Privacy Policy

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBank Chicago) is committed to safeguarding the privacy of your information disclosed through your use of our public website. This Privacy Policy (Policy) details our commitment to protect your information supplied through your use of this website, and the manner in which the FHLBank Chicago will use that information. By using this website, you consent to the collection and use of your information by us as set forth in this Policy, as subsequently modified from time to time by FHLBank Chicago.

This Policy does not apply to information exchanged on private sections of FHLBank Chicago's website that require a password to access (i.e., eBanking, AHP Online, or eMPF). Your use of those private sections, and the treatment of information exchanged therein, are governed by the relevant agreements between you and FHLBank Chicago’s and any privacy statement specifically covering those sections of the website.

The FHLBank Chicago may from time to time revise this Policy. All revisions to this Policy will be posted on our website and where otherwise required under applicable law. Please check this Policy regularly for any revisions.

Information We Collect and How We Use It
When visiting this website, the FHLBank Chicago may collect and store the domain name and host from which you access the Internet (e.g., google.com), the IP address of your computer, the device used to access our website (you may also be sharing with us the geographic location of your device), your browser software and operating system, the date and time you access the site and the Internet address of any web site from which you linked directly to our site or to which you link directly after visiting our site. The FHLBank Chicago may use this information to measure the number of visitors to sections of our site, to determine from where our visitors linked and to where our visitors link from our site, and to help us make our site more useful. For example, we may organize and analyze IP addresses so that we can provide efficient service, improve your user experience, enhance security, monitor appropriate usage and produce traffic volume statistics. This type of information may be shared with third parties on an aggregated basis, such as if we choose to disclose site traffic information for marketing or other commercial purposes.

When using the FHLBank Chicago’s public website, you may contact us to request information about the FHLBank Chicago or our products and services or sign up for conferences or webinars. In engaging in these activities, you may provide us with certain information that the FHLBank Chicago will use to send you the requested information or provide you with the services you requested. The FHLBank Chicago may also use such information to send you additional marketing and informational materials about our programs, services and products. FHLBank Chicago may also use for other purposes and disclose to third parties this information.

We will not share any Personally Identifiable Information with third parties, except as permitted by law. Those permitted exceptions include, for example, disclosures: (i) to protect the confidentiality or security of your records; (ii) to our attorneys, accountants, auditors or other third parties providing services to FHLBank Chicago; (iii) to law enforcement or other government officials or agencies; (iv) to consumer reporting agencies; or (v) in connection with a sale, reorganization or merger of FHLBank Chicago. We require third parties to whom we disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to take measures to keep that information confidential. We also maintain and require various security measures designed to protect this information.

If you are a California resident, please refer to the notice below for additional information about your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018.

Cookies
Cookies are small text files that our site may send to your browser for storage on the hard drive. Cookies can make use of our site easier by saving users' status and preferences upon visits to our site. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, but a user may be able to change the settings to refuse cookies or to be alerted when cookies are being sent. Although you may have the ability to modify your browser and reject certain cookies, such actions may affect your use of certain portions of the website.

Third Party Websites
This Policy only addresses the use and disclosure of information collected by the FHLBank Chicago through our public website. A user of our site that links to another website will be subject to the privacy policy of that website. We encourage you to ask questions and review the applicable privacy policy before disclosing information to third parties. We have no responsibility or liability for the independent actions or policies of independent sites, and are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such sites.

Nonpublic Personal Information
In order to assist members of the FHLBank Chicago with their required regulatory compliance, the following guidelines are adopted to address the privacy of confidential information which is received by the Bank from or on behalf of members, members’ customers, or customers of the Bank (the Members):

With respect to nonpublic personal information (as that term is defined in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) received by the Bank from or on behalf of Members, appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards have been instituted to:

  • Maintain the security and confidentiality of such information;
  • Protect against anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information; and   
  • Protect against unauthorized access to or use of such information.

The FHLBank Chicago does not disclose nonpublic personal information which is received from or on behalf of a Member except as permitted by statutory or regulatory exceptions.

Third parties that are providing services to the Bank who have access to nonpublic personal information received from or on behalf of Members are required:

  • To comply with all applicable privacy laws and regulations and keep such information of Members confidential;
  • To institute administrative, technical, and physical safeguards which are consistent with those outlined in paragraph 1 above;
  • To limit their use of nonpublic personal information to the purpose(s) for which it was provided to them; and
  • To release nonpublic personal information only as permitted by statutory or regulatory exceptions.

California Consumer Privacy Notice
Under the California  Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”) (see California Civil Code Section 1798.100 et seq.), covered businesses that collect the personal information of California residents must provide notice regarding their data collection and sharing practices. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (“FHLBank Chicago”) provides such notice in our Online Privacy Policy listed above. In addition, the CCPA confers upon California residents the right to make certain requests with respect to their data. This notice is pursuant to CCPA.

The specific Personal Information, as defined in the CCPA, that we collect, use, and disclose relating to a California resident covered by the CCPA will vary based on our relationship or interaction with that individual. For example, this notice does not apply with respect to information that we collect about California residents through our Members who apply for or obtain our financial products and services (i.e., information subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act). For more information about how we collect, disclose, and secure information relating to our members, please refer to our Online Privacy Policy listed above.

Keeping Personal Information secure is one of our most important priorities. Consistent with our obligations under applicable laws and regulations, we maintain physical, technical, electronic, procedural and organizational safeguards and security measures that are designed to protect personal data against accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure, or access, whether it is processed by us or elsewhere.

As permitted by applicable law, FHLBank Chicago does not treat de-identified data or aggregate consumer information as Personal Information, and we reserve the right to convert, or permit others to convert, Personal Information into de-identified data or aggregate consumer information. We have no obligation to re-identify such information or retain it longer than we need to respond to requests. This data minimization process is considered a privacy best practice aligned with our mission to respect our Members’, their customers’, and your privacy.

Rights Under the CCPA
If you are a California resident, you have the right to: Request that we disclose to you the following information covering the 12 months preceding your request (“request to know”): (a) the categories of Personal Information that we collected about you and the categories of sources from which we collected such Personal Information; (b) the business or commercial purposes for collecting Personal Information about you; (c) the categories of Personal Information about you that we disclosed to third parties for a business purpose and the categories of third parties to whom we disclosed such Personal Information; and (d) the specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you:

  • Request that we delete Personal Information that we collected from you, subject to applicable exceptions (“request to delete”). As stated above and in our Online Privacy Policy, we do not sell your Personal Information; and
  • Be free from unlawful discrimination for exercising your rights under the CCPA.
  • You also have the right to designate an authorized agent to make a request under the CCPA on your behalf. If you wish to designate an authorized agent, FHLBank Chicago requires a valid power of attorney with express powers under the CCPA.

In some instances, we may not be able to honor your request. For example, we will not honor your request if we cannot verify your identity or confirm that the Personal Information that we maintain relates to you, or if we cannot verify that you have the authority to make a request on behalf of another individual. Additionally, we may not honor your request where an exception applies, such as where the disclosure of Personal Information would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of another individual or where the Personal Information that we maintain about you is not subject to the CCPA’s rights. We will advise you in our response if we are not able to honor your request.

Consistent with the CCPA and our mission to protect your privacy, FHLBank Chicago will not deliver full Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, other government-issued identification numbers, financial account numbers, any health or medical identification numbers, account passwords, or security questions or answers in response to any CCPA request.

How to Make a Request
If you are a California resident (or an authorized agent thereof), you may, no more than twice in any twelve-month period, make a request for the disclosures described above or make a request to delete Personal Information we collected from you by using one of the below methods.

  1. Members or others who have a direct relationship with FHLBank Chicago may reach out to Member Support in our Contact Us section.
  2. Mail a notarized copy of the request to FHLBank Chicago at 433 West Van Buren Street, Suite 501S, Chicago, IL 60607, Attn: Legal Department

Upon submission of your request, we will take steps to verify your identity, which may include contacting you by mail, email, or telephone. The verification steps will vary depending on your relationship with FHLBank Chicago. We will put forth a good faith effort to respond to your request within 45 days pursuant to the CCPA. If we require more information or more time respond to your request, we will reach out to you.