PRIVACY POLICY
Effective Date: March 1, 2011 READ THIS
PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY BEFORE USING PONDEROSA'S WEBSITES.
OUR COMMITMENT TO PRIVACY
We at The Ponderosa Telephone Company ("Ponderosa")
is committed to respecting the privacy rights of
our customers, visitors, and other users of this Website (the
“Site”). We believe that when you use any of our
products or services, you should understand when and how personal
information is collected, used, disclosed and protected. We
created this Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) to give you confidence
as you visit and use the Site, and to demonstrate our commitment
to fair information practices and privacy protection. This
Policy is only applicable to the Site, and not to other services
offered by Ponderosa nor any other websites that you may be able
to access from the Site. By using the Site, you are consenting to
our collection and use of your personal information as described
in this policy. YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS.
California customers have a right to obtain a
list of all personal information that Ponderosa may have disclosed
to related companies for marketing purposes or to unaffiliated
third parties for their own marketing purposes. Ponderosa, as
authorized by the Federal Communications Commission, shares
personal information between its agents for its own marketing
purposes, but Ponderosa does not disclose customers' personal
information to third parties for the third parties' direct
marketing purposes, as governed by California Civil Code 1798.83. A California customer
may contact Ponderosa and request a general list of information
shared and the companies among which it is shared. This
request may be made by contacting us at 1-800-682-1878 or
559-868-6000, e-mailing us at
privacy@goponderosa.com,
or sending any correspondence to Eric Vargas, Customer Operations Director, Ponderosa Telephone Company, P.O. Box 21, O'Neals, CA 93645.
INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU.
We collect information
about users of our products or services in the normal course of
our business, and through our Site. When you visit or browse our
Site you may provide us with personal information that can be directly associated with
a specific person or entity, website use information regarding a
group or category of services or customers. We may also collect
information from other sources and combine it with uyoru account
information: Personal Information We collect information you give us when
you purchase, contract for, or use a Ponderosa product or services.
We also collect additional information when you place a call on
your phone. This information is used for billing purposes so you
can be appropriately charged ( and, in some cases, to investigate
fraudulent uses). For example,
we may collect:
■
Name
■
Address
■
E-mail address, content of e-mail
messages, and responses
■
Credit card number
■
Social Security number
■
Employer information
■
Date of birth
■
Driver's license number
■
Telephone numbers
■
Other personal information (e.g.,
mother's maiden name)
Additional information is collected
also when you dial a number on your phone. This information is
used for billing purposes so you can be appropriately charged, and
in some cases to investigate fraudulent usages.
Website Information
Our web servers
automatically receive certain types of information when you
use our Site, for example, w your domain name and IP
address(es), date and time of visits, the type of browser you use,
the website from which your visit originated, page visits, time
spent on web pages, and other similar website “traffic data”. No personal
information about you is revealed in this process. We do not set
any personally identifiable information in cookies. We only use
cookies to collect website use information, so that we can
determine how to improve our Site, complete transactions you
request, and track your selections in order to make appropriate
recommendations about Ponderosa products and services. You can
generally choose whether to accept cookies by changing the
settings on your website browser. However, if you choose to
disable this function, your experience at our Site may be
diminished and some features may not work as they were intended.
Information from Other Sources
We may obtain
information about you from outside sources and add it or combine
it with your account information. For example, we may receive
credit information when you decide to subscribe to one of our
services. We may also use marketing information from third parties to help us better
serve you or inform you about other products or services. We sometimes receive updated delivery
and address information from our shippers or other sources. We
also receive information from agents from whom you purchase our
products and services. USE AND SHARING OF PERSONAL AND AGGREGATE INFORMATION.
We use your personal and website use information
in order to provide optimal customer service, engage in our
business activities, and inform you about other products or
services.
Use of Personal Information
We do not share
your personal information with any third parties without your
consent. We may use your personal
information to verify your identity, to check your qualifications
for services,
or to follow up with transactions initiated on the Site. We may
also use your contact information to send you additional information about Ponderosa.
If at any time you do not wish to receive these communications,
please let us know (see contact information below). When we use other agents, contractors, or companies to perform
services on our behalf, we advise them that they are to protect
your confidential information, and not disclose such information
except in limited circumstances.
Use of Website Information
We use aggregate
information to analyze our Site traffic, but we do not examine
this information for individually identifying information. We may use anonymous IP addresses to help diagnose
problems with our server, to administer our Site, or display
website content according to your preferences.
Use
of Information in Business Transfers
Information about our users,
including personal information, may be disclosed as part of any
merger, acquisition, sale of company assets, or transition of
service to another provider, as well as in the unlikely event of
an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership in which personal
information would be transferred as one of the business assets of
the company.
Use of Information to Protect
Ponderosa and Others
We will disclose personal
information only if required to do so by law, or in good
faith-belief that we need to do so to (1) conform or adhere to
legal requirement, (2)
protect and defend the rights or property of Ponderosa or the
users of the Site, or (3) act in case of emergency to
protect the safety of the public or users of the Site.
CUSTOMER PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Under federal law, you have the right and
Ponderosa has the duty to ensure the confidentiality of
information about your telephone usage, the types of telephone
services purchased, who you call, telephone usage, bill summary,
and current charges. This information is
sometimes referred to as "Customer Proprietary Network
Information," or "CPNI." Ponderosa does not disclose this
information with outside affiliates other than Ponderosa's
authorized agents. Before we share your information with any
person or entity other Ponderosa's authorized agents, we will
first notify you of your rights under the law, describe how we
intend to use the CPNI and give you the option to opt-out of such
information usage.
CHILDRENS' ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT
Our Site is a general audience site, and we do not
direct any of our content specifically at children under 13 years
of age. We understand and are committed to respecting the
sensitive nature of children's privacy online. We also
recognize that many parents purchase products and services for
family use, including use by children under the age of 13, without
our knowledge. Any information collected from such
accounts would appear to Ponderosa as the personal information of
the subscribing adult customer, and will be treated as such under
this Policy. If we make available offers and products online where
a child informs us that he or she is under the age of 13, we will ask a parent to confirm his/her consent in
advance of further collection, use or disclosure of personal
information from that child. At any time, parents may review the
personal information collected, ask to have it deleted, and refuse
to allow any further collection or use of the child's information.
PRESENCE, LOCATION AND TRACKING
If you call 9-1-1 for emergency services, we
provide your location to a public safety answering location,
emergency dispatch provider, fire services, law enforcement
officials, or hospital emergency or trauma care facility. The law
may permit us to disclose the location of a device on our network
without a user's consent to (1) a user's legal guardian or member
of user's immediate family; (2) database management services or
information providers solely to assist in delivering emergency
services; or (3) a government entity if we reasonably believe that
an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious
physical injury to any person requires disclosure without delay.
NETWORK AND INFORMATION SECURITY
We maintain a variety of physical, electronic,
and procedural safeguards to prevent the loss, misuse, and
alteration of the information that we obtain from you, but we
cannot guarantee our ability to prevent loss, misuse
or alteration. THIRD PARTY WEBSITE
AREAS BEYOND COMPANY'S CONTROL
The Site may contain links to other websites. If
you choose to visit other websites, our policy is no longer in
effect. We are not responsible for the
privacy practices or content of other websites, and it is your
responsibility to review the privacy policies of other websites to
ensure that agree to their
policies. UPDATING THIS POLICY
Ponderosa may revise, amend, or modify this
Policy from time to time. Notice of any revision, amendment, or
modification will be posted on the Site, and/or on your start
pages, and/or buy e-mail and/or in mailings to your primary
Ponderosa e-mail account, and will be effective on the date noted
in the posting. This Policy may not be amended or modified by your
except by means of a written document signed by both you and an
authorized representative of Ponderosa. By continuing to use
Ponderosa's services and products after the amendments are
effective, you accept and agree to abide by them.
CONTACTING US
If you have any questions, comments or
complaints concerning this Policy, please contact us at
1-800-682-1878 or 559-868-6000, e-mail us at
privacy@goponderosa.com,
or send any correspondence to Eric Vargas, Customer Operations Director, Ponderosa Telephone Company, P.O. Box 21, O'Neals, CA 93645. Our
representatives will endeavor to contact you within fifteen (15)
days of your inquiry.
|
|
