Privacy Policy

Last Revised: July 1, 2023

This privacy notice (“Privacy Notice”) is incorporated by reference into the respective terms and conditions of the Websites (defined below) (“Terms of Use”).

This Privacy Notice describes:

• the information that The Connecticut Water Company, The Maine Water Company, The Avon Water Company, and The Heritage Village Water Company (collectively, “Water Companies” or “we” or “us” or “ours”) collect from you when you interact with any one of our websites, including www.ctwater.com, www.mainewater.com, www.avonwater.com, and www.heritagevillagewater.com (collectively “Websites”);
• how we collect, use and disclose the information that we receive, including any sharing of such information with third parties; and
• how we store and secure such information.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Privacy Notice, our data collection or processing practices, if you would like to review your personally identifiable information (“PII”), request a change to your PII or contact preferences or if you want to report any suspected security violations to us, please contact us at: Connecticut Water, Attn: Public Affairs, 93 West Main Street, Clinton, CT; or via telephone at 1.800.286.5700; or via email at customerservice@ctwater.com.

Services We Provide

We offer the following services (“Website Services”) on our Websites:

• We provide information about the water-related services we offer as well as information about conservation, water quality, special offers and programs (e.g., the Linebacker Protection program) and current news and events related to the Water Companies.
• We also provide customers of the Water Companies the option to pay their bill on-line and we offer several fillable forms that address common customer issues or inquiries such as service inquiries or property closing information.
• We promote career opportunities and invite on-line applications.
• We provide investors and potential investors information regarding investment opportunities, investor rights and other related topics.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide to Us. We will collect data from you that you voluntarily provide.

a. Contact Us. If you provide us with feedback or contact us through our “Contact Us” button or via email, we will collect the information that you provide to us, which may include your name, address, telephone number and email address, as well as any other content you include, and we will use that information to respond to your message.

b. Forms. Our Websites offer several forms designed to assist our customers including but not limited to forms for meter reading, property closing, service inquiry and Linebacker Protection enrollment. If you complete a form on our Website, we will collect and use the information you provide to us on that form to respond to your request or inquiry or complete requested enrollment. Customers are not required to use the on-line forms.

c. Newsletters/Communications. You can subscribe to newsletters or email lists on our Websites. If you choose to register to receive a newsletter or email alerts or updates, we will collect your email address, first and last name, and address and we will then send you a verification email.

Information We Receive From Your Use of Our Websites.

We may receive certain types of information automatically when you access our Websites, such as your browser type and version and internet protocol (IP) address. While our system may collect this information, we generally do not identify you or match this information with your other PII; however, we reserve the right to do so under certain circumstances (including, but not limited to, reporting to law enforcement authorities, in response to subpoenas or to enforce the Terms of Use). The information is used to diagnose website technical problems, facilitate your use of our Websites, or track aggregate website traffic patterns. We may share this aggregated data (along with any other aggregated data) with third parties.

Cookies, or text files that are placed on your hard drive by a website when you visit that website, identify your computer and record your preferences and other data about your visit to that website so when you return to the website, the website can personalize your return visit. We may use cookies to collect information about your visit to (i) determine which of our Website Services and features are most relevant to you, (ii) personalize and improve your experience on our Websites and (iii) complete transactions that you may request. You can configure your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. By prohibiting the use of cookies, however, you may restrict your access to certain types of content or features, as our Website Services may not function as intended with cookies disabled.

Links to Third Party Websites

Our Websites contain links to third-party websites and services. Some of those third-party websites may be co-branded with our logos. For example, our Websites contain links to co-branded third party websites for employment application submission and for on-line bill payment. If you decide to submit an application or pay your bill using the links on our Websites, you will be submitting your information through third party websites such that such third party’s terms of use and privacy policy will govern your submission of information.

More generally, we are not responsible for and cannot control the information displayed on or privacy practices of these other websites. We encourage you to read the terms of use and privacy policies for these other websites, as they may differ from ours.

How We Use and Share Your Information

We use your information only for purposes of providing the Website Services described above or to otherwise comply with our legal obligations. We do not sell your information to anyone. Specifically, we may use or share your information as detailed below.

With your consent. We may share your information with third parties if you have given us your consent to do so.

To perform services. We may use or disclose your information to third parties in order to provide water-related services or to provide Website Services you request, such as to enroll you in the Linebacker Protection program.

To communicate with you. We use your information to communicate with you about our Website Services, planned service interruptions, water main flushing schedules and other information about your water service with the Water Companies, and also to respond to you when you contact us or to solicit your feedback. If you provided us with an email address, we may also send newsletters, surveys, offers, and other promotional materials related to our Website Services and for other marketing purposes of the Water Companies. You can control these marketing communications by unsubscribing at any time through our Websites or by using the “Unsubscribe” link in our email.

With our affiliates. We may share your information with our parent company, subsidiaries, joint ventures or other companies under common control (“Affiliates”), in which case, we will require our Affiliates to adhere to this Privacy Notice.

With third party service providers performing services on our behalf. We may share information with our third party service providers to perform the functions for which we engage them. We may share information as needed to operate other related services. For example: (1) we may share information about you with Google Analytics so that Google Analytics can provide us with information about the usage of our Websites; and (2) once you indicate interest in and complete an enrollment form for the Linebacker Protection program, we will share that information with our Affiliate, New England Water Utility Services, Inc. (NEWUS) to process your enrollment.

To improve, personalize, and develop Website Services. We use the information we collect to improve and personalize Website Services and to develop new services and benefits.

To create anonymous data. We may remove all identifying information from your data to create anonymous data and aggregate that data with other anonymous data. We may use and disclose any such anonymous information without restriction.

For corporate/regulatory purposes. We may share some or all of your information to the extent necessary with regulatory or other government authorities or with third-party entities with which we are negotiating a transaction, such as a sale, merger or acquisition, and which is subject to a confidentiality agreement. If another entity acquires us (or any of our Affiliates), that entity will possess the information we collected (or relevant portion thereof) and will assume the rights and obligations regarding your information as described in this Privacy Notice.

For legal purposes. We may preserve or disclose information about you to comply with a law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; to assert legal rights or defend against legal claims; or to prevent, detect, or investigate illegal activity, fraud, abuse, violations of our terms, or threats to the security of the Website Services or any other services of the Water Companies, or the physical safety of any person.

Your Options Regarding Your Information

Opt-Out

We may periodically send you free newsletters and emails to the email address that you provided that directly promote the use of our Websites, the Website Services or any other services of the Water Companies. You may indicate a preference to stop receiving further communications from us and you will have the opportunity to “opt-out” by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the email you receive, by unsubscribing through our Websites or by contacting us directly. Despite your indicated email preferences, we may send you service-related communications, including without limitation notices of any updates to the Terms of Use or this Privacy Notice.

Change Your Information

All users may review, update, correct or delete the information collected through our Websites by contacting us at 800-286-5700 or customerservice@ctwater.com. If you are or have been a customer and wish to remain a customer, the Water Companies must maintain basic account information to provide services to you.

If you need further assistance regarding your options, please contact us and we will consider your request in accordance with applicable laws.

Data Retention

We retain PII we collect through our Websites for as long as needed to provide the Website Services to you. We will retain and use this PII (i) as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, (ii) to resolve disputes, (iii) to enforce our agreements with you, and/or (iv) for the period required by laws in applicable jurisdictions.

Information Security

We use a combination of technical, administrative, and physical controls to maintain the security of your data. If you have a security-related concern, please contact us. In order to protect you and your information, we may suspend your use of any of our Website Services, without notice, pending an investigation, if we suspect any breach of security.

Children’s Privacy

Our Websites are not intended for use by children. Children under thirteen (13) should not send any information about themselves to us. We do not collect PII from any person that we know to be under the age of thirteen (13). If we learn that a child under thirteen (13) has submitted information to us through our Websites, we will attempt to delete this information as soon as practicable.

How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals

“Do Not Track” signals are used by some web browsers to attempt to limit tracking related to your visits to a website. We take no action in response to Do Not Track signals, headers, or other similar mechanisms.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time for any reason. We will notify you of any changes to our Privacy Notice. Our notification may include a notice on the Website, an email notification or by posting the new Privacy Notice with a revised “Last Updated” date above. You should consult this Privacy Notice regularly for any changes. You can then decide whether you would like to continue to use the Website Services.