 In accordance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 1993, Mercury Energy maintains
high standards for the protection of data to ensure that customer information
remains private and is only used for the purpose it was collected. This policy explains how these standards are maintained regarding: This policy is regularly reviewed and if necessary updated to meet Mercury
Energy customer requirements for internet privacy. Customers will be notified
if changes are made to the Website Privacy and Security Policy or the way Mercury
Energy implements or operates its website. Collection
Personal information about you (e.g. your name, contact details, electricity
usage data) may be collected by Mercury Energy (and/or its subsidiaries)
during the course of your use of this website. The guiding principle is that Mercury Energy only obtains specific and individualised
data about its website visitors when such information is supplied voluntarily
(e.g. when website visitors send email, respond to customer surveys or use
the 'My Account' service on the website). Mercury Energy then uses this information
for the purpose of fulfilling visitors' requests. Mercury Energy automatically gathers generic information to determine the
usefulness of its website, in order to plan future customer service requirements.
This generic information does not contain the identity of the visitor, but
includes the pages that have been visited, how much
time is spent on the various pages, the visitor's domain name (for example
company-name.co.nz, ISP-name.net.nz) and the originating web page of the visitor. Purpose of collection
Mercury Energy will use your personal information only for the following purposes:
- Mercury customers:
- Supplying you with electricity and associated services, including billing
and meter reading.
- All:
- Responding to requests for information;
- Providing you with information about goods and services that we, your Network
Company (where applicable), and/or (unless you instruct us otherwise) other
persons may from time to time wish to offer you.
Access to and correction of personal information
You may at any time request access to, or (if necessary) correction of, any
personal information about you held by Mercury Energy.  Customer data transmitted across the public internet
Mercury Energy will ensure that customer privacy is protected when logging
onto the website or when using the 'My Account' service. This is done by protecting
logon (user name and password) and account data transmitted across the public
internet. 256-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Encryption is used for all traffic sent
to and from the website when the 'My Account' service is being used, and when
logging onto the 'My Account' service. Browsers unable to support SSL will
not allow a customer to logon to the website 'My Account' service. Email sent to Mercury Energy is not encrypted and is therefore not secure. Website security The Mercury Energy website has layers of security to protect it against malicious
activity, possible breaches of the system ('cracking') and unauthorised access
to customer data. Customer data or logon information (user name and password) is not permanently
stored on the website. Mercury Energy's employees and website partners are required to protect the
privacy of customer data and maintain the integrity of the website during the
course of their duties. Use of cookies Mercury Energy's website uses non-persistent cookies to manage a customer's
visit to the site. The cookie is non-persistent because it is temporary and
deleted when a browser session is closed. Information about a visit to Mercury
Energy's website is not permanently stored on a visitor or customer's personal
computer. Persistent cookies are typically small text
files sent from a website and stored on the visitors PC hard drive.
They are used to manage site visits, track transactions and collect
data about previous transactions. These are usually transmitted back
to the originating website on a later visit to it
Google Analytics
Mercury Energy uses services such as Google Analytics, which will issue
cookies from their own servers and which will be able to track website visitors
throughout Mercury Energy's website and through any other sites that use those
services. Mercury Energy does not control how those cookies are issued, or the
data that they store. Please refer to the Google Analytics Privacy Policy below
for more information.
Google Analytics Privacy Policy
Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc.
("Google"). Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your
computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information
generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP
address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United
States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use
of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and
providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google
may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by
law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf.
Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your
browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the
full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the
processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set
out above. Use of data and information collected from website visits Mercury Energy will not sell or reveal information obtained about its visitors
to anyone outside of Mercury Energy unless:
- It is specifically authorised by the visitor.
- It is legally required to do so.
- Such disclosure is required to protect the safety of employees, visitors,
customers, or property.
Use of email for customer communications As part of the customer website registration process or account set up, customers
can supply an email address which can be used by Mercury Energy to contact
them, respond to messages, confirm services, transmit information requested
by a customer or send relevant offers on services from time to time. Mercury
Energy does not sell or rent email addresses to third-party organisations. By default, a customer is:
- opted-in to email marketing.
- opted-in to regular monthly account updates.
- opted-in to Mercury Energy service announcements.
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