POLICY 10.5 - INTERNET WEB PRIVACY
Effective 03/01/00
This policy describes the fair information practices that govern the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information on the NRECA website.
- Collection Practices
Like most other websites, NRECA maintains web logs that automatically record basic information about visitors. This information consists of:
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Internet domain from which you access our website (e.g., aol.com, yourschool.edu, yourcompany.com).
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IP address. An IP address is automatically assigned to your computer when you surf the web. In some cases, these addresses may be individually identifiable. However, even when an IP address is identifiable, it usually takes additional effort to link a particular IP address to a specific individual. For many users, an IP address cannot be linked to a specific individual.
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Type of browser and operating system used to access our website.
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Date and time of access.
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Pages visited.
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Address of the website (if any) from which you linked to NRECA.
NRECA normally only uses web log information in aggregate form to enable us to make the NRECA website more useful. NRECA likes to know which features are popular and how visitors locate the site. Web logs may be used to identify visitors who seek to damage the website, use the website in unauthorized ways, or interfere with operations. Information about users who try to engage in any unapproved activities may be shared with law enforcement agencies. NRECA does not collect any personal information about a routine visitor unless the visitor provides it to NRECA.
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Email and Web Forms
If you use the NRECA website to send NRECA email, sign a guest book, register for a conference, ask for information, subscribe to a publication, or if you provide personal information through NRECA's website in any other way, NRECA collects and may maintain the information that you provide. Your information may be shared among NRECA staff and support services as necessary in order to respond to your request. Once information reaches the correct office, it will be used in the same manner as comparable information collected in other ways.
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Security and Data Quality
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NRECA maintains its website and its information with technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect against loss, unauthorized access, destruction, misuse, modification, and improper disclosure. NRECA is committed to maintaining accurate, timely, relevant, and appropriate information about our users. No computer system can ever be fully protected against every possible hazard. NRECA provides reasonable and appropriate security to protect against foreseeable hazards.
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NRECA requires that employees who have access to personally identifiable information from the website acknowledge in writing that they have read this privacy policy and that they are expected to follow it. Any employee who fails to comply with these rules may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
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Routine email sent to NRECA through this website or otherwise is not necessarily secure against interception. If your communication contains personal information that you consider sensitive, you may not want to use email. Some NRECA websites that collect and disclose sensitive personal information rely on Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect communications. If your browser supports SSL, then you can share personal information with a high degree of confidence that the information cannot be intercepted and read. Advantage.Net, the online benefit system for employees and benefits staff, uses SSL for all activities involving the sharing of personal information.
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Cookies
On the Internet a cookie is a piece of information that a website transfers to a user's computer for record-keeping purposes. The NRECA website only uses cookies when a member accesses the members-only part of the website. The cookie is only active during the session and expires when the user closes the browser.
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Uses and Disclosures
- NRECA uses its website to provide services and information to its members, employees, and members of the public.
- General
Personal information collected through the NRECA website may be used from time to time by outside auditors, consultants, and others hired by NRECA to assist in carrying out financial, management, or other activities. NRECA generally directs recipients to agree to safeguard personal information, to use it only as authorized by NRECA, and to return it or destroy it when no longer required.
- Legal Process
NRECA could be required to disclose personal information in response to valid legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena, or court order. Any record keeper faces this possibility. Disclosures may also be appropriate to protect NRECA's legal rights or during emergencies if physical safety is believed to be at risk. NRECA believes that these events are unlikely, but they are possible. NRECA will take reasonable steps to limit the scope and consequences of any of these disclosures.
- Recruiting Services
Web users can search and apply online for employment opportunities with NRECA and its member cooperatives. If you complete a job application online, provide a resume, or disclose other personal information for a recruitment activity, the NRECA Human Resources Department will use your information in the same manner as if you applied by regular mail or in person. The information will only be used for recruiting and employment purposes. It is possible that information about you or about your application will be shared externally to verify the information, to obtain references, or for other employment-related purposes. When appropriate, application information will be shared with a member cooperative that advertised a vacancy. Each member cooperative has independent policies and practices for the use and disclosure of employment applications.
- Subscriptions
NRECA does not sell, rent, or otherwise share lists of subscribers to NRECA publications, online newsstand services, or list servers.
- Conferences
If you register for a conference online, your registration information will be used by NRECA employees and support organizations to facilitate your attendance at the conference. Registration information may be shared with other conference participants and may be used and re-disclosed by them.
- Chat
NRECA may sponsor chat services for member cooperatives and their employees. Information shared though a chat service may be read by subscribers to the service and may be used or re-disclosed by them. NRECA cannot control or limit the use or disclosure of any personal information shared through a chat service.
- Questions, Access, and Disputes
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, you may send an email to michael.lynch@nreca.coop or send regular mail to: Michael Lynch, 4301 Wilson Blvd. COM10-222, Arlington, VA 22203-1860
If you want to see or correct any information that NRECA has collected about you online, you can make a request to michael.lynch@nreca.coop or send regular mail to: Michael Lynch, 4301 Wilson Blvd. COM10-222, Arlington, VA 22203-1860.
If you want to see or correct information, you will be asked to provide sufficient proof of identity, such as a driver's license, passport, or other documentation.
If we are unable to resolve your problem, you may file an appeal with NRECA's chief counsel or his designee by sending email to wallace.tillman@nreca.coop or sending regular mail to: Wallace Tillman, NRECA Chief Counsel and Vice President of Energy Policy, 4301 Wilson Blvd. EP11-253, Arlington, VA 22203-1860