Your Privacy
Our Commitment To Privacy Protection For Users Of This Website
Notice and Disclosure
Choice and Consent
Data Quality and Access
Data Security
Changes to Brazos’ Privacy Policy
Contact Information

Our Commitment To Privacy Protection For Users Of Its Website

Brazos is committed to preserving the individual privacy rights of all of the users of its websites. Brazos strongly believes that it has a responsibility to protect from disclosure to unauthorized parties the personally identifying information of its website users. Therefore, Brazos has adopted and implemented a privacy policy to protect the individually identifying account and personal information of its website users.

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Notice And Disclosure

Brazos will not sell, trade, nor disclose the personally identifying information of its website users to any unauthorized third parties. Because of the many different relationships Brazos has with the users of its websites, it is possible that disclosure of information provided by website users might be required in the delivery of Brazos’ services to users in the following circumstances:

• When users have authorized the disclosure of information through certifications on loan applications and promissory notes, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and documents held by Brazos and its partners such as schools, lenders, servicing agents, United States Department of Education, and guarantors of users’ financial aid.
• When Brazos needs to share user information to provide services a user has requested.
• When Brazos needs to provide the information to its business partners that perform services for users.
• When Brazos is required by law to disclose user information by order of court, pursuant to state, local, federal, or international statute, regulation or mandate, and in cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

Additionally, Brazos may use information provided by users for the following internal purposes: providing services to users, complying with local, state, or federal financial aid statutes and regulations, ensuring accurate contact and billing information for users, and analyzing the efficiency of its websites. Under Brazos administration of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), Brazos requires the disclosure of Social Security numbers by applicants for loans under FFELP. The primary use of this information is to verify user identity, to determine user program eligibility and benefits, to permit the servicing of user financial aid, to certify user attendance and status at an approved higher educational institution, and in the event necessary, to locate users. The disclosure of a user’s Social Security number by a user is mandatory for the user to participate in the FFELP. The United States Department of Education has for several years required the disclosure of individuals’ Social Security numbers on applications and other FFELP requisite documents pursuant to published regulations.

Brazos does not use “cookies” to enhance its website users’ experiences on the Brazos Websites. A cookie is a small file that transfers to users’ computer hard drives. Most web browsers are initially set to accept cookies. Additionally, some web browsers may be set to prompt users before it accepts a cookie.

Brazos will not knowingly collect or retain information submitted to it by children under the age of thirteen. If, Brazos learns that it unknowingly collected personally identifying information from children under 13 years of age, it will immediately take all reasonable measures to delete the information from its computer systems.

Users should be aware that other websites to which a user links from the Brazos website may contain privacy policies, statements, promises, or provisions that differ from the Brazos Website Privacy Policy and as such users are encouraged to review the applicable privacy policy of any site other than the Brazos website. Users are encouraged to fully review the privacy statements of other websites to determine whether or not the user’s use of the site comports with the user’s desire to maintain the privacy of his/her personally identifying information.

Brazos will closely monitor and restrict its employees’ access to user account and personal information to only instances of business necessity.

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Choice and Consent

To be removed from a Brazos mailing list, users should send an email to: inquiries@brazos.us.com from the email account that they originally signed up with and include the word "REMOVE" in the subject line.

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Data Quality and Access

Brazos will take all reasonable steps to assure that information about users is accurate, complete, and timely for the intended purposes. Brazos will take every measure to establish appropriate processes or mechanisms so that inaccuracies or errors in users’ information may be timely corrected by the user. Brazos will try to make these processes and mechanisms as simple and easy to use as possible while providing assurances that the erroneous and inaccurate information has been corrected. The information contained on the Brazos website is subject to change without prior advance notice.

When users browse the Brazos website and have not registered as a user for any of Brazos’ online services, the browsing is anonymous. Anonymous browsing includes reading pages and downloading certain information. Personal information such as name, address, phone number, and email address are not collected from anonymous browsers.

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Data Security

Securing users’ personal information is very important to Brazos. Therefore, Brazos and it's affiliates have implemented several security measures to protect users’ personally identifying information from loss, misuse, or alteration. When users send confidential personal information to our affiliates via the Brazos website, a secure session is established using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. During a secure SSL session, data passed back and forth between the user’s computer and our affiliates' servers is secured through the use of public key cryptography. The user’s computer exchanges key information with our affiliates' computers to create a Private conversation that only the user’s computer and the affiliate system may understand. To benefit from SSL technology, users must use a browser with SSL capabilities.

Please note that while using the Brazos website, users will be notified when entering a secure session and when leaving a secure session, unless the setting is turned off on the user’s browser. After leaving a secure session any information transmitted to Brazos is not secure.

For security purposes, Brazos uses special software programs to monitor traffic on its website and to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise to cause damage to the Brazos website. These programs do not collect personally identifying information about you but they do collect information that will enable Brazos to identify someone attempting to tamper with its website. Brazos has a zero tolerance policy for the misuse, misappropriation, unauthorized access, tampering, damage, destruction, or unlawful utilization of its websites and computer systems and will seek the maximum enforcement of state, federal, and international criminal laws against any individual engaging in such activity. Additionally, Brazos will seek the maximum amount of civil damages available under the law in such instances of the unauthorized misuse of its websites and computer systems.
Please note that when a user sends electronic mail messages (e-mail) to Brazos, the user’s message will usually contain the user’s return email address. Thus, Brazos may utilize a user’s e-mail address in responding to a user’s inquiry and the content of the user’s e-mail in formulating a response. Brazos will permanently record and store any substantive e-mail received from users. E-mail is not a secure means of transmitting information.

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Changes to Brazos’ Privacy Policy

The Brazos Website Privacy Policy may be modified when necessary to conform to federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations, and at other times to conform with technological changes, court decisions, and changes in agency policy. Changes to the Brazos Website Privacy Policy will be notated here when made so that you may be fully informed about the privacy protections afforded to you by Brazos enabling you to make an informed decision concerning your use of the Brazos website. It is recommended that you check the Brazos Website Privacy Policy each time that you visit the Brazos website.

Originally Adopted: 07/14/2004
Date last Modified: 02/08/2006

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Contact Information

Should you have any questions, concerns or desire additional information concerning the Brazos Website Privacy Policy please contact Brazos by one of the following methods:
E-mail: inquiries@brazos.us.com
Phone: 1-800-375-0915
Mail your inquiry to:
Brazos
P O Box 1308
Waco, TX 76703

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1 - Brazos is a servicing agent, lender, marketing agent and secondary market of student loans. As such, Brazos has very different relationships with the users of its websites. It is important to note that Brazos may be required, dependent upon its relationship with website users, to share information about the users with authorized third parties.

NOTICE: Transmissions to and from this site may not be confidential and your communications may, therefore, be read or intercepted by others. This site contains encryption methods that are not supported by all browsers. If you are not using a browser such as Netscape 4.7 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer, you may be unable to view all of the information and materials contained on this site.

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