L5E, LLC (“5”), its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, including Luthin Associates (“Luthin”), BidURenergy, Inc., 5 Advisory Services, LLC., L5E Mexico, LLC., Energyby5 Mexico (“Energyby5”) and their respective subsidiaries (hereinafter referred to collectively as “5” or “5 companies,” “us,” “we,” or “our”), are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of you, our customers and the users of our websites and mobile applications as well as our products and services (collectively, “Services”). Considering this commitment, we adhere to the practices provided below.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By browsing and/or using 5’s websites and mobile applications (each, our “Site”), you agree to our collection, use, and sharing of your personally identifiable information as described in this Privacy Policy.
From time to time, we may change this Privacy Policy and will make reasonable efforts to publish such changes. Any changes will be immediately effective upon the posting of the updated Privacy Policy. Your continued use of our Site represents your consent to the terms of the new Privacy Policy. Please regularly check this Privacy Policy for any such updates.
Collecting and Using Personal Information
Through your use of our Site and Services, we may collect Personal Information (“PI”), which is information that identifies you as an individual or relates to you as an identifiable individual. PI may include but is not limited to, your first and last name, home or business address, email address, and telephone number. We may also combine the PI that we collect on our Site with information we collect about you offline.
We collect the following types of information:
PI and Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) Provided by You
We collect PI from you when you use our Site and Services. While we do not require you to provide PI in order to navigate our Site, we must collect certain PI and PII if you choose to use our Services. PII includes information where your name is combined with your Social Security number, driver’s license number, state identification card number, bank account number, credit card or debit card number, or unique biometric data. We may also collect PI and PII when you create or modify an online account, complete any self-service transaction with us online, or otherwise provide us with PI and PII in any correspondence. This may include any of your questions, comments, or suggestions submitted through our Site or if you fill out a survey.
When you voluntarily provide us with a cell phone number on our Site, you are giving us express written consent to use that number for the purpose indicated, or if given with regard to your utility account or other account with us, express written consent to communicate information to you that is closely related to such account, so long as you have not given us instructions to the contrary. You may revoke this consent at any time by any reasonable method. Your consent to be contacted by us is not required in order to receive our Services.
Device and Usage Information
We may automatically collect the following types of information as you use our Site:
- Usage Information: We collect certain information automatically through your use of our Site, such as which pages on our Site you access, the frequency of access, information about purchases or other transactions made on our Site, and what you click on while on our Site.
- Location Information: We may collect information about your actual location that may be determined from GPS and other sensors that may reveal information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points, and cell towers.
- Device Information: We may collect information about the device you are using, such as hardware model, operating system, application version number, browser, and IP addresses.
- Mobile Device Information: In addition to the Device Information listed above, when you access our Site via a browser on your mobile device or through the use of one of our mobile applications, we may also collect mobile network information including telephone number, the unique device identifier assigned to that device, mobile carrier, operating system, and other device attributes. We may also access functions on your mobile device for the operation of our mobile application, which can include telephone, camera, browser, social media apps, fingerprinting, or GPS.
Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
“Cookies” are small text files that are stored within your computer’s or mobile device’s memory by a website through your browser. Cookies enable a website such as ours to keep track of your activities on that website and to improve your use of the website, such as by keeping track of your preferences.
You can change your browser settings on your personal computer or mobile device so that cookies are not stored. If you reject cookies, you may still use our Site, but you may not have access to some of our Site’s functions and your ability to use some areas of our Site may be limited.
We may also use other websites or mobile tracking technologies to identify you and keep track of your preferences, prevent fraudulent activity or improve Site security, assess the performance of our Site, and deliver content to you based on your interests on our Site and third-party websites.
Aggregate Information
Statistical or aggregated information does not directly identify you or any specific person, but it may be derived from your PI. For example, we may aggregate PI to calculate the percentage of users in a particular ZIP code.
Third-Party Data Collection
Some content or applications accessible through our Site may be provided by third parties, including analytics companies, payment processors, and advertising providers. Our Site also may include social media features, such as the Facebook “Like” button and other widgets, such as the “Share” button or interactive mini-programs provided by third parties. These third parties may use cookies or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our Site. The information they collect may be associated with your PI or they may collect information, including PI, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services.
We do not control the third-parties’ tracking technologies that are accessible through our Site or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should read any privacy policy provided by the third-party website or contact the responsible provider directly. Some of these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used for targeted advertising. For example, some of these third parties may be members of the Network
Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) or the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”), which provide a single location where you can opt out of certain types of data collection or opt out of receiving targeted ads from member companies. To opt out, please visit the NAI’s website at http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp or http://www.aboutads.info/ to exercise choice with respect to participants of the DAA.
One third-party service we use is Google Analytics, which is a service provided by Google. Google utilizes the data collected to track and examine the use of our Site and may share this data with other Google services. You can learn more about Google’s privacy practices by visiting their website at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/
How We Use and Share Information
We use the PI we collect in the following ways:
- To Provide Services: We use PI that we collect in order to provide any Services that you may request.
- Communicate: We use PI to communicate with you about our Site or Services. We may also use your PI to send you account updates or other communications regarding your account or to inform you of any changes to our Site or Services, or to send you information, recommendations and promotions that we believe will be of interest to you. 5 companies may send the contact information collected through our Site to other 5 companies, to the extent permitted by applicable law, or such communications may be sent directly to you through our Site, such as push notifications.
- You should note that 5 companies may use other electronic media for communications (such as social media), which may have their own separate privacy policies that govern the privacy of information that is shared or collected through your use of them.
- Specific Purposes: You may be asked to provide information for a specific purpose (other than those described in this Privacy Policy). We will only use that information for that purpose.
- Customer Support: We may use your PI to provide you support or other services you request. For example, we may need certain information in order to provide technical support or answer questions about our Site or Services.
- To Improve Our Services: We may use your PI for statistical analyses, generating surveys, and doing market research in order to improve our Services. We may use information collected on our Site to personalize your experience on our Site.
- Site Maintenance: We analyze how our users interact with our Site in order to maintain and improve our Site. We also use information that we collect to diagnose any problems with our Site.
- Legitimate Business Purposes. We may use your PI or PII for any other business purpose we deem legitimate, as permitted by applicable law.
We reserve the right to share information, including PII, with third parties, as described below:
- Service Providers: We may share information with service providers that (i) help us perform Site functions and process your transactions, or (ii) provide services to us for legitimate business purposes, as permitted by applicable law. This information sharing is subject to a confidentiality agreement protecting that information. For example, we may share information with electronic bill payment service providers so that you may pay for Services. We also sometimes share utility usage information with service providers to support the utilities’ legal obligation to perform energy efficiency services.
- Within Our Corporate Family: We may share information with a parent company, franchisees, subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under common control with us, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
- Corporate Structure: We may share information in connection with a contemplated or actual merger, acquisition, consolidation, change of control, or sale of all or a portion of our assets or if we undergo bankruptcy or liquidation.
- To Prevent Harm: We may share information if we believe it is necessary in order to detect, investigate, prevent, or act against illegal activities, fraud, or situations involving potential threats to the rights, property, or personal safety of any person.
- For Legal Purposes: We will share information where we are legally required to do so, such as in response to or in compliance with court or regulatory agency orders, legal proceedings, or legal process; to exercise our legal rights; to defend against legal claims or demands, or to comply with the requirements of any applicable law.
- With Your Consent: We may request your permission to share your PI for a specific purpose not described above. In such a case, we will notify you and request consent before you provide the PI or before the PI you have already provided is shared for such purpose.
- Mobile Information: No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. This includes phone numbers and text messaging consent.
Security
The security of your PI and PII is important to us. We maintain reasonable physical, technical, and administrative security measures to protect and limit access to your PI and PII. No method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage technology is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your PI and PII, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
You should exercise discretion in what information you send to us by email. We cannot guarantee that email sent over the Internet is secure and will not be intercepted by others before it reaches us. We are not responsible for the security of information contained in emails sent over the Internet.
Applicable Law
This is a United States-based Site that is subject to U.S. law. If you are accessing our Site from a location outside the U.S., you hereby agree that your use of our Site and our collection and use of your PI and PII are subject to this Privacy Policy. When you submit PI or PII to us, you are agreeing to permit us and our subsidiaries and affiliates to access, store, and use the information wherever in the world we and our subsidiaries and affiliates do business, both inside and outside the United States.
Children’s Privacy
Our Site is intended to provide general information about the 5 companies and their Services. We will not knowingly collect PI from children under 13 years of age, nor will we knowingly allow children under 13 years of age to use certain features of our Site without the consent of a child’s parent or guardian. We will not knowingly disclose PI collected from children. If we become aware that a child under 13 years of age has provided us with PI, we take immediate steps to delete such PI.
Links to Third-Party Websites
Our Site may offer links to websites operated by third parties that collect PI and/or PII. We do not control and are not responsible for the privacy policies, practices, and/or content of such third-party websites. Any PI or PII collected on a third-party website is governed by the privacy policy of that website. Please contact such third-party website directly for more information about the privacy of your PI or PII.
Do Not Track
Our Site is not currently configured to respond to Do Not Track signals sent by browsers.
Disclosure to Government
We reserve the right to monitor and disclose, without your consent, any communications, PI or PII, whenever requested to do so by courts, government agencies, or by law enforcement authorities.
Questions About This Privacy Policy
For questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or your PI and PII, please contact email5@energyby5.com and we will use reasonable efforts to address those questions and concerns.
