Wells Fargo is committed to protecting your information. This commitment extends to your use of Wells Fargo - The Student LoanDown.

1. What information do we collect from you?

   When you are just browsing the blog, we do not collect, capture, or retain any information about you. If you choose to post a comment to the blog, we will retain a partial name or alias that you provide. You will need to provide an email address if you want us to respond to your comment. Your email address is not displayed on the blog.

   When you post comments to the blog, you can instruct us to remember you so that you do not need to re-enter your information in order to post additional comments to the blog. This function is based on cookies, and is only used for this purpose.

2. About cookies

   Cookies are pieces of data assigned by a Web server to the browser on your PC. Cookies help Web sites to keep track of your preferences and to recognize return visitors. So, when you return to a Web site you've visited before, your browser gives this data back to the server. Contrary to reports about cookies and online privacy, cookies do not contain viruses and most cannot reveal any personally identifiable information about you unless you willingly provide it as a user on a site.

   Wells Fargo uses cookies to make your online experience with Wells Fargo - The Student LoanDown more personalized. You can set your browser to reject cookies. However, if you choose to reject cookies, you may not be able to take advantage of all functionality available on the blog.

   The latest versions of browsers allow you to reject cookies automatically. With this feature it may not be necessary for you to set your browser to reject cookies. Earlier versions of browsers may require you to set your browser to reject cookies when you are just browsing and accept cookies when you want to post a comment to the blog.

   We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the Web sites you visit before you accept cookies from them.

3. About marketing

   You are not required to provide your email address to post a message on Wells Fargo - The Student LoanDown. If you choose to provide your email address for this blog, we will not sign you up for or send you any marketing email messages, nor will we share your email address with companies outside of Wells Fargo.

4. Protecting children's privacy online

   In compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Wells Fargo will not knowingly collect or use personal information from children under the age of 13. Please note we are not responsible for the data collection and use practices of non-Wells Fargo-affiliated third parties to which our blog may link.

   For more information about the COPPA and other Privacy Initiatives, visit the FTC Web site .

5. Links to non-Wells Fargo sites

   We are not responsible for the information-collection practices of the non-Wells Fargo links that may be present on the blog. We recommend you review the privacy policies of each of the linked Web sites you visit before you provide them with any personally-identifiable information.

This policy is effective as of March 15, 2006.