Respect for the client’s right to confidentiality is a fundamental principle to the proper functioning and credibility of Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. personal information policies are used to protect the personal information of customers and others in our possession. This policy applies to all clients who have agreed to be served by us, visitors to our website or who have provided us with personal information. The terms of this policy may be revised. It is the responsibility of each customer to review the policies.
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must keep confidential information collected in accordance with the obligations provided by the law on The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) and the conditions of service issued for Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB).
The privacy policy incorporates the privacy principles established by the Canadian Standards Association and adopted by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
By personal information, we define any information that identifies a person. This information is your name, postal address, email address, financial information, date of birth and any other information about you obtained electronically, in person or by phone.
Personal information does not include the name, title, business address or phone number of an employee of an organization. Also excluded are personal information, aggregated information, which does not allow access to an individual’s personal information.
1-Responsibility
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. is responsible for protecting personal information that is in its possession or under the control of the organization, including any personal information it holds or transfers to third parties for processing.
If you have any questions or concerns about your personal information or this privacy policy, please contact us.
2-Determining the purpose of collecting personal information
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must state the reasons why personal information is collected before or at the time it is collected. On request, the person collecting the personal information must explain the purposes of this information.
Unless required by law, Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. does not use or disclose the personal information obtained without first determining and documenting the new purpose, and without obtaining the client’s consent.
All personal information collected by Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. is for the following purposes:
- Establish, provide, and maintain electricity services.
- Identify our customers, respond to their requests, and maintain a responsible business relationship with them.
- Bill customers and collect payments.
- Establish pre-authorized payments.
- Determine eligibility for products and services
- Recommend specific products and services and meet customer needs
- Develop, improve, promote, or provide products and services.
- Provide customers with information about the electricity industry, tariffs, and energy conservation programs.
- Inform clients about new and ongoing programs.
- Manage and develop Hydro Hawkesbury Inc.’s operations and day-to-day
- Meet legal and regulatory requirements.
3-Consent
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must make every reasonable effort to ensure that a customer is informed of the specified purposes for which personal information will be used or disclosed when obtaining consent. The purposes must be set out in such a way as to be reasonably understood by the client.
Usually, Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must ask the customer for consent to use and disclose their personal information at the same time it collects it. However, we may ask for consent to use and disclose personal information after it has been collected but before it is used for a new purpose.
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. requires its customers to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of their personal information only when necessary to achieve the specified purpose.
In determining the appropriate form of consent, Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must consider the sensitive nature of the personal information and the reasonable expectations of its customers.
A client’s use of the services means that the customer implicitly consents to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. for all purposes.
A client may withdraw his consent at any time, subject to certain legal or contractual restrictions and with reasonable notice. Customers can contact Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. for more information on the consequences of withdrawing their consent.
4-Limiting collection
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. collects personal information primarily from its customers. Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. will not require you to consent to the collection of personal information other than those required to achieve the defined purposes as a condition of service.
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. may also collect personal information from other sources, such as credit reporting agencies, employers, or personal references or third parties who have the right to disclose personal information.
5-Limiting use, communication, and conservation
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. may use or disclose personal information without a client’s knowledge or consent in an emergency where a person’s life, health or safety is at risk. Information may be disclosed without the customer’s consent:
- Whether it is public knowledge.
- Whether it is a matter of complying with a legal requirement.
- Whether the information is required by order of law and court.
- If the disclosure of the information is the subject of an agreement or a contract signed with the client.
- If the account is recovered, the necessary information may be forwarded to the collection agency selected by Hydro Hawkesbury Inc.
Only Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. employees are granted access to personal information for professional reasons or because their duties require it in a reasonable manner.
Due to the structure of the Ontario’s electricity sector, we may need to pass on your billing and consumer information to external billing and settlement agencies, for example if you have signed a separate contract with an electricity retailer. Our relationships with external agencies regarding billing, regulation and regulation are governed by our distributor license and regulatory codes established by the Ontario Energy Board.
To provide services on its behalf, Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. may hire employees, contractors, or other companies and third parties, who require access to specific data.
In accordance with its distributor license, Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must not disclose consumer information, including personal information, to any subsidiary without obtaining the written consent of consumers, except where consumer information must be disclosed for above reasons or for the purpose of billing or operating the market.
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. retains personal information only for as long as it takes to reach its end or as required by law. When personal information is used to make decisions about a customer, Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must retain the information as such or the arguments that supported that decision for the circumstances in which a decision must be made about a client.
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. implements reasonable means of control and practices regarding the retention and destruction of personal information and records that are no longer necessary or relevant to the specified purposes or that the law no longer requires to be retained. This information is then destroyed, deleted or de-based.
6-Accuracy
The personal information used by Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must be sufficiently accurate, complete, and up to date to minimize the possibility of inaccurate information being used to make decisions about a customer. Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must update the personal information it holds about its customers as required to achieve a specific purpose or as soon as a person informs them of any changes to their personal information.
7-Security measures
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must protect personal information from a variety of risks, including loss or theft, unauthorized access, communication, copying, use, modification, or destruction, through appropriate security measures. Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must protect the information regardless of the format in which it is stored.
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. must protect personal information disclosed to third parties by emphasizing the confidentiality of the information, the purposes for which it should be used, the limited number of people whose professional duties require access to the information, and the physical measures and procedures that are required to protect the information.
All Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. employees and affiliates who have access to personal information agree, as part of their terms of employment, to respect the confidentiality of personal information.
8-Transparency
Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. is committed to making the content of this policy easy to understand, accessible and up to date. Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. may make changes to its privacy policy; these changes are published on our web page and, if necessary, added as an insert to the billing.
9-Access to personal information
Upon request, the client may obtain information on the type, use and disclosure of personal information that Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. has in his possession and under his control. Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. may require a customer to provide satisfactory proof of identity before giving them access to their personal information. Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. may charge a nominal fee to meet such a request. Hydro Hawkesbury Inc. may deny you access to your personal information when such a refusal is permitted or required by law or by regulations.