Privacy Policy

Respect for the client’s right to confidentiality is a fundamental principle to the proper functioning and credibility of Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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.

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB).

The privacy policy incorporates the 10 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

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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, Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. operations and day-to-day
• Meet legal and regulatory requirements.

3. Consent

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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, Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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.

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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, Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. for more information on the consequences of withdrawing their consent.

4. Limiting collection

Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. collects personal information primarily from its customers.   Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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.

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. Only Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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, Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. may hire employees, contractors, or other companies and third parties, who require access to specific data.

In accordance with its distributor license, Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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.

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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, Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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.

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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.   Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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.   Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. must protect the information regardless of the format in which it is stored.

Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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

Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. is committed to making the content of this policy easy to understand, accessible and up to date.   Cooperative Hydro Embrun 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 Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. has in his possession and under his control.   Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. may require a customer to provide satisfactory proof of identity before giving them access to their personal information.   Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. may charge a nominal fee to meet such a request.   Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. may deny you access to your personal information when such a refusal is permitted or required by law or by regulations.

10. Opportunity to file a complaint against non-compliance of the principles.

A customer can challenge Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. compliance with this privacy policy by contacting Benoit Lamarche, Data Protection Manager at our office, by telephone at 613-443-5110 or by email at [email protected].

If a complaint is substantiated, Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. will take appropriate steps to resolve the complaint, including, if necessary, amendments to its policies and procedures.  The client will be informed of the outcome of the investigation into his complaint.

In addition to the 10 principles outlined above Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. website, its online services, interactive applications, electronic messages, and advertisements may use connection cookies and other analytics technologies.  These technologies help measure Cooperative Hydro Embrun Inc. performance and engagement rate.  The purpose of collecting personal information using these technologies is in line with the purposes stated above.