Privacy Policy
Northern Rock understands that protecting your privacy is important. Our privacy policy states how we collect, use, share, and protect your information when you use this website. Please revisit this page regularly as we may change our privacy policy from time-to-time. This way you can learn what information we collect, how we use it, how we protect it, and when we might disclose it. We would also recommend that you review our privacy policy before you submit any information of a personal nature to us through this website.
Use the following links to find out more about our privacy policy:
Confidentiality
In accessing this site you accept that electronic mail passing over the internet may not be free from interference by third parties. Although steps have been taken in relation to Northern Rock's systems (see the Security section) Northern Rock plc cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of any information relating to you as it passes over the internet.
You are responsible for the content and information contained in all your communications to this site, including lawfulness, truthfulness and accuracy of such communications. In particular, but without limitation, you should not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory or obscene material or any material that could give rise to a criminal offence and/or civil liability.
It is the responsibility of the user of this site to ensure that no viruses enter their systems. Northern Rock plc assumes no responsibility in this respect.
Data Protection
Each company in the Northern Rock Group of companies has delivered the required notification to the Information Commissioner and complies with the Data Protection Act 1998. When you become a customer we will ask for your consent to use your information for marketing purposes but you can contact us at any time if you change your mind. We will tell you the purposes for which your information will be processed and any disclosures likely to be made to trusted third parties.
You can obtain (for a maximum £10 fee) a copy of the information we hold about you by writing to:
The Data Protection Officer,
Northern Rock plc,
Freepost NT 45
PO Box 2
Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE3 4PL
If you tell us, we will either delete or correct any information that is wrong.
Sources and use of your information
By ‘information', we refer to personal and financial data that may have been provided to us either by you the customer, third parties such as other organisations or credit reference agencies, the electoral role and ways in which you use our products and services.
We will not disclose your personal information outside of the Northern Rock Group without your consent except for the following purposes:
- To credit reference and fraud prevention agencies and other organisations that may record, use and issue information to other lenders and insurers. The information may be used in connection with assessments for credit, insurance, tracing of debt and to mitigate and prevent money laundering and fraud.
- To our appointed agents who act under a code of strict confidentiality and administer accounts and services for us,
- As required by law or regulatory requirements,
- If there is a duty to the public to reveal the information.
We and others included in the Northern Rock Group, will process your information to:
- Check your identity;
- Manage your account(s), including the security of your information and provide appropriate services to you;
- Use for assessment and analysis (including credit scoring and marketing analysis);
- Prevent and detect money laundering and fraud;
- Share with credit reference and fraud prevention agencies,
- Satisfy legal and statutory obligations placed upon us;
- Statistics, system testing and research;
- Debt tracing and recovery
- Other purposes for which you have given permission;
- Offer other products and services if you have not indicated an objection (when we initially collect your information)
Use of Cookies
This website uses ‘session cookies' which allows our system to ‘remember' information about the configuration (settings) of your computer. Cookies, which are used by many major websites, are text files that either sit on your computer hard drive, or your browser's cache memory. These files are not computer programs, and cannot cause any damage to your computer. They form an essential part in the creation of good user experience on many websites.
Personal information about you is not collected through the use of cookies. We will not attempt to personally identify you from your settings unless required to as a matter of law or regulation or in order to protect our, or our other customers,' rights (please see the Sources and use of your information section).
Most browsers are initially enabled to automatically accept cookies. You can set your browser options so that you will not receive cookies and you can also delete existing cookies from your browser. However, if you disable cookies you may find that some parts of the site will not function properly if you refuse cookies.
If you would like to find out more information about cookies please visit the All about cookies website.
Tracking and Monitoring
We use site tracking and monitoring to collect information about how our websites and applications are being used, such as the number of page views that occur on the website, the number of visitors and common ways of arriving on or leaving the site and our applications. This in turn helps us identify issues and to improve our services and provide you with a better experience.
We also use a third party to provide adverts about our products and services on our behalf across the Internet. The third party may also collect anonymous information about your visits to our website and applications. This is done through the use of technology that tracks the user's cookie ID which is a numerical identifier. The third party does not collect any personally identifiable information, such as names, e-mail addresses, or phone numbers. The third party technology is secure and complies with the most stringent privacy guidelines .
Security
Northern Rock uses industry standard methods, including 128 bit encryption to ensure that all the transactions processed via the site are secure.
We recommend that you note the following tips in order to help you safeguard your account and personal information:
- Always take reasonable steps to keep your account details and other security information secure and never give them to anyone else.
- Take care when storing and disposing of your account information. Take simple steps such as shredding printed material.
- Contact us immediately if you suspect or discover that your details have been lost or stolen.
- If your account has a card and Personal Identification Number (PIN): choose your PIN carefully and never write it down, remember your PIN and destroy the notice immediately and keep your card receipts and other account information safe and destroy them carefully.
- Keep your PC secure by using up to date anti-virus and spyware software and a personal firewall.
- Treat e-mails you receive with caution and be wary of e-mails or calls asking you to reveal any security details. Neither the police nor Northern Rock will ever contact you to ask you to reveal your on-line banking and password details.
For helpful information about choosing an appropriate password for your online accounts, please visit our help page .
Links to other websites
Our websites may contain links to sites operated by persons outside the Northern Rock Group. This privacy policy does not apply to those websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or the product and services provided through those sites.