Privacy Notice

Introduction

As part of business operations, NB Power collects and processes personal information relating to individuals to provide its services to the public.

The term “personal information” means information about an identifiable individual and includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, account information, fax number, financial information etc.
NB Power is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that information and to meeting its personal information protection obligations in compliance with all applicable privacy laws.

As a public body, NB Power is subject to the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, (RTIPPA).

The Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act

RTIPPA includes the rules that “public bodies” must follow when collecting, using, and disclosing personal information. It also establishes a general right to access public records held by a public body, as well as a right for individuals to access and correct their own personal information.

NB Power is accountable for all personal information in our possession or control, including information collected directly from individuals as well as personal information that we may receive indirectly through corporate and government sources.

Our Information Practices

Collection

To deliver the services that NB Power is mandated to provide, it collects your personal information directly from you and indirectly from other third parties like provincial or federal departments, as permitted by law. NB Power only collects the personal information necessary for the provision of the services requested so it can establish and manage the business relationship with individuals including customers and program participants.

NB Power may also aggregate personal information with information from other sources for the purpose of improving quality and service, internal use for long term asset planning and business analytics and for use in presentations to third parties or its shareholder in a form where such information is sufficiently de-identified so as not be attributable to any individual or organization.

Individuals including customers always have the option not to provide their consent to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information, or to withdraw their consent, subject to contractual and legal restrictions and reasonable notice. Where an individual or customer chooses not to provide NB Power with permission to collect, use, or disclose their personal information, we may not be able to provide (or continue to provide) our services or consider individuals for the purposes of programs or initiatives offered or administered by NB Power.

Use and Disclosure

NB Power only uses or discloses your personal information for the purpose it was collected or for a use consistent with that purpose. NB Power may also use or disclose your personal information for other purposes as permitted in RTIPPA, such as, but not limited to, complying with another law, for the provision of a service, activity or program or for law enforcement. NB Power needs to get your consent before using or disclosing your personal information for any additional or secondary purpose that is not authorized by applicable laws.

NB Power works with third-party service providers for services (e.g., collection services, technology providers that assist NB Power in enhancing service offerings, credit checks etc.), which may require them to access or use information about you. If a service provider needs to access information about you to perform services on behalf of NB Power, they do so under close instruction from NB Power, including policies and procedures designed to protect your information.

NB Power collects, uses, and discloses your personal information for invoicing and billing, collection of overdue accounts and day to day business communications, including outage notifications or disruption in service, new products or services individuals may be interested in.

Request can be made to NB Power not to be contacted for any marketing purposes.

NB Power may also collect, use, and disclose your information to conduct surveys, for marketing purposes, to improve quality of service, for long term planning including forecasting customer load, program eligibility, and energy efficiency research/analysis.

NB Power may work with third parties for advertising purposes, reporting, ad response measurement and site analytics and to assist with delivery of relevant marketing messages and advertisements with respect to delivery of its mandated services.

Third parties may also be engaged by NB Power to provide educational material or sessions on energy related topics where you would be offered to access third party links on nbpower.com if you wish to participate.

These third parties may view, edit, or set their own tracking technologies/cookies. The use of these technologies by these third parties is subject to their own privacy policies and terms of use and is not covered by this Privacy Statement or NB Power’s Privacy Policy. You should read any third party’s privacy and policy statements carefully. For more information about interest-based ads, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioural advertising purposes, please visit https://www.youradchoices.ca.

How will we ask for consent

The terms and conditions of the provision of electrical service are documented on the customer bill/at nbpower.com/rates schedules and policies. These terms include a statement about how NB Power may collect, use, and disclose customer personal information. By requesting service, you, as a customer, are providing your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information described in the terms and conditions.

For individuals, including customers, forms and applications used to provide electrical and efficiency and related services and determine eligibility for program offerings by NB Power will describe the purposes for which your personal information is required and to who it will be disclosed.

Phone calls with customers may be recorded for training, quality, and dispute resolution purposes. They are retained for 2 years from the date of the call and callers are advised that the call will be recorded.

Safeguarding your information

NB Power has implemented physical, administrative and technological safeguards to protect the personal information in its custody and to control against theft, loss and unauthorized access, use or disclosure.

These protections include, but are not limited to:

• Establishing a privacy statement and ensuring that customers are aware of that statement
• Establishing a privacy policy
• Limiting access to personal information to only those who have a need to know to perform the duties of their employment
• Protecting electronic systems and devices
• Implementing firewalls and encryption
• Using security features when transferring information electronically
• Using locked filing cabinets and maintaining secure premises
• Maintaining retention schedules and ensuring that, when personal information is no longer needed, it is securely destroyed or de-identified

NB Power may store your personal data using secure on-site servers or other internally hosted technology. Your personal data may also be stored by third parties via cloud services or other technology, to whom NB Power has contracted with, to support business operations. These third parties do not use or have access to your personal data other than for cloud storage and retrieval. NB Power requires such parties to adhere to its policies, procedures, and security requirements to protect your personal information.

Retention of Personal Information

NB Power retains your personal information as a customer or program participant and of past customers and program participants in accordance with applicable laws and approved retention schedules. An individual’s personal information will be destroyed in a secure manner once that information is no longer reasonably required for legal, audit or regulatory purposes. Certain information may be retained post customer or participant relationship with respect to overdue or outstanding accounts. Generally, customer account information is retained for 7 years following the closure of the account. Credit checks are performed when needed and the results are retained as a notation on the account.

Access to and Correction of Personal Information

You have the right to request access to any public record including records containing your personal information. You also have the right to seek corrections to the personal information contained in the records held by NB Power.

Customers can update or correct their personal information at nbpower.com by accessing their account profiles. Some information may require support for correction and individuals can request a correction to their personal information retained by NB Power by contacting Customer Service at 1-800- 663-6272 or by directly contacting NB Power’s Chief Privacy Officer.

More Information

For more information relating to NB Power’s privacy policies or practices or if you have a concern, please contact NB Power’s Chief Privacy Officer.

Contact Information for the Chief Privacy Officer:

515 King Street
Fredericton, NB E3B 4X1
Phone: (506) 458-3149
Email: righttoinformation@nbpower.com

You may also contact the NB Ombud directly with any questions or complaints regarding NB Power’s privacy policies or practices.

Contact Information for the Ombud’s Office:

Mailing:
P. O. Box 6000
Fredericton, NB
E3B 5H1

Location:
548 York Street
Fredericton, NB
E3B 3R2

Phone: (506) 453-2789
Fax : (506) 453-5599
Email : ombud@gnb.ca

Automatic data exchange

To ensure that all browsing functions on the NB Power Website are fully functional, your computer and the site’s servers exchange certain data. This data cannot be used to identify you.

Use of Cookies

Cookies are small data files that are sent to your browser. Cookies are used for updating and optimizing our Website to adapt to your browsing habits and needs, and preventing ads from being shown to you more than once. There are two types – persistent cookies and session cookies. NB Power may use either or both types of cookie. These types of cookies do the following:

• Persistent cookies are stored on your computer's hard-drive when you visit certain websites. Persistent cookies identify your browser and IP (Internet Protocol) address, but do not collect personally identifiable information such as your name, address, and credit card data.
• Session cookies facilitate your use and navigation of the NB Power Website, and expire when you close your internet browser.

You can set your Internet browser to refuse to accept cookies from the NB Power Website. You may be able to set your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when you receive cookies.   Depending on how you modify these settings in your browser, some pages of the NB Power Website may use default settings.

Use of Web Analytics Tools

NB Power uses web analytics tools. These tools allow NB Power to analyze the information generated through the use of cookies to look at statistically aggregate information that may be used for operational purposes (including but not limited to the commercial development or improvement of products or services). NB Power may also collect location data to analyze Website traffic patterns.

For example NB Power and its service providers use Google Analytics to analyze how the NB Power Website is used, in order to compile statistics and to improve the Website. NB Power has implemented the following Remarketing/Advertising features of Google Analytics:

• Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting
• Remarketing with Google Analytics

Cookies are used to collect the following data:

• your IP address
• your Internet service provider
• your browsing session date and start and end times
• your browser language
• your region or municipality, determined through your IP address
• your browser type and version
• your operating system type and version
• your device type and model (phone, tablet or computer)
• the domain of the previous site you visited
• the address of the pages you visited on the NB Power Website
• your activity (e.g., clicking, scrolling) on the NB Power Website
• the point of entry (banner, e-mail, social network, print publication, advertiser’s Web site) to your visit
• the screen resolution on your device

This data is collected and stored by Google on servers that may be located outside of Canada. However, this information is not shared with external parties, except in limited circumstances, such as for enforcing a law or allowing a third party to perform tasks on behalf of Google (e.g., billing or data storage).

You can opt-out of the Google Analytics Advertising Features you use, including through Ads Settings, Ad Settings for mobile apps, or any other available means (for example, the NAI's consumer opt-out).

Download the browser add-on to disable Google Analytics.

Third Party Links

The NB Power Website may contain links to other sites that NB Power does not own or operate. These links to third party websites are provided as a convenience to users of the NB Power Website, and not an endorsement of, or referral to, the linked websites. Such third party websites have separate and independent privacy statements, notices and terms of use, which you should read carefully.   NB Power has no control over such websites, and assumes no responsibility or liability for the manner in which the organizations may use your personal information. We will not provide any of your personal information to these third parties without your consent.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the collection of this information, please contact us toll-free at 1 800 663-6272