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About Us

Online Privacy Notice

Last Updated: December 23, 2019

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction
  • Information We Collect
  • How We Use the Information We Collect
  • Sharing of Personal Information
  • Your Choices
  • How We Protect Personal Information
  • Links to Other Web Sites, Features, and Embedded Content
  • Website Visitors and Investors from Outside of the U.S.
  • State Privacy Notices
  • Updates to our Online Privacy Notice
  • How to Contact Us

Introduction

Fannie Mae respects your concerns about privacy and values its relationship with you. This Online Privacy Notice describes the types of personal information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit or interact with our websites and applications that link to this Privacy Notice (our “Sites”), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.  We also describe the measures we take to protect the security of the information and how you can contact us about our privacy practices.

This Privacy Notice applies to information we collect:

  • In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and these Sites
  • When you interact with our advertising and applications on third-party websites and services, but only if those applications or advertising include links to this Privacy Notice

It does not apply to information collected by:

  • Us offline or through any other means (except as explicitly noted); or
  • Any third party, including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or on the Sites.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide. We may obtain certain personal information (such as name and other contact details) through our Sites. Here are the most common types of information: 

  • Contact information (such as name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number and fax number);
  • Login and access credentials (such as username and password);
  • Information about your property or mortgage loan;
  • Age and gender;
  • Real estate license number;
  • Responses to online surveys; or
  • Comments you submit through our Sites. 

This information is actively provided to us by you on a voluntary basis.  We offer visitors to our Sites various services, which we may change from time to time. We may ask you to submit certain personal information so we can provide you with these services.

Information Collected Automatically. When you visit our Sites, we and our third-party service providers collect information through automated technologies such as cookies, web server logs, and web beacons. We and our third-party service providers may combine this information with the personal information that we collect about you. A "cookie" is a file that Web sites 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. Some cookies allow us to make it easier for you to navigate our Sites, while others are used to enable a faster log-in process or to allow us to track your activities at our Sites.

Disabling Cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but, if you prefer, your browser may give you options to delete cookies or to block them in the future. The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your computer from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. Visitors to our Sites who disable cookies will be able to browse certain areas of the Sites, but some features may not function.

Web Beacons. A "web beacon," also known as an Internet tag, pixel tag or clear GIF, links web pages to web servers and their cookies and may be used to transmit information collected through cookies back to a web server. The information collected using these tools may include your IP address, browser characteristics, operating system, the address of the web page that referred you to our Site, dates and times of Site visits, the language your system uses, and the country and time zone in which your device is located. These technologies permit the collection of "clickstream data," which may include a log of content you access while browsing a website.

Third-Party Analytics. On some of our Sites we use third-party web analytics services, such as Google Analytics. These services may rely upon technologies such as cookies, web server logs and web beacons to help us analyze how visitors reach and interact with our Sites. The information collected through these means (including IP address) is disclosed to or collected directly by these service providers, and may be combined with other information that they collect across unrelated websites and apps over time. In Google Analytics, we have enabled “Demographics and Interest Reports,” a Google Analytics Advertising Feature which collects data about web traffic via Google Advertising Cookies that were previously placed on your web browser. This Analytics Advertising Feature allows Google to give us aggregated information concerning visitor demographics, such as age and gender, along with information related to the interests visitors express through their online browsing and purchasing activities. If your Google account settings permit Google to use the information Google has collected about you to personalize advertisements, Google Analytics will use this information to identify other devices you use for advertising purposes. Please see the Cross Device Linking section and Third-party ad services section below for more information about these activities and the choices available to you. To opt out of Google Analytics, click here. To learn more about Google's additional collection and analysis of information by automated means, including how to opt out, click here.

Cross Device Linking. We and our third party service providers may use the information that we collect about you (whether directly from you from our Sites, through your device(s), or from a third party) to help us and our third-party service providers identify other devices that you use (e.g., a mobile phone, tablet, other computer, etc.). This is called cross-device linking. We and our third-party service providers also may use cross-device linking and other information we learn about you to serve targeted advertising on your devices and to send you emails. To opt out of cross-device linking for interest-based advertising purposes, you may follow the instructions set forth in the Third-Party Ad Services section below. Please note:  if you opt out of these targeted advertising cookies, your opt out will be specific to the web browser or mobile device from which you accessed the opt out. If you use multiple devices or browsers, you will need to opt out each browser or device that you use.

Third-Party Ad Services. We also use third parties such as network advertisers to promote our Sites on third-party websites or other media (e.g., social networking platforms) based on information that these third parties collect about your activities on our Sites and unrelated websites and apps over time. This activity, called “interest-based advertising,” enables us and these third parties to target advertisements to you for products and services in which you might be interested and learn more about our visitors’ online activities. These third-party ad services may use cookies, JavaScript, web beacons, Flash LSOs and other tracking technologies to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize advertising content to you. Their activities and technologies are governed by each third party’s specific privacy policy, not this one. 

Users in the United States may opt out of many third-party ad services’ collection and use of data for interest-based advertising. For example, you may go to the DAA WebChoices Page for information about opting out of interest-based advertising by DAA companies. You may also go to the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) Consumer Opt-Out Page for information about opting out of interest-based advertising by NAI members.
Opting out from one or more companies listed on the DAA Consumer Choice Page or the NAI Consumer Opt-Out Page will opt you out from those companies’ delivery of interest-based ads to you on the device where you exercise choice, but it does not mean you will no longer receive any advertising. You may continue to receive advertisements, for example, based on the particular website that you are viewing (i.e., contextually based ads). Also, if your browsers are configured to reject cookies when you opt out on the DAA or NAI websites or if you later delete cookies, your opt out may not be effective. Additional information is available on the DAA’s website at www.aboutads.info or the NAI’s website at http://www.networkadvertising.org/.

Do-Not-Track
We do not currently respond to "do not track" signals sent by your browser or other mechanism.

How We Use the Information We Collect

We may use the information we collect to: 

  • Verify your identity;
  • Provide, administer and communicate with you about products, services, and events;
  • Create, administer and communicate with you about your online account or subscription;
  • Process, evaluate and respond to your requests, inquiries, and applications;
  • Provide and administer communications tools available through our sites, such as tools for submitting online offers to purchase homes owned by Fannie Mae;
  • Operate, evaluate and improve our business (including developing new products and services; managing our communications; performing market research; managing our advertising and marketing; analyzing our products, services, and Sites; administering our Sites; and performing accounting, auditing, billing, reconciliation and collection activities);
  • Protect against and prevent fraud, unauthorized activity, claims and other liabilities; or
  • Comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, industry standards and our policies and terms of use.  

We also may use the information in other ways and, if required, will also provide specific notice at the time of collection or use.

Sharing of Personal Information

We may sell or otherwise disclose personal information we collect on our Sites as described here.

  • We may share the information with our service providers who perform services on our behalf. For example, we may provide personal information to third parties such as technology providers to enable such third parties to perform business, professional and technical support functions for us, our Sites or for you.
  • On certain Sites, we provide tools to allow real estate agents to communicate with each other to negotiate transactions. In the course of these communications, they may use our tools to share personal information about the parties they represent. 
  •  We reserve the right to transfer personal information we have about you in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets. Should such an event occur, we will use reasonable efforts to direct the transferee to use personal information you have provided to us on our Sites in a manner that is consistent with this Online Privacy Notice. 
  • In addition, we may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (such as a court order), (ii) in response to a request by law enforcement authorities or regulatory agencies, or (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity.

Our Sites include features that allow you to participate in public forums or interact with other users.  When you participate in these features, the information that you provide will be available to other Site users and/or the general public.
We may disclose de-identified or aggregated information in our discretion.

Your Choices

We offer you certain choices about how we communicate with you and what information we collect from you. Some of our Sites provide features that allow you to (i) access and update personal information you have provided there or (ii) register your communications preferences, such as by telling us not to send you marketing materials. You also may contact us as described in the How To Contact Us section below to update your preferences, ask us to remove your information from our mailing lists or submit other requests. Even if you opt out of marketing emails, we will continue to send you email messages related to our transactions or relationship with you. Business contacts may be required to receive certain information in the course of doing business with Fannie Mae.

How We Protect Personal Information

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect on our Sites against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use.

Links to Other Web Sites, Features, and Embedded Content

For your convenience and information, our Sites may provide links to other Web sites or online services, including social media sites, or present content or features from other Web sites or other third parties. These Web sites may operate independently from Fannie Mae. The Web sites may have their own privacy notices or policies, which we strongly suggest you review if you visit any linked Web site or pages containing content hosted by other Web sites. To the extent such Web sites are not owned or controlled by Fannie Mae, we are not responsible for the Web site's content, any use of the Web site, or the privacy practices of the Web site.

The Sites may also include integrated social media tools or “plug-ins,” such as social networking tools offered by third parties.  If you use these tools to share personal information or you otherwise interact with social media features on the Sites, those social media companies may collect information about you and may use and share such information in accordance with your account settings, including by sharing such information with the general public.

Website Visitors and Investors from Outside of the U.S.

The privacy laws of other countries outside of the U.S. may provide rights for natural persons who are considered data subjects under such laws. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an example of such a law. This Privacy Notice provides such data subjects with information about the data we collect and how that data is processed. In accordance with your rights as a data subject, you may request information about how we collect, use, share, store and retain your personal information. Among other rights as a data subject, you may obtain rectification of errors in the record of your personal data, or you may request a copy or erasure of your personal data. These rights are subject to our right to process your personal data based on your consent, as necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party, a legal obligation to which Fannie Mae is subject, or Fannie Mae’s legitimate interests. If you have any questions, please contact Fannie Mae’s Privacy Office at [email protected]  or at the address listed below.

State Privacy Notices

California
This California Privacy Notice supplements the information contained in our Online Privacy Notice above and applies solely to all visitors, users, and others who reside in the State of California (“consumers” or “you”).  We adopt this California Privacy Notice to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this Privacy Notice.  This California Privacy Notice applies to personal information that we collect both online and offline, and does not apply to information that is not subject to the CCPA.

Consumers with disabilities can access this California Privacy Notice in an alternative format by clicking on the link labelled “Accessibility” at the top right of the screen. On the menu that appears, follow the instructions to adjust the site for your accessibility needs.

Information We Collect
We collect the categories of personal information from California residents identified in the chart below.  We do not sell your personal information. 

Categories of Personal Information Examples Collected Commercial/Business Purposes for Collection
Identifiers Such as a real name, Internet Protocol (IP) address, device identifier, email address, driver's license or other state ID, or other similar identifiers Yes Marketing, Security, Auditing, and Other business purposes as identified in the CCPA, which include:
  • Auditing related to our interactions with you;
  • Legal compliance;
  • Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity;
  • Debugging;
  • Performing services (for us or our service provider) such as account servicing, processing orders and payments, and analytics;
  • Internal research for technological improvement;
  • Internal operations;
  • Activities to maintain and improve our business; and
  • Other one-time uses.
Here after referred to as "Other Business Purposes"
Protected Classification Characteristics Under California or Federal Law Such as age, race or gender Yes Employment Application
Applicant Data Such as name, date of birth, social security number, address, email address, education Yes Employment application
Biometric Information Such as call recordings Yes Training
Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity Information Such as browsing history, search history, email, application, Yes Marketing, Security, Employment application, Other Business Purposes
Sensory Information Such as audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory or similar information Yes Security
Education Information As defined under Family Education Rights and Privacy Act Yes Employment application
Inferences Such as information used to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities and aptitudes Yes Marketing
Other Information About You that is Linked to the Personal Information Above --------------- Yes Other Business Purposes

We obtain the categories of personal information listed above from the following categories of sources:

  • Directly from you.  For example, from forms you complete on our Sites.
  • Indirectly from you.  For example, from observing your actions on our Sites or interactions with advertisers.
  • Job applicants.
  • Service providers.

Your Rights and Choices
The CCPA provides California residents with specific rights regarding their personal information.  This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.    

Access to Specific Information and Data Portability Rights
California residents may, upon a verifiable consumer request, ask that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months.  Once we receive and confirm your request, we will disclose to you (depending on your request):

  • The categories of personal information that we collected about you;
  • The categories of sources for the personal information that we collected about you;
  • The business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling the personal information; and
  • The categories of third parties with whom the personal information was shared;
  • The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you;
  • If we sold or disclosed your personal information for a business purpose, two separate lists disclosing:
    • Sales, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and
    • Disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained.

Deletion Request Rights
You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions.  Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies.

Exercising Access, Data Portability, and Deletion Rights
To exercise the access, data portability, and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request here, or contact us at this toll-free telephone number, 1-888-FM-ETHICS (1-888-363-8442). We will require that you provide proof of your identity in the form of your name and email address so that we can confirm your identity.

The CCPA also allows you to designate an authorized agent to make a request for personal information on your behalf.  In order to designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, you must provide the agent with written permission to do so and provide proof of your identity, or the agent must have a valid power of attorney.   

You may make a verifiable consumer request only twice within a 12-month period. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you.  We will use the personal information provided in a verifiable consumer request only to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.

Sales Opt-Out and Opt-In Rights
If you are 16 years of age or older, you have the right to direct us to not sell your personal information at any time. We do not sell your personal information. 

We do not sell the personal information of consumers we actually know are less than 16 years of age.

Non-Discrimination and Financial Incentives
We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights.  Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:

  • Deny you goods or services.
  • Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
  • Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
  • Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

However, we may offer you certain financial incentives permitted by CCPA that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels. Such financial incentives will be described in separate notices. Any financial incentive we offer will reasonably relate to your personal information’s value and contain written terms that describe the program’s material aspects.  Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt-in consent, which you may revoke at any time.

Nevada
We are excluded from coverage of the Nevada law requiring an opportunity to opt out of certain disclosures of personal information.

Updates to Our Online Privacy Notice

This Online Privacy Notice may be updated periodically and without prior notice to you to reflect changes in our personal information practices. Each time we update this Online Privacy Notice, we will indicate when it was most recently updated and its effective date. Unless otherwise stated, changes in our personal information practices are immediately applicable upon publication of the revised Online Privacy Notice.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments about this Online Privacy Notice, please:

Write to:
Fannie Mae
Attention: Privacy Office
1100 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005 

E-mail:
[email protected]