This website is owned and operated by Connect Lending, LLC (“Connect Lending” or “Company”). This policy is aimed at helping you understand what information we collect, how we use it, and the safeguards we have in place to protect it. This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through this website and otherwise. Your use of this website and our services, and any disputes arising from it, is subject to this Privacy Policy as well as the website's Terms of Use and all of its dispute resolution provisions, including arbitration, limitation on damages and choice of law.
By using this website and by accepting the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, as you are required to do in registration, you expressly consent to the terms and conditions set forth in this Privacy Policy.
INFORMATION WE GATHER FROM USERS:
In general we collect personal information that can identify you such as your name and email address, as well as other information that does not identify you. When you provide personal information through our website, this information will be sent to Connect Lending servers located in the United States.
Information you provide : We may collect and store any personal information you enter on our website during registration or provide to us in some other manner. This includes identifying information such as your name, home or mailing address, email address, and telephone number; information about your business or prospective business; your financial information (such as your income, assets, or debts), or other personal information.
Information we may request : Examples of information that we may request and/or receive about you include information about your business and additional demographic information. However, Connect Lending will not request or access any credit bureau reports or other credit information without your express prior permission in connection with a business loan.
Information we do not collect : In order to increase customer privacy, Connect Lending does not collect certain kinds of sensitive personal information. Connect Lending does not request or collect Social Security Numbers (SSN) or Federal Employer Identification Numbers (FEIN) for any business owner. In addition, Connect Lending does not directly accept credit card information. Connect Lending uses a third-party payment gateway to accept credit card information for all uses on the site. All the credit card information processing, including PCI security standards compliance, is done at the end of the third-party payment gateway, and we do not collect or store any such information.
Information about others : We may also collect and store personal information that you provide to us about other people (such as co-applicants or co-owners), including their name, address, phone number, financial information, or other personal information.
Information collected automatically : We use various technologies to collect information from your computer and about your activities on our site, including the use of cookies and other technologies. (see "Cookies" below). We automatically collect information from your browser when you visit our website. This information includes your IP address, your browser type and language, access times, the content of any undeleted cookies that your browser previously accepted from us, and the referring website address.
Cookies : When you visit our website, we may assign your computer one or more cookies in order to facilitate access to our website, to personalize your online experience, and to record information about your visit to our website. Through the use of a cookie, we also may automatically collect information about your online activity on our website, such as the web pages you visit, the links or advertisements you click on, or the other actions you conduct while on our website. The cookies do not store any personally identifiable information about you. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. If you choose to decline cookies, please note that you may not be able to sign in or use some of the interactive features offered on our website. (See "YOUR CHOICES ABOUT COLLECTION AND USE OF YOUR INFORMATION", below).
Other Technologies : We use a variety of standard Internet technologies, such as web beacons and other similar technologies, to track your use on our website. We also may include web beacons in promotional email messages or newsletters to determine whether messages have been opened and acted upon. The information we obtain in this manner enables us to customize the services we offer our website visitors in order to deliver targeted advertisements and to measure the overall effectiveness of our online advertising, content, programming or other activities.
Information collected by third-parties : We may allow third-parties, including our authorized service providers, partners and affiliates, advertising companies, and ad networks, to display advertisements on our site. Connect Lending and these companies may use tracking technologies, such as cookies, to collect information about users who view or interact with these advertisements and connect to our website. This information allows Connect Lending and these companies to deliver targeted advertisements and gauge their effectiveness. Connect Lending does not share any of your personal information with any third parties except as expressly provided below. (See, "WITH WHOM WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION", below).
HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT:
In general we may use information that we collect about you to:
deliver the products and services that you have requested;
manage your customer relationship with us and provide you with customer support;
develop and display content and advertising tailored to your interests on our site;
perform research and analysis about your use of or interest in our products, services, or content, products, services offered by others;
recommend products and services based on the information you provide to us;
communicate with you by email, postal mail, telephone and/or mobile devices about products or services that may be of interest to you either from us, or other third parties;
enforce our terms and conditions.
Financial information. We may use financial information to match you with lenders or to provide loan offers to you, to verify your identify, to protect against or identify possible fraudulent transactions, and otherwise as needed to manage our business.
WHO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH:
In general we want you to understand when and with whom we may share personal or other information we have collected about you or your activities on our website. We do not share any information about you with others except as indicated below. We may share all types of personal information with:
Business partners : When you express interest in promotions offered on our website, we may share your expression of interest with the businesses with which we partner to offer you those products, services, and/or promotions. When you elect to engage in a particular offer or program, you authorize us to provide your email address and other information to that business. As provided below, you always have the right to opt out or unsubscribe from any transfer of your personal information to third parties or otherwise in connection with promotional uses.
Prospective lenders and other financial institutions. If you submit a completed Connect Lending Loan Request form, we will share your personal information with lenders and other financial institutions on the Connect Lending network with whom you are or may be matched. However, no credit check will be performed by Connect Lending. The lenders with whom you are matched, and with whom Connect Lending has shared your information, will in each case be disclosed to you. Connect Lending will not share information with any other prospective lender not disclosed to you. These lenders or other financial institutions on the Connect Lending network may retain or use your personal information whether or not you qualify for, or obtain, a loan from them, subject to the requirements that Connect Lending imposes on them.
Aggregated, non-personal information. We may also share aggregated information (i.e., information about you and other customers collectively, but not specifically identifiable to you) and other non-personal information we collect from registration, applications or other use of our website or services in order to develop and/or deliver targeted advertising on our website and on websites of third parties. We may also combine non-personal information we collect with additional non-personal information collected from other sources. In addition, we may share aggregated information with third parties, including advisors, advertisers and investors, for the purpose of conducting general business analysis and developing site metrics. For example, we may tell our advertisers the number of visitors to our website and the most popular features or services accessed or use such aggregated, non-personal information to develop website content and services that we hope you and other users will find of interest and to target content and advertising.
Third-party websites. There are a number of places on our website where you may click on a link to access other websites, each of which operates under its own privacy policy and not Connect Lending’s Privacy Policy. For example, if you click on an advertisement or a lender’s profile on our website, you may be taken to a website that we do not control. These third-party websites may independently solicit and collect information, including personal information, from you and, in some instances, provide us with information about your activities on those websites. While Connect Lending will only directly transfer data to other websites that have adequate data protection and privacy policies, Connect Lending cannot control such uses or use by companies whose links you click on. We therefore recommend that you consult the privacy statements of all third-party website you visit by clicking on the "privacy" link typically located at the bottom of the webpage you are visiting.
Other circumstances. We also may disclose your information:
In response to a subpoena or similar investigative demand, a court order, or a request for cooperation from a law enforcement or other government agency;
To establish or exercise our legal rights; to defend against legal claims; or as otherwise required by law;
When we believe disclosure is appropriate in connection with efforts to investigate, prevent, or take other action regarding illegal activity, suspected fraud or other wrongdoing;
To protect and defend the rights, property or safety of Connect Lending, our users, our employees, or others;
To comply with applicable law or cooperate with law enforcement; or to enforce our website terms and conditions or other agreements or policies.
In connection with a substantial corporate transaction, such as the sale of our business, a divestiture, merger, consolidation or asset sale.
Third-party use of your information. Connect Lending seeks to ensure that all third parties to whom we transfer data maintain appropriate data protection protocols and privacy policies. Accordingly, Connect Lending contractually requires its vendors and affiliates to maintain appropriate security and privacy policies, and we will not transfer personal information to any entity whose policy would permit the sale or other redistribution of personal information. However, Connect Lending does not control the actual use of transferred data by such third parties, which are governed by their internal policies and procedures. These entities or their servers may be located either inside or outside the United States, in which case they may be governed by different privacy laws or policies.
By disclosing your information to Connect Lending through registration, the loan request process or otherwise on our website, you expressly consent to any transfer of your information as described above and in this Privacy Policy.
HOW WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION:
In general we are committed to protect the security and integrity of all information you share with us. We have therefore implemented various security measures (including physical, electronic and procedural measures) to help safeguard your personal information from unauthorized access and disclosure. Only authorized employees and authorized third-party service providers are permitted to access personal information, and they may do so only for specified and limited business functions. In addition, we use encryption in the transmission of your sensitive personal information between your system and ours, and we use firewalls to help prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to your personal information. We want you to feel confident using our website for business transactions. However, no system can be completely secure. Therefore, we do not promise, and you should not expect, that your personal information, searches, or other communications will always remain secure in all cases.
YOUR CHOICES ABOUT COLLECTION AND USE OF YOUR INFORMATION:
You can at any time choose not to provide us with certain information. However, if you do so, this may result in your being ineligible or unable to use certain features of our website if such information may be required in order for you to obtain services.
As a borrower, when you initially use our website, you will be given a choice as to whether you want to receive email messages from certain of Connect Lending’s partners or affiliates. If Connect Lending sends you emails or newsletters directly, except as described below, you may at any time modify your choice to receive those types of emails through opt-out links attached to each email.
We may send you other types of transactional and relationship email communications, such as loan offers, requests for additional information, service updates or announcements, administrative notices, and surveys, without offering you the prior opportunity to opt out of receiving them.
HOW YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR INFORMATION:
Once you have registered with ConnectLending.com, you can access and update your personal information at any time in your user account.
WE DO NOT TOLERATE SPAM, SPYWARE OR SPOOFING:
We and our vendors, partners and affiliates do not tolerate spam. Make sure to set your Connect Lending notification preferences so that we are able to communicate with you in accordance with your preferences. To report Connect Lending-related spam or spoof emails to Connect Lending, please forward the email to Support@connectlending.com. You may not use our communication tools to send spam or otherwise send content that would violate our Terms of Use. We automatically scan and may also manually filter messages to check for spam, viruses, phishing attacks and other malicious activity or illegal or prohibited content.
OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT OUR PRIVACY PRACTICES:
If you are a resident of California, in addition to the rights set forth in this Privacy Policy, you have the right to request information from us regarding the manner in which we share certain categories of personal information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. California law gives you the right to send us a request at a designated address to receive the following information:
The categories of information we disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year;
The names and addresses of the third parties that received that information;
If the nature of the third party’s business cannot be determined from their name, examples of the products or services marketed.
We may provide this information in a standardized format that is not specific to you. The designated email address for these requests is Support@connectlending.com.
Our website is a business website, and per the terms of our User Agreement, you must be at least 18 years of age to access, use or register for our website.
VISITING OUR WEBSITE FROM OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES:
This Privacy Policy is intended to cover the collection of information on our website from residents of the United States. If you are visiting our website from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States where our servers are located and our central database is operated. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries may be different from those in your country. Please be assured that we have undertaken reasonable steps to ensure that your privacy is protected, as outlined in this Privacy Policy. By using the Connect Lending website or any of the services offered on the Site, you acknowledge and agree that your information may be used, stored and shared as described in this Privacy Policy.
NO THIRD PARTY RIGHTS:
This Privacy Policy does not create rights enforceable by third parties or require disclosure of any personal information relating to users of our website.
CHANGES TO PRIVACY POLICY:
We will occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices and services. When we post changes to this Privacy Policy, we will revise the "last updated" date at the top of the first page of this Privacy Policy. If we make any material changes in the way we collect, use, and/or share personal information, we will notify you by sending an email to the email address you most recently provided us in your account, profile or registration (unless we do not have such an email address), and/or by prominently posting notice of the changes on our website. We recommend that you check our website from time to time to inform yourself of any changes in this Privacy Policy or any of our other policies.
HOW TO CONTACT US:
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our information-handling practices, or if you would like to request information about our disclosure of personal information to third parties, including for their direct marketing purposes, please contact us by email at: Support@connectlending.com.
Or you can write to us at:
Privacy Officer
Connect Lending, LLC
123 Danada Square East, Suite 133
Wheaton, IL 60189
2013-4 Connect Lending, LLC. All rights reserved.