Utility Account Holder Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 2024

UtilityAPI provides a platform that allows you to share your utility account, billing, and usage information (“Utility Data”) with third parties that you authorize (the “Service”). When you use the Site, Software, or the Service, you consent to the current version of this Privacy Policy. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SERVICE.

This Utility Account Holder Privacy Policy only applies to utility account holders who wish to share their Utility Data with third parties. If you are a party who wishes to use our Service to access Utility Data from utility account holders, our Service Privacy Policy applies.

1. What Information Do We Collect, How Do We Collect It, and Why Do We Collect It?

We collect a variety of information from you through the UtilityAPI website at utilityapi.com (the “Site”) or the UtilityAPI-enabled third-party software used by your third-party technology provider (“Software”). This information is divided into three categories: information you submit, information we collect automatically, and information we collect from third parties.

What personal information do we collect?	How do we collect this information?	Why do we collect this information?
Information is used to access your utility’s website, including name, contact information, and account authentication and access data.	You submit this information directly in order to use the Service.	We use this information to provide the Service, including accessing information about your utility account.  We also use this information to communicate with you about our Service, alert you to changes in our policies or agreements that may affect you, or to respond to questions you email to us.
Log data, including information on your computer’s IP address, browser type, the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Site or Software, and how you used the Site or Software (such as what parts of the Site you viewed and when, and how often and how long you’ve used the Site).	This information is collected by the Site and Software automatically.	We use this information to troubleshoot user issues and develop the Service and our products.
Information on your utility account, billing, and usage information.	We collect this data from your utility in accordance with the Authorization that you provide	We use this information to deliver the Service.

What about cookies? “Cookies” are small text files containing a string of alphanumeric characters that are downloaded by your web browser when you visit a web site. We may use cookies for purposes of authorizing access to content and identifying users across multiple requests. We may use both session cookies and persistent cookies when you access and use the Site or Software. A session cookie disappears after you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains after you close your browser and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Site or Software. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but your browser may allow you to modify your browser settings to decline certain cookies if you prefer. If you disable cookies, you may not be able to use all of the features and functionality of the Site or Software.

Do Not Track Signals and Similar Mechanisms. We do not respond to browser-initiated Do Not Track signals, as the Internet industry is currently still working on Do Not Track standards, implementations, and solutions.

2. How is the Information Shared or Disclosed?

We share the Utility Data with the parties that you authorize, our service providers, and where required to comply with the law. We may also share authorization statistics with third parties.

We share and disclose the information we collect about you as follows:

1. We will share your Utility Data with the third parties you have authorized (“Authorized Persons”). We do NOT share your authentication and access information (e.g. login credentials) with these parties.
2. We may share your authorization information with your utility. For example, we may disclose your authorization details when your utility asks for proof of authorization.
3. We may share your information with contractors and third party service providers that help us operate our business. These contractors and third party service providers may be provided with access to your information needed to perform their functions but may not use such information for any other purpose. For example, we may use contractors for technical database support and troubleshooting.
4. We may provide third parties with authorization statistics about our user base and its usage patterns. This may include making these statistics available on the Site. Some examples of these types of statistics include the total number of authorizations per month. We do NOT provide third parties with your Utility Data.
5. We will also disclose information when we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation or legal process (like a court order, search warrant, or subpoena); to protect the safety, rights, or property of the public, any person, or UtilityAPI; or to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.

3. Utility Data Downloaded by Authorized Persons

We are not responsible for how Authorized Persons use your Utility Data once they download it.

The Service permits your Authorized Persons to download your Utility Data. We are not responsible for how Authorized Persons use your Utility Data after it is downloaded. The use, and disclosure of your downloaded Utility Data is subject to the privacy policies of those Authorized Persons, and not this Privacy Policy.

4. Business Transfers

If we get acquired by another company or engage in a similar transaction, your authorization record and logs will transfer to that other company, but your authorization will be revoked and Utility Data will not transfer to that company unless you re-authorize.

In the event of a merger, sale of capital stock or assets, reorganization, consolidation or similar transaction (a “Business Transfer”) involving UtilityAPI, the information we possess (including personally identifiable information) shall be transferred as a corporate asset to the acquiring entity, provided that such entity will continue to handle such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This DOESN’T include your Utility Data; your authorization for us to collect and share that information will be revoked in the event of a Business Transfer unless you re-authorize by the conclusion of the transfer.

5. Third Party Marketing

We don’t provide your personal information to third parties so they can market to you without your consent.

We WILL NOT provide your personally identifiable information to third parties for their own marketing purposes without your written consent. Signing the consent form and agreeing to the Utility Account Holder Authorization and Agreement DOESN’T qualify as written consent for anyone other than the third parties listed on the consent form. We’ll ask for any additional consent directly, if we ever do.

If you have any questions regarding this policy, or would like to change your preferences, you may contact us at privacy@utilityapi.com.

6. Additional Privacy Rights for California Residents

If you’re a California resident, you have certain additional rights.

Users of the Service may request information about our collection, use, and disclosure of their information (a “Request to Know”), including:

– the categories and specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected about the user;

– the categories of sources from which we have collected the user’s Personal Information;

– the business or commercial purpose for collecting the user’s Personal Information;

– the categories of Third Parties with whom we have shared or disclosed for a business purpose.

Users may also request that we delete their Personal Information (a “Request to Delete”).

Requests to Know

Users may submit a Request to Know by emailing us at privacy@utilityapi.com.

Users may submit two types of Requests to Know: (1) A request for the specific pieces of Personal Information that we have collected about you in the past twelve months; or (2) a request for the categories of Personal Information that we have collected about you in the past twelve months, and we have used and disclosed that Personal Information.

When you submit a Request to Know, we may ask you to provide certain pieces of information in order to verify your identity, such as your name, email address, and phone number. If you submit a Request to Know for the specific pieces of information that we have collected about you, we may also require you to submit a signed declaration under the penalty of perjury stating that you are the consumer whose Personal Information is the subject of the Request to Know.

If we are able to verify your identity, we will respond to your Request to Know by: (a) providing the requested information; or (b) explaining why we are not required to provide the requested information. If we are unable to verify your identity, we will respond by explaining why we cannot verify your identity. We will confirm receipt of your Request to Know within 10 days and will respond to your Request to Know within 45 days. If a response requires additional time, we will notify you of the basis for the delay and may extend our response period up to an additional 45 days.

If we provide the information requested, we will provide the information free of charge and in a readily usable portable format. We have no obligation to provide Personal Information to you more than twice in a 12-month period. If a Request to Know or series of Requests to Know are manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a reasonable fee for processing the Request(s) to Know, or may refuse to process the Request(s) to Know.

Requests to Delete

Users may submit a Request to Delete by emailing us at privacy@utilityapi.com. When you submit a Request to Delete, we may ask you to provide certain pieces of information in order to verify your identity, such as your name, email address, and phone number. If we are able to verify your identity, we will respond to your Request to Delete by (a) deleting your Personal Information and, if applicable, directing any of our Service Providers to delete your Personal Information; or (b) explaining why we are not required to delete your Personal Information. We may choose to delete Personal Information by de-identifying, aggregating, or completely erasing the Personal Information. We will specify the manner in which we delete your Personal Information.

If a Request to Delete or series of Requests to Delete are manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a reasonable fee for processing the Request(s) to Delete, or may refuse to process the Request(s) to Delete.

7. Your Choices About Your Information

You can see and delete your Utility Data anytime.

You can see and download the collected Utility Data collected through a link in the receipt email sent to your submitted email address, or you can request to access all Utility Data we have collected from your utility account at any time by sending an email to privacy@utilityapi.com.

You can also expire your authorization to share Utility Data at any time through the same receipt email. This expiration will delete your authentication and access information and halt the collection of new Utility Data with your Authorized Person(s), but it will not delete the Utility Data we previously collected and the third parties will continue to have access to that Utility Data until your authorization is revoked by either you, your utility, or your Authorized Persons. Your Authorization Form also provides the option of setting your authorization to automatically expire after a certain period of time.

To delete your Utility Data, utility account authentication, and utility account access information, you can revoke your authorization through the same receipt email, or by sending us a request to do so through an email sent to privacy@utilityapi.com. This only applies to Utility Data we store on our servers, not to Utility Data downloaded by Authorized Person(s). To delete downloaded Utility Data, contact your Authorized Person(s).

8. Security

We take measures to protect your information, but no security measures are 100% effective.

We’re committed to online data security, and for that reason we take technical and organizational measures to protect your data against accidental or unlawful destruction or accidental loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure or access. However, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is absolutely secure. Therefore, while we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

9. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep your authentication and access information until the authorization is expired. We keep your Utility Data until the authorization is revoked. We may have to keep your information for longer if legally required to do so.

When your authorization expires, we will delete your access and authentication information so no further Utility Data can be collected. We will keep Utility Data we previously collected unless you revoke the authorization.

When you revoke an authorization, we will immediately disable access to your Utility Data by your Authorized Persons, delete your authentication and access information and Utility Data from our database, and we will set your Utility Data to be deleted from our raw data storage upon the next scheduled raw data deletion period. Federal, state, local laws may require us to store certain information. In order to comply with those requirements, we may be unable to delete your information from our database until the expiration of the applicable period.

10. International Users and Consent to Transfer

Your Utility Data and utility account authentication and access information will processed in your country, but other information may be processed in the United States, so you consent to the transfer of that information to the US.

Your Utility Data, utility account authentication, and utility account access information will be processed in your country and will not be transferred outside of that country. Other information, such as authorization receipts and logs, may be processed by us in the United States, where data protection and privacy regulations may not offer the same level of protection as in other parts of the world, such as the European Union. By using the Service, you agree to this Policy and you consent to the transfer of all such information to the United States, which may not offer a level of protection equivalent to that required in the European Union or certain other countries, and to the processing of that information as described in this Policy.

11. Third Party Links and Services

There might be links to third party sites on our Site. We’re not responsible for those sites, and your use of them is covered by those sites’ privacy policies, not our Privacy Policy.

The Site may contain links to third-party websites. UtilityAPI is not responsible for the content or practices of those websites or services. The collection, use, and disclosure of your personal and other information is subject to the privacy policies of the third party websites or services, and not this Privacy Policy.

12. Children Under 16

We don’t knowingly collect information from children under 13.

UtilityAPI doesn’t knowingly collect information from children under 16. If you believe that your child under the age of 16 has provided personal information to us through the Site, contact us at privacy@utilityapi.com or the mailing address at the end of this Privacy Policy and we’ll work to delete any such personally identifiable information.

13. Effective Date; Changes

This Policy applies to information we collect on or after the Effective Date above. This Policy may change, but those changes will not be retroactive unless you agree.

This Privacy Policy applies to all information collected by us or provided to us on and after the Effective Date (which you can find at the top of this page). We may occasionally make changes to this Privacy Policy, and if we do, we’ll post any changes on this page. By continuing to access or use the Site or Software, you agree to these changes to be effective on a going-forward basis. We won’t retroactively apply any material change to the Policy without first obtaining your consent.

14. Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@utilityapi.com or (510) 907-0009 or UtilityAPI, Attn: Privacy Questions, 1212 Broadway, 16th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612.