Smart Neighbor General Privacy Policy
Introduction
This Privacy Statement applies to the web site located at www.smartneighbor.com (the "Web Site").
We seek to safeguard your privacy. This Privacy Statement details our general online information practices, how we will seek to protect your information, and the limited manner in which we may use that information.
By visiting the Web Site or using services available on the Web Site, you consent to the collection and use of your information by us and third party providers as set forth in this Privacy Statement. This Privacy Statement does not apply to any other information collected by Alabama Power Company through any other means. Please note that other more specific privacy terms, conditions and policies may apply (and be provided to you) when you purchase products or sign up for certain web site services. Please review those terms carefully, as such terms may differ for the terms of this general Privacy Statement.
Throughout this Privacy Statement, the words "you," "your," and "yours" refer to any person or entity using the Web Site, and the words, "Smart Neighbor, " "we," "us," and "our(s)" refer to Smart Neighbor by Alabama Power Company.
Changes to Our Privacy Statement
Please review this Privacy Statement regularly for any changes or updates. We may change this Privacy Statement at any time and with notice to you on the Web Site. All changes to the Privacy Statement are effective immediately when we post them. Your continued use of the Web Site following posting of changes to this Privacy Statement signifies that you accept such changes. Additionally, if you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Statement or the practices set forth in it, please contact us .
Children's Privacy: SmartNeighbor.com Web Site
THE WEB SITE DOES NOT KNOWINGLY COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM VISITORS UNDER AGE 13 AND IS IN NO WAY DIRECTED AT CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13. IN THE EVENT THAT WE LEARN THAT WE HAVE COLLECTED PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM A CHILD UNDER AGE 13 WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT (OTHER THAN COLLECTION FOR SUPPORT OF INTERNAL OPERATIONS AS SET FORTH BELOW), WE WILL DELETE THAT INFORMATION AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
Information We Collect When You Visit the Web Sites
Except as set forth in this Privacy Statement, we do not collect personal information on the Web Site unless you voluntarily provide it to us when you visit the Web Site. When you visit our Web Site, our Web Site automatically collects certain information about interactions between your web browser and the Web Site and other web sites unrelated to the Web Site that you visit, including your IP address, the web pages you visit and how long you visit them. Web browsers may provide certain information that we may also collect, including your time zone, browser type and version and language preference. We or our third party service providers may organize or analyze IP addresses for general support of internal operations, including maintaining functionality of the Web Site and diagnosing Web Site's issues, analyzing trends, providing more efficient service, maintaining and/or enhancing security for users and the Web Site, producing traffic volume statistics and making the Web Site and our infrastructure more useful and secure. In an effort to protect the security of our critical infrastructure, any use of the Web Site or information relating to such use may be monitored and disclosed to federal authorities or agencies.
The Web Site located at www.smartneighbor.com may also share certain information such as cookie data (as discussed more specifically below) with third-party advertising partners. This information would enable you to view advertisements that they believe will be of interest to you.
Cookies
Some parts of the Web Site use "cookies." Our Web Site may ask your web browser to store a small text file on your computer, which will then be sent back to our Web Site automatically each time you click on a new page on the Web Site. This enables us to provide you with the best browsing experience possible. A cookie cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. You can refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer by adjusting your web browser privacy settings or by other widely available methods. Please note that you may not be able to use certain features of the Web Site if your web browser does not accept cookies.
Shopify
Our store is hosted on Shopify Inc. Shopify provides us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you. Your data is stored through Shopify’s data storage, databases and the general Shopify application. They store your data on a secure server behind a firewall.
If you choose a direct payment gateway to complete your purchase, then Shopify stores your credit card data. It is encrypted through the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Your credit card data may be transferred, processed or stored outside of the United States. Your purchase transaction data is stored only as long as is necessary to complete your purchase transaction. After that is complete, your purchase transaction information is deleted.
All direct payment gateways adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of credit card information by our store and its service providers. For more insight, you may also want to read Shopify’s Terms of Service (https://www.shopify.com/legal/terms) or Privacy Statement (https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy). Stripe, Inc. provides payment services on behalf of Shopify and will also have access to your personal information and credit card data. For more insight, review Stripe’s Privacy Statement (https://www.stripe.com/us/privacy).
Third-Party Services
In general, the third-party providers used by us will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide to us. However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies in respect to the information we are required to provide to them for your purchase-related transactions. For these providers, we recommend that you read their privacy policies so you can understand the manner in which your personal information will be handled by these providers. In particular, remember that certain providers may be located in or have facilities that are located a different jurisdiction than either you or us. So if you elect to proceed with a transaction that involves the services of a third-party service provider, then your information may become subject to the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which that service provider or its facilities are located.
Our store uses Google Analytics to help us learn about who visits our site and what pages are being looked at.
Marketing and Surveys
When you visit the Web Site, we may ask if you would like us to send you marketing or customer service materials about our products and services. As part of our efforts to provide you with better products and services and to increase customer satisfaction, we may share information with third-party providers that assist us in providing those products and/or services to you. From time to time, we may include survey forms on the Web Site. For example, we may survey customers concerning issues that are important to us, such as customer opinions or services offered. We may disclose aggregated survey results to other third parties, such as the public service commission, rating agencies, or advertising agencies. Additionally, we do provide our survey vendors with limited personal information needed to conduct the survey, such as names, email addresses or telephone numbers.
Linked Websites
The Web Site may provide links to other websites that we do not own or operate ("Linked Web Sites"). You may have the ability to visit such Linked Web Sites. Please be aware that when you leave the Web Site and visit Linked Web Sites, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those Linked Web Sites. The privacy statements, policies and other terms contained on the Linked Web Sites apply.
Social Media Services
We have worked with certain third-party social media services to offer you their services through the Web Site. For example, you can use third-party social media services, including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, and others to share information about your experience on the Web Site with your friends and followers on those services. These social media services may be able to collect information about you, including your activity on the Web Site. These other services also may notify your friends, both on the Web Site and on the services themselves, that you are a user of the Web Site or about your use of the Web Site, in accordance with applicable law and their own privacy policies.
How We Protect Your Information
We use industry-standard administrative, technical and physical safeguards and protection practices and controls to ensure the integrity of our systems and to protect your information from loss, misuse, alteration and destruction. Such protection measures include firewalls and Secure Socket Layers (SSL) to protect and encrypt sensitive transmissions. Please be advised, however, that no security system is fail-safe and we cannot guarantee the information you provide will never be obtained by unauthorized persons. Should any unauthorized charges appear on your credit card as a result of shopping with www.smartneighbor.com, you must notify your credit card provider in accordance with its reporting rules and procedures.
If you place an order through the Web Site, you will be asked to set up an account and provide an e-mail address and password. In order to help protect your personal information, you should be careful about providing your password to others. If you wish to cancel your account, or if you become aware of any loss, theft or unauthorized use of your password, please contact Customer Service. We are not responsible for any loss that results from the unauthorized use of your username/password, with or without your knowledge.