Merchant Bill Payment Information Privacy Policy
1. Scope.
This privacy policy describes our practices regarding the collection, use and sharing of personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) gathered in connection with bill payments you make using our online bill payment service.
2. Information We Collect.
Personal Information You Give to Us
We will collect Personal Information from you in connection with your provision of payment information to us and as otherwise described in this Merchant Bill Payment Information Privacy Policy. “Personal Information” is information that uniquely identifies you, and includes, among other things, your name, mobile telephone number, email address, date of birth, bank account number, debit or credit card number and bill payment transaction history.
Information We Collect Automatically
We may use "cookie" technology to collect bill payment website usage data and to improve the bill payment services. A cookie is a small data file that is transferred to your computer's hard disk. We may use cookies to better understand how you use the bill payment website, to monitor aggregate usage by our users, and to improve the bill payment website. Most Internet browsers automatically accept cookies. You can instruct your browser, by editing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. If you choose to eliminate cookies, the full functionality of the bill payment website may be impaired for you. We may link the information we store in cookies to any Personal Information you submit while on the bill payment website.
Here is some additional information about tracking technologies that may from time to time be used at our website:
| Cookies | A cookie (sometimes referred to as local storage object or LSO) is a data file placed on a device. Cookies can be created through a variety of web-related protocols and technologies, such as HTTP (sometimes referred to as “browser cookies”), HTML5, or Adobe Flash.
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| Web Beacons | Small graphic images or other web programming code called web beacons (also known as “1×1 GIFs” or “clear GIFs”) may be included in our online service’s pages and messages. Web beacons may be invisible to you, but any electronic image or other web programming code inserted into a page or e-mail can act as a web beacon.
Clear gifs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies. In contrast to HTTP cookies, which are stored on a user's computer hard drive, clear gifs are embedded invisibly on web pages and are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.
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| Embedded Script
| An embedded script is programming code that is designed to collect information about your interactions with the online service, such as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your device from our web server or a third-party service provider, is active only while you are connected to the online service, and is deactivated or deleted thereafter.
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| ETag, or entity tag | A feature of the cache in browsers, an ETag is an opaque identifier assigned by a web server to a specific version of a resource found at a URL. If the resource content at that URL ever changes, a new and different ETag is assigned. Used in this manner ETags are a form of device identifier. ETag tracking may generate unique tracking values even where the consumer blocks HTTP, Flash, and/or HTML5 cookies. |
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| Unique Device Tokens | For each user that accepts push notifications in mobile apps, the app developer is provided with a unique device token (think of it as an address) from the app platform (e.g., Apple and Google). |
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| Deterministic Finger-printing technologies | If a user can be positively identified across multiple devices, for instance, because the user has logged into a platform such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo or Twitter, it can be “determined” who the user is for purposes of targeted advertising. |
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| Probabilistic Finger-printing | Probabilistic tracking depends upon collecting nonpersonal data regarding device attributes like operating system, device make and model, IP addresses, ad requests and location data, and making statistical inferences to link multiple devices to a single user. Note that this is accomplished through proprietary algorithms owned by the companies performing probabilistic finger-printing. Note also that in the EU IP Addresses are personal information. |
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| Device Graph | Device graphs can be created by combining nonpersonal data regarding use of smartphones and other devices with personal log-in information to track interactions with content across multiple devices. |
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| Unique Identifier Header (UIDH) | Unique Identifier Header (UIDH) in the address information that accompanies Internet (http) requests transmitted over an ISP’s wireless network. For example, when a customer types on his or her phone the web address of a retailer, that request travels over the network and is delivered to the retailer's website. The information included in that request includes things like the device type and screen size so that the retailer site knows how to best display the site on the phone. The UIDH is included in this information, and can be used as an anonymous way for advertisers to be able to determine that the user is part of a group that a third party advertiser is attempting to reach.
It is important to note that the UIDH is a temporary, anonymous identifier included with unencrypted web traffic. We change the UIDH on a regular basis to protect the privacy of our customers. We do not use the UIDH to collect web browsing information and it does not broadcast individuals' web browsing activity out to advertisers or others.
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3. Information Use, Sharing and Disclosure.
We may share your Personal Information as described in this Merchant Bill Payment Information Privacy Policy. Other than as described herein, we will not disclose your Personal Information to any third parties.
By using the bill payment service, you authorize us to share Personal Information with our processors. This information will be used to provide the bill payment services, payment transaction history and other information about your relationship with us related to your bills and related payments.
We may share your Personal Information with other third parties who perform services for us. For example, we may hire companies to help provide you with electronic bills, process payment transactions, administer the bill payment website or services, analyze data, and provide customer service. These third parties will not use your Personal Information for any purpose except to carry out the requested service.
In certain instances, we may disclose your Personal Information when there is reason to believe that it is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against persons or entities that may be causing injury to you, us, Processors or others. We may also disclose your Personal Information when we believe the law requires it.
In the event of a merger, consolidation or sale or transfer of all or substantially all of us or our assets, it is possible that all customer information that we and/or our processors have collected, including your Personal Information, will be transferred to the purchaser or the new company.
Non-Personal Information
Under certain circumstances, we or our processors may share or disclose information about you that is aggregated, anonymous or that otherwise does not personally identify you (“Non-Personal Information”). For example, we or our processors may share Non-Personal Information with:
§ Advertisers and other third parties for their marketing and promotional purposes; and
§ Organizations approved by us or our processors that conduct research into consumer spending.
4. Notice to California: How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals
California Business & Professions Code Section 22575(b) provides that California residents are entitled to know how we respond to “Do Not Track” browser settings. We currently do not take actions to respond to Do Not Track signals.
5. Amendments.
We may amend this Merchant Bill Payment Information Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes we make to the Merchant Bill Payment Information Privacy Policy will be effective immediately on posting to this website. You should review this Merchant Bill Payment Privacy Policy frequently to ensure you understand its terms.
6. Security of Your Personal Information.
We take your privacy and security seriously. For this reason, we have established security measures consistent with standard industry practice to protect and prevent unauthorized access to your Personal Information. These security measures include a combination of firewall barriers, encryption techniques and authentication procedures to maintain the security of information submitted through the bill payment website, as well as locked doors and files, and managerial controls that limit the potential for misuse of Personal Information by our employees, contractors and other third parties. While we take steps to protect your Personal Information and keep it secure, we cannot absolutely guaranty the security of any information you transmit to us or our Processors.
7. Contacting Merchant.
If you have any questions about this Merchant Bill Payment Information Privacy Policy, you may contact us using the customer service contact information provided through our website. We would be happy to answer your questions and/or hear your concerns.