This MetTel Privacy Notice (the “Privacy Notice”) explains the types of information MetTel collects from its customers, how we use the customer information, and the rights customers may exercise to control our use of the information. By reading the Privacy Notice you’ll learn how MetTel meets the important goal of protecting customer privacy.
I. THE TYPES OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION METTEL COLLECTS
MetTel supports businesses and government agencies with a wide range of communication services, software and equipment (“Products”). Our Product portfolio generally consists of:
- Traditional Solutions (e.g., local and long-distance voice, business lines, high-speed Internet, PBX trunks)
- Advanced Voice Solutions (e.g., cloud PBX, unified communications, SIP trunking)
- Cloud Managed Solutions (e.g., hosted exchange, online backup)
- Mobility Solutions (e.g., mobility device management, nationwide mobility, fixed wireless/mobility, push-to-talk, Internet of things)
- Data & Network Solutions (e.g., ethernet services, MPLS, Data T1, SD-WAN, business fiber, managed firewall, managed WiFi); and
- Professional & Consulting Solutions (e.g., communications management, our “Bruin” platform, professional services, and managed services).
While these services differ greatly in their technical and business functions, each may involve personally identifiable information, or “PII.” PII is any information – not just names, addresses, and phone numbers – that can be used to identify an individual. For example, a cell phone device identifier and/or geographic location may help reveal the cell phone user’s identity. The private nature of PII appropriately subjects it to privacy protection laws. The PII MetTel collects includes customer account information (including business contact information) and information concerning use of our products (e.g., the types of Products you order, the technical configuration of the Products, the patterns in which you use the Products, and related billing information). Taken together, this information is considered “Customer Information.”
The specific types of Customer Information we collect from you depends on how you use our services. For example, when you order a MetTel service we may collect Customer Information to prepare, deliver, maintain, or improve the service. A service order would also prompt us to collect your business contact information, billing profile, and details to perform the credit check and any needed fraud detection.
Our service operations form another source of Customer Information. This category of data includes items such as customer communication records, device identifiers, and the service features you use. Your activities on our web sites (e.g., searches and buying decisions) are part of the same information mix. Customer Information is contained in the performance metrics of the network and devices that provide your service. The same type of information may arise in the form of wireless location data (e.g., from your cell phone or WiFi antenna).
II. HOW METTEL USES CUSTOMER INFORMATION
A. MetTel’s Use of Customer Information to Deliver MetTel Products
MetTel uses Customer Information primarily to deliver its Products. Ancillary to that function, we may use the knowledge for credit checks, customer interactions, Product maintenance, Product improvements, fraud detection, and invoicing. We also use the business facts to learn more about our customers so we can offer new Products that meet your evolving needs. Still other Customer Information uses are dictated by special circumstances. For example, we disclose Customer Information in response to lawful due process. We may also use such information to protect our rights and property (e.g., against the unauthorized use of our Products), enlist the services of credit bureaus and collection agencies, or protect the safety of our customers. In cases where we serve you by partnering with other companies such as telecommunications carriers, Internet providers, equipment vendors, and contractors, we may share Customer Information with them. For example, your communication service may be managed by MetTel but delivered by another telecom carrier. That means Customer Information is sometimes used beyond MetTel’s control. However, our partner entities are independently subject to laws that protect communication privacy. To the extent that they handle your Customer Information you should direct any privacy concerns to them.
When MetTel engages in telemarketing, a sales agent usually calls a company telephone number listed on the company’s website and asks to speak with an individual company employee. Sometimes, when the employee’s direct number is published, the agent will call that number. If the employee wants to attend a videoconference to learn more about MetTel’s products, the agent will ask for the employee’s email address to set up the call. During these telephone calls and videoconferences, agents do not ask for personally identifiable information.
B. MetTel’s Use of Cookies and Similar Technologies
One way you may become aware of new and useful Products is through MetTel’s use of website “cookies” and similar technologies. These technologies collect Customer Information, or data that becomes Customer Information if combined with other information. The following explains how these technologies work when you visit any of our websites that link to this Notice (such as www.MetTel.net) (“Websites“), interact with MetTel online advertisements or marketing emails (collectively the “Online Properties“), use any of our mobile apps, or use certain MetTel Products.
1. Our Use of Cookies
Cookies are small data files placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. The files are widely used by organizations to make their websites or solutions work, or to function more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information. Cookies set by the website operator are called “first party cookies.” Cookies set by parties other than the website operator are called “third party cookies.” Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (e.g. like advertising, interactive content and analytics). The parties that set these third party cookies can recognize your computer, both when it visits the website in question and, also, when it visits certain other websites and/or mobile apps. We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons to facilitate our Online Properties and mobile apps, and we refer to these as “essential” or “strictly necessary” cookies. Other cookies also enable us to: track how our users and prospects use and interact with our Online Properties, mobile apps, and products and/or services; enhance and tailor the experience on our Online Properties, mobile apps, and products and/or services; and deliver more targeted online advertising and marketing campaigns. They also enable us conduct analytics about online campaigns we run and about the usage and performance of some of our Online Properties, mobile apps, and other Products. Third parties serve cookies through our Online Properties, mobile apps, and products and/or services for advertising, analytics and other purposes.
The specific types of first and third party cookies served through our Online Properties and the purposes they perform are further described in our Cookie Consent Tool.
2. Our Use of Social Media Features
Our Online Properties and/or mobile apps may use social media features, such as the Facebook ‘like’ button (“Social Media Features“). Social Media Features may collect your IP address, track the pages you visit on our Online Properties and/or mobile apps, and potentially set cookies to ensure the feature functions properly. You may be given the option by such Features to post information about your activities on our Online Properties and/or mobile apps to a profile page of yours that is provided by a third party Social Media network to share with others within your network. Social Media Features are either hosted by a third party or hosted directly on our Online Properties and/or mobile apps. Your interactions with these features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing the relevant Social Media Features.
3. Our Use of Targeted Online and Mobile Advertising
MetTel has engaged one or more third party service providers to track and analyze both individualized usage and volume statistical information from interactions with our Online Properties and/or mobile apps. We also partner with one or more third parties (such as advertisers and ad networks) to display advertising on our Online Properties and/or mobile apps and/or to manage and serve advertising on other third-party sites.
These third parties use cookies, pixel tags and similar tracking technologies to collect and use certain information about your online activities, either on our Online Properties, mobile apps and/or other third-party sites. This information may be used alone or in combination with information about you we obtain from other sources (like our data partners) and contact details, professional information and MetTel transaction history (as obtained from our customer relationship management database) to infer your interests and deliver you targeted advertisements and marketing that are more tailored to you based on your browsing activities and inferred interests (“Interest Based Advertising”). Such Interest Based Advertising will only be delivered where permitted by applicable law and in accordance with your advertising/marketing preferences.
Our third party service providers may also use cookies to collect information about your visits to our Online Properties and/or other third party sites to measure and track the effectiveness of advertisements and our online marketing activities (for example, by collecting data on how many times you click on one of our advertisements). The information collected through this process does not enable us or them to identify your name, contact details or other PII that directly identifies you unless you choose to provide these.
III. HOW YOU MAY CONTROL THE USE OF YOUR CUSTOMER INFORMATION
MetTel customers have certain rights to control the way we use their Customer Information. This section of the Notice summarizes those rights.
A. CPNI Rights
The Customer Proprietary Network Information mandate (the “CPNI Mandate”) protects the privacy of any Customer Information relating to the type, quantity, destination, technical configuration, location, amount of use, or related billing information. Under the CPNI Mandate, we may use CPNI to market our Products to you. We may also share CPNI with affiliates that market their products to you, but only if you do not “opt out” of that type of marketing. The same law permits us to share CPNI with unaffiliated third parties that market their services to you, but only if you “opt in” to that type of marketing.
You may exercise your opt out rights any time by emailing your dedicated customer service representative at privacy@mettel.net or calling us at (800) 876-9823.
B. FCRA Rights
You also have certain rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to opt out of the sharing of your personal financial data.
We may use your personal financial data (e.g., account payment information and credit report information) and share it with affiliates or third parties as needed in the course of delivering our Products to you. In addition, we may disclose your financial data to third parties in response to valid due process. Finally, we and our affiliates may use your financial data to market new Products you may like.
However, you may opt out of our practice of sharing your credit report information with our affiliates. You may also opt out of the sharing of both account payment information and credit report information with affiliates and nonaffiliates for marketing purposes. You may exercise your opt out in rights any time by emailing your dedicated customer service representative at privacy@mettel.net or calling us at (800) 876-9823.
C. Cookie Rights
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your preferences in relation to cookies served on our Online Properties by using our Cookie Consent Tool.
Where our mobile apps leverage Google Analytics and associated cookies we may provide additional information within the relevant mobile app privacy notice. More information on how to opt-out of this Google supported analytics within these apps can be found at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. Information on how you can control Google Analytics cookies used within MetTel products and/or services is set out below.
Browser controls: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Online Properties, and products and/or services though your access to some functionality and areas of our Online Properties and certain products and/or services may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
Disabling most interest-based advertising: Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest Based Advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or http://www.youronlinechoices.com.
Do Not Track: Some Internet browsers – like Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari – include the ability to transmit “Do Not Track” or “DNT” signals. Since uniform standards for “DNT” signals have not been adopted, our Websites do not currently process or respond to “DNT” signals. MetTel takes privacy and meaningful choice seriously and will make efforts to continue to monitor developments around DNT browser technology and the implementation of a standard.
What about cookies and similar technologies served via MetTel product and services?
MetTel products and services may also make use of cookies, as described above. Some are session cookies stored in temporary memory, not retained after an end-user’s browsing session ends and do not obtain information from the end-user’s device. Others are used to recognize returning users and remember preferences. They may also be important tools used to operate and maintain and monitor security protections within MetTel products and services. Within some MetTel products and services a third-party cookie may also be used by MetTel.
In particular, MetTel uses and collects limited data via cookies served by Google Analytics: to collect data directly from any end-user browsers which are used to view or receive the applicable MetTel Product and to fix issues. The data collected and inferred includes Usage Data (as defined in the Privacy Notice) and which may be used by MetTel to diagnose and improve its products and services and make recommendations. Further information on how Google collects and uses this data when an end-user uses these MetTel products and/or services can be found at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/; and, in addition MetTel Products available online may also use the demographics and interests reports services of Google Analytics. These are not used for advertising features by MetTel or by third parties but instead to understand the way end-users browse and interact with these MetTel Products and to inform MetTel how it may use or optimize or improve these MetTel Products. These reports are also obtained using an identifier combined with a cookie served by Google. More information on how to opt-out of this Google supported analytics within MetTel Products can be found at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.
D. California Privacy Rights
The California Shine the Light Law protects the privacy of California residents. These residents may request the categories of Customer Information (if any) we shared with third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes during the previous calendar year. To make your request, email your dedicated customer service representative at privacy@mettel.net or call us at (800) 876-9823.
Moreover, the California Consumer Protection Act entitles California residents to learn what Customer Information we may collect about them, how we use it, and whether and how it is sold. A “sale” is broadly defined to include not just a traditional exchange of goods for money but any sharing or disclosure of Customer Information in exchange for something of value. You are legally protected from discrimination based on your exercise of these rights.
We may “sell” the Customer Information of customers who are California residents when we share the information on a de-identified basis with affiliates and with third party providers of analytical reports. Apart from this practice we do not “sell” Customer information.
California residents may opt out of this information sharing by emailing your dedicated customer service representative at privacy@mettel.net or calling us at (800) 876-9823. In addition, they may: ask us what Customer Information we collect, use, and sell; and have us delete such Customer Information (except for information we need to provide our Products and respond to
valid due process).
E. Nevada Privacy Rights
Under the Nevada Privacy of Information Collected on the Internet from Consumers Act, residents of Nevada may opt out of the “sale” of their Customer information by operators of commercial web sites and other commercial online service providers. A “sale” includes any disclosure of Customer Information for money, where the receiving party also plans to sell the information. As noted above, we do not “sell” Customer information except on a validly deidentified basis.
Nevada residents may opt out of this information sharing by emailing your dedicated customer service representative at privacy@mettel.net or calling us at (800) 876-9823.
F. Maine Privacy Rights
The Act to Protect the Privacy of Online Customer Information requires providers of broadband Internet access service in Maine to obtain the opt-in consent of their Maine Internet subscribers before using, disclosing, or selling their Customer Information. Under this law, the Internet providers must also take reasonable measures to protect the Customer Information from unauthorized use, access, or disclosure. The subscribers may also opt out of the use, disclosure or sale of non-personal Customer Information.
However, the broadband service providers may use, access or disclose the Customer Information without restriction to provide their services, market to their subscribers, comply with due process, conduct billing and collection, protect against unlawful uses of subscriptions, and respond to public safety emergencies. We will not use, disclose, sell, or permit access to your broadband customer personal information except for purposes allowed under the Maine law or with your affirmative consent.
Maine residents may exercise their opt out rights by your dedicated customer service representative at privacy@mettel.net or calling us at (800) 876-9823.
IV. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY NOTICE
From time to time we may modify this Privacy Notice to describe changes in the way we use your personal information or update you on changes in your privacy rights. Please revisit this web page periodically to remain informed about your rights.
Last updated: November 11, 2022