Privacy and Security

Privacy and security of your information and data is of the utmost importance to Thorold Community Credit Union. The information you provide to Thorold Community is for your banking and Membership purposes only. Your information will remain confidential and will not be sold to third parties.

Privacy Statement

We are committed to protecting your privacy and your right to control the collection, use, retention and disclosure of your personal information. At the foundation of our privacy policy, we have adopted the Credit Union Code for the Protection of Personal Information and handle all personal information whether in the control of Thorold Community, or a third party for processing, in accordance with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (2000).

Accountability

Thorold Community Credit Union is responsible for personal information under our control. A Privacy Officer has been designated who is accountable for our compliance with the principles of the Code.

Identifying Purposes

Whenever collecting personal information, we will openly disclose the purpose for which the information is being collected.

Consent

Your knowledge and consent are required for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information, except where inappropriate or under specific circumstances as described within the code.

Limiting Collection

The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by us. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.

Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Your personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent or as required by law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.

Accuracy

Your personal information shall be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

Safeguards

Your personal information shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. The credit union will apply the same standard of care it applies to safeguard its own confidential information of a similar nature.

Openness

We shall make specific, understandable information readily available to you about our personal information policies and practices.

Individual Access

Upon request, you shall be informed of the existence, use, and disclosure of your personal information, and shall be given access to that information. As a member, you are entitled to question the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.

Compliance

You shall be able to question compliance with the above principles to the Privacy Officer accountable for the credit union's compliance. We shall have policies and procedures to respond to your questions and concerns.

Privacy Officer

If you have any questions or concerns, or wish to review or verify the personal information in your file, or find out to whom we have disclosed it, you can do so by writing to us at the following address:

Attn: Privacy Officer
Thorold Community Credit Union
63 Front St S
Thorold , ON L2V 0A7

Collection and Use of Information

Personal information is the information that relates to you, that identifies you as a Member or customer of Thorold Community Credit Union. The information we collect allows us to provide services and benefits directly to you. This information outlines in general terms how your personal information is collected and used within Thorold Community’s online banking platform; including our public website, online banking services, and our mobile banking app. The online banking platform is the area of our website that requires you to use your Member ID and Personal Access Code (PAC) to enter.

Controlled Access to your Information

To ensure that you are the only person accessing your personal financial information, access to online banking services is secured by requiring that you enter your Member ID and Personal Access Code (PAC) to login. Your PAC is private information that only you should know. Our employees do not have access to your PAC, and they will not ask you to reveal it. If someone from Thorold Community asks you to provide your PAC to them, we ask that you refuse to do so and contact our Privacy Officer immediately. Do not share your password with anyone.

Transactional Services

By nature, our online banking platform has many transactional functions such as transfers between accounts and bill payment functions. These transactions are all logged to ensure that your accounts are debited or credited appropriately, and a history of each transaction is available to verify your account information. We store and use your transactional information in the same fashion as if you performed the transaction at a branch or through any other service channel.

We may also use transactional information for servicing your Membership and account. For example, billing you for the particular transactions that you perform, or for the services that you use.

Secure Channel

We create and maintain a secure channel between your browser and our servers to protect your information when you use the online banking platform.

Forms and Product Applications

When you visit thoroldcu.com, or any subdomains in our online banking platform, without registering or otherwise interacting with the site, your personal information and e-mail address are not recorded. However, in order to meet your needs as best as we can, some of our forms require you to enter personal information. We will require personal information when you become a Member of Thorold Community Credit Union, apply for new products and services, take part in surveys, or request information on the products and services offered by Thorold Community Credit Union and its partners.

To provide you with a convenient method for applying for loans and mortgages, or for purchasing other financial services products such as Registered Savings Plans, we may also provide secure online application forms. These forms capture personal information that we use to provide you with the products and services you request. This information is processed securely, in a similar way to application forms received through our other channels.

Website Usage Statistics

To continually improve our online banking platform, we collect statistics about how our visitors and members are using it. We use this information to inform improvements, fix usability issues, and to service relevant products and services to Members and visitors.

The information collected may include your IP address, your browser type and your operating system, as well as data such as the number and types of pages visited, and the length of time spent per page and on the site overall.

Use of Cookies

We also use a key web technology called cookies. A cookie is a small information token that sits on your computer. As you use this site, cookies are passed back and forth between our server and your browser.

Specifically, we use two kinds of cookies — session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie exists only for the length of your browsing session and is deleted when you close your browser. A persistent cookie is a cookie that stays on your computer after you close your browser. A persistent cookie may or may not expire on a given date.

We use a session cookie to maintain the integrity of your online banking session. With each page that you visit, the cookie is passed back and forth between our server and your browser. We use the cookie to distinguish your session from the many others that may be happening at the same time. Our session cookies never store any personal information, such as your name, or date of birth, or financial information, such as your accounts and balances.

Most recent browser versions allow you to set some level of control over which cookies are accepted and how your browser uses them. For example, it may be set to notify you when it is receiving a cookie so that you accept cookies from only known, reliable sites such as this one. If you are concerned about cookies, we encourage you to upgrade your browser to a recent version and review the Help section of your browser to learn more about its specific control features.

Memorized Accounts Feature

We use a persistent cookie to store information to help you personalize the site and to make it easier to use. For example, to make the login easier you can choose to remember your login information within our Memorized Accounts feature. Since the Memorized Accounts feature is optional, this cookie only contains information that you have entered into it. We never store your Personal Access Code (PAC) in a cookie.

Logout Button

To ensure the security of your online banking account and that no-one else can access your personal information, always use the logout button to end an online banking session. When you exit using the logout button, we delete your session cookie so that your session cannot be resumed unless your Member ID and PAC are re-entered.

Automatic Session Time-outs

In the event that you leave your computer without logging out, the online banking feature of this site has been designed to end your session automatically if our system detects that you haven't provided any instructions or used the browser buttons to navigate for several minutes. To restart the session, you will need to provide your PAC again.

Email

General email is not secure since it passes through many points on its route from you to us. If you are using general email to communicate with us, we strongly recommend that you do not include personal financial information (such as account numbers) within the email as we cannot guarantee its confidentiality while in transit to us.

Links to Other Sites

Our site may also contain links to other websites or internet resources. As an example, from time-to-time we may provide links to third-party partner websites. Once you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy and security policies of the new site. We encourage you to read the Privacy Policies of all Web sites you visit, especially if you share any personal information.

Security Guarantee

Encryption protects your information while it is in transit between your computer and our systems. Encryption ensures that data cannot be read or altered because the information is scrambled. Our online banking website uses a 128-bit SSL, encrypting both request and response transactions, through a secure connection. To establish a secure connection, verify that the prefix of our website address in your browser reads 'https' (and not simply 'http'). You will also see a lock or shield icon in your browser address bar.

Controlled Access to Your Accounts

Your accounts can only be accessed by providing the correct login credentials and Personal Access Code (PAC), which only you know. Our employees never know these details and will never ask you to provide them with this information.

Enhanced Security Login Process

The first time you log in to your online banking account, you will be asked to choose from a list of security questions and answers. Be sure to pick questions with answers that are not easy to guess. Use ones that only you know. If you have a joint account, the questions and answers for both users must coincide. You can register your home or personal computer so that you will not have to answer a security question every time you log in. However, when you log in to your account from another machine, we will ask one of the security questions to confirm your identity.

For security reasons, we track the number of login attempts used to access your online banking. After a number of incorrect attempts to provide the correct PAC or answers to security questions, your online access will be immediately disabled. To regain access, please call our customer service representatives.

Changes to this Policy

Thorold Community Credit Union reserves the right to change this Privacy & Security Policy from time to time. If this Privacy Policy changes materially, we will take reasonable measures to notify you, including posting a copy of the revision on our website at Thorold Community.com/privacy. Accordingly, we recommend that you review this Privacy Policy from time to time.

Accessibility Statement

We are committed to ensuring our online services are accessible to all users.
The information below suggests how to obtain the best user experience on our website and explains what we have done to make the website accessible.

Adjust Your Computer's Settings For a Better Experience

You can improve your online experience by customizing your computer's settings to meet your individual needs. For example, you can increase the size of all fonts or change the colour scheme.

Keep Your Browser Updated

We recommend you keep your browsers up-to-date. Newer browsers tend to provide more display options to make content accessible, and may work better with assistive technologies. For more information on which browsers we support, visit the Browser Requirements page.

How We Have Made Our Website Accessible

We have created our website in accordance with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. These guidelines assist website developers by describing best practices for creating websites that are accessible to all users.

Some of the ways we achieve online accessibility include:

• Building webpages in a way that allows you to disable the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) on your browsers or modify the text size using browser controls if the colours or fonts make content difficult to read.
• Providing a 'skip to content' link at the top of all pages, allowing you to quickly access the body content on each page while avoiding headers and navigation.
• Creating webpages that allow visually impaired users to navigate the site effectively with a screen reading aid. For example, images have text-based descriptions, title attributes tell users where a link will take them if they click on it, and structured headings provide an overview of the site that lets users jump quickly to desired sections.

Contact Us If You Have Trouble Using Our Website

If you experience difficulties in accessing any content or functionality on our website, please contact us. We are always open to making improvements to provide the best possible online experience for our users.

Legal

Direct Services Agreement

This agreement outlines the terms and conditions governing the Depositor’s use of Direct Services. Thorold Community Credit Union does not offer Direct Services other than in accordance with these terms and conditions.

Learn more

Personal Account Agreement

These terms and conditions govern the Depositor's use of our accounts. Thorold Community Credit Union does not offer accounts other than in accordance with these terms and conditions.

Learn more