Privacy Policy
What is Personal Information?
Personal information refers to information (whether factual or subjective) about an identifiable individual, regardless of the format in which it is recorded. Personal information collected and recorded by the Company includes:
- picture identification card (i.e. driver license, student card, etc.);
- passport if not a Canadian resident;
- security questions to confirm identification;
- mailing address, telephone numbers and email address;
- civic address of service;
- details of the service;
- metering records;
- billing and electrical consumption records;
- service and equipment;
- banking information;
- credit information;
- work orders and work summaries;
- service contacts;
- land use records such as easements, rights-of-ways, etc.;
- security issues such as threats made, attacks, property damage, etc.;
- names of individuals approved to access an account holders account;
- other individuals names as an attention line to mail the bill;
- program participation;
- supplier performance issues;
- information obtained for the purpose of supplier registration with Maritime Electric and the negotiation and implementation of contracts; and
- any other relevant information regarding the provision of electrical service as provided under the Electric Power Act.
For the purposes of this Policy, personal information does include information about customers or suppliers that can lead to the identification of an individual. It does not include generic customer information where specific individuals cannot be identified.
Does Maritime Electric ask for personal information through this Website?
Users can access Maritime Electric’s Website for general information about electricity and the Company’s operations without the need to provide any personal information. However, in order for someone to be able to send emails, open, close and request changes to their account and inform/view of power outages with Maritime Electric, they must first register by completing a form. This requires the user to provide contact information (such as name, address, telephone number, email address, etc.), payment information (such as the name of bank, the branch and bank account number).
How does Maritime Electric use the personal information it collects?
Maritime Electric collects, uses and discloses personal information for the following purposes:
- establishing and maintaining a customer relationship for the delivery of electrical services, and related services and programs in accordance with the provisions of the Electric Power Act, including keeping records of the customer relationship;
- collecting meter readings with electronic devices;
- administering its billing and accounting systems;
- collecting payments;
- making credit approvals and related practices such as monitoring customer payment histories, evaluating customer credit standing and exchanging credit information with credit reporting agencies and bureaus, as required;
- assessing electrical system requirements;
- researching and developing new products and/or programs to better serve customers; and,
- ensuring compliance with regulatory, legal or other applicable legislation and establishing and maintaining a supplier relationship to support the acquisition of materials and services necessary for the delivery of electrical services in accordance with the provisions of the Electric Power Act.
Does Maritime Electric share personal information with outside parties? If so, with whom?
Under normal circumstances, Maritime Electric will not use personal information for any other purpose than that which was intended as outlined in how Maritime Electric uses the personal information collected, unless it obtains fresh consent from the customer or supplier.
Special circumstances where personal information may be collected, used or disclosed without the customer’s or supplier’s consent or knowledge would be in accordance with the provisions of the governing legislation. Examples of this are: to a third party acting for Maritime Electric for the purpose of collecting a debt; in compliance with a subpoena or other court order; or, otherwise in accordance with the law. Other examples include situations where it would be clearly in the interests of the customer or supplier, but where consent cannot be obtained in a timely manner, or in the case of an emergency where the life, health or security of the customer or supplier is threatened or otherwise at risk.
Will Maritime Electric use personal information for direct mailings?
Maritime Electric may send you information about electrical service that may be of interest to you. Maritime Electric may send you information about electrical promotions designed to facilitate better supply management (i.e. energy conservation).
Does Maritime Electric use “cookies”?
Yes, Maritime Electric does use “cookies”.
In order to complete certain transactions, such as viewing your account information, Maritime Electric needs to confirm who you are. This is done by asking you to enter your login id and password before letting you access certain pages on the website. When registering for such access, users can choose whether to accept cookies.
The “cookie” is a file of information that a Website can send to your computer when you link to that site. Most browsers provide a procedure that will enable you to control whether you want to receive “cookies” by notifying you when a website is about to send a “cookie” file. “Cookies” are often used to recognize repeat users, track usage patterns and make other activities easier when you revisit a site. A “cookie” does not extract personal information about you.
To save you time, a common practice of commercial websites, including Maritime Electric’s, is to give users the option of saving this information on your own PC so you do not have to retype it again. When you indicate you wish to save this information a file called a “cookie” is sent to your computer. It is important you understand the security implications of using cookies. To prevent someone who has access to your computer from accessing your personal information on Maritime Electric’s website, it is recommended that you do not save your login information.
Does Maritime Electric use the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses?
Yes, Maritime Electric does use Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
IP address uniquely identifies your computer when you are connected to the Internet. Maritime Electric obtains your IP address when you link to its website. IP addresses are used to analyze trends, administer the website, track user’s movement within the website and gather broad demographic information for combined use. Your IP address is not linked to personally identifiable information.
What is Maritime Electric’s policy with respect to the privacy of personal information?
Maritime Electric collects, maintains and uses customer information in order to provide services, products and programs that best meet the needs of its customers. The Company respects the privacy of its customers and recognizes the need to protect their confidential information. The Company maintains the confidentiality of any information customers provide, and in handling such information, complies with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Maritime Electric endeavours to keep customer information current and accurate, and to safeguard it from unauthorized access. Except as required by law, Maritime Electric does not disclose customer information to third parties.
Maritime Electric has designated a Privacy Officer who is responsible for Maritime Electric’s compliance with the Act. The Maritime Electric Privacy Officer can be contacted at: privacyofficer@maritimeelectric.com or 1-800-670-1012.
Security
Security Precautions
You are responsible to maintain all security precautions you deem necessary to ensure information displayed or downloaded from our site about you, is kept secure at your location.
System Security
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain information accuracy, and ensure the appropriate use of information, Maritime Electric has designed and instituted appropriate physical, electronic and administrative procedures to safeguard and secure the information that is collected on Maritime Electric's website.
You will know this technology is being used by looking at the website address your browser displays for the page you are currently looking at. The address will begin with "http://" in standard, non-secure mode and “https://” in secure mode. The "s" stands for "secure."
“Cookies”
In order to complete certain transactions, such as viewing your account information, we need to validate who you are. We do this by requesting you enter your login id and password before allowing you access to certain pages on our site. When registering, users can choose to accept cookies.
The “cookie” is a file of information that a website can send to your computer when you link to that site. Most browsers provide a procedure that will enable you to control whether you want to receive cookies by notifying you when a web site is about to send a cookie file. Cookies are often used to recognize repeat users, track usage patterns and make other activities easier when you re-visit a site. A cookie does not extract personal information about you.
To save you time, a common practice of commercial websites, including Maritime Electric, is to give users the option of saving this information on your own PC so you don’t have to re-key it next time. When you indicate you wish to save this information we do this by sending a file called a “cookie” to your computer. It is important you understand the security implications with using cookies. To prevent someone who has access to your computer from accessing your personal information on Maritime Electric’s website, we recommend that you do not save your “log in” information.
IP Addresses
An IP address uniquely identifies your computer when you are connected to the Internet. It is a unique number and is not linked to personally identifiable information. We obtain your IP address when you link to our website. We use IP addresses to manage the Maritime Electric system, analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement within our website and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.