Privacy Act Notice


Please read the following information:

Privacy Policy

Our Privacy policy is simple: We collect no personal information about you unless you choose to provide that information to us. When we do collect information about you, we only collect the information that we need to provide you a service. We only share the information that you provide with those who you authorize to see it or to those who are authorized to see it under federal law.

Your privacy is very important to us. This Web site supports 128 bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption to provide maximum protection of your information. SSL allows us to encrypt your information using public key cryptography. This capability virtually assures that your information cannot be manipulated or misused by anyone during transmission. Anytime your account information is sent or received through the Internet, it is performed using SSL. If you are only visiting the Direct Loan Servicing Online Web site, our Web site's operating system will automatically record some general information about your visit.

Non-personal information we record

During your visit, our Web operating system will record:

  1. The Internet domain for your Internet service, such as "xcompany.com" or "xcompany.net" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a college or university domain.

  2. The type of browser (such as "Netscape version X" or "Internet Explorer version X") that you are using.

  3. The type of operating system that you use (such as Macintosh, Unix, or Windows).

  4. The date and time you visit our site, and the Web pages that you visit on our site.

  5. The address of the previous Web site you were visiting, if you linked to us from another Web site.

We use this information for statistical analysis, to help us make our site more useful to visitors. This tracking system does not record information about individual visitors.

Cookies

We use "cookies" to help you use our Web site interactively. A cookie is a small file that a Web site transfers to your computer's hard disk, to keep track of your session as you move from page to page while connected to that site.

These cookies collect no information about you, but only about your browser "session." The cookie makes it easier for you to use the dynamic features of these Web pages, without having to provide the same information again as you move from one page to another. The cookie and the information about your session will be destroyed automatically shortly after you close your browser -- it is not permanently stored on your computer.

To protect your privacy, be sure to close your browser completely after you have finished conducting business with a Web site that uses cookies. If you are concerned about the potential use of information gathered from your computer by cookies, you can set your browser to prompt you before it accepts a cookie. Most Internet browsers have settings that let you identify and/or reject cookies.

Loan-related information collected

The e-mail address that you provide to enroll in our electronic services is protected in the same way any other information that you have given us is protected once it is submitted. We will use the e-mail address that you provided to us to send electronic bills and/or electronic correspondence to you.

Privacy Act Notice

The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires that the following notice be provided to you:

The authority for collecting the requested information from and about you is 451 et seq. of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.). The principal purposes for collecting the information about you on this enrollment form is to allow the electronic servicing of your Direct Loan. Your disclosure of the requested information is voluntary, but you must provide the requested information in order to participate in electronic servicing of your William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan).

The information in your file may be disclosed to third parties as authorized under routine uses in systems of records notices #18-11-05, called Title IV Program Files, and #18-11-06, called National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The published routine uses of this information include its disclosure to federal, state, or local agencies, to other federal agencies under computer matching programs, to private parties such as relatives, present and former employers, business and personal associates, to credit bureau organizations, to educational institutions, and to contractors in order to verify your identity, to determine your Program eligibility and benefits, to permit the servicing or collection of your loan(s), to counsel you in repayment efforts, to enforce the terms of the loan, to investigate possible fraud and to verify compliance with Program regulations, or to locate you if you become delinquent in your loan(s) payments or you default. In the event of litigation, we may send records to the Department of Justice, a court, adjudicative body, counsel, party, or witness if the disclosure is relevant and necessary to the litigation. If this information, either alone or with other information, indicates a potential violation of law, we may send it to the appropriate authority for action. We may send information to members of Congress if you ask them to help you with federal student aid questions. In circumstances involving employment complaints, grievances, or disciplinary actions, we may disclose relevant records to adjudicate or investigate the issues. If provided for by a collective bargaining agreement, we may disclose records to a labor organization recognized under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71. Disclosures may also be made to qualified researchers under Privacy Act safeguards. Click here to review these published System of Records notices.