PRIVACY POLICY
Middlesex Water Company, its affiliates and related entities, understands that your personal information is important and private and we are committed to making every reasonable effort to protect the security of information provided to us. We also expect the same from our service providers and that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the security and confidentiality of information you provide to them. This Privacy Policy addresses the information Middlesex Water gathers from its customers, visitors to https://www.middlesexwater.com or www.waterfortomorrowmwc.com, collectively our (“Websites”) Please take time to read this Privacy Policy carefully.
Definitions
“Our,” “We,” and “Us” refer to Middlesex Water and our affiliated subsidiaries listed under our Family of Companies.
(Visitor”, “You” “Your” or “User” refers to any visitor to or user of the Middlesex Water website www.middlesexwater.com, or the Water for Tomorrow website, waterfortomorrowmwc.com. which includes updates on Middlesex Water’s critical infrastructure initiatives.
Information Provided under our Websites
We provide information about water quality, conservation, news, governance, rate information, stock information and other helpful topics on our website. We also host contact forms for customers and investors and host links to third party sites including HomeServe (emergency home repair plans) and our online payment service provider. Please see information related to Links to Third Party and Co-Branded Web sites later in this document.
Personally Identifiable Information
Middlesex Water Company respects the privacy of its customers and is committed to protecting any personal information collected, whether such collection is required by law or necessary for furthering a legitimate business purpose. In that regard, Middlesex Water Company will follow data protection practices in accordance with applicable laws and regulations when collecting, storing and using personal information and will not sell customers’ personal information to outside parties.
When personal information such as a name, address, telephone number or email address is obtained from or provided by visitors, we want you to know how we handle the information collected.
Information Automatically Collected from our Websites
Middlesex Water Company automatically receives certain types of information whenever you interact with us or use our services, such as your Internet protocol address and browser type. While we collect or log this information, we generally do not identify you or match this information with your other personal information.
We do not obtain personal information about you when you visit our Web site unless you choose voluntarily to provide such information. For example, if you provide us with information via email or through our Contact Us form, we will collect information you provide which may include your name, address, service address, phone and email, as well as other information and use that information to respond to your inquiry. When you provide MWC with your email address, we will consider your email as consent for us to communicate with you by email. We may use email periodically to communicate with you about your account, privacy and the Services we provide. Should you subscribe to a newsletter, email alerts, we will collect your first and last name and email address and use that information to respond accordingly.
We collect information about visits or use of our website and mobile applications, such as the number of visitors that click on certain links for certain types of information. We use standard industry software to gather summary statistics for the website to better improve the user experience and design for an enhanced visitor experience.
We do not currently use cookies or other tracking mechanisms to collect personal or individually identifiable information.
Middlesex Water Company does not collect and store financial information (bank account number, credit card information) in our Customer Care system. Middlesex Water Company will not sell your personal identifiable information to others.
How We Use Information Obtained from Your use of our Website or Mobile Applications
Middlesex Water Company may use your Personally Identifiable Information to:
- Verify your identity when you contact us.
- Provide water utility or other services to you, administer your account, respond to your inquiry and to bill you for services.
- Communicate with You about planned service interruptions or boil water emergencies via our DIRECTAlert registration. You may update your contact information via DIRECTAlert at any time.
- Enable Third Parties to provide service to you in coordination with Middlesex Water Company, but only to the extent necessary to render those services and subject to confidentiality and security requirements imposed by Middlesex Water on Third Parties;
- Comply with a valid request from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities or the Delaware Public Service Commission or other state or federal government agency with legal authority to obtain the Personal Information from Middlesex Water Company;
- Prevent fraud and perform investigations, including computer forensics;
- Improve, develop and maintain a quality web experience for business purposes or legal reasons, including to filter for spam and communications that violate our Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy;
- Notify credit reporting agencies and collection agencies, if your account is assigned for collection;
Customer Data Privacy
Middlesex Water Company employees have a duty to ensure that customers’ personal information, including billing and payment history, remains properly safeguarded. Customer information may be accessed, shared, discussed or otherwise used internally for legitimate business needs only. Any employee who access or uses such information for any purpose, other than a legitimate business need, is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
Data Retention
We will keep your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we are processing your personal information, unless the law permits or requires us to retain your personal information for a longer period. For example, we may need to keep your personal data for quality assurance for our Site or to defend future legal claims. We also will retain aggregated information after your account has been closed.
Children’s Privacy
Children under 13 should not send any information about themselves to Middlesex Water Company. If we learn that a child under 13 submits information through any part of the Web site, we will attempt to delete this information as soon as possible. Because we do not knowingly collect any personal information from children under 13, we do not use or disclose such information to third parties.
Links to Third Party and Co-Branded Web sites
Middlesex Water Company hosts links to the HomeServe USA Corp. (third party) website offering optional emergency home repair plans. See HomeServe Privacy Policy. Visitors may also access an online billing portal My H20 SmartPay and mobile application which is administered by a third party, Kubra.
My H20 Smart Pay uses several methods to ensure that your information is kept secure. User names and passwords are unique identifiers used on the site. As long as you do not share your User Name and Password with anyone, your bills and personal information will be secure. My H20 Smart Pay also uses secure socket layers SSL which ensures that your connection and information are secured from outside inspection. My H20 Smart Pay also uses 126 bit encryption to make your information unreadable as it passes over the internet. Users are automatically signed out of a session if they are inactive for 20 minutes. See Kubra Privacy Policy. We encourage you to read the privacy policies for these other Web sites, as they may differ from ours. These third party privacy policies also appear at the end of this document.
Telephone Communications
Middlesex Water Company uses the telephone number you provide to communicate with you about your water utility services, service interruptions, boil water advisories and other aspects of services we provide. Middlesex Water does not engage in telemarketing and all communication with you via telephone is conducted in accordance with all applicable state laws.
Social Media Sites
Middlesex Water Company, its affiliates and related entities frequently use social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn to communicate about our programs and services. We encourage our customers to follow us on these social media sites to receive timely information. To view our social media site policies please click here.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Middlesex Water Company reserves the right to change this policy at any time by posting a new privacy statement at this location. Therefore, you are responsible for periodically checking this privacy statement for changes. By continuing to access or use Our Websites, and mobile applications, You acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to the provisions and are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you disagree with how Middlesex Water may use your personal information under this Privacy Policy, please do not provide any information.
Contact Middlesex Water Company
If you have any questions or concerns regarding Middlesex Water Company’s privacy policy, or would like to request a change to your personal information or contact preferences, please contact us at (800) 549-3802, or e-mail us.
Last Updated: August 2, 2021