Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy Policy last revised April 16, 2018

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is strongly committed to transparency regarding how we collect and use your information. The policy below is applicable to CUB’s website, including cubwi.org and its affiliated websites (including any versions optimized for viewing on a wireless or tablet device); all email newsletters published or distributed by CUB; all apps published by CUB; and all other interactive features, services, and communications provided by CUB (“Sites”), however accessed and/or used, that are operated by us, made available by us, or produced and maintained by CUB (collectively “CUB” or “we,” “us,” or “our”). We have established this policy (“Privacy Policy”) to let you know the kinds of information we may gather during your visit to these Sites, why we gather your information, what we use your information for, when we might disclose your personal information to third parties, and how you can manage your personal information.

This Privacy Policy is part of the terms and conditions that are set forth in our Terms and Conditions. By using our Sites, you are accepting the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use our Sites. CUB reserves the right to modify or amend the terms of our Privacy Policy from time to time without notice to you. If you continue to use our Sites after we post changes to this Privacy Policy, it will mean that you accept those changes. If we intend to apply the modifications or amendments to this Privacy Policy retroactively or to personal information already in our possession, we will provide you with notice of the modifications or amendments.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or don’t see your concerns addressed here, you should contact us by email at privacy@cubwi.org.

We collect two basic types of information from you in conjunction with your use of the Sites: personal information and non-personal information. Personal information is information that you may provide to us, as described more fully below, when you become a member, make a donation, complete a survey, register for CUB’s mailing list or any part thereof, or provide your e-mail address for any other reason. Personal information is any information that can individually identify you and includes, among other things, your name, e-mail address, telephone number, mailing address, credit card number, billing information, and contact information. Non-personal information includes information that does not personally identify you, but it may include tracking and usage information about your location, demographics, and use of the Sites.

NORMAL WEBSITE USAGE

CUB has a firm commitment to internet privacy. You can visit most portions of our Sites without telling us who you are and without revealing any personally-identifiable information.

Collection of Personal Information From or Through Sites

When you interact with any CUB property page or account on a social media platform, such as Facebook, we may collect the personal information that you make available to us on that page or account including your account ID or “handle.” However, we will comply with the privacy policies of the corresponding social media platform and we will only collect and store such personal information that we are permitted to collect by these social media platforms.

Collection and Use of Personally-Identifiable Information

CUB may collect personally-identifiable data about you when such data is voluntarily submitted to our Sites. There are several circumstances in which you may supply us with your personal information. The following lists the most common ways in which we may collect your personal information:

  • Sign up to receive e-mail newsletters or e-mail alerts from CUB
  • Participation in surveys, polls, or other research
  • Participation in special events and promotions
  • Making a donation, joining, or renewing your CUB membership
  • Participation on social media accounts involving CUB and our Sites
  • Participation in communities, comment threads, other fora, and other interactive services
  • Submission of user-generated content on any part of the Sites that permit it
  • Any other place on the Sites where you knowingly volunteer personal information

For example, our Sites may require submission of personally-identifiable data for visitors to become a member of CUB or join other CUB activities or programs. Such information is used to send information about CUB to our visitors. Financial information is used to bill visitors in connection with their donations.

Collection and Use of Non-Personally Identifiable Information

CUB may also collect certain information that does not identify you individually and our servers may automatically keep an activity log of your use of our Sites. We may collect and store any of the following categories of non-personal information:

  • Non-identifiable demographic data such as five-digit zip code as part of collecting personal information
  • Device information about your computer, mobile device, or other device that you use to access the Sites. This information may include IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, device type, browser type, and browser language.
  • Analytics and usage information about your use of the Sites.
  • Additional “traffic data” and log files such as time of access, date of access, software crash reports, session identification number, access times, and referring website addresses.

Use of cookies

CUB collects some information through the use of cookies. A “cookie” is a small string of text that is transferred to your computer/device web browser and can collect data regarding your operating system, browser type, device type, IP address, and other technical information. These cookies do not collect personally-identifiable information through general use and browsing of the Sites. You can remove, block, or disable cookies using the settings in your web browser.

Google Analytics

We use Google services, including Google Analytics, which uses cookies and other, similar technologies, to collect information about Site use anonymously and reports website trends, without identifying individual visitors. You can learn about Google’s practices by going to https://policies.google.com/privacy/partners and opt out of them by downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

CUB uses the information we learn from you to help us improve your experience on the Sites. We may use your personal and non-personal Information in the following ways:

  • Provide you with the content and services you request
  • Track your donation information
  • Post your user-generated content to our Sites as you request
  • Communicate with you about changes to our policies
  • Communicate with you about your comment to a story or topic
  • Send you newsletters about general CUB activity, notify you about an important CUB issue, or notify you about a CUB giving campaign or special event
  • Administer surveys and polls
  • Optimize our resources by gauging how many CUB members live in a particular area of Wisconsin, and who may be impacted by the actions of a public utility or other regulated entity
  • Detect, investigate, and prevent activities that may violate our policies or be illegal
  • Perform statistical, demographic, and marketing analyses of users of the Sites and their Site-use patterns

Disclosure to Third Parties

Third parties perform certain services on CUB’s behalf, such as payment processing, data processing, and outreach. These third parties have access to your personal information only as needed to perform their services for CUB and are obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of the personal information.

CUB occasionally exchanges member mailing information with other Wisconsin nonprofit organizations. Exchanging information in this way allows CUB to reach a wider audience in a cost-effective manner. A third-party vendor carries out the communication, and the partner nonprofit organizations do not directly receive member information; they will only learn information about CUB members who choose to respond to the third-party communication. You may withdraw your consent to our sharing of your personal information with partner nonprofit organizations at any time by following the opt-out process described below.

We may also use or disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to applicable law or comply with legal process served on us or this site; (b) protect and defend our rights or property, this site or our users, and (c) act under emergency circumstances to protect the personal safety of us, our affiliates, agents, site users, or the public.

Retention of User Information

CUB retains certain member information, such as names, addresses, and donation amounts, on a password-protected server. CUB does not retain member payment information, such as credit card numbers and security codes, as a third-party vendor conducts all credit card processing for CUB.
If you terminate your CUB membership, we may retain information for backup, archival, and/or audit purposes.

Security

CUB uses industry-accepted data collection, security, and encryption methodologies in attempt to ensure the secure collection and transmission of sensitive user information. While we try our best to safeguard your personal information once we receive it, this policy should not be construed as a fail-proof warranty of the security of CUB Sites.

LINKS TO OR FROM ANOTHER WEBSITE

These Sites may contain links to other websites operated by affiliates of CUB or third parties. Please be advised that the practices described in this Privacy Policy do not apply to information gathered through these other websites. We are not responsible for the actions and privacy policies of third parties and other websites.

GOVERNING LAW

These Sites are published in the United States. We attempt to protect the personal information of all users of our Sites and we attempt to comply with local data protection and consumer rights laws to the extent they may apply to CUB services, but our family of Sites are located and targeted to United States citizens and our policies are directed at compliance with those laws. If you are uncertain whether this privacy policy conflicts with the applicable local privacy laws where you are located, you should not submit your personal information to CUB.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

As our Sites develop, we may add new services and features to our Sites. If these additions affect our Privacy Policy, this Privacy Policy will be updated appropriately. We will identify those changes prominently and post a modification date at the top of this page. We do, however, recommend that you read this Privacy Policy each time you use our Sites in case you missed our notice of changes to the Privacy Policy.

OPT-OUT, CORRECTION, AND UNSUBSCRIBE PROCEDURES

To opt out of having your information exchanged with other organizations, to cancel your membership, or to correct any information, send us email or postal mail as follows:

Email to: privacy@cubwi.org.

Postal mail to:
Citizens Utility Board
6401 Odana Road, Suite 24
Madison, WI 53719

In your letter or email, make sure to provide your: full name, mailing address (including city, state, and zip code), and either 1) indication that you do not wish to have your membership information exchanged with other organizations, 2) indication that you do not wish to receive communication from CUB, or 3) correction instructions.

We may continue to contact you via email for administrative or informational purposes, including follow-up messages regarding the administration of your account or other transactions you have undertaken.

COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

If you suspect that we have handled your personal information in a manner that doesn’t comply with the Privacy Policy, please contact us by e-mailing privacy@cubwi.org.