Information collection

Beltrami Electric Cooperative is the sole owner of the information collected on www.beltramielectric.com. We collect information from our users at several different points on our Web site.

Certain information is requested from the user on some of our pages. A user must provide contact information (such as name, e-mail address, physical address and phone number) and financial information (such as bank or financial institution, account number and routing number). This information is used for billing purposes and to complete orders as requested. If we have trouble processing the request, the information is used to contact the user.

Information use

Beltrami Electric Cooperative uses the information it collects only as member verification, order placement and to improve our service practices. We do not share information with third parties.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information about the user. We do not use cookies on our Web site. Some of the businesses with links to or from our Web site may use cookies on their sites. However, we have no access to or control over these cookies. 

Log files

Like most standard Web site servers, we use log files. This includes Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information. We use a tracking utility called Sawmill that uses log files to analyze user movement. This function is performed as a measure to identify ways we can improve the customer experience on our Web site.

Sharing

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law, wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.

Links

This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Beltrami Electric Cooperative is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.

Chat rooms, message boards and public forums

Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online, for example on message boards, through e-mail or in chat areas, that information can be collected and used by others. In short, by posting personal information online that is publicly accessible, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. This does not include information submitted on secure pages (see below).

Security

This Web site takes every precaution to protect user information. When users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is protected both online and off-line.

When our forms ask users to enter sensitive information, such as a bank account number, that information is encrypted and is protected through the use of encryption software. While on a secure page, such as our program enrollment forms, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers, such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when users are just "surfing."

While we use encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing clerks or customer service representatives) are granted access to personally identifiable information. Furthermore, employees are updated annually on our policies and are notified and/or reminded about the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our users’ information is protected. Finally, the servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment, in a locked facility.

If users have any questions about the security at our Web site, users can send an email to webmaster@beltramielectric.com.

Notification of changes

If we decide to change our Internet Privacy Statement, we will post those changes to the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

Contact information

If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our Internet Privacy Statement, please contact us at:

Phone: 218-444-2540
Fax: 218-444-3676
Email: webmaster@beltramielectric.com
Postal address: PO Box 488 Bemidji, MN 56619-0488
Web site: www.beltramielectric.com