Last modified: March 20, 2024
Introduction
Citizens Energy Corporation (“Organization” or “we”) respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.
This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website https://citizensenergy.com/ (our “Website”) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.
This policy applies to information we collect:
- On this Website.
- In email and other electronic messages between you and this Website.
It does not apply to information collected by:
- Us offline or through any other means, including on any other website operated by the Organization or any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries); or
- Any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries), including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from or through the Website.
Please read this policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Website. By accessing or using this Website, you agree to this privacy policy. This policy may change from time to time (see Changes to Our Privacy Policy below). Your continued use of this Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the policy periodically for updates.
Children under Age 16
Content on this Website is directed at individuals who are age 18 or older and is not intended for children under age 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from users under age 16. If at any time we are informed that a visitor under the age of 16 has submitted personal information to us through the Website, we will endeavor to delete the information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 16, please contact us as specified in Contact Information below.
Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It
We collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, including information:
- By which you may be personally identified, such as name, postal address, email address, telephone number, utility bill account number or any other identifier by which you may be identified or contacted online or offline (“personal information”);
- That is about you but individually does not identify you, such as information collected by Google Analytics (to learn more about Google Analytics’ data practices click here and to opt out of the use of cookies in web browsers by Google Analytics click here); and/or
- About your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Website, and usage details.
We collect this information:
- Directly from you when you provide it to us.
- Automatically as you navigate through the Website. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, unique device IDs and information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies.
- From third party service providers, for example: Google Analytics (web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic); PaySimple (payment processing platform); Microsoft’s Dynamics365 (customer relation management); Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (government agency handling Disclosure Forms); and social media platforms accessible through the Website (for example, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and YouTube).
Information You Provide to Us
The information we collect on or through our Website may include:
- Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website. This includes information provided at the time of registering for an account on our Website, applying for our programs, benefits, services or products through our Website, or messaging us through our Website. We may also ask you for information when you report a problem with our Website.
- Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us via the Website.
- Details of transactions you carry out through our Website. You may be required to provide financial information in connection with applying for and receiving benefits from our charitable programs, benefits or services.
- Your search queries on the Website.
Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies
As you navigate through and interact with our Website, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns, including:
- Details of your visits to our Website, including traffic data, location data, logs, and other communication data and the resources that you access and use on the Website.
- Information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address, operating system, and browser type.
The information we collect automatically may include personal information, or we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or receive from third parties. It helps us to improve our Website and to deliver a better and more personalized service, including by enabling us to:
- Estimate our audience size and usage patterns.
- Store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Website according to your individual interests.
- Speed up your searches.
- Recognize you when you return to our Website.
The technologies we use for this automatic data collection may include:
- Cookies (or browser cookies). A cookie is a small data file that a website writes to your device when you visit. A cookie can contain information such as a user ID that the site uses to track the pages you have visited. However, the only personal information a cookie contains is information you supply yourself. A cookie cannot read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. We may use cookies to analyze visitor traffic patterns in order to improve visitor experience. We do not correlate this information with data about individual users. The Website uses both persistent and non-persistent cookies. Non-persistent cookies expire when you close your browser. We use non-persistent cookies to provide you with the best presentation of our content as you navigate our Website. In contrast, a persistent cookie remains on your device for an extended period of time. We use persistent cookies to recall what information you have viewed in prior visits to the Website. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Website.
- Web Beacons. Pages of our Website and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Organization, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of certain website content and verifying system and server integrity).
Third-Party Use of Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
Some content or applications on the Website and features of the Website (such as account registration and access, messaging forms and social media applications) are served by third-parties. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our Website. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.
We do not control these third parties’ tracking technologies or how they may be used or their collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly. However these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) on the NAI website’s Opt Out page.
How We Use Your Information
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:
- To present our Website and its contents to you.
- To provide you with information, programs, benefits, services or products that you request from us.
- To manage your account and to provide you with notices about your account.
- To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection.
- To notify you about changes to our Website or any programs, benefits, services or products we offer or provide though it.
- To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Website.
- For other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Website, programs, benefits, services, products, marketing and your experience.
- In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
- To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
- For any other purpose with your consent.
We may also use your information to contact you about our programs, benefits, services, products and activities. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please notify us at JOE4SUN@citizensenergy.com.
Disclosure of Your Information
We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.
We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:
- To our subsidiaries and affiliates.
- To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business.
- To a successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of the Organization’s assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by the Organization about our Website users is among the assets transferred.
- To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.
- For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
- With your consent.
We may also disclose your personal information:
- To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request.
- To enforce or apply agreements.
- For billing and collection purposes.
- If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Organization, our clients, beneficiaries, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
Accessing, Correcting and Deleting Your Information
Users who have registered for accounts on our Website can review and change their personal information by logging into the Website and visiting their account profile page.
Users who have registered for accounts on our Website may also send us an email at JOE4SUN@citizensenergy.com to request access to, correct, or delete any personal information that they have provided to us. We cannot delete a user’s personal information except by also deleting their user account. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.
Your Rights In Connection With Your Personal Information
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:
- Confirm whether we process your personal information.
- Request access to your personal information.
- Request correction of any incomplete or inaccurate personal information that we hold about you.
- Request erasure of your personal information when there is no need for us to continue processing it, or you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
- Opt-out of the processing of your personal information (such as the sale or sharing of your information or the use of your personal information for targeted advertising purposes).
- Either limit (opt-out of) or require consent to process sensitive personal data.
- Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.
- Revoke your consent.
The exact scope of these rights varies by jurisdiction. If you want to exercise any of these rights, please email us at JOE4SUN@citizensenergy.com. To protect your privacy and security, we will verify your identity before granting you access or enabling you to make corrections. We will comply with all valid requests in the time period required under applicable law. You may appeal our action or decision regarding your request by mailing a letter to the Organization’s Communications Director at the mailing address listed under Contact Information below.
California Users
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act and the California Privacy Rights Act (collectively, the “CCPA”) provide you with certain rights regarding your personal information. For information on California residents’ privacy rights, see our California Privacy Notice.
Data Retention
We retain personal information about you necessary to fulfill the purpose for which that information was collected or as required or permitted by law. We do not retain personal information longer than is necessary for us to achieve the purposes for which we collected it. When we destroy your personal information, we do so in a way that prevents that information from being restored or reconstructed.
We will also retain usage data for internal analysis purposes. Usage data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Website, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.
Data Security
To prevent unauthorized access, improper use or disclosure, unauthorized modification, or unlawful destruction or accidental loss, and to ensure the correct use of information, we employ physical, technical, and administrative procedures to safeguard this Website and the personal information we collect online.
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.
External Links
Our Website may contain links to third-party websites. We have not reviewed these third-party sites and do not control and are not responsible for any of these sites’ contents or privacy practices.
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. Check this page to make sure you are current and up-to-date on our privacy policy.
Contact Information
To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, contact us:
Online by visiting https://citizensenergy.com/contact-us/ and completing the “Send Us A Message” form
By phone: 617-338-6300
By mail:
Citizens Energy Corporation
2 Seaport Lane, Suite 5C
Center Lobby
Boston, MA 02210