PRIVACY POLICY FOR ONLINE ACTIVITIES
This Privacy Policy for Online Activities (“Policy”) describes how Southern Pine Electric Cooperative (collectively, as used herein “Cooperative,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you, the member, interact with our websites, mobile applications, and any other platforms potential members interact with where this Policy is linked (the “Platform”). It also tells you how you can reach us to get answers to your questions related to privacy. By using the Platform, you are agreeing and consenting to this Policy, as amended or modified.
TYPES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We collect information about you in a variety of ways depending on how you interact with us and our Platform including:
- Directly from you when you provide it to us, such as when you register for an account including prepay amounts, complete a form, sign up to receive communications from us, or contact us on the Platform.
- Automatically by cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies when you interact with our Platform.
- From other sources, including, for example, publicly available sources, or if you submit a job application, or become an employee, we may conduct a background check.
- Contact information, including a member-consumer’s name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. The Cooperative might also collect a username and password for online access.
- Billing information, including, if applicable, Social Security number, credit information, financial account information, and payment history.
The following provides examples of the type of information that we collect from you and how we use that information. If you fail to provide certain personal information when requested, we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations.
| Context | Types of Data | Primary Purpose for Collection and Use of Data |
|---|---|---|
| Account | To the extent applicable, we may collect your name, contact in-formation, and other information we ask for when you create an account on the Platform. We also collect information relating to the actions that you perform while logged into your account. | We use this information to provide account-related functionalities to our users. Accounts can be used for easy payment processing and to save your preferences and transaction history. |
| Cookies and First Party Tracking | We use cookies and clear GIFs. “Cookies” are small pieces of information that a website sends to a computer’s hard drive while a website is viewed. | We use this information to ensure our Platform operates efficiently. |
| Cookies and Third Party Tracking | We may participate in behavior-based advertising, this means that a third party uses technology (e.g., a cookie) to collect information about your use of our Platform so that they can provide advertising about products and services tailored to your interests on our Platform. | We use this information to provide you with tailored advertisements and marketing. We also use this information for analytics pur-poses. |
| Mobile Devices | We collect information from your mobile device such as unique identifying information broadcast from your device when visiting our Platform. | We use this information to identify unique visitors and understand how users interact with us on their mobile devices. |
HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
In addition to the purposes and uses described above, we use information in the following ways:
- To identify you when you visit our Platform.
- To provide services.
- To improve our services and any product offerings.
- To conduct analytics.
- To communicate with you, such as to respond to and/or follow-up on your requests, inquiries, issues, or feedback.
- To detect and protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, including violation of our policies and terms and conditions, security incidents, and harm to the rights, property or safety of our company and our users, employees, or others.
- To debug, identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality of our website and services.
- To comply with our legal or regulatory obligations, to establish or exercise our rights, and to defend again a legal claim.
- For internal administrative and operational purposes, including billing purposes.
- For such other purposes as you may consent (from time to time).
- The Cooperative generally permits its member-consumers to access and seek correction of records about themselves that are maintained and used by the Cooperative to provide service, for billing, and to manage capital accounts. Any requests for, or disputes relating to, access, correction, or other matters should be directed to the Cooperative department identified in the “Contact Us” Section.
HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION
We may share your information in a variety of ways, including with our power suppliers, with third parties that perform services on our behalf (such as payment processors), to comply with legal or regulatory requirements or in response to law enforcement investigative requests, to protect ourselves, or with your consent for other reasons. Any third parties with whom information is shared will provide the same or equivalent protection or information as required by applicable legal and regulatory guidelines.
ACCOUNT DELETION
The Platform may allow you to create an account. To delete your account, please contact us using the information below in the “Contact Us” section.
CHILDREN
The Platform where this Policy is located are meant for adults. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable data from persons under the age of 19. If you are a parent or legal guardian and think your child has provided us with information, please contact us using the information in the “Contact Us” section below. Please mark your inquiries “Children Information Request.”
SECURITY AND DATA RETENTION
The Internet is not 100% secure. We cannot promise that your use of our Platform will be completely safe. We encourage you to use caution when using the Internet. We use reasonable means to safeguard personal information under our control. In the event that we are required by law to inform you of a breach of your personal information we may notify you electronically, in writing, or by telephone, if permitted to do so by law.
Information we maintain may be stored in the United States. If you live outside of the United States, you understand and agree that we may transfer your personal information to the United States. This Platform is intended for use in the United States and is subject to the laws of the United States, which may not provide the same level of protections as those in your own country.
We retain your personal information for only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Policy, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the information, the purposes for which we obtained the information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, as well as applicable legal requirements.
THIRD PARTY LINKS
Our Platform may contain links to other third-party sites that are not governed by this Policy. If you click on a link to a third-party site, you will be taken to a site we do not control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices used by third-party sites. We suggest that you read the privacy policies of those sites carefully. We are not responsible for these third-party sites.
CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
We will notify you of any material changes to our Policy as required by law. Please check our Platform periodically for updates. This Policy is subject to amendment or modification by us at any time and from time to time, which amended or modified version will be posted online by us on our website and Platform.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions, comments or concerns with respect to our privacy practices or this Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or need to access this Policy in an alternative format due to having a disability, please feel free to contact us at jjackson@southernpine.org or call us at (251) 867-5415. You may also write to us at the following address:
Southern Pine Electric Cooperative
Attn: Office Services Department
2134 South Boulevard
Brewton, Alabama 36426