Subscriber Privacy Policy
We respect your privacy and want to ensure you are aware of our practices as they pertain to your personal information collected and stored by the community awareness and marketing campaign programs and Email Preference Center. By subscribing to one of our newsletters or by using the website, you accept the Subscriber Privacy Policy and consent to our collection, use, processing, disclosure, and retention of your information as described in this policy.
Our Privacy Principles
- We will not sell, rent, or license your personal information.
- We treat personal information as confidential, consistent with legal and regulatory requirements.
- We will only share your information with your consent or as provided for in this policy.
- We require any person or organization that we share data with to protect your information.
- We do not allow any person or organization acting on our behalf to use information you provide to us for their own marketing purposes.
- We only use your data to communicate with you about energy-related topics and programs, as indicated by your preferences in the Email Preference Center.
- We track online behavior on our website and through email communications only to improve our programs and services.
Below is a list of Frequently Asked Questions describing how we use and protect the information we collect through our community awareness and marketing programs.
What information do we collect?
We collect subscriber information based on our relationship with you and your use of our services. Some examples include:
- Information you provide to us to communicate with you, such as your name, email address, and communication preferences.
- Information you provide to us to fulfill online offers or other features of the community awareness and marketing programs, such as your mailing address and eligibility verification details.
- We may also automatically acquire information when you visit our website or interact with our emails. We use this information to measure your engagement with our messages and improve our offerings and services.
How is information collected?
We collect subscriber information in a variety of ways, including:
- When you set up or manage your newsletter subscription.
- When you choose to apply for a reward or participate in a marketing program.
- When you interact with our community awareness or marketing emails or websites.
- When you provide us your e-mail address through one of our digital platforms or at a community event.
- We may also supplement information we collect from you with information from third parties to help us serve you or offer services that may interest you. We will apply this policy to any information received from a third party as part of a community awareness or marketing program.
How is subscriber information used?
We use subscriber information to establish and maintain your subscription to our newsletters and to manage rewards or other programs you participate in. We use the contact information you provide us to mail or email you concerning energy topics. We only contact you on energy-related topics we believe to be of interest to you, as indicated by your preferences.
We use basic information collected by our website and other online resources to learn more about how the resources are used and to improve and administer our site and services. We also use this information to enable us to deliver information tailored to your interests and preferences.
Do we share the subscriber information we collect?
We share your subscriber information for business purposes only. This can include affiliates and subsidiaries, for purposes of providing information or fulfillment of rewards and other offers. We also share subscriber information when contracting with third parties to provide website maintenance, program administration, rewards fulfillment, and other services. We require any affiliate, subsidiary, or contracted third-party to have data security measures in place to protect and secure this data.
Disclosure of subscriber information may be required by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) or other government agencies for regulatory purposes. Disclosure may also be required by legal processes, such as a search warrant, subpoena, or court order. We may need to disclose subscriber information in certain exceptional circumstances, such as to protect against malicious and/or unauthorized access, to protect legal rights, or to address actual or threatened illegal or harmful conduct.
How do we ensure subscriber information is secure?
We apply administrative, physical, and technical precautions to safeguard subscriber information. In accordance with industry standards, we operate with restricted access to data, and we have implemented commercially-appropriate security controls to protect subscriber information when it is stored or transmitted. While no computer system is completely secure, we believe the measures we have implemented reduce the likelihood of security problems to a level appropriate for the type of data involved.
How can you access or update your subscriber information?
If your interests and preferences change, please keep us informed. The easiest way to update your preferences is in the Email Preference Center, which can be accessed from a link at the bottom of every community awareness and marketing email.
Other contact information, such as mailing address, is only used for the fulfilment of the offer it was provided under.
A word about phishing and fraud
If you subscribe, we will send you emails about energy-related topics and the special offers or programs you choose to participate in. However, we will never email you or call you to ask for sensitive personal information. Some scams use technology to imitate our email addresses or links to our website. When in doubt, open a new browser and enter our website address yourself.
A note about "cookies" and internet browsers
A cookie is a small amount of data that often includes an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent from a website to your internet browser and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each website you visit can send its own cookie to your browser, if your browser's preferences allow it. We use a cookie to recognize you as a return visitor to our site for statistical reporting.
We also collect standard information available from your browser, including the type of browser you use (for example, Internet Explorer), the operating system of your computer (such as Windows), and the path you took to reach our website (for example, from a search engine or a link). This information helps us improve the user experience and ensure that our website accommodates our users' computer configurations and information needs. We also store the IP address assigned by your internet service provider. We keep this for a limited period of time to analyze and troubleshoot network or access issues if they occur.
We do not store cookies or collect browser data containing your personal information.
Linked websites
Our websites link to third-party websites and services that we think might be of interest to you, but with which we are not affiliated. A link to any third-party website does not represent our endorsement of the third party nor the quality or accuracy of information presented there. If you visit a third-party website, you are subject to its privacy policy and practices. Please carefully review the privacy policies and legal notices of all third-party websites you visit.
A special note about children
This website contains energy-related information and programs that may be of educational interest to children. We do not intend to gather personal information online from children. We encourage all children and young teenagers to seek consent from their parents before providing any information about themselves or their households to anyone on the internet.
Changes to this policy
If we modify our Subscriber Privacy Policy, we will post the revised policy here with an updated revision date. This policy supersedes all prior policies of the same or similar subject.
If you have a question
We want to assure you that we are committed to protecting your privacy. If you have questions or comments about this policy, please email us at privacy@hawaiianelectric.com.
Revised June 2022
