Manitoba Hydro’s Online Portal - Privacy and Security Statement
- Introduction
- Personal Information
- Cookies
- Session Data
- Personal Information Collected to Use Services and Reasons for Collection
- Authority for Collection
- Disclosure
- Security and Protection of Information
- Consent
- The Internet
- Questions or Concerns
1. Introduction :
Manitoba Hydro respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Statement.
This Statement describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect the personal information of our customers who utilize the Online Portal (the “Portal”).
Please read this Statement carefully to understand our policies and practices for collecting, processing, and storing your information. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, do not to use the Portal. By accessing or using this Portal, you indicate that you understand, accept, and consent to the practices described in this policy.
2. Personal Information:
As a public body, Manitoba Hydro is subject to The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba). Manitoba Hydro will collect, use, store, grant access to and disclose your personal information received through the Portal in accordance with this Act or as authorized by you.
Personal information includes information as defined in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba) including but not limited to your name, address, phone number or email address. All information pertaining to you provided to Manitoba Hydro through the Portal will be treated as confidential.
3. Cookies:
This Portal uses session-based (temporary) cookies that are created whenever you visit the Portal and last only for the duration of your visit and are automatically deleted by your own computer when you exit the Portal. Session-based cookies are necessary in order for you to be able to log onto the Portal and do not involve the collection of your personal information.
4. Session Data:
In visiting the Portal, certain information will be gathered and stored about your visit automatically. Manitoba Hydro may automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit to the Portal:
- The Internet domain and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the web) from which you access the Portal;
- The type of browser or operating system used to access the Portal;
- The date and time you access the Portal;
- The pages you visit; and
- If you linked to the Portal from another website, the address of that website.
This information is used to track the number of visitors to the Portal, the geographic region they are from and to help identify any improvements that could be made to the operation of the Portal. All Internet domain and IP address information collected by Manitoba Hydro will be treated as confidential.
5. Personal Information Collected to Use Services and Reasons for Collection:
If you choose to use certain services on this Portal, Manitoba Hydro will collect some or all the following personal information about you that you voluntarily provide:
User Registration - your name, email address, electricity and/or Natural Gas account number, and other information you provide to register and set up a user account.
Personal information collected in registering for a user account will be used for the purposes of providing you information on your Natural Gas and/or electricity billing account(s) with Manitoba Hydro, producing an electronic bill and for updating account(s) information and billing preferences, and contacting you in respect of your user and Manitoba Hydro account(s) and energy-related program(s) that may be of interest.
Contact Us - your name, email address, or other information you provide.
Personal information collected for the Contact Us service is collected so that Manitoba Hydro may contact you and reply to your email communication as well as to retrieve any of your billing account information necessary to reply. Other uses and disclosures may be to regulators and government entities such as the Manitoba Public Utilities Board, external credit bureau for credit checking, external collection agencies for recovering delinquent accounts, external auditors as part of a sample audit, electronic system to administer customer accounts and Manitoba Hydro officials on a "need to know" basis.
6. Authority for Collection:
Collection of personal information on this Portal relates directly to and is necessary for providing you with electronic access to your Natural Gas and/or electricity billing account information and other activities related to the administration of these accounts. It is authorized pursuant to section 36(1)(b) of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba) which provides:
Purpose of collection of information:
36(1) No personal information may be collected by or for a public body unless:
(b) the information relates directly to and is necessary for an existing service, program or activity of the public body;
7. Disclosure:
Manitoba Hydro will only disclose personal information collected from you on this Portal as authorized by law, including The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba), as set out in section 4 above or with your consent.
Manitoba Hydro may disclose personal information collected from you on this Portal to contractors, service providers or other third parties we use to support this Portal or other business activities. These third parties are contractually obligated to keep personal information confidential, use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them, and maintain adequate safeguards to protect the information. Whenever Manitoba Hydro engages a service provider related to this Portal, we require that its privacy and security standards adhere to Manitoba Hydro’s policies and applicable Canadian privacy legislation.
8. Security and Protection of Information:
Manitoba Hydro takes measures to protect your personal information. The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol encrypts certain information provided by you before sending it to the Manitoba Hydro servers. Only when it reaches the Manitoba Hydro servers is your information decrypted. However, please take note that any email communication either submitted to or sent from Manitoba Hydro through this Portal is not encrypted and is therefore sent and received by you at your own risk.
9. Consent:
By accessing this Portal and using the Services offered on it, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with the above terms and conditions. If you do not consent to such collection, use and disclosure of your personal information, please do not use the Services or this Portal.
10. The Internet:
While Manitoba Hydro is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information, it is acknowledged that the Internet is not a totally secure medium of communication and is subject to possible interception or loss of data and communications. Therefore, Manitoba Hydro, and its affiliates, agents, officers, contractors, etc., shall not be responsible for any damages that you or any other persons may suffer in connection with the interception or loss of such information or communications. You have sole responsibility for ensuring confidentiality and integrity of any personal information accessed from and displayed outside of Manitoba Hydro's computer system or server, including, but not limited to any personal information, electronic mail communication and any information specifically regarding your account(s) with Manitoba Hydro. You also have the sole responsibility for protection and recovery of your computer system and you must take reasonable and appropriate precautions to ensure that any computer system used to access this Portal or any Service is secure and free of viruses or other harmful or destructive properties or components.
11. Questions or Concerns:
If you have any questions or concerns about the collection of your personal information on this Website, please contact:
Manitoba Hydro
360 Portage Ave.
Winnipeg MB R3C 0G8
Customer Billing
Phone: 1-888-624-9376
Email: customerservice@hydro.mb.ca
Last updated: October 2019