Privacy Policy
We know that you care how information about you is used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. This Privacy Statement outlines the information Green Choice Energy will collect and how we will use that information. This statement will also explain how you can make your preference known regarding when Green Choice Energy may send marketing communications to you.
Information We Collect and How We Use Cookies
Green Choice Energy’s primary goal in collecting information is to assist in offering products and services which are relevant to consumers like you. Personal information allows us to provide products that most likely meet your needs, and to customize services to provide you a positive and efficient experience. This knowledge is also used to better target the content on our site and to enhance your overall learning experience. Any personal information that we collect will only be used for internal marketing purposes of Green Choice Energy, except as otherwise required by law or as disclosed to you in this Privacy Statement. The information we collect:
Information You Give Us
Green Choice Energy will not collect any personal information from you unless you provide it to us voluntarily. We may ask you to provide information including your name, address, telephone number, utility account number, and email address. In addition, we may ask you to provide information relating to energy use, such as the characteristics of your home, or we may ask you to state your opinion about potential products and services. If you opt not to provide us with personal information, we may be unable to deliver certain promotions or product information to you that you have requested.
Non-personal, Aggregate and Statistical Data
Green Choice Energy may collect certain non-personal or aggregate data. For example, we may use web log information (such as your web browser, operating system, pages visited, etc.) and use cookies when you visit many of our web pages. For instance, when you visit our website, our web server will automatically recognize some non-personal information, including but not limited to the date and time you visited our site, the pages you visited, the referrer (the website you came from), the type of browser you are using (e.g. Internet Explorer or Safari), the type of operating system you are using (e.g. Windows or Mac), and the domain name and address of your Internet service provider (e.g. AT&T or Comcast).
Email Addresses
At the time Green Choice Energy requests an email address from you, you will be given the opportunity to indicate whether or not you wish to receive future email solicitations from us. We may, however, send you emails for other reasons such as responding to your requests for service or information or matters relative to your account.
Information from Other Sources
For reasons such as improving our products and services, or making product recommendations or special offers that we think will interest you and to identify persons not already a Green Choice Energy customer, we receive information from other sources and add it to our information. The type of information we receive may include (but is not limited to) your name, address, telephone number, and in some cases, type and characteristics of your home. We also sometimes receive updated delivery and address information so that we can correct our records and deliver your next communication more easily.
How We Collect Information You Give Us
Green Choice Energy does not require potential customers or visitors to our websites to provide personal information, except as necessary to be enrolled as a customer. You may choose to enter contests, vote in polls or otherwise express an opinion, subscribe to one of our services such as newsletters, or participate in one of our online forums or communities. These programs may require you to submit some information to participate. These programs and the types of information required are described in more detail below.
Registration/Subscriptions
To fully use our websites, visitors may need to register using our online registration forms, where visitors may be required to provide us with some personal information. Visitors may also be asked to select a user ID and password. Further, to register for certain services or become a member of certain communities, we may ask visitors to submit their name, email address, home address, and zip code. You can further make choices about receiving targeted newsletters and alerts from Green Choice Energy. You can always decide not to receive or stop receiving any targeted solicitations from Green Choice Energy that you do not wish to receive.
Contests/Sweepstakes
Green Choice Energy may run contests, sweepstakes, and other promotions. We may ask you to provide personal information that is needed to administer the contest, sweepstakes, or promotion and to notify winners.
Referrals
Occasionally, you will have the opportunity to forward promotional opportunities or other information on the website to friends/relatives or to send messages from our web sites to friends/relatives. This personal referral information you provide to facilitate this communication is used on a one-time basis and is not further retained by Green Choice Energy, except in circumstances where we obtain consent from the people you have referred to receive communications from us.
Questionnaires, Surveys and Profile Data
Green Choice Energy may occasionally ask you to complete surveys and opinion polls about your interests, needs, and attitudes. Surveys help us provide better services and products that meet customer needs. Participation is voluntary and these surveys are optional.
Customer Services and Contact Information
If you provide our customer service representatives with feedback on your experiences with our products/services or otherwise submit questions to our customer service representatives or webmasters, you will be asked to supply personal information for our record keeping and follow-up.
Non-personal, Aggregate and Statistical Data
GREEN CHOICE ENERGY may collect certain aggregate data called web log information and use cookies when you visit many of our web pages. For instance, when you visit our website, our web server will automatically recognize some non-personal information, including but not limited to the date and time you visited our site, the pages you visited, the referrer (the website you came from), the type of browser you are using (e.g. Internet Explorer or Safari), the type of operating system you are using (e.g. Windows or Mac), and the domain name and address of your Internet service provider (e.g. AT&T or Comcast).
Information from Other Sources
For reasons such as providing better product recommendations or special offers that we think will interest you and to identify persons not already a Green Choice Energy customer, we receive information from other sources and add it to our information.
How We Use Your Personal Information
We may use your personal information to contact you. For example, we may send you marketing or promotional materials including emails or other information; we may respond to your comments or requests for information; or we may contact you if needed in the course of fulfilling your service request. We may also use your personal information to confirm and verify your customer enrollment status. Green Choice Energy does not collect personal information automatically, but we may combine non-personal information collected automatically (e.g., through cookies and web beacons) with your previously submitted personal information. We may also enhance or merge personal information with data obtained from third parties for the same purposes. We use this personal and statistical information about you to improve our marketing and promotional efforts; to statistically analyze site usage; to improve our content and product offerings; and to customize our site content, layout and services. We may also use your information to deliver information to you that, in some cases, is targeted to your interests, such as targeted banners, new services and promotions. We believe these uses allow us to improve our site and better tailor it to meet our visitors’ needs. Green Choice Energy occasionally sends emails describing new products, promotions or events. These email services are optional, and you may opt-out of these services completely, at any time.
Non-personal, Aggregate and Statistical Data
Green Choice Energy uses web log information (such as your web browser, operating system, pages visited, etc.) to help us design our website, to identify popular features, and for other managerial purposes. However, web logs may be used if necessary, to help identify any person attempting to break into or damage our website. We may share web log information with law enforcement agencies if we believe that we have evidence of a violation of computer security or related laws.
How We May Share Your Information for Promotional Purposes
Except in the event of a business transfer, we will not share, trade, or sell personal information about you for promotional use by any business, other than Green Choice Energy and its affiliates. Subject to any applicable legal restrictions, we may share personal information about you with our affiliates and any vendor we use to support our business or provide service to you, including any rewards partner. If you provide your consent for non-affiliates to market their products and services to you, we may share personal information about you for that purpose. We may sometimes send offers to Green Choice Energy customers on behalf of other businesses. When we do this, we do not give that business the name, address, telephone number or email address of our customers. We may share information with third parties and business partners that is in aggregated or anonymous form so that it does not divulge personal information, and may work with those entities to do research, including for marketing purposes, and to provide and improve products and services. When companies acquire other businesses, sell all, or portions of their business, customer information generally is one of the transferred assets. If Green Choice Energy or substantially all its assets are transferred through merger, acquisition, bankruptcy or any other change of corporate control then, customer information will of course be one of the transferred assets. Aggregated and statistical data from our website visitors may be shared with our partners. For example, we may let a partner know that approximately “20,000 people visited a web page regarding a specific joint promotion.” All employees, contractors and other companies engaged by Green Choice Energy for work that involves access to personal information are contractually required to keep the information confidential and not to use it in any way other than what is necessary to perform their work for Green Choice Energy.
For Protection of Green Choice Energy and Others
We may release personal data, including account information, when we believe release is appropriate to comply with laws, regulations or judicial orders; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Green Choice Energy, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection. Green Choice Energy also reserves the right to share the information to respond to duly authorized information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law or regulation.
Accessing Your Personal Information
If you want to know what personal information Green Choice Energy holds about you, or you wish to change personal information that is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us at [email protected] . Please note that it may not always be possible to modify or completely remove information in our databases, although we will make reasonable efforts to do so upon your written request.
Disposal of Your Personal Information
Green Choice Energy maintains your personal information in our records when you are a customer. We also maintain personal information for a period after you are no longer a customer if necessary, for the purposes for which it was collected. These purposes may include business, legal or tax purposes. If these purposes no longer apply, we will destroy, or de-identify, or anonymize the information in accordance with our internal policies and applicable law.
Cookies and Web Beacons
When you view our website, we may collect some non-personal information about you. The collection of this non-personal information is done either through the “cookie” technology or with “web beacons” (also called “single-pixel gif” or “web pings”). Neither our cookies nor web beacons nor web log information collects any personal information. They do not contain personal information such as your name or email address.
Cookies
When you view our website or interactive advertisements, we may store some information on your computer. This information will be in the form of a small text file, also called a “cookie”. Cookies help us in many ways to make your visit to our website more enjoyable and meaningful to you. For example, cookies avoid you having to log in every time you come back to our website. They also allow us to tailor a website or advertisement to better match your interests and preferences. Most browsers can be configured not to accept cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.
Web Beacons
Web beacons are site instrumentation that help us to determine, for instance, whether a page has been viewed or not and, if so, how many times. When you ask us to send you information on a promotion or a newsletter, we may use web beacons to establish how many of the emails are opened. In general, any electronic image viewed as part of a web page or email, including an ad banner, can act as a web beacon. Third party advertising networks that serve ads onto any Green Choice Energy website may use cookies and/or web beacons in their advertisements. Green Choice Energy retains no control over such third-party cookies and/or web beacons and does not have access to the information related to third party cookies and/or web beacons.
Children’s Privacy
Green Choice Energy strongly believes that it is especially important to protect children’s privacy online. The Green Choice Energy website is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Data Security
Green Choice Energy is committed to keeping the data you provide us secure and will take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from loss, misuse or alteration, including limiting access to such information within Green Choice Energy to authorized individuals and destroying personal information that we decide not to retain in a manner designed to make it unreadable or undecipherable. Agents, contractors, or partners of Green Choice Energy who have access to your personal information in connection with providing services for Green Choice Energy are required to keep the information confidential and are not permitted to use this information for any other purpose than to carry out the services they are performing for Green Choice Energy.
Your Preferences
Green Choice Energy allows you to choose to receive or stop receiving solicitations from us. We accomplish this by maintaining a “Non-Solicitation File” in which we record your preferences to receive or not receive solicitations from us. We use the National Do Not Call Registry and the Statewide do-not-call.
How to Make Your Preferences Known
If you wish to reduce the amount of national advertising mail or telephone solicitations you receive at home, you may register with the Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service for free by writing to the following addresses:
DMA Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
DMA Telephone Preference Service
P.O. Box 1559
Carmel, NY 10512
Be sure to include your complete name, address and telephone number and sign the request. The Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service are consumer services provided by the Direct Marketing Association. When you register for these services, direct marketers will use the information you provide to purge your name, address, and telephone number from their marketing campaigns. You should see a reduction in the amount of national advertising solicitations you receive within ninety days of registering with the service. Before making your final decision about registering with the Direct Marketing Association or if you wish to learn more about the privacy initiatives of the Direct Marketing Association, consider visiting the following web site: www.dmachoice.org. You may also register online for MPS and TPS at the above web site. There is a fee to register online.
The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. For more information, go to www.donotcall.gov.
Complaints
Green Choice Energy is committed to working with consumers to obtain a swift resolution of any complaints or disputes about privacy. Please send us your questions or comments regarding our privacy practices by sending an email to [email protected]. We will be happy to respond to your questions and comments.
Links to Other Sites
The Green Choice Energy website may contain links to other sites. Green Choice Energy is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites. We recommend you carefully read the privacy policies of each site you visit.
Policy Changes
We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Statement from time to time. If at some time in the future, we wish to use your information for new unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our Privacy Statement, we will:
- Post the policy changes to this section of our Privacy Statement to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses.
- Initially, we will only use information collected from the time of the policy change forward for the new purposes. However, after a reasonable time has transpired, we will use for the new purpose the information collected before the policy change from those who do not opt out.
Your Acceptance of Our Privacy Practices
By using this website or interactive banner ads, you signify your acceptance of this Privacy Statement, and you adhere to the terms and conditions posted on the website. If you do not agree with any of these terms, please do not use this site or submit any personal information. This English version shall always prevail in case of conflicts between it and any translations of our Privacy Statement.
