Privacy Policy.

January 11, 2016

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how information about you is collected, used, and disclosed by Big River Communications. (“Big River”) and provides other important privacy information, describes when and how we may change this Policy, and tells you how to contact us with any questions or comments.

 

WHAT TYPES OF INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

We collect information about you and your associated device(s) when you use our products or services or otherwise interact with us or with third-party services through our products and services. Examples of the types of information we collect include:

 Personal Information

“Personal Information” means information that we directly associate with a specific person or entity (for example, name; addresses; telephone numbers; email address; Social Security Number; call records; wireless device location). Personal information does not include “de-identified,” “anonymous,” or “aggregate” information – which are not associated with a specific person or entity.

Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI)

Customer Proprietary Network Information, or “CPNI”, is a subset of Personal Information that is generated in connection with the telecommunications services we provide to you. CPNI includes, for example, call details, call location information, and certain information about your rate plans and features. CPNI does not include your name, address, and phone number.

Credit and Financial Information

We collect information about your credit card or banking information, Social Security Number, and credit history for account opening, management and billing and collection purposes

Network and Device Information

We may collect information about your use of our network and the device(s) associated with your account, network data related to WiFi usage and device, and performance information, as well as data relating to your use of our website, applications and other products and services.

Performance and Diagnostic Data

We may collect performance and diagnostic data about your use of our network, networks you roam on, WiFi services or your device. For example, we may collect information about the performance of the device, signal strength, dropped calls, data failures and other device or network performance issues. We may also collect information about applications on your device, when an application is launched or fails to launch, and length of time an application has been running.

Collection of Information About Children

We do not knowingly solicit children to purchase our services or products. If, however, you authorize a child to use our services or products by providing them a device associated with your account, any information associated with such use will be treated as your information in accordance with this Policy.

Our websites are not designed to attract children under the age of 13 and we do not intentionally or knowingly collect Personal Information on our websites from anyone under the age of 13. We encourage parents to be involved in the online activities (including wireless Internet browsing) of their children to ensure that no information is collected from a child without parental permission.

 

HOW INFORMATION ABOUT YOU IS COLLECTED

Big River collects information about you in three primary ways:

Information You Provide

We collect information that you provide to us when you apply for, purchase, or use our products or services, or otherwise communicate with us.

For example, some of the ways you may provide information to us include:

• When you sign up for our voice or data services or purchase other products or services, we may collect personal contact, billing, and credit information.
• When you establish or modify an online account, we may collect user identification information, passwords, and/or security question responses that you will use for future sign-on.
• When you interact with our customer service representatives, enter information on our websites, submit survey responses, or pay for services, we may also collect Personal Information and other information. We may monitor and record phone calls, e-mails, live chats, or other communications between you, your device, and our customer service representatives or other employees or representatives.
• When you use our services on a device provided to you by an account holder.

Information We Collect Automatically

We automatically collect a variety of information associated with your use of your device and our products and services, some of which may be associated with you or another user on your account.

For example some of the ways we may automatically collect information include:

• Our systems capture details about the type and location of wireless device(s) you use.
• We may also gather information about the performance of your device and our network. Some examples of the types of data collected include: the applications on the device, signal strength, dropped calls, data failures, and other device or network performance issues.
• Cookies, Web Beacons, and Similar Technologies

We may use, or we may engage third-parties to use on our behalf, cookies (small data text files placed on your computer or device) or similar technologies to identify your computer or device and record your preferences and other data so that our websites can personalize your visit(s), see which areas and features of our websites are popular, and improve our websites and your experience.

We may also use web beacons (small graphic images on a web page or an HTML e-mail) to monitor interaction with our websites or e-mails. Web beacons are generally invisible because they are very small (only 1-by-1 pixel) and the same color as the background of the web page or e-mail message.

Depending upon your device or computer, you may be able to set your browser(s) to reject cookies or delete cookies, but that may result in the loss of some functionality on our websites. If we combine or link cookie or web beacon information with Personal Information, we will treat the combined or linked information as Personal Information under this Policy.

Web Browsing Activity

Our Websites. When accessing our websites, mobile websites and related applications and widgets designed for your device or web-based experience, we automatically collect certain information about your device and your visit, such as your IP address, browser type, date and time, the web page you visited before visiting our website, your activities and purchases on our websites, and other analytical information associated with the sites.

Other Websites. When your device’s web browser utilizes our data services to access websites other than our own, we automatically capture information associated with your browsing activities, and measure and monitor network and Internet connection performance, throughput, latency, and similar network data.

Do Not Track Policy. Some browsers have incorporated “Do Not Track” features. Most of these features, when turned on, send a signal or preference to the websites you visit indicating that you do not wish to be tracked. Those sites (or the third party content on those sites) may continue to engage in activities you might view as tracking even though you have expressed this preference, depending on the sites’ privacy practices. Because there is not yet a common understanding of how to interpret the DNT signal, we do not currently respond to the browser DNT signals when you use our services and products or interact with our websites or online services.

Information From Other Sources

We may also obtain information about you from other sources. For example, we may receive credit information from third-party sources before initiating your service, or background information in connection with employment opportunities. We may also obtain updated address information from our shippers or other vendors. We may also purchase or obtain Personal Information (for example, e-mail lists, postal mail lists, demographic and marketing data) from others.

 

HOW WE USE INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

We use the information we collect for a variety of business purposes, such as:

• To route your calls or message or otherwise provide you with service;
• To provide and bill for products and services you purchase and charge to your account;
• To deliver and confirm products and services you obtain from us;
• To verify your identity and maintain a record of your transactions and interactions with us;
• To provide customer and technical services to you;
• To create, modify, improve, enhance, remove or fix our network, products and services, and their performance;
• To identify and suggest products or services that might interest you;
• To make internal business decisions about current and future product and service offerings;
• To provide you customized user experiences, including personalized product and service offerings;
• To protect our rights, interests, safety and property and that of our customers, service providers and other third parties; and
• To comply with law or as required for legal purposes.

Fraud Prevention

We may use Personal Information, including voice print recordings, account information (such as purchase patterns) and device information for investigations or prevention of fraud or network abuse.

Information Collected from Cookies

We may also use information collected from cookies or other similar technologies to improve our websites, make recommendations, and complete transactions you request.

Performance, Diagnostics & Management

We collect information about devices, our network and WiFi usage to perform diagnostic analyses and understand how your device is performing overall. Diagnostic data helps us troubleshoot technical issues related to your device’s performance such as battery life, dropped calls, processing speed, device memory, service coverage, and network and WiFi signal strength that you and other customers may experience. If you are using a device in WiFi mode, we may collect information about that usage, such as the routing address and IP address. We also may use diagnostic data to identify and recommend products and services.

 

WHEN WE SHARE INFORMATION COLLECTED ABOUT YOU

We do not sell, license, rent, or otherwise provide your Personal Information to unaffiliated third-parties (parties outside the Big River corporate family) to market their services or products to you without your consent. We may, however, disclose your information to unaffiliated third-parties as follows:

With Your Consent

We may disclose Personal Information about you to third-parties with your consent. We may obtain your consent in writing; online, through “click-through” agreements; when you accept the terms of disclosures on your phone for certain applications or services; orally, in our stores or on the phone, including through interactive voice response, or implicitly, for example, when you purchase a product and ask that it be shipped to your home, consenting to our disclosure of your name and address to a third-party shipping company to complete delivery.

To the Primary Account Holder

We may disclose information about an account user to the primary account holder (the party financially responsible for the account). If a business, governmental agency, or other individual obtains service for you, that entity or individual is our customer, and we may provide information about you or your use of the service, products or devices to them or others at their direction.

When you are the primary account holder, but you receive special or discounted pricing, terms, or other benefits through another party’s agreement with us (for example, an employee discount), we may provide enough information to that party to verify your initial and continuing eligibility for benefits under their agreement with us and to calculate any associated discounts.

To Our Service Providers

We may disclose information to third-party vendors and partners who complete transactions or perform services on our behalf (for example, credit/debit card processing, billing, shipping, repair, customer service, auditing, and marketing).

In a Business Transfer

We may sell, disclose, or transfer information about you as part of a corporate business transaction, such as a merger or acquisition, joint venture, corporate reorganization, financing, or sale of company assets, or in the unlikely event of insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership, in which such information could be transferred to third-parties as a business asset in the transaction.

For Legal Process & Protection

We may disclose Personal Information, and other information about you, or your communications, where we have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary:

• To satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request;
• To enforce or apply agreements, or initiate, render, bill, and collect for services and products (including to collection agencies in order to obtain payment for our products and services);
• To protect our rights or interests, property or safety or that of others;
• In connection with claims, disputes, or litigation – in court or elsewhere;
• To protect users of our services and other carriers or providers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of, or subscription to, such services;
• To facilitate or verify the appropriate calculation of taxes, fees, or other obligations due to a local, state, or federal government; or
• In an emergency situation.

De-Identified Information

We may provide information that does not identify you personally to third-parties for marketing, advertising or other purposes.

Third-Party Applications for Your Devices

We are not responsible for the third-party applications (for example, applications, programs, widgets, etc.) you select and install on your device. When you install third party applications, you may give your consent for the third party to access information stored on the device and on our network to facilitate the application’s functions. The manner in which such third-parties may use, share, or disclose such information is governed by the terms and conditions and privacy policy provided by that third party – not by this Policy.

 

HOW WE STORE AND PROTECT THE INFORMATION COLLECTED ABOUT YOU

Protecting Your Information

We use a variety of physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect Personal Information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure while it is under our control.

Under federal law, you have a right, and we have a duty, to protect the confidentiality of CPNI and we have adopted policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with those rules. We will not intentionally disclose your CPNI to third-parties without your permission, except as allowed under FCC rules, applicable law, or explained in this Policy. However, if you are the primary account holder, you may designate other “authorized users” (for example, a spouse) to access and manage your account information, including CPNI.

Retention and Disposal

We retain information only for as long as we have a business or tax need or as applicable laws, regulations, or government orders require. When we dispose of Personal Information, we use reasonable procedures designed to erase or render it unreadable (for example, shredding documents and wiping electronic media).

 

HOW YOU CAN UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION AND CHOOSE HOW WE CONTACT YOU

Access to Your Information

You may contact us using the information in the How to Contact Us section below.

Choices Regarding Use of Your Information

We may send you communications about services or products we, or our partners, sell. We want to provide you with meaningful choices regarding our marketing communications, and you may choose to limit or opt-out of some marketing communications from us at any time. Although you may elect not to receive marketing information from us, if you subscribe to our services or buy our products, you will continue to receive invoices, customer-service and transactional notices, and similar communications.

 

YOUR ROLE IN PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY

You play an important role in ensuring the security of Personal Information. We encourage you to use safeguards to protect your information and devices.

 

PRIVACY POLICY UPDATES AND CONTACT INFORMATION

How We Communicate Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy at any time to provide updates to or clarification of our practices. If we make changes, we will revise the date at the top of the Policy. If we propose to use Personal Information in a materially different way, we will provide you with notice by posting notice of the changes on our website for at least 30 days before we implement those changes, and obtain your consent as specified above for any material change regarding disclosure of Personal Information. You should refer to this Policy often for the latest information and the effective date of any changes.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments about this Policy or about Big River’s privacy practices, please call Customer Service at 1-855-554-6244 option 2 or send an e-mail message to support@bigrivercom.com. You may also direct your privacy-related comments or questions to the address below: