PlotWatt

Privacy

Plotwatt, Inc.
Privacy Policy

General Statement

Plotwatt, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”), helps people to reduce their energy bills by providing customized recommendations based upon analysis of each user’s energy usage data.  Users provide their energy usage data either by asking their energy provider(s) to provide the data to the Company or by providing energy usage data to the Company directly via a web-connected energy monitor (the “Service”).

This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) applies to plotwatt.com (the “Website”) and to the Service and describes the information we collect, how we use it, with whom we share it, and other matters relating to such information. By accessing and using this Website and/or the Service, you signify your agreement to the terms of this Privacy Policy.  We may periodically revise this Privacy Policy and, to the extent we do so, you will signify your agreement with the new policy by continuing to use this Website and/or the Service after the changes have been posted.

The Company controls, owns, and manages the information collected on the Website and by and through the Service and may use the information solely for its own purposes.

If you have any questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy, please contact our privacy team at: privacy@plotwatt.com.

The information we collect.

In this section we provide you with details about some of the information we currently collect about users of our Website and of our Service.

  • Account Information. When you sign up for the Service at the Website you provide us with your name, email address, zip code, the name of your energy provider(s) or the type of energy monitor you use.  In some cases we may ask for additional information for security reasons or to provide specific services to you.  In addition, when you send email or other communications to us for customer service or other reasons, we may retain those communications in order to process your inquiries and/or improve the Website and Service.
  • Energy Usage Data. We may collect all or some portion of the energy usage data described below, or any other similar energy usage or like data that you enable us to collect or transmit directly to us either through the Website or the Service (collectively, “Energy Usage Data”).
  • Energy Monitoring Devices. Energy usage data may be provided to the Company by certain devices specifically designed to communicate with web-based services.  These devices may have features that collect and store energy usage information for your home and upload such usage information to your account on the Website if you choose to connect the device to the Website.  These devices are not sold, designed, or manufactured by the Company.  Use of such devices is governed by separate terms of use and privacy statements provided by their respective manufacturers.  All support for these devices is provided by the device manufacturer or its designees.  The Company does not warrant and is not responsible for the quality, use or operation of these devices.
  • Energy Provider Data.  Some features of the Service and/or Website allow you or us to retrieve past and ongoing information about your energy bill and/or energy usage data from your energy provider(s) or directly from you.  If you use these features, you consent to you or your energy provider(s) providing this information to the Company on your behalf.  Your use of these features and the Company’s ability to receive this data depends on the availability of this data from your energy provider(s), and if this data becomes unavailable for any reason, including due to any action by you or your energy provider(s), it may impair your ability to use, and our ability to provide, the Website and/or Service.  Your home profile and related data feeds from your energy provider(s) are specific to a given physical address and a given utility meter or account.
  • Cookie Information. “Cookies” are small files that a site or its service provider transfers (if you allow) to your computer, mobile phone or other device with a web browser and data storage capability that enables the sites or service provider’s systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.  Most web browsers will accept cookies by default, but they can be set to reject cookies, either from all websites or from specific sites.  You can also manually delete cookies from your web browser.  These options are generally set through a “Privacy” setting in your browser setup, but you should know that in some cases blocking, rejecting or deleting cookies may impact your ability to use the Website or the Service.  We use cookies to help remember you as a user.  We may also use cookies in the future in other ways to provide and to improve the Service, to make the Website easier to use, to provide and to track advertisements or for other similar purposes.
  • Navigational Information.  We may collect and use non-personally identifiable information and data from you when you are using the Service and/or Website through the standard operation of our Internet servers.  Non-personally identifiable information collected from you may include user Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type and version, domain names, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, click stream data and anonymous statistical data regarding your use of the Service and/or Website.  For example, we can tell which Internet Service Provider our users use, but not the names, addresses or other information that would allow us to identify particular users.  We use this information to analyze trends, to administer and to improve the Service and Website, to track users’ movements around the Website and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.
  • Clear Gifs. We may also employ a software technology called “clear gifs” (also known as “web beacons” or “web bugs”) that helps us better manage content on the Website by providing us feedback as to what content is effective.  Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to track the online movements of users.  In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your web enabled device’s hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on a website page, web-based document or email message and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.  Clear gifs may be used in our HTML-based emails to confirm receipt of, and response to, our emails, including those that you forward to other recipients.  This allows us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.  If you would like to opt-out of these emails, please see the “Opt-out” section below.
  • Site Information. Due to communications standards on the internet, when you visit the Website we typically automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave our Website.  We also receive the internet protocol address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the Internet), your computer operating system and type of web browser you are using, email patterns, your mobile device and mobile operating system, as well as the name of your ISP or your mobile carrier.  We may also receive location data passed to us from third-party services or GPS-enabled devices that you have enabled.
  • Site Analytics. We may analyze your use of the Website and/or Service with third party software that allows us to monitor and record your navigation and usage activities, in order to better customize and improve our Website, Service and other products.

How we use the information we collect

We use the information we collect to try to provide a safe, efficient, and customized experience.  Here are some of the details on how we do that:

  • To manage and improve our service. We use the information we collect to provide our Service and other services and features to you, to measure and improve the Website, the Service and other services and features provided by us, and to provide you with customer and technical support.  In particular, we may analyze the Energy Usage Data that you share with us, and may reformat, combine or otherwise modify that Energy Usage Data along with other data, in order to improve the Service and to develop (including through the filing of patents or other forms of intellectual property protection) technology to be used in the Service and/or other related services.  We may also use the information we collect to enforce our Terms and Conditions: https://www.plotwatt.com/terms.  We also use a variety of technological systems to detect and address anomalous activity.
  • To contact you.  We may contact you with service-related announcements from time to time.  You may opt out of all communications except essential updates as described in the “Opt-out” section below. We may include content you see on the Website in the emails we send to you.
  • Email communications.  If you do not want to receive commercial email or other mail from us, please indicate your preference during the registration process or by opting out as described in the “Opt-out” section below.  Please note that if you do not want to receive legal notices from us, such as notices regarding this Privacy Policy, those legal notices will still govern your use of the Website, and you are responsible for reviewing such legal notices for changes, including for changes to this Privacy Policy.  We may receive a confirmation when you open an email from us if your computer supports this type of program.
  • To serve advertisements.  We may occasionally pair advertisements we serve with relevant information we have about you to make advertisements more interesting and more tailored to you.
  • To make suggestions.  We may suggest that you adjust your energy usage in specific ways (e.g., adjusting your thermostat, or turning off appliances using energy 24/7) based upon the energy usage information you or your energy provider(s) has provided to us.
  • To advertise our services.  We may ask third party advertisers to display advertisements promoting our services.  We may ask them to deliver those advertisements based upon the presence of a cookie, but in doing so we will not share any other information with the advertiser.
  • Association of navigational information with personally identifiable information.  We may associate your online navigational information and transactional information gathered by cookies and clear gifs to your personally identifiable information, including your Energy Usage Data.  We associate this information only for our purposes, to deliver services and products to you, to improve our business and to market our products and services through email, mobile advertising, direct mail and other media.  The association of navigational information, cookies, clear gifs and personally identifiable information results in a more personalized experience on the Website that is tailored to your interests.

How the information we collect may be shared

  • Joint Services.  We may develop, improve and/or provide our Service, certain portions or features of our Service or entirely new services or features jointly in collaboration with other parties.  In doing so, we may share information we collect or receive about you, including your Energy Usage Data, with third parties to assist them and us in developing, improving, marketing and/or selling such services.  These third parties may include your utility provider and its subsidiaries and affiliates and its and their agents, representatives and contractors, as well as Silver Spring Networks, Inc., a provider of certain data processing and analytics services.  We may also combine information we have collected about you, including your Energy Usage Data, with information we receive from third parties.  To the extent we develop and/or provide any such joint services, we may in our discretion choose to share certain of your personally identifiable information and/or other information, including Energy Usage Data, with such third parties to the extent we reasonably believe that this can be used to provide valuable commercial, service or other opportunities to you or us.  At any time, you can contact our privacy team at the email address set forth above to request that we not utilize your information in a personally identifiable fashion for purposes of providing joint services in collaboration with third parties; provided, that doing so may preclude you from using certain features of our Service.
  • Promotional Partners.  We may from time to time use your personally identifiable information to provide promotional communications that we think may be of interest to you, including email or other communications from us or from one of our partners to notify you of special offers and products and services, as well as advertising from us or third parties.  It is also possible that we may rent, sell or otherwise transfer your basic contact and product preference information to third parties who we think may offer services and products of interest to you.  At any time, you can contact our privacy team at the email address set forth above to request that we not provide you with promotional communications or share your basic contact and product preference information with third parties.
  • Outside Contractors.  We may employ independent contractors, vendors and suppliers to support our services and products (including the Website and the Service), such as hosting, monitoring and maintaining the Website and/or the Service, administering or monitoring emails, analyzing our users’ preferences, developing or improving applications for the Website and the Service and providing general consulting services.  These outside contractors may sometimes have limited access to information collected from you, including your personally identifiable information, in the course of providing products or services to us.  Access to your personally identifiable information by these outside contractors is limited to the information we determine, in our sole discretion, to be reasonably necessary in order for them to perform their function for us.  While we will seek to require outside contractors to protect the privacy of your personally identifiable information under a policy at least as restrictive as this Privacy Policy and will not authorize them to use this information except for the express purpose for which it is provided, we do not bear any responsibility for any actions or policies of outside contractors.
  • Legal Compliance.  We may disclose your information if we believe that it is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation or legal request; to protect the safety of any person; to address fraud, security or technical issues; or to protect the Company’s rights or property.
  • Business Transfers.  We may also disclose and/or transfer your personally identifiable information, including your Energy Usage Data, to third parties in connection with a corporate transaction, such as a merger, acquisition by another company or sale or other transfer of all or a portion of our business or assets (including our associated customer lists containing your personal information).
  • Non-Private or Non-Personal Information.  We may share, publish or disclose your non-private, aggregated or otherwise non-personal information, such as your Website or Service usage information or your Energy Usage Data, including by combining such information with similar information provided by other users or from other sources for a variety of purposes, including to develop and publicize performance information about our Service, to create aggregated energy usage or other profiles on the basis of zip code or other applicable metric and for other similar purposes.

Links and Advertising

From time to time, the Website may contain hyperlinks (“Links”) to third party websites as well as banner advertising and sponsorships operated by or referring to third parties and their goods and services (“Advertising”).  Such Links and Advertising are for your reference only, and we neither control the privacy policies of such linked or advertised websites nor are we liable or responsible in any way for the use of any personally identifiable information that you may provide such sites.  We recommend that you remain aware when you leave the Website and review the terms of use and privacy policies of each and every linked website.

You should also be aware that if you voluntarily disclose personally identifiable information in an email or other communications with any third party listed on the Website or in other materials, that information, along with any other information disclosed in your communication, can be collected and correlated and used by such third parties and may result in your receiving unsolicited messages from other persons.  Such collection, correlation, use and messages are beyond our control.

Security

  • Steps we take to keep your information secure.  The security of your personally identifiable information is important to us.  We have put in place commercially reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to adequately safeguard and secure the information we collect on the Website and through the Service from unauthorized access.
  • Risks inherent in sharing information.  Notwithstanding our commitment to protect your information, you should be aware that there is always some risk involved in transmitting information over the Internet.  Additionally, there also is some risk our or your network and/or security systems could be circumvented or breached, including by third parties who use our Website or Service in order to do so.  As a result, while we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security and privacy of any information you transmit to us, or of your or our network and/or security systems, and your transmittal of any information and your use of the Website and/or Service is solely at your own risk.  If you have any questions regarding the security of the Website or the Service you can contact our privacy team at the email address set forth above.
  • Protecting your own personal information.  In addition to the steps that we take to protect your personal information, you are encouraged to take reasonable steps to protect your own information, including safeguarding your username, password and any other information you use to access or in connection with the Website or the Service.  You should not share this information with third parties and, if you believe that this information has been compromised, you should notify us immediately and/or change your information as directed through the Website.

How You Can Change or Remove Information

  • Editing your information.  You are responsible for providing accurate information as may be required to access or to use the Website or the Service, including during registration or when performing other functions where information, including personally identifiable information, is required.  If you wish to correct any personally identifiable information you have provided to us, you may do so by contacting our privacy team at the email address set forth above.
  • Deactivating or deleting your account.  If you want to stop using your account you may deactivate it or delete it.  The account can only be deleted from the Website.  When you deactivate an account, no user will be able to see it, but it will not be deleted.  We save your profile information in case you later decide to reactivate your account.  Many users deactivate their accounts for temporary reasons and in doing so are asking us to maintain their information until they return to the Website.  You will still have the ability to reactivate your account and restore your profile in its entirety.  When you delete an account, it is permanently deleted from the Website.  You should only delete your account if you are certain you never want to reactivate it.  You may choose deactivate or to delete your account by visiting your account settings page or by emailing info@plotwatt.com from your PlotWatt account’s registered email address.
  • Backup copies.  Removed and deleted information may persist in backup copies for up to 90 days, but will not be available to others.

Opt-out

As noted above, you may at any time opt-out of participating in our development of joint services and/or receiving promotional communications from us and/or request that we discontinue providing your basic contact information to third parties by contacting our privacy team at the email address set forth above.  Please note that if you decide to opt-out of receiving promotional information or request that we discontinue providing your basic contact information, your change in preference will only affect future contacts; if the information already has been provided to third parties, they may continue to use it.

Even if you choose to opt-out, we reserve the right to contact you as necessary in our sole discretion regarding any request you have made for our services or products and changes to this Privacy Policy and also to use, transfer, sell and share aggregated, anonymous data about our users as a group for any business purpose, such as analyzing the Website’s usage trends and seeking compatible advertisers and partners.  Although you can choose to opt out of certain uses of your information, it is not possible to opt out of certain uses or disclosures, including to third party contractors we engage, for purposes of legal compliance and in connection with business transfers by the Company.

Children’s Policy

The Website and the Service are for general audiences and neither is directed toward those under 13 years of age.

Consent to Collection and Processing in the United States

By using the Website and/or the Service, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.

Enforcement

We regularly review our compliance with this Privacy Policy.  Please let us know of any questions or concerns you have regarding this Privacy Policy or our compliance with this Privacy Policy by contacting our privacy team at the email address set forth above.  When we receive formal written complaints, it is our policy to contact that complaining user regarding his/her concerns.  We will cooperate with the appropriate regulatory authorities to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer of personal data that cannot be resolved between the Company and an individual or entity.

Please remember that your use of the Website and the Service is also governed by our Terms and Conditions, which are available at https://www.plotwatt.com/terms

This Privacy Policy was last updated on October 14, 2014.  Prior versions of the Privacy Policy are available here https://www.plotwatt.com/old_privacy_policies

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