SolarWiki Privacy Policy

At SolarWiki, we understand the importance of your privacy, which is why we’ve crafted this Privacy Policy to outline how we collect, use, store, and safeguard your information. We encourage you to review this Policy to familiarize yourself with our practices.

By using gosolar.info or any affiliated pages hosted at the Gosolar.info domain (“Site”), you consent to the practices outlined in this Privacy Policy. Please note that this Policy does not cover the privacy practices of entities not owned or controlled by SolarWiki, or individuals not employed by SolarWiki. We may update this Policy periodically, with material changes accompanied by a notice on the Site. If you’re a regular user, we recommend reviewing the Policy regularly to stay informed about its current terms.

If you have any questions or concerns about the privacy or security of your information, please reach out to us.

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) provides essential information about how SolarWiki (“we,” “us,” or “our”) processes the personal data we collect online and offline, our privacy practices, the types of data we collect, how we use and secure it, and how long we retain it.

Please carefully read this Policy to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we handle it. If you disagree with our policies and practices, you may choose not to use our Site and/or Services (as defined below).

By using our Site and Services, you expressly consent to the collection and use of your Personal Data in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

This Policy may be updated periodically. Your continued use of our Site after such changes signifies acceptance of those changes, so please check the Policy regularly for updates.

When we refer to “Personal Data,” we mean information that directly or indirectly identifies, describes, relates to, or can reasonably be linked to a specific individual, consumer, or household.

When we mention “Services,” we collectively refer to:

– Our online tools for obtaining an “Instant Estimate” of potential energy savings via our Site.

– Our online marketplace connecting users (“Registered Users”) with third-party vendors of energy-related goods and services (“Third-Party Vendors”), along with tools providing price quotations for energy-related services.

– Our marketing efforts, including any social media platforms we operate, and emails and text messages we send (“Marketing Activities”).

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We gather your Personal Data through various channels, such as when you:

Choose to engage with us, whether by submitting your details through the registration, login, or demo pages on the Site; via email, postal mail, or telephone (including mobile phones);
Visit our Site, where automated data tracking technologies are employed;
Become a Registered User or an authorized user by directly providing us with information or setting up an account; and/or
Grant permission to third parties to share Personal Data with us.

The decision to provide us with information or authorize third-party data sharing is yours. You can opt not to provide information and still explore our Site to learn more about our services. However, declining to provide information may hinder our ability to offer you our Services. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not extend to any third-party sites that may be linked to or accessible from our Site.

TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

We may gather the following types of Personal Data:

Information You Provide to Us:

– Name, alias, physical address, email address, postal address, telephone/mobile phone numbers, communication preferences, unique personal or online identifier, account name;

– Property location or photographic map;

– Username, password, and reasons for contacting us upon becoming a Registered User;

– Details about your property’s energy systems, fuel consumption, electricity usage, physical property attributes;

– Utility account identifying numbers, meter number, copies of utility bills;

– Information authorized for release by third parties;

– Driver’s license information for identity verification from Third-Party Vendors;

– Records of correspondence with us or third parties, such as installers using our system.

If you provide Personal Data related to other individuals, you affirm that you have the authority to do so and permit us to use the information as outlined in this Privacy Policy. By submitting Personal Data, you authorize SolarWiki to transmit, monitor, retrieve, store, and utilize your information for Site operations.

Information We Collect Through Technology:

– IP addresses

– Device details

– Internet connection specifics

– Browser version

– Time zone

– Operating system and platform

– Referring/exit pages

– Account access date/time stamp

– Previously stored cookie data

An IP address is automatically assigned to your device when you access the Internet, enabling recognition and communication between devices and servers. We collect IP address data for system management and Site usage insights, including device type, browser, location, page visits, and interactions. Your IP address may link to records containing Personal Data. We gather visit details, traffic volume, logs, and accessed resources on our Site.

Information We Collect from Third Parties:

– Our Partners may share publicly available and demographic data sourced from third parties to enhance understanding of your home’s energy product suitability and to refine our Services through research.

HOW AND WHY WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We collect only the information reasonably necessary to respond to inquiries about our Services, provide the Services, conduct our operations, comply with the law, and fulfill other legitimate business purposes, as outlined below:

To furnish price quotations and inform you about Services of interest or registration;
Respond to inquiries and enhance customer service;
Send notices regarding your account;
Assist in marketing efforts and building relationships;
Compile statistics on Site usage to enhance products and Services;
Record your name, contact details, and other Personal Data for operational purposes;
Authorize and manage Site access;
Fulfill contractual obligations if you become a Registered User;
Improve the Site for better services, like refining the layout based on user interaction;
Comply with legal obligations and professional duties;
Verify identity, conduct internal audits, or prevent security incidents.

We do not monitor or profile Site visitors or collect sensitive Personal Data automatically. No automated decision-making, including profiling, occurs during Personal Data processing.

Additional Uses of Personal Data:

Upon becoming a Registered User, we may use your Personal Data for the following purposes, which may be based on consent, contractual obligations, or legitimate interests:

Provide newsletters, articles, alerts, and announcements;
Offer marketing information about our Services;
Conduct research, surveys, and inquiries to understand user needs;
Analyze interactions to enhance products and services;
Prevent, investigate, or notify about fraud, unlawful activity, or unauthorized access;
Enforce our agreements, like Terms of Use and Mobile Terms of Use.

HOW WE SHARE AND DISCLOSE PERSONAL DATA

We may share aggregated information that doesn’t identify individuals (and hence, isn’t deemed Personal Data) without restriction.

We share Personal Data with the following categories of recipients:

Third-party Vendors: Your Personal Data is shared with and processed by our affiliates and non-affiliated third-party service providers, as permitted by law and for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. This includes disclosing Personal Data to specialized service providers bound by confidentiality obligations to use it solely for disclosed purposes, such as advisors, consultants, technical service providers, and researchers.
Channel Partners: SolarWiki collaborates with third-party entities to enhance and promote our Services and advance energy research.
Third-Party Advertising: We share information with third parties managing advertising on the Site or other platforms, excluding opt-in information for text messages.
With Your Consent or Direction: We share information for purposes disclosed at collection or with your consent or direction.
Other Legal Grounds: We may use or disclose your Personal Data as necessary or appropriate: (1) under applicable law; (2) in response to requests from public and government authorities; (3) to pursue remedies or limit damages; (4) to safeguard our operations or those of affiliates; (5) to protect rights, privacy, safety, or property; and (6) to enforce terms and conditions.

DATA SECURITY

We employ reasonable organizational, technical, and administrative measures to uphold the privacy and security of your Personal Data within our organization. To this end, we implement secure firewalls and utilize security technologies to safeguard the integrity and privacy of any Personal Data you provide. While we diligently strive to protect your Personal Data, SolarWiki cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us via online forms and applications, and you do so at your own risk. Please note that the Site is not intended to store sensitive personal information like financial, health, or educational records, and you should refrain from using the site for such purposes.

It’s important to recognize that email and text communications are nonencrypted and thus nonsecure forms of communication. They can be accessed and viewed by others without your knowledge or permission. For this reason, to safeguard your privacy, please refrain from using email or text to convey information you consider confidential. While we endeavor to maintain robust security measures, no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be secure at all times. If you suspect that your interaction with us is no longer secure, please promptly notify us. We will inform you if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

We cannot be held responsible for any consequences if you bypass any privacy settings or security measures. It is your responsibility to select a password of sufficient strength, avoid sharing or reusing passwords used on other websites, and keep your password confidential. SolarWiki employees will never request your password.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL DATA

We will retain your Personal Data for the duration necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy and to provide you with the Services, as well as for the duration of your active account or as required to furnish you with Services. Additionally, we will maintain your information to adhere to our legal obligations, conduct audits, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

CAPACITY / CHILDREN

This Site is exclusively intended for individuals who are at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly encourage or solicit visitors under the age of 18 to use this Site.

We are committed to adhering to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Our Service is not targeted towards children under the age of 13, and children under 13 are prohibited from using the Site or providing any information to our Service without explicit parental consent. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we inadvertently receive personal information provided by a child under 13, we will promptly delete such information.

EMAIL MARKETING

From time to time, we may send you pertinent marketing alerts and newsletters via email. To enhance our Marketing Activities, our email service provider furnishes us with reports that include data on when you open an email or click on a link within one of these emails. Instructions on how to opt out of these marketing alerts and newsletters are provided in each marketing email.

We may provide incentives to our customers who refer our services to others. In such cases, we obtain Personal Information about new customers directly from those interested in our services, rather than from our existing customers.

TEXT MESSAGING

If you choose to opt-in to receive informational text messages from us, you may receive periodic texts related to the services you have requested. Similarly, if you opt-in to receive promotional text messages from us, you may periodically receive texts about products or services we believe may interest you. Instructions on how to opt-out of text messaging are provided in our opt-in confirmation text and in every promotional text we send.

To assist us in enhancing our Services and/or gauging the effectiveness of and refining our Marketing Activities, our SMS service provider furnishes us with reports containing data regarding the delivery of our messages. Some text messages may contain links directing you to our Site. If you click on any of these links and visit our Site, we may collect your Personal Data through automated data tracking technology. Additionally, our CRM service provider may supply us with reports that include data based on your visits to our Site and related traffic data, aiding us in measuring the effectiveness of and refining our Marketing Activities.

YOUR PERSONAL DATA CHOICES

You have the power to control how your Personal Data is utilized and shared. You possess the following rights:

Request SolarWiki to update, access, or delete your account information; and

Opt whether you wish to receive promotional and newsletter communications.

Account Information: As a Registered User with an account, you can update, rectify, or delete your Personal Data anytime by (1) logging into your account and adjusting your details, or (2) reaching out to us via email at info@solarwiki.us. SolarWiki will furnish you with details regarding whether we hold, or process on behalf of a third party, any of your Personal Data. We pledge to address your access request within 30 days.

Deactivating or Deleting Your Account: If you possess a SolarWiki account and desire to deactivate it, please visit your personal account page and select “Delete account” for guidance. However, bear in mind that we may retain certain information, including cached or archived copies, as necessitated by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Certain Exceptions to Deletion Request Rights: While you hold the right to request the deletion of any personal information we collected from you and retained, exceptions may apply. After receiving and confirming your verifiable consumer request, we will erase (and direct our service providers to erase) your personal information from our records, except in cases where an exception applies. We may refuse your deletion request if retaining the information is essential for us or our service provider(s) to:

Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest.
Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.
Comply with a legal obligation.
Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

Choice and Opt-Out:

You have the opportunity to unsubscribe from our promotional email communications, or you may reach out to us using the information provided below.
You can opt out of personalized ads at any time by deleting your browser’s cookies. For further details, please refer to our Cookies Notice.
You may opt out of receiving text messages by replying “STOP”. Note that standard message and data rates may apply.

Exercising Access, Data Portability, and Deletion Rights: To exercise the access, data portability, and deletion rights detailed above, kindly submit a verifiable consumer request to us via email at info@gosolar.info.

Verification of Your Identity: Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may initiate a verifiable consumer request concerning your personal information. Additionally, you may make such a request on behalf of your minor child. You may submit a verifiable consumer request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period. You must:

Provide adequate information enabling us to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative.
Articulate your request with enough detail to enable us to understand, assess, and address it accurately.

Should we fail to verify your identity or authority to make the request, or confirm that the personal information pertains to you, we cannot respond to your request or furnish you with personal information.

WITHDRAWAL OF YOUR CONSENT

If you have granted consent for the processing of personal information, you retain the right to revoke such consent at any given time, without impacting the legality of processing conducted based on consent prior to its withdrawal. You can accomplish this by reaching out to us using the details provided in the “How to Contact Us” section below.

RESPONSE TIMING AND FORMAT

We strive to address a verifiable consumer request within thirty (30) days of its receipt. Should additional time be necessary (up to 90 days), we will notify you of the reason for the extension in writing.

For individuals with an existing account, our written response will be delivered through that account. If you do not hold an account with us, we offer the choice of receiving our written response via mail or electronically.

Any disclosures provided will pertain solely to the 12-month period preceding the receipt of the verifiable consumer request. Our response will also include explanations for any inability to fulfill a request, if applicable. In the case of data portability requests, we will select a format for providing your personal information that is readily usable and enables transmission between entities without impediment.

There is no fee associated with processing or responding to your verifiable consumer request unless it is deemed excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. Should we determine that a fee is warranted, we will provide an explanation for this decision along with a cost estimate before proceeding with your request.

COOKIES NOTICE

Cookies are small pieces of data sent from a website and stored on your computer to enhance your browsing experience. They help measure website usage, personalize experiences, and provide valuable insights for improvement.

How We Use Cookies:

1. Necessary Cookies: Essential for our Services, enabling access to secure areas.

2. Helpful Cookies: Enhance your Site experience without collecting identifying information.

3. Analytics and Customization Cookies: Aid in understanding usage patterns and customizing Services, while maintaining anonymity.

4. Web Beacons: Track user visits and email interactions for statistical purposes.

5. Targeting Cookies: Recognize returning visitors and track activity across Sites.

6. Google Analytics: Provides insights into Site usage without associating IP addresses with personal data.

Controlling Cookies:

You can manage cookie preferences in your browser settings, but blocking all cookies may limit Site access and functionality. Enabling first-party cookies is recommended for full Service access. Blocking only third-party cookies allows Site functionality. Further information on Google Analytics cookies is available at https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies.

GOOGLE MAPS API INTEGRATION

Solarwiki utilizes the Google Maps API to provide mapping and location-based services on our website. We hereby incorporate by reference the Google Privacy Policy, which can be found at https://policies.google.com/privacy. Users are encouraged to review this policy to understand how Google collects, uses, and processes data.

In addition to data collected directly by Solarwiki, Google may collect and process data as a result of your use of the Google Maps features on our website. This may include location data, search queries, and other information as outlined in Google’s privacy policy.

Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy are publicly available. Users are encouraged to review these documents regularly for any updates or changes.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

SolarWiki reserves the right to update its Privacy Policy periodically at its discretion. We encourage visitors to regularly review this page for any revisions to our Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions, concerns, or inquiries regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of Personal Data, please reach out to us via email at legal@gosolar.info.