Privacy Statement

Northern Rock understands that protecting your privacy is important. Our privacy statement 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 statement 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 statement 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 Security below) Northern Rock plc cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of any information relating to you as it passes over the internet and Northern Rock plc shall have no obligations in respect to such material.

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 or transmit 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 or other material which is technically harmful enter their systems. Northern Rock plc assumes no responsibility in this respect.

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Data Protection

The Irish branch of Northern Rock plc complies with the Irish Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2003. 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 fee of €6.35) a copy of the information we hold about you by writing to:

If you tell us, we will either delete or correct any information that is wrong.

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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.
• If Northern Rock plc or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case your personal information may be one of the transferred assets.
• In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal 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;
• Statistical purposes;
• System testing and research;
• Other purposes for which you have given permission;
• Carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us;
• Offer other products and services if you have not indicated an objection (when we initially collect your information);
• Notify you of any changes to our service

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Where we store your personal data

Your personal information may be stored and transferred within the European Economic Area.

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. Cookies enable usage to be tracked and make it easier for you to log onto the site during future visits. They also allow us to personalise the content of the site for you.

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 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.

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Online Security

Northern Rock uses industry standard methods, including 128 bit encryption to ensure that all the transactions processed via the site are secure.

We are committed to protecting the security of your personal information. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal information from unauthorised access and use. As effective as modern security practices are, no physical or electronic security system is entirely secure. We cannot guarantee the complete security of our database and website, nor can we guarantee that information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the Internet. We have implemented strict internal guidelines to ensure that your privacy is safeguarded at every level of our organisation. We will continue to revise policies and implement additional security features as new technologies become available.

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, passwords 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.
• 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 information security page.

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Links to other websites

Our websites may contain links to sites operated by persons outside the Northern Rock Group. This privacy statement does not apply to those websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or the products and services provided through those sites. If you decide to access any of the third party websites, you do so entirely at your own risk.

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Contact us

Questions, comments, requests and complaints regarding this privacy statement and the information we hold are welcome and should be addressed to:

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