Privacy Policy
Importance of Privacy
WCB Board of Directors and Management understand how important personal privacy is to our customer. This Statement describes our policies and practices concerning information we gather through our Web site about individual non-business customers (including information about their accounts, loans and other banking services for personal, family or household purposes) and information about other visitors to our Web site. For a description of our general policies and practices concerning information about individual customers and former customers, you may request a copy of our most recent Privacy Notice by calling Customer Service at 818 449-7700 or visiting our office.
Visiting our Web Site
When you visit our Web site, we do not collect personal information about you, unless you do one of the following:
- Log into our online banking systems.
- Send us an inquiry or e-mail message.
We gather statistics and other information about the usage of our Web site, such as the number of times each Web page was loaded into visitors' browsers and visitors' domain IP addresses (identifying numbers assigned to servers or computers used to access the Internet), in order to review how our Web site is used and how it might be improved, and to insure site security.
If you use our online banking systems, you may send us various kinds of information, depending on the services you use: for example, you may send us log-in information (user name and identifying number), information about the content of reports and data you request, and information about your accounts and transactions you wish to perform, such as funds transfers, stop payments and check orders. We use the information you send us to respond to your requests, and we will maintain customary records of any resulting banking transactions. We may retain any messages or information you send us for reference in connection with current or future inquiries and transactions, for internal administrative purposes (including data backup) and, in some instances, to fulfill legal requirements. We may place a temporary “cookie” (a small text file) on your computer to identify you and provide you with customized information when you use certain features of our online banking systems.
Inquiries
WCB does not solicit or request personal information, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, online log-in names, passwords, social security numbers, and account numbers, via emails. If you receive any email requesting personal information, please call your personal banking officer to confirm the validity of the request at (818) 449-7700.
If you send us an e-mail message or an inquiry through our Web site, the information you send (including your e-mail address and other identifying information in the message header) will be forwarded to the appropriate employee within WCB for response. We use the information you send us to respond to your requests, and we will maintain customary records of any resulting banking transactions. We may retain any messages or information you send us for reference in connection with current or future inquiries and transactions, for internal administrative purposes (including data backup) and, in some instances, to fulfill legal requirements.
WCB does not make your e-mail address or any other information you furnish by e-mail or through our Web site (including information you furnish when you use our online banking systems available without your consent to companies or persons not affiliated with WCB, except as follows:
- We may provide information to third parties, such as funds transfer networks, in order to complete a banking transaction for you.
- We comply with court orders, subpoenas and other legal process we determine to be valid, and we may provide information as otherwise required or permitted by law, including to bank regulatory agencies.
- We may provide information to credit reporting agencies and similar services; to investigators or law enforcement authorities in connection with a fraud or similar investigation; and to potential purchasers in connection with the sale of accounts, loan assets or business lines.
- We may provide information to contractors and agents who perform services for WCB and its customers, including auditors, attorneys, information services providers and others, to assist in performing their services.
WCB does not sell customer information gathered through our Web site to third parties for the purpose of marketing their products or services. However, we may inform you about services and products that WCB offers, and we may retain third parties to assist us in doing so. We have written policies that require Bank employees to keep customer information confidential and use it only for legitimate Bank purposes.
E-mail Messages
E-mail messages sent to WCB through the Internet, including inquiries sent through our Web site, are not encrypted (encoded). Internet e-mail messages pass through many different computers and are not secure, so we recommend that you not use unencrypted Internet e-mail to send us confidential information, such as account numbers or financial information. Once we receive information and messages from you (whether or not they were encrypted), the information is stored on WCB’s computers, where various measures protect it from unauthorized access by outside parties.
The accuracy of the information WCB maintains is very important. If you believe we have information about you that is incorrect, outdated or incomplete, or if the information you think is wrong appears on a statement or notice from us, you should call us at 818-449-7700 or the telephone number shown on the statement or notice. We will look into the matter and correct our records as appropriate.
Security
At WCB, we take security very seriously.
The latest methods in Internet system are used to increase and monitor the integrity and of our system. Our Online Banking products integrate industry-approved technologies to address three primary concerns about Online Banking security: Secure login and user authenticity, encryption when data is in transit and secure routers and firewalls.
System Architecture
To develop a sound architecture, WCB has incorporated the capabilities of firewalls, control capabilities of routers, operating system level controls, application level controls, report consolidation methods, and monitoring. In this architecture, every piece is layering on the capabilities of the other to create overlapping controls and fail-over. What this means to you is that if a single layer is broken, other layers are there to protect you and your banking information. This is typically referred to as “security-in-depth”.
Security Sockets Layer
Data between your browser and our Web server is handled through a protocol called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL provides data encryption, server authentication and message integrity for an Internet connection. Additionally, SSL provides a “handshake” that is used to initiate the connection. This handshake results in your browser and the Internet banking server agreeing on the level of they will use and fulfills any authentication requirements for the connection. Currently, WCB’s online banking application supports data encryption at the highest level (128 bit). In order to get this level of encryption, you will need a browser that supports it. It may be necessary to visit your browser company’s home page to download upgrades to make the online banking operation function effectively.
When accessing our Internet Banking site, you will be forwarded to a web page with a URL address that starts with https://. This will cause your browser’s HTTPS layer to start an encrypted session using SSL. You will then receive a login screen. Since the encrypted session has already been started, your Access ID and password are safe and secure. The data traveling between your computer and the server is encrypted and can only be decrypted with the public and private key pair. These two keys are the only combination possible for that session. When you log off the system your session is completed and the encryption keys expire. This process will start over again when you next log on to the system, which will create a new session.
What You Can Do To Protect Yourself
PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE:
Online Banking does not rely on technology alone.
You must treat your User ID and Password with the same care as an ATM Card and PIN.
If you are logged in to the service, be sure to log off of the service and exit the browser when you leave the computer unattended. You should also take standard precautions to keep your system clean and free from viruses that could be used to capture password keystrokes and financial information.
We review WCB's policies and practices periodically, and we may make changes we believe are appropriate in light of evolving technology and business conditions. This Statement may be revised from time to time to reflect these changes. If you have any questions, contact us: (contact@westerncommercialbank.com)
