Privacy Statement

Consumers Online Application is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the Consumers Online Application website and governs data collection and usage. By using the Consumers Online Application website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.

Collection of your Personal Information

Consumers Online Application collects personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address, name, home or work address or telephone number. Consumers Online Application also collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.

There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by Consumers Online Application. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring Web site addresses. This information is used by Consumers Online Application for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Consumers Online Application Web site.

Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through Consumers Online Application public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others. Note: Consumers Online Application does not read any of your private online communications.

Consumers Online Application encourages you to review the privacy statements of websites you choose to link to from Consumers Online Application so that you can understand how those websites collect, use and share your information. Consumers Online Application is not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on websites outside of the Consumers Online Application and Consumers Online Application family of websites.

Use of your Personal Information

Consumers Online Application collects and uses your personal information to operate the Consumers Online Application Web site and deliver the services you have requested. Consumers Online Application also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from Consumers Online Application and its affiliates. Consumers Online Application may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.

Consumers Online Application does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties. Consumers Online Application may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, Consumers Online Application may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to Consumers Online Application, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

Consumers Online Application does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent. Consumers Online Application keeps track of the website and pages our customers visit within Consumers Online Application, in order to determine what Consumers Online Application services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within Consumers Online Application to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.

Consumers Online Application website will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Consumers Online Application or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Consumers Online Application; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Consumers Online Application, or the public.

Use of Cookies

The Consumers Online Application Web site use "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.

One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize Consumers Online Application pages, or register with Consumers Online Application site or services, a cookie helps Consumers Online Application to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same Consumers Online Application Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the Consumers Online Application features that you customized.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the Consumers Online Application services or websites you visit.

Security of your Personal Information

Consumers Online Application secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Consumers Online Application secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

Changes to this Statement

Consumers Online Application will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect company and customer feedback. Consumers Online Application encourages you to periodically review this Statement to be informed of how Consumers Online Application is protecting your information.

Contact Information

Consumers Online Application welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that Consumers Online Application has not adhered to this Statement, please contact Consumers Online Application at consumersenergybusinesssolutions@cmsenergy.com. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.