Important Information About Procedures for Opening a New Account
We are required by federal law to provide you with a copy of our Privacy Policy annually.
This Policy applies to current and former individual clients of Van Kampen Investments Inc., Van Kampen Asset Management, Van Kampen Advisors Inc., Van Kampen Funds Inc., Van Kampen Investor Services Inc. and Van Kampen Exchange Corp., as well as current and former individual investors in Van Kampen mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and related companies.
This Policy is not applicable to partnerships, corporations, trusts or other non-individual clients or account holders, nor is this Policy applicable to individuals who are either beneficiaries of a trust for which we serve as trustee or participants in an employee benefit plan administered or advised by us. This Policy is, however, applicable to individuals who select us to be a custodian of securities or assets in individual retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts, 529 Educational Savings Accounts, accounts subject to the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act, or similar accounts. Please note that we may amend this Policy at any time, and will inform you of any changes to this Policy as required by law.
We Respect Your Privacy
We appreciate that you have provided us with your personal financial information and understand your concerns about safeguarding such information. We strive to maintain the privacy of such information while we help you achieve your financial objectives. This Policy describes what nonpublic personal information we collect about you, how we collect it, when we may share it with others, and how others may use it. It discusses the steps you may take to limit our sharing of information about you with affiliated Van Kampen companies ("affiliated companies"). It also discloses how you may limit our affiliates' use of shared information for marketing purposes. Throughout this Policy, we refer to the nonpublic information that personally identifies you or your accounts as "personal information".
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1. How Do We Protect The Security and Confidentiality Of Personal Information We Collect About You?
We maintain physical, electronic and procedural security measures to help safeguard the personal information we collect about you. We have internal policies governing the proper handling of client information. Third parties that provide support or marketing services on our behalf may also receive personal information, and we require them to adhere to confidentiality standards with respect to such information. -
2. What Personal Information Do We Collect About You?
To better serve you and manage our business, it is important that we collect and maintain accurate information about you. We obtain this information from applications and other forms you submit to us, from your dealings with us, from consumer reporting agencies and from third parties and other sources. For example:- We collect information such as your name, address, e-mail address, phone number and account title.
- We may obtain information about account balances, your use of account(s) and the types of products and services you prefer to receive from us through your dealings and transactions with us and other sources.
- We may obtain information about your creditworthiness and credit history from consumer reporting agencies.
- We may collect background information from and through third-party vendors to verify representations you have made and to comply with various regulatory requirements.
- If you interact with us through our public and private Web sites, we may collect information that you provide directly through online communications (such as an e-mail address). We may also collect information about your Internet service provider, your domain name, your computer's operating system and Web browser, your use of our Web sites and your product and service preferences, through the use of "cookies". "Cookies" recognize your computer each time you return to one of our sites, and help to improve our sites' content and personalize your experience on our sites by, for example, suggesting offerings that may interest you. Please consult the Terms of Use of these sites for more details on our use of cookies.
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3. When Do We Disclose Personal Information We Collect About You?
To provide you with the products and services you request, to better serve you, to manage our business and as otherwise required or permitted by law, we may disclose personal information we collect about you to other affiliated companies and to nonaffiliated third parties.-
Information We Disclose to Our Affiliated Companies
In order to manage your account(s) effectively, including servicing and processing your transactions, to let you know about products and services offered by us and affiliated companies, to manage our business, and as otherwise required or permitted by law, we may disclose personal information to other affiliated companies. Offers for products and services from affiliated companies are developed under conditions designed to safeguard your personal information. -
Information We Disclose to Third Parties
We do not disclose personal information that we collect about you to nonaffiliated third parties except to enable them to provide marketing services on our behalf, to perform joint marketing agreements with other financial institutions, and as otherwise required or permitted by law. For example, some instances where we may disclose information about you to third parties include: for servicing and processing transactions, to offer our own products and services, to protect against fraud, for institutional risk control, to respond to judicial process or to perform services on our behalf. When we share personal information with a nonaffiliated third party, they are required to limit their use of personal information to the particular purpose for which it was shared and they are not allowed to share personal information with others except to fulfill that limited purpose.
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4. How Can You Limit The Sharing Of Certain Types Of Personal Information With Affiliated Companies?
We respect your privacy and offer you choices as to whether we share with affiliated companies personal information that was collected to determine your eligibility for products and services you request ("eligibility information"). Please note that, even if you direct us not to share eligibility information with affiliated companies ("opt-out"), we may still share personal information, including eligibility information, with those companies in circumstances excluded from the opt-out under applicable law, such as to process transactions or to service your account. We may also share certain other types of personal information with affiliated companies�such as your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and account number(s), and information about your transactions and experiences with us. -
5. How Can You Limit the Use of Certain Types of Personal Information by Affiliated Companies for Marketing?
You may limit affiliated companies from marketing their products or services to you based on your personal information that they receive from affiliated companies. This information includes your income, assets and account history. Your choice to limit marketing offers from affiliated companies will apply until you tell us to change your choice.If you wish to opt-out of sharing and to limit marketing offers, you may do so by:
- Calling us at 1-800-847-2424 Monday�Friday between 8a.m. and 8p.m. (ET)
- Writing to us at the following address:
- Van Kampen Privacy Department
- Harborside Financial Center, Plaza Two, 3rd Floor
- Jersey City, NJ 07311
If you choose to write to us, your written request should include your name, address, telephone number and account number(s) to which the opt-out applies and should not be sent with any other correspondence. In order to process your request, we require that the request be provided by you directly and not through a third party.
If you have previously notified us about your privacy preferences, it is not necessary to do so again unless you decide to change your preferences. Your opt-out preference will remain in effect with respect to this Policy (as it may be amended) until you notify us otherwise in writing. If you have a joint account, your direction for us not to share this information with other affiliated companies and for those affiliated companies not to use your personal information for marketing will be applied to all account holders on that account.
Please understand that if you opt-out, you and any joint account holders may not receive information about affiliated company products and services that could help you manage your financial resources and achieve your investment objectives.
If you hold more than one account with Van Kampen, you may receive multiple privacy policies from us, and would need to follow the directions stated in each particular policy for each account you have with us.
SPECIAL NOTICE TO RESIDENTS OF VERMONT
This section supplements our Policy with respect to our individual clients who have a Vermont address and supersedes anything to the contrary in the above Policy with respect to those clients only.
The State of Vermont requires financial institutions to obtain your consent prior to sharing personal information that they collect about you with affiliated companies and nonaffiliated third parties other than in certain limited circumstances. Except as permitted by law, we will not share personal information we collect about you with nonaffiliated third parties or other affiliated companies unless you provide us with your written consent to share such information ("opt-in").
If you wish to receive offers for investment products and services offered by or through other affiliated companies, please notify us in writing at the following address:
- Van Kampen Privacy Department
- Harborside Financial Center, Plaza Two, 3rd Floor
- Jersey City, NJ 07311
Your authorization should include your name, address, telephone number and account number(s) to which the opt-in applies and should not be sent with any other correspondence. In order to process your authorization, we require that the authorization be provided by you directly and not through a third-party.
