Privacy Policy
Effective Date July 22, 2024
Octopus Energy LLC (“Octopus Energy”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) recognizes the importance of privacy and values the privacy of our customers and website users. In this Privacy Policy (“Policy”), we describe how we collect, use, and disclose information that we obtain about users of our website, (the “Site”), our mobile application (the “App”), and the services available through our Site and App (collectively, the Site, the App and the services available therein are the “Services”). Our Services include the optimization of your energy costs and preferences and where available the selling of electricity at wholesale pricing. This Policy also outlines your rights and choices with regard to the personal information collected about you. Your use of our Services and any dispute over privacy is subject to this Policy and any other applicable agreements between you and Octopus Energy, such as our Terms of Service and Your Rights As A Customer (YRAC).
1. Information We Collect
We collect personal information directly from you, from third parties, and automatically through your use of our Services. We may combine the information we collect from these various sources. We do not sell this information and will not pass it on to third parties except as described herein.
Account and Registration Information. We will only collect information about you that we need for our regulated business functions. For example, we collect information from you when you register for an account with us, including your name, information from credit reporting agencies, email address, phone number, account address, your Social Security Number (SSN), payment information and billing information. We ask you to provide your SSN to verify your identity when opening an account with us. We will not deny service to residents if you refuse to provide a social security number to us. Furthermore, we only keep the last 4 digits on an ongoing basis. We may also ask or allow you to submit additional account information, such as secondary email addresses, additional phone numbers, preferences, demographics, profile information, including pictures, and other information.
Customer Support. We collect personal information you provide, when you contact our customer support services via email, phone, or chat, related to your inquiry, or complaint. We keep a copy of such records in our customer files.
Newsletters and Updates. You can also sign up to receive emails and offers from us by submitting your name, email address, and zip code. For information on how to opt-out of receiving newsletters and updates via email please see below. We may also send you transactional or promotional messages via SMS, provided you have allowed us to do so. You may opt-out of SMS updates at any time by replying STOP to the SMS you received from us or by emailing us your request to privacyusa@octopusenergy.com.
Connected Devices. If you choose to connect your energy-related Internet-of-Things (IoT) home devices through our App and give us the required approval, you will give us direct access to certain data of your IoT device. We will collect personal information from your connected IoT home devices, such as your thermostats (status, temperature, range, settings, and fan on/off status), smart lights (color, on/off status), or switches (on/off status). Please note that you are not required to connect your home devices with our Services. However, if you do not connect such devices we may not be able to offer you our load shifting services. These services include device adjustment, turning devices on and off, and making changes to device functions to react to price and carbon values. Other services may be added at our discretion if they add value to our application. If you have allowed us to, we will also collect your geolocation through your connected devices. To the extent you allow us to, the personal information we collect from your devices may also reveal your personal location to a certain extent, for example, to improve and optimize your energy usage, we will track whether you are at home or not.
Mobile Device and Apps. We collect personal information from you related to your mobile devices and our App, such as your device ID or geolocation. When you use our App, we collect information about how you use the App to control your connected energy devices.
Other Information We Collect Regarding Your Usage of Our Services. We collect personal information about your use of our Services, such as your purchase history, smart devices connected, demographic data, details about your home and energy-related equipment, your energy use data collected from utility meters, and interactions within the Octopus Energy app.
2. How We Use Your Information
Where we do process your personal data, we rely on legitimate interests to process your data and we always carry out a “balancing” test in line with the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (“TDPSA”) and applicable federal laws to ensure that our processing is necessary and is not outweighed by your rights to privacy. We may use your personal information for the following purposes:
Providing and Improving Services. To provide you with and maintain our Services; to improve and develop our Services, including to develop new features products, or services; to authenticate you as a valid user; to prevent fraudulent activity on our platform; to perform technical operations, such as updating our software; to provide you with customer service and support services in response to your inquiries and complaints.
Rewards, Referral, and Loyalty Programs. We use your information to operate and administer our rewards and VIP referral programs, for example to track, assign, and redeem rewards based on users you referred to Octopus Energy.
Personalizing Content and Ads. We may use the information we collect about you to personalize the information and content we display to you, including marketing, promotional and sponsored content, as well as providing you with more relevant ads.
Marketing and Communications. To communicate with you about your account and use of our Services via email and push notification, including to send you product updates; to respond to your inquiries; to provide you with updates and newsletters, special offers, promotions, surveys, contests, and other information, by us or others, that we think may interest you; and for other informational, marketing, or promotional purposes.
Business Partners. We may provide you with promotional content or serve you targeted ads from certain of our selected business partners based on the energy preferences we learn about you and that we think you may be interested in.
Research and Analytics. To monitor, analyze, and understand usage and activity trends, to conduct analytics on your usage of our Services, and for other research, analytical, and statistical purposes.
Legal Compliance. To comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations, including as part of a judicial proceeding; to respond to a subpoena, warrant, court order, or other legal process; or as part of an investigation or request, whether formal or informal, from law enforcement or a governmental authority.
3. How We Share/Disclose Your Information
We may disclose your information, including personal information without obtaining your consent as follows:
Partners. If you click an ad or otherwise take advantage of a third party offer in the Services, we may share certain information, including personal information, with that partner to facilitate your interaction with them.
Marketing Partners. We also may share your information with certain third parties so that they may send you offers and other information we think you may be interested in. If you do not want us to share your personal information with our third-party marketing partners, you may opt-out by emailing us at privacyusa@octopusenergy.com. However, if you opt-out of such ‘third-party-marketing, this will not affect information we have already shared, and we may still send you our own marketing and promotional emails about information and third-party ads we think you may be interested in (unless you have opted-out of receiving marketing emails from us). We may also disclose limited personal information as part of Custom Audience campaigns (as explained below).
Service Providers. We may disclose your information to our service providers, agents, or others who assist us in providing products and services. For example, we may disclose your information to third-party service providers to process payments on our behalf. Your information may be shared when there is a transfer of service rights to another utility provider. This may also include aggregated or de-identified energy usage data to third parties.
Business Transfers. We may disclose your information to another entity in connection with an acquisition or merger, sale or transfer of a business unit or assets, bankruptcy proceeding, or as part of any other similar business transfer, including during negotiations related to such transactions.
Protecting Rights and Interests. We may disclose your information to protect the safety, rights, property, aid in prevention of fraudulent activity on our platform, or security of Octopus Energy, the Services, any third party, or the general public; to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues; to use as evidence in litigation; and to enforce this Policy or our Terms of Service.
Research and Analytics. To monitor, analyze, and understand energy usage and activity trends, to conduct analytics on your usage of our Services, and for other research, analytical, and statistical purposes.
Legal Compliance. We may disclose your information to protect the safety, rights, property, or security of Octopus Energy, the Services, any third party, or the general public; to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues; to use as evidence in litigation; and to enforce this Policy or our Terms of Service. We may disclose your information to comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations, including as part of a judicial proceeding, in response to a subpoena, warrant, court order, other legal process, or as part of an investigation or request, whether formal or informal, from law enforcement or a government official.
4. Cookies and Other Tracking Mechanisms
We and our service providers use cookies, pixels, java script, and other tracking mechanisms to track information about your use of our Site and App. We or our service providers may combine this information with other information, including personal information, we collect about you.
Cookies. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser for record-keeping purposes. Some cookies allow us to make it easier for you to navigate our Site, while others are used to enable a faster log-in process or to allow us to track your activities while using our Site. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can edit your browser options to block them in the future. The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your computer from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether.
Clear GIFs. pixel tags and other technologies. Clear GIFs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your computer’s hard drive, clear GIFs are embedded invisibly on web pages. We may use clear GIFs (also referred to as web beacons, web bugs or pixel tags), in connection with our Services to, among other things, track the activities users of our Services, help us manage content, and compile statistics about usage of our Services. We and our third-party service providers also use clear GIFs in HTML emails to our customers, to help us track email response rates, identify when our emails are viewed, and track whether our emails are forwarded.
Do-Not-Track Signals. Our Site does not respond to do-not-track signals. You may, however, disable certain tracking as discussed in the Cookies and Other Tracking Mechanisms section above (e.g., by disabling cookies).
5. Interest-based Ads
We work with third-party ad networks, ad exchanges, channel partners, measurement services and others (“third party ad companies”) to display more relevant advertising on our Services, and to manage our advertising on third-party sites, mobile apps and online services. In order to display more relevant ads on our behalf and others, these third party ad companies may use cookies, pixels tags, and other tools to collect browsing and activity information on our Services, on third-party sites and across different devices, which may be linked with certain offline data they may also collect IP address, device ID, cookie and advertising IDs, and other identifiers, general location information, and, with your consent, your device’s geolocation information. These third-party ad companies may use this information to provide you more relevant ads and content and to evaluate the success of such ads and content. As a result, our ads may be displayed to you on a search results page or on third party sites.
For example, we may work with the following advertising platforms, among others:
- Facebook Ads: for more info and choices, see their privacy policy and ad preferences page.
- Google/DoubleClick: for more info and choices, see their privacy policy and ads help page.
- Snapchat: for more info and choices, see their privacy policy and ad preferences page.
- Twitter: for more info and choices, see their privacy policy and ad preferences page.
Custom Audiences and Matching. We may disclose certain information (such as your email address) with third parties – such as Facebook (more info on Facebook Custom Audience here or see above) so that we can better target ads and content to our users, and others with similar interests on these third parties’ platforms or networks (“Custom Audiences”). We may also work with third party ad networks and marketing platforms that enable us and other participants to target ads to Custom Audiences submitted by us and others. If you would like to opt-out of being included in our Custom Audiences going forward, email us at privacyusa@octopusenergy.com and we will opt you out of our future Custom Audiences. As noted above, you may also control how Facebook and other third parties display certain ads to you, as explained further in their respective privacy policies and ad preferences pages. You can also obtain more information about targeted advertising, and how to opt-out of receiving targeted ads from many third-party ad networks (including Facebook and Google), through the following: U.S. Users: www.aboutads.info/choices (Digital Advertising Alliance). Opting-out of participating ad networks does not opt you out of being served advertising. You may continue to receive generic or “contextual” ads on our Services. You may also continue to receive targeted ads on other websites, from companies that do not participate in the above programs. Please note, that opt-out mechanisms are cookie based; so, if you delete cookies, block cookies or use another device, your opt-out will no longer be effective.
6. Third-Party Analytics
We may use third-party analytics companies, for example Google Analytics among others, evaluate use of our Services. We use these tools to help us understand use of, and to improve, our Services, performance, ad campaigns, and user experiences. These entities may use cookies and other tracking technologies, such as web beacons or local storage objects (LSOs), to perform their services.
7. Third-Party Links and Social Plug-Ins
Our Services may contain links to third-party websites and mini-applications, such as social plug-ins. Any access to and use of such linked websites and applications is not governed by this Policy but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third parties. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites or applications.
8. Security
We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the privacy and security of the information we maintain about you. Among other protections, these safeguards are designed to restrict access to your information to those Octopus Energy employees, other personnel, and contracted agents, that need access for an identified business purpose. Please note that no electronic transmission of information can be entirely secure. We cannot guarantee that the security measures we have in place to safeguard information will never fail, or that those measures will always be adequate or effective. If we experience a significant data breach that involves your personal information, we will notify you, as required by law.
9. Access to Your Information
You may access and update much of the personal information within your profile, by logging in and updating your profile information. This includes your name, contact information and preferences, and password. Please note that we may retain certain information about you as required by law or as permitted by law for legitimate business purposes. For example, if you request that we delete your information, but we believe that you have violated our Terms of Service, we may retain information about you in order to attempt to resolve the issue before deleting it.
10. Marketing Communications
We may send periodic promotional emails to you. You may opt-out of such communications by following the opt-out instructions contained in the email. Please note that if you opt-out of receiving emails about recommendations or other information we think may interest you, we may still send you transactional emails about your account or any Services you have requested or received from us.
11. Children
Our Services are not targeted to children under sixteen (16) years of age and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we discover that a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, we will promptly delete such personal information from our systems.
12. Changes to this Policy
This Policy is current as of the Effective Date set forth above. We reserve the right to modify this Policy at any time so please be sure to check back periodically. We will post any changes to this Policy on our Site and will take steps to notify you of material changes, such as via email or prominent notice in the App or on the Site.
Contact Us
If you would like more information on our privacy practices, have questions or comments about our Privacy Policy, or would like to update information we have about you or your customer data preferences, please call us at 833-628-6888 or send an email to privacyusa@octopusenergy.com.
