Effective Date: January 01, 2025

Introduction

Welcome to Tri State Water, Inc. (“Tri State Water, Inc., “we,” or “us,” or “our”) Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy describes how Tri State Water, Inc. collects, uses, and discloses information about you, including the choices Tri State Water Inc. offers with respect to that information, and applies to your use of any website, app, or other service where we may collect your information (collectively, “Services”) For certain Services, there may be additional notices about information practices and choices. Please read those additional privacy disclosures to understand how they apply to you.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND WHY WE COLLECT IT

“Personal Information” is information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, to you or your household. Personal Information does not include information that is publicly available, de-identified, or aggregated.

The types of Personal Information we may collect and why we may collect it is summarized below. Tri State Water, Inc. may use your Personal Information for any purposes not inconsistent with our statements under this Privacy Policy, or otherwise made by us in writing at the point of collection, and any purposes not prohibited by applicable law, including the purposes listed below.

Contact Information and Identifiers (Real name, account name, username, unique personal identifier, online identifier, IP address, email address, phone number, or other similar identifiers) To allow you to participate in the features we offer; to maintain your accounts with us; to communicate with you, including about our products, updates to our terms and policies, and to obtain your feedback; to send you marketing materials and advertisements; to recognize you when you use our Services; to show you relevant ads while you browse the internet or use social media; to send you relevant coupons, discounts, or promotions; auditing, research and analysis, to maintain and improve our Services, and for any other internal business purposes; to detect and prevent fraud against you and/or us for potential litigation and other legal or regulatory requirements

Commercial Information (records of products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies) To allow you to participate in the features we offer; to provide you with appropriate products and recommendations; to help you find relevant products more quickly; to tailor our communications to you; to provide customer service and support; to send you relevant coupons, discounts, or promotions; to improve our Services, and our products, marketing and advertising; Auditing, research and analysis, to maintain and improve our Services, and for any other internal business purposes to detect and prevent fraud against you and/or us.

Demographic Information (Age and birth date) To allow you to participate in the features we offer; to send you relevant marketing materials and advertisements; to tailor our communications to you; to improve our Services, and our products, marketing and advertising; auditing, research and analysis, to maintain and improve our Services, and for any other internal business purposes; to detect and prevent fraud against you and/or us; for potential litigation and other legal and regulatory requirements.

Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity Information (Internet or other similar activity, browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application logs, device data and registration, social media account information) To allow you to participate in the features we offer; to provide you with appropriate products and recommendations; to help you find relevant products more quickly; to tailor our communications to you; to provide customer service and support; to send you relevant coupons, discounts, or promotions; to improve our Services and our products, marketing, and advertising; auditing, research and analysis, to maintain and improve our Services, and for any other internal business purposes; to detect and prevent fraud against you and/or us.

Communications with Us (The contents of your communications with us via phone, email, text message, chat, or other means (such as survey responses, product reviews, and comments on our blog and social media pages)) To communicate with you about our products and Services, your orders, and to provide customer service and support; to improve our websites, apps, products, and marketing; to allow you to participate in our promotions, sweepstakes, contests, and loyalty programs; to detect and prevent fraud against you and/or us; for litigation and other legal and regulatory requirements; Inferences About You from Any Other Category of Information We Collect Information reflecting your preferences, characteristics, trends, or attitudes; to provide you with appropriate products and recommendations; to improve our Services, and our products, marketing and advertising; to provide you with a better website or app experience; Auditing, research and analysis, to maintain and improve our Services, and for any other internal business purposes; to detect and prevent fraud against you and/or us.

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may collect your Personal Information through various means, including when you directly provide it to us and automatically through your use of our Services. We may also collect Personal Information about you from other parties. In some instances, you may be able to choose what information to provide, but sometimes we require certain information from you to use features of our services.

Personal Information that You Provide 

We may collect Personal Information about you directly from you when you:

• Register or maintain an account with us
• Subscribe to receive our notifications
• Exchange communications with us by mail, email, phone, etc.
• Post comments to our online communities
• Obtain customer service or technical support
• Participate in promotional activities
• Post reviews or other information about our products or Services
• Connect with us via social media

Personal Information Collected Automatically

• Log Files. Log information is data about your use of our Services, such as IP address, browser type, internet service provider, referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamps, and related data, which may be collected and stored in log files.
• Cookies. Cookies are small files that a website transfers to your device through a web browser that enable the site’s or a vendor’s systems to recognize your device and to collect certain information. Cookies vary in how long they last. “Session cookies” terminate shortly after you terminate your internet session. “Persistent cookies” are stored on your device until a set expiration date. We use session cookies, persistent cookies, and other tracking technologies (such as web beacons, discussed further below) to collect information about your interactions with our website, including information about your browsing behavior. Our website may also support third-party cookies. In general, our Service uses cookies and other tracking technologies as follows:
  • Where necessary to run our Service, for example by allowing you to log in.
  • To optimize the functionality of our Service, including by personalizing content for you, greeting you by name, and remembering your preferences (e.g., your choice of language or region).
  • For analytics purposes—for example, to help us understand how our website is used, to see what products most interest you, and determine how best to market our products to you. More information on website analytics is provided below.
  • For purposes of ad targeting and marketing to collect information about your browsing behavior on our Service to show you interest-based advertising when you visit other websites or use social media.
  • To determine if you open or act upon our email messages. Information on unsubscribing from our commercial email communications is provided below.
  • To obtain information about your interactions with our online advertisements, such as whether you clicked on an ad and the website where you may have seen the ad.
• Web Beacons (“Tracking Pixels”). Web beacons/tracking pixels are small graphic images (also known as “Internet tags,” “clear GIFs,” or “Pixel Tags”) embedded in web pages and email messages which may be used to count the number of visitors to the Service, to place cookies, to monitor how users navigate the Service, and to count content and advertising views.
• Embedded Scripts. An embedded script is website code that runs automatically when you load a webpage and is designed to collect information about your interactions with the webpage. It is active only while you are connected to the Service.
• Location–Identifying Technologies. Geo-filtering and other location-aware technologies may make assumptions about your location from your IP address for purposes such as verifying your location (e.g., for shipping), or restricting/providing content based on your location. Content on our Service may also be personalized based on location so we can provide you with more location-relevant content.
• Device and Activity Monitoring. Technologies that monitor and may record your interactions with our Services, and/or collect and analyze information from your device, such as, without limitation, your operating system, plug-ins, system fonts, and other data, for purposes such as identification, security, fraud prevention, troubleshooting, tracking and/or improving our Services and customizing or optimizing your experience on our Services.
• Session Replay. In certain instances, we may collect information to help us analyze activity on our Services, our chat functionality, and mobile apps as applicable, through session replay technologies to help us understand and analyze how visitors use our Services, and to improve the Services. These technologies may collect the following types of information, among others: IP address; screen size; device type (unique device identifiers); browser information; geographic location; and preferred language.

Information We Collect from Other Sources

Tri State Water, Inc. may also obtain information about you from other sources. In some circumstances, we obtain Personal Information about you from other parties, including business partners. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or privacy practices of other parties.

HOW WE DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION

• SMS consent and phone number data is never shared with affiliates or subsidiaries, nor sold to third parties.

Other Personal Information is Disclosed as Follows

We do not disclose Personal Information outside of our direct Water Software System Service Technicians. Information may be disclosed for any purposes not to be inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, our written statements at the point of collection, or applicable law. In general, we disclose Personal Information as follows:

• For example; in order to process payments, perform auditing and quality control, communicate with you, and otherwise operate our business.
• As necessary, for the following purposes: (a) to comply with any legal process; (b) to protect our operations and protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of you or others; and (c) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
• With our insurers and professional advisers for the purposes of managing risks, obtaining professional advice, exercising or defending against legal claims, etc.
• With other businesses in connection with or during negotiations of any reorganization, acquisition, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of our business, assets, or stock (including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceeding).
• Tri State Water, Inc. will not sell personal information to another business or third party for monetary or other valuable consideration.

SOCIAL FEATURES ON OUR SERVICE

Certain functionalities on our Services permit interactions that you initiate between our Services and certain other services, such as social networks (“Social Features”). Examples of Social Features include: enabling you to send content such as contacts and photos between the Service and another’s service; “liking” or “sharing” Tri State Water Inc. content; and to otherwise connect our Services to another service (e.g., to pull or push information to or from our Services). If you use Social Features, information you post or provide access to may be publicly displayed by the social media service that you use. Similarly, if you post information on a social media service that references the Services (e.g., by using a hashtag associated with Tri state Water, Inc.), your post may be used on or in connection with the Services or otherwise by us and/or our affiliates. Also, both Tri State Water, Inc. and the social media service may have access to certain information about you and your use of the Services and any social media service.

ANALYTICS

Our website uses analytics technology provided by our vendors to understand how users interact with the site, improve our web experience, and better market our products. These analytics services use cookies and other Tracking Technologies to collect information about how you use the Service. Personal Information collected by these analytics services (e.g., your IP address and other Usage Information) may be transmitted to and stored by these providers on servers in the U.S. (or elsewhere). See below for more information on your choices regarding analytics services.

YOUR CHOICES ABOUT TRACKING & COMMUNICATIONS

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Cookies may generally be disabled or removed by tools available as part of most commercial browsers and in some instances blocked in the future by selecting certain settings. Browsers offer different functionalities and options, so you may need to set them separately.

Email Communications

Tri State Water uses email communications for billing and question concerning your accounts. We do not sell email addresses. Tri State Water may share your email address to some of our affiliates for the purpose of “Collections” or payment contacts.

Text/SMS Messages

You may receive text messages and alerts on the mobile phone number(s) you provide to us. If you opt in, we may send you text messages (i) regarding your account; (ii) about our products and promotional alerts (including advertisements, sales, and special offers); (iii) to investigate or prevent fraud; and (iv) to alert you in the event of an issue with any of your purchases, deliveries or related services. You do not have to opt in to text messages and alerts to use and enjoy our Service or products. If you opt in, standard text messaging charges may apply. You may choose to opt out from our text messages and alerts at any time. Messages will be sent at any time and any frequency. For Assistance, text HELP to 605-698-7311 or email, tristatewater@venturecomm.net. To opt out, text STOP to 605-698-7311.

SECURITY & PASSWORDS

We take commercially reasonable measures to protect Personal Information from loss, theft, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. Nevertheless, transmission via the internet and electronic storage are not completely secure, and Tri State Water, Inc. cannot guarantee the security of your Personal Information. You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any credentials used to access your account with us. If you suspect any unauthorized activity associated with your account, please report that activity to us immediately.

AGE RESTRICTIONS

Our Services are intended for adults. If you are under eighteen (18) years of age, you are not permitted to use our Services and should not send any Personal Information to us. Tri State Water, Inc. does not knowingly collect Personal Information as defined by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”). If we learn that we collected Personal Information in a manner not permitted by COPPA, we will dispose of that information, or otherwise treat it, in accordance with COPPA and other applicable laws and regulations. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe that your child under the age of thirteen (13) has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us as provided below.

Data retention

We will store your Personal Information for no longer than is necessary for the performance of our obligations, to achieve the purposes for which the Personal Information was collected, or as may be required or permitted under applicable law. To determine the appropriate retention period, we will consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the data; the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the data; the purposes for which we process the data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means; and the applicable legal requirements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, at the end of the retention period we will remove Personal Information from our systems and records or take appropriate steps to properly anonymize, DE identify, or aggregate it, where legally applicable.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time to reflect technological advancements, legal and regulatory changes and good business practices or otherwise at our discretion subject to applicable laws. If we make any changes, a new Privacy Policy will reflect those changes and the effective date of the revised Privacy Policy will be set forth at the top of the Privacy Policy.

Your continued use of the Services after we make changes to this Privacy Policy is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check this Privacy Policy periodically for updates.

Contact: Tri State Water, Inc.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact Tri State Water, Inc. via email at tristatewater@venturecomm.net, or by calling us toll-free at 800-871-5360.