NRG Home Services Privacy Statement
We know that you care how information about you is used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. This Privacy Statement outlines the information NRG Home Services will collect and how we will use that information. This statement will also explain how you can make your preference known regarding when NRG Home Services may send marketing communications to you.
What Information We Collect
NRG Home Services primary goal in collecting information is to allow us to offer products and services which are relevant to consumers like you. Personal information also allows us to provide services and features that most likely meet your needs, and to customize our service to make your experience smooth and efficient. Any personal information that we collect will only be used for internal marketing purposes of NRG Home Services, except as otherwise required by law or as disclosed to you in this Privacy Statement.
The Information We Collect
Information You Give Us
NRG Home Services will not collect any personal information from you unless you provide it to us voluntarily. We may ask you to provide information including your name, your company’s name, your company’s address, relevant telephone number, and relevant email addresses. In addition, we may ask you to provide information relating to energy use, such as the characteristics of your business, or we may ask you to state your opinion about potential products and services. If you opt not to provide us with this information, we may be unable to deliver certain promotions or product information to you that you have requested.
Non-personal, Aggregate and Statistical Data
NRG Home Services may collect certain non-personal or aggregate data. For example, we may use web log information (such as your web browser, operating system, pages visited, etc.) and use cookies when you visit many of our web pages. For instance, when you visit one of our websites, our Web server will automatically recognize some non-personal information, including but not limited to the date and time you visited our site, the pages you visited, the referrer (the website you came from), the type of browser you are using, the type of operating system you are using (e.g. Windows or Mac), your Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the domain name and address of your Internet service provider (e.g. AT&T or Comcast).
Email Addresses
At the time NRG Home Services requests an email address from you, you will be given the opportunity to indicate whether or not you wish to receive future email solicitations from us. We may, however, send you emails for other reasons such as responding to your requests for service or information or matters relative to your account.
Information from Other Sources
For reasons such as providing better product recommendations or special offers that we think will interest you and to identify persons not already a NRG Home Services customer, we receive information from other sources and add it to our information for . The type of information we receive may include (but is not limited to) your name, address, telephone number, email addresses, social-media profiles (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest) and in some cases, type and characteristics of your business, which can include public financial information and other public record. We also sometimes receive updated delivery and address information so that we can correct our records and deliver your next communication more accurately.
How We Collect Information
Information You Give Us
NRG Home Services does not require potential customers or visitors to our websites to provide personal information, except as necessary to be enrolled as a customer. You may choose to enter contests, vote in polls or otherwise express an opinion, subscribe to one of our services such as newsletters, or participate in one of our online forums or communities. These programs may require you to submit some information in order to participate. These programs and the types of information required are described in more detail below.
Registration/Subscriptions
To fully use our websites, visitors may need to register using our online registration forms, where visitors may be required to provide us with some personal information. Visitors may also be asked to select a user ID and password. Further, to register for certain services or become a member of certain communities, we may ask visitors to submit their name, business name, email address, business address and ZIP code. You can further make choices about receiving targeted newsletters and alerts from NRG Home Services. You can always decide not to receive or stop receiving any targeted solicitations from NRG Home Services that you do not want.
Contests/Sweepstakes
NRG Home Services may run contests, sweepstakes and other promotions. We may ask you to provide personal information that is needed in order to administer the contest, sweepstakes or promotion and to notify winners.
Questionnaires, Surveys and Profile Data
NRG Home Services may occasionally ask you to complete surveys and opinion polls. Surveys help us provide better services and products that meet customer needs. Participation is voluntary and these surveys are optional.
Customer Services and Contact Information
If you provide our customer service representatives with feedback on your experiences with our products/services or otherwise submit questions to our customer service representatives or webmasters, you will be asked to supply personal or business information for our record keeping and follow-up.
How We Use Your Information
Personal Information
We may use your personal information to contact you. For example, we may send you marketing or promotional materials including emails or other information; we may respond to your comments or requests for information; or we may contact you if needed in the course of fulfilling your service request. We may also use your personal information to confirm and verify your customer enrollment status, and for credit approval. NRG Home Services does not collect personal information automatically, but we may combine non-personal information collected automatically (e.g., through cookies and web beacons) with your previously submitted personal information. We may also enhance or merge personal information with data obtained from third parties for the same purposes. We use this personal and statistical information about you to improve our marketing and promotional efforts; to statistically analyze site usage; to improve our content and product offerings; and to customize our sites’ content, layout and services. We may also use your information to deliver information to you that, in some cases, is targeted to your interests, such as targeted banners, new services and promotions. We believe these uses allow us to improve our site and better tailor it to meet our visitors’ needs. NRG Home Services occasionally sends emails describing new products, promotions or events. These email services are optional and you may opt-out of these services completely, at any time.
Non-personal, Aggregate and Statistical Data
NRG Home Services uses web log information (such as your web browser, operating system, pages visited, etc.) to help us design our website, to identify popular features, and for other managerial purposes. However, web logs may be used if necessary to help identify any person attempting to break into or damage our website. We may share web log information with law enforcement agencies if we believe that we have evidence of a violation of computer security or related laws.
How We May Share Your Information
For Promotional Purposes
Except in the event of a business transfer, we will not share, trade or sell personal information about you or your business for promotional use by any other business, other than NRG Home Services and its affiliates. However, we may sometimes send offers to NRG Home Services customers on behalf of other businesses. When we do this, we do not give that business the name, address, telephone number or email address of our customers. When companies acquire other businesses, sell all, or portions of their business, customer information generally is one of the transferred assets. If NRG Home Services or substantially all of its assets are transferred through merger, acquisition, bankruptcy or any other change of corporate control then, customer information will of course be one of the transferred assets. Aggregated and statistical data from our website visitors may be shared with our partners. For example, we may let a partner know that approximately “20,000 people visited a web page regarding a specific joint promotion.” All employees, contractors and other companies engaged by NRG Home Services for work that involves access to customer information, prospect information and visitor information are contractually required to keep the information confidential and not to use it in any way other than what is necessary to perform their work for NRG Home Services.
California Residents
Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents who provide personal information (as defined in the statute) in obtaining products or services for personal, family or household use are entitled to request and obtain from NRG once a calendar year information about the personal information we shared, if any, with other businesses for marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of personal information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared such personal information for the immediately prior calendar year. To obtain this information, please write to us at: NRG Home Services, P.O. Box 540487, Houston, TX 77254. Please include your full name, address and phone number.
For Protection of NRG Home Services Energy and Others
We may release personal data, including account information, when we believe release is appropriate to comply with laws, regulations or judicial orders; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of NRG Home Services, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit-risk reduction. NRG Home Services also reserves the right to share the information to respond to duly authorized information requests of governmental authorities or where required by law or regulation.
Cookies and Web Beacons
When you view one of our websites, we may collect some non-personal information about you. The collection of this non-personal information is done either through the “cookie” technology or with “web beacons” (also called “single-pixel gif” or “web pings”). Neither our cookies nor web beacons nor web log information collects any personal information. They do not contain personal information such as your name or email address.
Cookies
When you view one of our websites or interactive advertisements, we may store some information on your computer. This information will be in the form of a small text file, also called a “cookie”. Cookies help us in many ways to make your visit to our website more enjoyable and meaningful to you. For example, cookies avoid you having to log in every time you come back to one of our websites. They also allow us to tailor a website or advertisement to better match your interests and preferences. Most browsers can be configured not to accept cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.
Web Beacons
Web beacons are site instrumentation that help us to determine, for instance, whether a page has been viewed or not and, if so, how many times. When you ask us to send you information on a promotion or a newsletter, we may use web beacons to establish how many of the emails are actually opened. In general, any electronic image viewed as part of a web page or email, including an ad banner, can act as a web beacon. Third-party advertising networks that serve ads onto any NRG Home Services website may use cookies and/or web beacons in their advertisements. NRG Home Services retains no control over such-third party cookies and/or web beacons and does not have access to the information related to third party cookies and/or web beacons.
Children’s Privacy
NRG Home Services believes that it is especially important to protect children’s privacy online. The NRG Home Services websites are not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Data Security
NRG Home Services is committed to keeping the data you provide us secure and will take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from loss, misuse or alteration, including limiting access to such information within NRG Home Services to authorized individuals and destroying personal information that we decide not to retain in a manner designed to make it unreadable or undecipherable. Agents, contractors, or partners of NRG Home Services who have access to your personal information in connection with providing services for NRG Home Services are required to keep the information confidential and are not permitted to use this information for any other purpose than to carry out the services they are performing for NRG Home Services.
Your Preferences
NRG Home Services allows you to choose to receive or stop receiving solicitations from us. We accomplish this by maintaining a “Solicitation Preference File” in which we record your preferences to receive or not receive solicitations from us. We use two suppression files provided by the Direct Marketing Association, the Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service files; and we use the National Do Not Call Registry.
How to Make Your Preferences Known To NRG Home Services
You may inform us of your preference not to receive solicitations from us in one of two ways: Submit your preferences online with the requested information, or write us at:
NRG Home Services Solicitation Preferences
P.O. Box 540487
Houston, TX 77254
When contacting us by mail, be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and email address. In addition, please indicate your preferences for postal mail, telephone and email communications from NRG Home Services.
Links to Other Sites
Some NRG Home Services websites may contain links to other sites. NRG Home Services is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. We recommend you carefully read the privacy policies of each site you visit.
Policy Changes
We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Statement from time to time. If at some time in the future, we wish to use your information for new unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our Privacy Statement, we will post the policy changes to this section of our Privacy Statement to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses.
Your Acceptance of Our Privacy Practices
By using this website or any other NRG Home Services website or interactive banner ads, you signify your acceptance of this Privacy Statement, and you adhere to the terms and conditions posted on the website. If you do not agree with any of these terms, please do not use this site or submit any personal information. This English version shall always prevail in case of conflicts between it and any translations of our Privacy Statement.
Revised September 5, 2013
© 2014 NRG Energy, Inc. All rights reserved.
