Updated September 2018
OnSwitch, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“OnSwitch”, “we”, or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy & Cookies Policy (this “Privacy Policy”). This Privacy Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you when you visit our website at onswitch.com or one of the affiliated pages hosted at our domain (the “Site”), how we may use that information, the circumstances under which we may disclose or transfer it, how we store it and the steps we take to protect it, and the choices you have regarding submitting and maintaining the information you provide to us.
This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect (a) on the Site, (b) by email, text and other electronic messages between you and the Site, and (c) through any other medium in which this Privacy Policy is incorporated by reference. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information collected (a) by us offline or through any other means or (b) by any company or organization that is not owned or controlled by OnSwitch, even if such company or organization operates a site or application that may link to or be accessible from the Site.
Please review this Privacy Policy carefully before accessing the Site. By accessing or using the Site, you are consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, you are not permitted to use the Site.
This Privacy Policy is subject to change. When we change this Privacy Policy in a material way, a notice will be posted at the Site along with the updated Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Site after we make changes to this Privacy Policy is deemed to be an acceptance of those changes.
If you have any questions or concerns about our practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at admin@onswitchenergy.com.
I. Personal Information We Collect
Personal Information collected from you. “Personal Information”, as such term is used in this Privacy Policy, is information that can be associated with a specific person and can be used to uniquely identify or contact a person. The Personal Information we may collect from you is outlined in the table below.
| Category of Personal Information collected | What this means |
|---|---|
| Identity Data | First name, surname, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, Google or Microsoft account information, marital status, title, date of birth and gender, picture, social security number and/or tax identification number, password, copies of ID cards or other forms of identification. |
| Contact Data | Your home address, work address, billing address, email address and telephone numbers. |
| Financial Data | Your bank account and payment card details, statements about your wealth and financial situation. |
| Transaction Data | Any details about payments to and from you and other details of services you have purchased from us or third parties that share with us your information. Data in respect of your transactions with third parties (including your credit history). |
| Content Data | Any content you provide to the Site or otherwise provide us that is not already included in another category, including without limitation, preference settings, answers, messages, comments, and other contributions on the Site, and metadata about the foregoing. |
| Marketing and Communications Data | Your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences. If you correspond with us by email or messaging through the Site or other services, we may retain the content of such messages and our responses. |
| Behavioral Data | Inferred or assumed information relating to your behavior and interests, based on your online activity. This is most often collated and grouped into “segments.” |
| Technical Data | Internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access the Site or use our services. For information about our policy on “cookies”, see Section II below, “How We Use Cookies and Other Tracking or Profiling Technologies”. |
You must register at the Site and create an account (that is, you must become a “Registered User”) if you wish to use certain resources and services that are available at the Site whose use is limited to Registered Users, including, but not limited to, obtaining an estimate of the energy and financial savings you may achieve by utilizing certain services described on the Site (an “Instant Quote”). If you choose to become a Registered User in order to avail yourself of these resources and services, you will be asked to provide OnSwitch with certain Personal Information that is necessary to complete your registration. You may also be asked to provide Personal Information if and when you contact OnSwitch by telephone or by mail, depending on your reason for contacting us. Certain Personal Information, including Technical Data (as described above), is collected automatically when you access or use the Site regardless of whether you are a Registered User. See also Section II below, “How We Use Cookies and Other Tracking or Profiling Technologies”.
Personal Information collected from others. In addition to the Personal Information that we may collect directly from you, we may also collect certain of your Personal Information from third-party sources, some of which may not be publicly available. Examples of these sources include credit reporting agencies, social media sites, our affiliates, analytics providers, data brokers, and identity verification and compliance service providers.
Additional information. Certain resources at the Site, if you choose to use them, may require you to provide information concerning the physical attributes of a property for which you are seeking an Instant Quote, including (in addition to its street address, city or town, and ZIP Code) the type of building (commercial or industrial), the energy systems used, the fuels that those energy systems consume (oil, gas, propane, etc.), the quantities of fuel consumed, the amount of electricity used, the cost of electricity consumed, demand and other utility charges, etc. Information regarding these physical attributes of a property for which you are seeking an Instant Quote, while detailed and specific, cannot be used to uniquely identify or contact you, and does not, by itself, qualify as Personal Information. If you wish to utilize these Site resources, however, you may first be required to enroll as a Registered User and provide OnSwitch with certain Personal Information, as described above.
Special categories of Personal Information. We do not collect any “Special Categories” of Personal Information about you on the Site (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data).
II. How We Use Cookies and Other Tracking or Profiling Technologies
How We Use Cookies and Other Tracking or Profiling Technologies. We may collect non-personally identifiable information regarding your usage of the Site, including the pages and articles and presentations you viewed, time spent using certain features of the website, demographic data such as server locations, connection speed, and other information that does not identify you. Like most online services, we also use cookies, log files, clear GIFs, tracking pixels, web beacons, and other technologies that may collect Personal Information.
What are cookies? When you visit the Site, we may send one or more “cookies” – small data files – to your computer to uniquely identify your browser and let us help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the Site. A cookie may convey anonymous information about how you browse the Site to us so we can provide you with a more personalized experience, but does not collect personal information about you. A persistent cookie remains on your computer after you close your browser so that it can be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Site. Persistent cookies can be removed by following your web browser’s directions. A session cookie is temporary and disappears after you close your browser.
What cookies do we use? Our Site uses the following types of cookies for the purposes set out below:
| Type of cookie | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Essential Cookies | These cookies are essential to provide you with services available through the Site and to enable you to use some of its features. For example, they allow you to log in to secure areas of the Site and help the content of the pages you request to load quickly. Without these cookies, the Site cannot function properly, and we only use these cookies to provide you with those services. |
| Functionality Cookies | These cookies allow the Site to remember choices you make when you use the Site, such as remembering your login details and remembering the changes you make to other parts of the Site which you can customize. The purpose of these cookies is to provide you with a more personal experience and to avoid you having to re-enter your preferences every time you visit the Site. |
| Analytics and Performance Cookies | These cookies are used to collect information about traffic to the Site and how users use the Site. The information gathered via these cookies does not “directly” identify any individual visitor. However, it may render such visitors “indirectly identifiable”. This is because the information collected is typically linked to a pseudonymous identifier associated with the device you use to access the Site. The information collected is aggregated and anonymous. We use this information to help operate the Site more efficiently, to gather broad demographic information, and to monitor the level of activity on the Site. We use a number of different tools, including Google Analytics, for this purpose. |
| Targeted and advertising cookies | These cookies track your browsing habits to enable us to show advertising which is more likely to be of interest to you. These cookies use information about your browsing history to group you with other users who have similar interests. Based on that information, and with our permission, third-party advertisers can place cookies to enable them to show adverts which we think will be relevant to your interests while you are on third party websites. Third-party advertisers may also use other technologies in addition to cookies placed on the Site (such as JavaScript, or web beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content. |
How can I disable cookies? You can typically reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to notify you when a cookie is being sent. In order to do this, follow the instructions provided by your browser (usually located within the “settings”, “help”, “tools” or “edit” facility). Many browsers are set to accept cookies until you change your settings.
If you do not accept our cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of the Site and some features of the Site may not function properly. For example, we may not be able to recognize your computer or mobile device and you may need to log in every time you visit the Site.
Log Files: Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page. When you use the Site, our servers automatically record certain information your web browser sends whenever you visit any website. These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol address, browser type, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information.
Clear GIFs Information (Web Beacons): When you use the Site, we may employ clear GIFs (also known as web beacons or tracking pixels) to anonymously track online usage patterns. No Personal Information from your account is collected using these clear GIFs. In addition, we may also use clear GIFs in HTML-based emails sent to our users to track which emails are opened by recipients. The information collected is used to enable more accurate reporting and make the Site better for our users.
Third-Party Services: The Company may use third-party services such as Google Analytics to help understand use of the Site. These services typically collect the information sent by your browser as part of a web page request, including cookies and your IP address. They receive this information and their use of it is governed by their respective privacy policies. You can also prevent the use of Google Analytics relating to your use of the Site by downloading and installing the browser plugin available via this link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en-GB.
CalOPPA Disclosures: We do not currently respond to web browsers’ “do not track” signals that provide a method to opt out of the collection information about users’ activities on the Site and on other websites. If we do so in the future, we will provide relevant information in this Privacy Policy.
III. Use of Your Information
How we use your information. We may use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any Personal Information, to:
(i) provide you with certain information, products or services that you request from us;
(ii) deliver or promote the resources, services, programs, and functionality that are hosted at the Site;
(iii) provide notices regarding changes to our Terms of Use, this Privacy Policy, and other policies relating to the Site;
(iv) identify you as the source of any content you provide;
(v) analyze how the Site is used and improve upon it;
(vi) diagnose service or technical problems;
(vii) maintain security measures;
(viii) monitor aggregate metrics;
(ix) track user content and users as necessary to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable laws;
(x) perform research and analysis about your use of the Site;
(xi) develop, display, and track content and advertising tailored to your interests on the Site and other sites;
(xii) market or promote related products and services;
(xiii) verify your identify to prevent fraud or other unauthorized or illegal activity;
(xiv) enforce or exercise any rights in our Terms of Use or any other agreements between you and us; or
(xv) engage in any other activity with your consent.
GDPR Disclosure. In respect of each of the purposes for which we use your Personal Information, the GDPR requires us to ensure that we have a legal basis for that use if you are within the EU. The legal bases depend on how you use the Site. This means we collect and use your Personal Information only where:
(i) we need it to provide you the services offered under the Site, including to operate the Site, provide customer support and personalized features and to protect the safety and security of the Site;
(ii) it satisfies a legitimate interest (which is not overridden by your data protection interests), such as for research and development, to market and promote the Site and to protect our legal rights and interests; or
(iii) we need to process your Personal Information to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
We may also rely on your consent as a legal basis for using your Personal Information where we have expressly sought it for a specific purpose. If we do rely on your consent to use your Personal Information, you have the right to change your mind at any time (but this will not affect any processing that has already taken place).
OnSwitch is the “Controller” (for the purposes of the GDPR) of your Personal Information. Our address is 201 Spear Street, Suite 1100, San Francisco, CA 94105.
IV. Disclosures of Your Information
Generally. Your Personal Information may be shared with OnSwitch’s network of independent installers and contractors, lenders and other financial institutions (“Third-Party Vendors”) for the purpose of providing you with price quotations for energy systems and marketing other related products and services. We may also share your Personal Information with affiliates, services providers, professional advisors, and API users for any purpose, including for the purposes set forth in Section III above, “Use of Your Information”.
Aggregated Data. We may also share with third parties “Aggregated Data” of non-personally identifiable information, including physical attributes of users’ properties, energy systems and equipment used by our users and prices paid, and the manner in which our users financed their energy systems. Aggregated Data may be derived from your Personal Information, but once in aggregated form it will not constitute Personal Information (or “Personal Data” for the purposes of the GDPR) as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your Personal Information so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as Personal Information which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Forums and blogs. From time to time, the Site may include user forums and blogs where you can post information, questions, answers and comments. When you post content in a forum or to a blog, any Personal Information that you include in your post is visible to and shared with anyone visiting the Site, and will be disclosed to him or her. You are solely responsible for any Personal Information that you choose to post in a forum or blog that is visible to other users.
Channel Partners. From time to time OnSwitch may enter into partnerships with for-profit companies and firms, non-profit organizations, municipalities and other governmental entities, and employers (collectively “Channel Partners”), that wish to offer their customers, clients, members, constituents, or employees the resources and services provided at the Site. Our Channel Partners host hyperlinks on certain of their own web pages that permit their customers, clients, members, constituents, or employees to access web pages at the Site that have been customized for their use. Channel Partners may also publish the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for these customized Site web pages in printed promotional materials and in emails and social medial posts they may deliver or transmit to you. Pursuant to our agreements with these Channel Partners, OnSwitch may share with them the personal information you provide when you become a Registered User at the Site. If you are affiliated with one of OnSwitch’s Channel Partners, and access a page at the Site customized for your use via a link or URL that has been provided by that Channel Partner, we encourage you to contact that Channel Partner directly to learn more about their privacy policies and practices, and to find out how they may use the Personal Information we share with them, how they store it and the steps they take to protect it, the circumstances under which they may disclose or transfer it, and the choices you have regarding the manner in which they maintain the information that you provide to us and that we may be required to share with them.
Business Transactions. From time to time OnSwitch may create, purchase or sell business subsidiaries. OnSwitch may disclose your Personal Information to any subsidiary that it creates or purchases. In addition, personal information constitutes a business asset that is transferrable in any transaction involving the sale of OnSwitch or any of its business subsidiaries. Whether OnSwitch engages in any such transaction, or creates, acquires, or sells a business subsidiary, any Personal Information that is shared or sold will remain subject to the promises made in the Privacy Policy then current, unless you consent otherwise in writing.
Other Reasons for Disclosure. OnSwitch may make other disclosures of your Personal Information to third parties if required to do so by law, to enforce our Terms of Use, to offer you other relevant products or services, or upon your written request. The most current version of our Terms of Use can be reviewed by clicking on the “Terms of Use” link located at the bottom of each page on the Site.
V. How Long We Store Your Personal Information.
We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or it is reasonably needed for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy unless you request that we remove your Personal Information as described below in “Your Rights Relating to Your Personal Information.” We will only retain your Personal Information for so long as we reasonably need to use it for these purposes unless a longer retention period is required by law (for example for regulatory purposes). This may include keeping your Personal Information after you have deactivated your account for the period of time needed for us to pursue legitimate business interests, conduct audits, comply with (and demonstrate compliance with) legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements or as otherwise maintained by our automatic retrieval and backup systems.
VI. Where We Store Your Personal Information
The Site is maintained in the United States of America. Personal Information that you provide us may be stored, processed and accessed by us, our staff, sub-contractors and third parties with whom we share Personal Information in the United States of America or elsewhere inside or outside of the EU for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We may also store Personal Information in locations outside the direct control of OnSwitch (for instance, on servers or databases co-located with hosting providers). Although we welcome users from all over the world, by accessing the Site and providing us with your Personal Information, you consent to and authorize the export of Personal Information to the United States and its storage and use as specified in this Privacy Policy. Note the laws of the United States might not be as comprehensive or protective as laws in the country where you live.VII. How We Protect Your Personal Information
OnSwitch uses industry-standard physical, managerial, and technical safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of your personal information. We limit access to your Personal Information to those employees and other staff who have a business need to have such access. All such people are subject to a contractual duty of confidentiality. We cannot, however, ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or guarantee that your information on the Site may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by a breach of any of our physical, managerial, or technical safeguards.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any actual or suspected Personal Information breach. In the event that personal information is compromised as a result of such a breach of security, we will promptly notify those persons whose personal information has been compromised, in accordance with the notification procedures set forth in this Privacy Policy, or as otherwise required by applicable law.
We cannot ensure that your Personal Information will be protected, controlled or otherwise managed pursuant to this Privacy Policy if you share your login and password information with any third party, including any third party operating a website or providing other services.
VIII. Your Rights Relating to Your Personal Information
You have the right under this Privacy Policy, and by law if you are within the EU, to:
- Request access to your Personal Information. If you are within the EU, this enables you to receive a copy of the Personal Information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
- Request correction of the Personal Information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
- Request erasure of your Personal Information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove Personal Information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right if you are within the EU to ask us to delete or remove your Personal Information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
- Object to processing of your Personal Information. This right exists where we are relying on a legitimate interest as the legal basis for our processing and there is something about your particular situation, which makes you want to object to processing of your Personal Information on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes.
- Request the restriction of processing of your Personal Information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of Personal Information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
- Request the transfer of your Personal Information. If you are within the EU, we will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your Personal Information in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
- Withdraw consent. This right only exists where we are relying on consent to process your Personal Information (“Consent Withdrawal”). If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide you with access to the certain specific functionalities of the Site. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your Personal Information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that Personal Information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
IX. Complaints
If you would like to submit a complaint regarding this Privacy Policy or our practices in relation to your Personal Information, please contact us at admin@onswitchenergy.com.
We will reply to your complaint as soon as we can. If you feel that your complaint has not been adequately resolved, please note that if you are in the EU the GDPR gives you the right to contact your local data protection supervisory authority.
X. Marketing Communications Preferences
You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages or modify your email preferences at any time through any of the following methods:
(i) by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you; or
(ii) by contacting us at any time at admin@onswitchenergy.com.
Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to Personal Information provided to us as a result of emails relating to existing or pending hires, purchases or investments using the Site or consent to direct marketing communications.
XI. Our Policy on Children’s Privacy
Protecting the privacy of young children is especially important. The Site is not intended for children below 18 years of age and we do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 18 or knowingly allow such persons to register with the Site. If you are under the age of 18, please do not submit any personal information through the Site. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce our Privacy Policy by instructing their children never to provide personal information on the Site. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under age 18, we will take steps to remove that information.
XII. Links to Other Websites
This Privacy Policy applies only to the Site. The Site may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by us. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy or opinions expressed in such websites, and such websites are not investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy or completeness by us. Please remember that when you use a link to go from the Site to another website, our Privacy Policy is no longer in effect. Your browsing and interactions on any other website, including those that have a link on the Site, is subject to that website’s own rules and policies. Such third parties may use their own cookies or other methods to collect information about you.
XIII. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this Privacy Policy at any time. Any changes or updates will be effective immediately upon posting to this page. You should review this Privacy Policy regularly for changes. You can determine if changes have been made by checking the Effective Date above. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of any changes to this Privacy Policy means you consent to such changes.
