Customer Privacy Assurance Statement
Background
Legislation governs the use of personal information in Nova Scotia. This Customer Privacy Assurance Statement (Privacy Statement) sets out the way Eastward Energy (EEI) collects, uses, and discloses your personal information. If this Privacy Statement is changed in the future, any changes will be posted to our website. Where the terms “include” or “including” are used, the examples following them are not meant to be exhaustive, but are simply intended to make this Privacy Statement clearer.
If you are our customer, “Personal Information” can include your name, address, identifying numbers, and contact information. It can also include your payment history and the amount of natural gas you use over time. EEI understands the importance of your privacy and the sensitivity of personal information provided by you.
The Type of Personal Information Collected
When you sign up for natural gas service we will collect your name, address, and other personal information required for service, billing, and payment. While you are a customer of EEI we will also collect information about your use of gas, payment history, and interactions with us. The types of information we will collect include:
- Identifying Information – This information includes your name, address, telephone, e-mail, and other identifying information you provide to us or which we assign to you, like your account number.
- Financial Information – This information includes payment history, credit information, and, depending on your method of payment, can include credit card and banking information.
- Service Related Information – This information includes the type of products and services we provide to you, including usage, maintenance, and repair information. We may also have information about your conversations or correspondence with us, whether service-related or otherwise.
The Collection, Use, and Disclosure of Personal Information
We will always try to collect your personal information directly from you. Privacy laws say that you are deemed to consent to the collection, use, and disclosure by us of personal information when you volunteer it and apply for gas service. However, your personal information will generally not be disclosed to third parties unless you consent. We can collect, use, and disclose your personal information without consent in circumstances including: an emergency; a request by a lawful authority like a government agency; an insurance claim; an account collection; or for other reasons set out in privacy laws.
We may also disclose your personal information in the event of a change in ownership of EEI or other financial arrangements. However, in these circumstances, the parties will be bound by legal agreements to comply with this Privacy Statement.
New customers will be asked directly to consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of information as contained in this Privacy Statement. For customers already receiving service, we will assume you have consented unless you advise us otherwise.
Purposes for Collection of Personal Information
When you apply for natural gas service it means you consent to us using and disclosing your personal information for the purpose of providing you natural gas service and other associated purposes, which may include:
- Contacting you to provide information about our products and services;
- Performing maintenance;
- Contacting you in case of emergencies;
- Compiling internal information (e.g. accounting and legal);
- Performing trend analyses; or,
- Gathering information for regulatory proceedings.
Care of Personal Information
EEI has physical, technical, and administrative protections in place to secure your personal information. These protections are in place to safeguard your personal information from theft, unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.
We try to maintain accurate information and will update your personal information as required. It is important that you notify us of any changes to your personal information soon after they occur. We will only retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to meet the purposes for which the information was collected.
Access to Personal Information
At any time you can request to see your personal information. However, all requests must be in writing. We will try to release your personal information to you, but in order to protect it, we may request that verification of identity be provided. We also may request that a fee be paid, but we will notify you of this in advance. Under certain circumstances, we may refuse to release personal information to you. Some examples of these circumstances are:
- If the information has been destroyed;
- If a lawful authority prevents us from releasing it;
- If there is an emergency;
- If disclosure would reveal confidential commercial information; or,
- For other reasons allowed by privacy laws.
If such a circumstance occurs, we will inform you of the reason why the personal information cannot be released.
Questions?
If you have any questions or inquiries please direct them to our Privacy Officer who can be contacted by email at privacy@eastwardenergy.com or by phone at 1-902-466-2003.