A Commitment to Your Privacy
Your Privacy Is Not for Sale
EcoFactor does not and will not sell your personal information to anyone, for any reason.
Effective May 3, 2010
At EcoFactor, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries ("EcoFactor," "us" or "we"), we are committed to protecting the privacy of information we maintain about you. Below are details about our commitment, including the types of information we collect, how we use and share that information, and your ability to limit certain information sharing. This Privacy Notice applies to customers and other consumers with whom we have a relationship, as well as to former customers. Throughout this Privacy Notice (for the purposes of this Privacy Notice only), "customers" includes individuals who use our services through a relationship with a third party (for example, a reseller of the EcoFactor services) and other consumers with whom we have a relationship, unless specifically noted otherwise. The information we collect and how we may use that information may vary depending upon the third parties, product or service involved.
How We Collect Information About You
We collect personal information about you in a number of ways.
- Application and registration information. We collect personal information from you when you enroll in one of our services or participate in anEcoFactor promotion. We may also collect information about you from third parties such as consumer reporting agencies to verify your identity, employment or creditworthiness, or to better understand your preferences in using our service. The information we collect may include personal information, including your Social Security number, as well as details about your lifestyle and habits.
- Transaction and experience information. Once your account has been opened, we collect and maintain personal information about your account activity, including your heating and cooling settings, adjustments to those settings, occupancy patterns, and other information about your home and your interaction with your home. This information allows us to administer your account and provide the services you have requested.
- Website usage. When you visit our websites, we may use devices known as "cookies," graphic interchange format files (GIFs), or other similar web tools to enhance your web experience. These tools help us to recognize you, maintain your web session, and provide a more personalized experience. To learn more, please click the Privacy link on the EcoFactor website(s) you use.
How We Use Information We Collect
EcoFactor asks you to provide certain information when you initially register to use the EcoFactor services and then afterwards may ask you to provide additional information when you use certain EcoFactor services for the first time. In addition, EcoFactor also collects information about your use of the EcoFactor services as a registered user. This table summarizes the different types of information that we may collect from you when you register for the EcoFactor services and use the EcoFactor services as a registered user.
Type/Name |
When Collected |
Representative Examples |
Registration Data |
When you create an account for the EcoFactor services or subsequently modify your Registration Data |
First and last name, username, password, e-mail address, mailing address, phone number, gender, and date of birth |
Profile Data |
When you access certain EcoFactor services after you have created an account or subsequently modify your Profile Data |
Additional e-mail addresses, lists of people in your household, heating and cooling preferences, physical specifications regarding your home. Energy usage history, occupancy patterns and schedules, and notification preferences for products and services made available by EcoFactor |
Activity Data |
When the EcoFactor service is operating in your home |
Temperature, energy usage, adjustments to thermostat settings, schedules and programs, occupancy data, heating and cooling system performance measurement and monitoring, and other information about you and your home that effects energy usage. |
Collectively, your Registration Data, Profile Data, Activity Data, and any other generally available demographic data about you that EcoFactor gathers from other sources is referred to as "Your Data." Your Data does not include information that third parties may independently gather from other Websites about you using their own cookies, as further described in this Privacy Policy.
EcoFactor uses Your Data, including both Personally Identifiable Information and Non-Personally Identifiable Information in both aggregated and individual forms, to provide the EcoFactor services and support them. We may process and use this data for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy and your use of the EcoFactor service including, but not limited to:
- Operate the EcoFactor service to provide ongoing automated energy efficiency services and peak load curtailment in your home.
- Customize, measure, and improve the EcoFactor services, and the content and advertising provided through them;
- Enforce our Terms of Service and detect fraud and other illegal activities;
- Bill and collect for any applicable fees or charges;
- Let you know about new products or services from EcoFactor or other companies we work with as well as promotional offers, based on your preference settings;
- Let you know about changes to the EcoFactor services, the Terms of Service, this Privacy Policy, and other terms that apply to our services; and
- Update any programs or other tools that we provide in conjunction with the EcoFactor services.
EcoFactor may use Your Data in these forms for internal business purposes, such as for license reporting and assessment of service levels, to better understand how the EcoFactor services are used, to gauge the effectiveness of the EcoFactor services, or determining ways to improve or modify the EcoFactor services.
EcoFactor may also use Your Data to customize the EcoFactor services and make them more relevant to you. For example, EcoFactor may use such data to make recommendations on ways to save energy in your home.
EcoFactor may use your Registration Data to verify that you are the person authorized to use the EcoFactor services or to manage your account.
How We Share and Use Your Information Among EcoFactor Affiliates
The term "EcoFactor" may include affiliated companies that are owned by EcoFactor, Inc.
EcoFactor may share information we collect about you within our family of companies to help:
- Provide you with better service or to perform services on your behalf;
- Respond to communications from you (or as you authorize or request);
- Make it more convenient for you to use our services.
At any time, you may instruct EcoFactor not to share information about you with our affiliates for certain purposes, as explained below under "How to Limit the Sharing and Use of Your Information."
How We Share Your Information Outside of EcoFactor
We may share your information with outside companies and other third parties in certain limited circumstances, including:
- To help us install equipment in your home and activate your EcoFactor services;
- When we use other companies to provide services for us, such as installation and customer support;
- When we work with other companies to resell the EcoFactor services, to enable those partners to understand you usage of the EcoFactor service, the performance of your home's heating and cooling systems and the effectiveness of your home's building envelope, provide services to you such as installation and customer support, and determine whether you would benefit from additional products and services offered by our partner;
- When we believe that disclosure is required or permitted under law (for example, to cooperate with regulators or law enforcement, resolve consumer disputes, perform credit/authentication checks or for risk control).
How to Limit the Sharing and Use of Your Information
You may choose to limit the information we share about you among our affiliates and joint-marketing partners for marketing purposes. If you choose to do so, EcoFactor will not share with our affiliates consumer reports and other personal information about you that may be used to determine your eligibility for credit (for example, information about your income, profession or employment status); allow our affiliates to market their products or services to you based on eligibility information they receive from another EcoFactor affiliate; or share personal information about you with an outside company for joint-marketing purposes.
You may exercise this choice by contacting us at the numbers oremail address in the "Contact Us" section. You only need to contact us once, and your choice will be honored across all of EcoFactor.
- Your choice will be applied to you as an individual and will automatically be extended to all of your accounts at EcoFactor.
- You may make your affiliate-sharing privacy choice at any time, and that choice will remain in effect until you tell EcoFactor to change it. If you have previously provided EcoFactor with this information with respect to your current accounts, you do not need to provide it again.
- If you exercise your privacy choice, EcoFactor will continue to share information among our affiliates that identifies you (such as your name and Social Security number), as well as information about your transactions and experiences with us, to perform services on your behalf, respond to communications from you, or, if you are their customer, to offer you products or services.
EcoFactor also allows you to limit marketing from the EcoFactor affiliate(s) with which you have a relationship. This is separate from your affiliate-sharing choice. You may exercise this choice by contacting us at the numbers or email address in the "Contact Us" section. These preferences will remain in effect for at least five years, after which time EcoFactor may ask you to update those preferences and may contact you for marketing purposes.
State Laws
EcoFactor will comply with state laws that apply to the disclosure or use of information about you. If you are a Vermont resident, we will automatically limit information sharing without your having to advise us of your privacy choice. Although all customers may request to be placed on EcoFactor's internal "do not call" list at any time by calling 650-215-2695, if you are a Nevada resident, we are required to give you the following notice: At any time, you may request to be placed on our internal "do not call" list. You may do so by calling EcoFactor at the number listed in the "Contact Us" section. For more information about the Nevada "do not call" notice requirement, contact the Nevada Attorney General, 555 E. Washington Ave., Suite 3900, Las Vegas, NV 89101; phone: 702-486-3132; email: BCPINFO@ag.state.nv.us. For further information about this notice, contact us at EcoFactor, Inc., Attn: "Privacy Program," 1775 Woodside Rd., Suite 100, Redwood City, CA 94061; or call one of the numbers listed in the "Contact Us" section.
Safeguarding Your Information-Security Is a Partnership
We take precautions to ensure the information we collect about you is protected and is accessed only by authorized individuals who are trained regarding EcoFactor's privacy and information safeguarding practices. EcoFactor maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your nonpublic personal information. To learn more about our security measures and the measures you need to take, please click the Privacy link on the EcoFactor website(s) you use.
Contact Us
To change your privacy preferences, provide us with updated information, report suspected fraud or identity theft, or for any other questions, please call one of the numbers below.
Within the U.S.: 877-896-1443
From outside the U.S.: 650-716-4760
You may also contact us by email at privacy@EcoFactor.com.