authorized all transactions initiated by an aggregation site using access information you provide, whether or not you were aware of a specific transaction.
If you decide to revoke the authority you have given an aggregator company, we strongly recommend that you change your Bank of America password to ensure that the aggregator company cannot continue to access your account.
Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) P3P
The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project, has been developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to help inform Internet users about the information practices of Web sites they visit. Using the P3P standard, a Web site can publish a summary of site privacy practices in machine-readable form. This summary is interpreted by browsers equipped to read P3P summaries. These browsers may then display alerts or block transmission of information to you and/or the Web site if the Web site privacy practices are different from the privacy practices you've selected in your P3P browser.
Only a P3P-enabled browser used on a Web site that publishes a P3P privacy practices summary will let you see these alerts or block certain information from being transmitted.
Bank of America sites use P3P summaries to address our use of cookies, but do not publish a full P3P summary of our privacy policy. However, you can read, print or download the full text of the Bank of America Privacy Policy for Consumers online.
See a list of recommended browsers for using Bank of America Web site.
Linking to other sites
We may provide links to non-Bank of America companies, such as credit bureaus or merchants. If you choose to link to Web sites not controlled by Bank of America, we are not responsible for the privacy or security of these sites, including the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of their information. If you are asked to provide information on one of these Web sites we strongly urge you to carefully study their privacy policies before sharing your information.
When you are leaving the Bank of America site, you will be notified that you are leaving the site and that Bank of America cannot guarantee the security of the site you are entering and that the site may have different privacy practices and protections.
E-mail Fraud
E-mail can be used for sending scams such as a false offer from a company or an alert to a false computer virus. These e-mails are often forwarded with good intention by friends, adding an erroneous level of legitimacy. If you receive an e-mail that you think could be a scam, do not forward it and delete it immediately. If you receive an e-mail warning that a new computer virus is circulating, check the Web site of any one of the well-known anti-virus software companies for validation.
Emails such as these are most likely from criminals who send thousands of emails at a time to random addresses. These criminals are trying to entice the recipient to visit a phony website and provide personal and confidential information, such as online IDs and passcodes, or Social Security numbers and account numbers. Although the site may look like a bank's, it is not - which is why this practice is known as "spoofing."
To report a suspicious email that uses Bank of America's name, you can forward it to abuse@bankofamerica.com
Looking out for children
We do not knowingly market to or solicit information from children under 13 without parental consent. We recognize that protecting children's identities and privacy online is important and that the responsibility to do so rests with both the online industry and with parents. While Bank of America works to protect your personal information, you also have responsibility. Learn how to protect your information.
- Internet safety for children. The Internet is a public network. Children's access to the Internet can allow them to visit inappropriate Web sites and be exposed to unwanted risks. COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, protects children under the age of 13 from the online collection of personal information. Learn more about COPPA on the Federal Trade Commission's Web site. Parents can be proactive by installing filtering software that gives them more control over their family's Internet experience.
- Cyber ethics for children. Cyber ethics is the practice of being a good citizen on the Internet superhighway. Kids should understand the rules of the road, too. Learn more by visiting the U.S. Department of Justice's kids and youth Web site.
Changes to the Online Practices Privacy Policy
If we make changes to the Online Practices Privacy Policy or make any material changes to our online services, we will revise the Online Practices Privacy Policy to reflect such changes and revise the policy's effective date.
