WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY 
The privacy of our website users is important to us and we take care to safeguard it. This policy explains how we use the personal information we hold about you. Click on the links below to navigate to the relevant section
Important information
Queries
If you have privacy questions which are not answered by this Website Privacy Policy or any other concerns about how we use your personal information, please write to us or contact Customer Services on 0845 603 8888.
Changes
Our Website Privacy Policy is regularly reviewed to make sure that we continue to serve your privacy interests. We reserve the right to modify or otherwise update this privacy policy and these changes will be posted on our website. We encourage you to visit this page from time to time to ensure that you are aware of any changes we may have made.
Processing applications and providing services to you
If you apply for or use our products, we will also use your personal information in accordance with the following:
Where we obtain your information from
Information provided by you
The information we collect via this website may include any personal details you type in and submit (such as your name, address, e-mail address, etc.) and the contents of any correspondence you send to us.
IP addresses
The information we collect via this website may also include your IP address (this is your computer’s individual identification number that is assigned to your computer when connected to the Internet) which is automatically logged by our web-server in the UK. Unless we suspect fraud, we do not use your IP address to identify you personally.
Cookies & spotlight tags
This website also collects data which allows us to recognise you, your preferences and how you use this website.
- This information is collected by using temporary ‘session cookies’. These are small strings of data stored in your device’s temporary memory when you navigate around the website but which are deleted when you close your Web browser.
- This information is also collected by using spotlight tags (also known as ‘boom tags’, ‘clear GIFs’, ‘pixel tags’, ‘web beacons’ and ‘web bugs’). These are small strings of computer code that are placed in the pages of our website which allow our advertising agents to store ‘persistent cookies’ in your Web browser’s cookie file when you access our website. Unlike session cookies, these persistent cookies are not deleted when you close your Web browser.
We use the ‘session’ cookies employed in this website to enable you to move back and forth within a secure banking session and to save you re-entering information.
Our session cookies and our advertising agents’ persistent cookies do not store your e-mail address or other personal information.
How we use your information and who we share it with
Keeping you informed
You do not have to give us any personal information in order to use many of the pages of this website. However, any information which you choose to give us through this website may be added to our marketing database and may be used by us for marketing our services and our events.
It is possible that our marketing materials may contain input from other companies or organisations we are dealing with, but we DO NOT sell or give your details to any other companies for them to try to sell you their products or services.
Targeting our advertising
Our advertising agents’ persistent cookies used in combination with the spotlight tags employed in this website may be used to target our Internet advertisements which appear on other websites. This means that the adverts will be selected based on the information we hold about you. This allows us to improve the effectiveness of our advertising.
Statistical analysis
The IP addresses (please see above for details) logged by our web-server and our advertising agents’ persistent cookies used in combination with the spotlight tags employed in this website may be used by us:
- to perform technical diagnosis of our website’s performance on a statistical basis;
- to analyse traffic data (so as to gauge interest in our website and to improve our understanding of our websites visitors’ behaviour and their response to our promotional campaigns); and
- to identify unusual transactions (in order to identify the source of fraudulent actions.)
Law enforcement & crime prevention
We reserve the right to cooperate with law enforcement officials in the investigation of alleged unlawful activities of our website users or relating to our website users. We will have no legal liability for disclosing information in these circumstances.
Other sharing of information
We may share personal information about you with:
- our agents, service providers and data processors who provide a service to us and you; and
- any person or business (and their advisers) who might take over our rights or responsibilities under our agreement with you to allow them to prepare for taking these over (after that, we may also allow that person or business to use and share your information on the same basis as us.)
We will not pass your information to anyone outside ING Direct N.V. other than for the purposes described above, unless:
- we have your permission;
- we have to do so or are allowed to do so by law;
- we have a duty to the public to reveal the information; or
- our interests mean we must give the information - for example, to prevent fraud (we will not use this as a reason for giving information about you to anyone else for marketing purposes).
Other websites
This privacy policy is only intended to cover personal data collected through this website. While we carefully select the websites which we link to, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the contents of these websites.
Links to third party websites on the ING Direct Website are provided solely for your convenience. If you use these links, you leave the ING Direct Website. ING Direct has no control over the content of these websites or resources, or their availability, and ING Direct accepts no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage which may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third party websites linked to the ING Direct Website, you do so entirely at your own risk.
Your rights
Access
You have a right to receive a copy of certain information we hold about you if you apply in writing. To do this, simply write to us at
Data Protection Officer
ING Direct
410 Thames Valley Park Drive
Reading
Berkshire
RG6 1RH
You may need to pay a fee.
Marketing
Occasionally, we may want to tell you about ING Direct products and services which may be of interest to you. This could be by letter, phone, mobile phone (including text messages) and e-mail. You have a right to stop us contacting you for this purpose. You may contact us at any time in the future if you want us to stop. However, choosing not to receive this information from us will mean that you may not receive details about any of our special offers and promotions.
By clicking here , you can also obtain an 'opt out' cookie that will prevent your information from being used to target our adverts on other websites.
Correction of information
To provide the highest level of customer service we need accurate customer information. You can help by informing us whenever your circumstances change.
Rejecting cookies
You can set your Web browser to reject cookies used by this site. Please note however that the use of cookies is required to access some of our services, such as our online banking facilities.
- To set Netscape Communicator or Navigator to reject cookies: Choose Preferences from the Edit menu. From the Preferences menu, select Advanced, and several cookie options will be listed in the lower right of the menu. There will be options that allow you to accept cookies, request permission before accepting or disallow cookies completely.
- To set Microsoft Internet Explorer to reject cookies: Choose Internet Options from the Tool menu. Choose the Privacy tab and move the slider to accept "Cookies", usually the Medium setting. You will have several options - accept cookies, ask permission before accepting cookies or disallow cookie.
Web Beacons
Web beacons are small strings of HTML code placed on a web page, sometimes referred to as ‘Clear GIF's' or ‘Pixel tags'. Web beacons are most often used in conjunction with cookies.
ING Direct uses web beacons, provided by a company called Doubleclick in conjunction with its products and services, including ad serving and paid search listings.
In order to opt out of the doubleclick cookie, please visit http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/opting_out.aspx
For more information about cookies (including how to set your browser to reject cookies) please visit the website set up by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (Europe) at www.allaboutcookies.org.
More information
Detailed information about your rights under UK Data Protection legislation can be found on the website of the United Kingdom Information Commissioner, www.ico.gov.uk/ (at the date of this privacy policy). The telephone number of the Information Commissioner’s Office is 01625 545 700 (or (44) 1625 545 700 if phoning from outside the United Kingdom.)
Last updated: 28 November 2006
