Privacy and cookies

We are firmly committed to protecting our customers’ privacy. The following Privacy Policy, together with our Terms and Conditions, outline our information-gathering and dissemination practices for any and all of our customers’ information, including but not limited to, the collection and dissemination of information from this website (“site”), our mobile application (“app”), our customer agreements and any other means by which you provide your information to National Grid. National Grid means National Grid USA Service Company Inc. and its United States affiliates.

By providing any information to us, and by accessing and using the site and/or app, you agree that you have read and understand this Privacy Policy and that you accept and consent to the privacy practices and uses or disclosures of information about you that are described herein. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, please do not use the site and/or app or provide us with any personal information.

Security

We use SSL (or Secure Sockets Layer) as our primary form of security protection. A Secure Sockets Layer is a protocol that hides the information sent between the browser and server. An SSL-enhanced browser uses encryption to scramble the transferring data you send to a website into randomized characters for decoding. This is the industry standard for encrypting digital communications between any two points across a network.

Most browsers will illustrate that you are entering or leaving a secure area by presenting a dialog box. However, most browsers also give you the option of turning off the dialog box display.

When on a secure page, you will see the lock icon on the bottom of your Internet Explorer or Netscape web browser. Other browsers have different ways of displaying this information.

While we have put in place commercially reasonable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect from our customers, including the information we collect on our site and in our app, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure and therefore we cannot guarantee the security of any data sent to us electronically, and the transmission of such data is therefore entirely at your own risk.

Information We Collect and Use of Your Information

We use order forms which allow customers to request information and apply for services. When applicable, we collect personal contact information (such as your e-mail address and home address). This information is used to answer your questions, solve your problems, and provide interactivity. We do not provide this information to any other parties. Additionally, we may collect:

Details of your visits to our site or use of our app, and the resources that you access, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, including your IP address, the date and time you accessed or left the site or app, which pages you viewed, clicks, interactions with websites, applications and advertisements, or social media information, commercial information and inferences, including products or services you purchased or considered from one of our websites, purchasing histories or tendencies, interactions with us, preferences, psychological traits/ predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence or abilities/aptitudes, some of which may be assigned by probabilistic methods, demographic information, such as age, or gender.
Information that you provide directly to us, such as your customer agreements or other forms, including on our site or app (for example, to contact us through the site, you must provide your name and e-mail address).
If you create an Account with us, we may collect your name, address, telephone number, email address, username and password, and social security number/taxpayer id.
When you pay your utility bills, we may collect your name, address, bank account information, credit or debit card information (through SpeedPay), budget planning and/or payment plan information.
If you track your usage, request service and/or start/stop services we may collect your name, address, and social security number/taxpayer id.
If you apply for a rebate with us, we may collect your name, address, rebate information, and social security number/taxpayer id.
If you report an outage, we may collect your telephone number, last four digits of your social security number or taxpayer id, account number, user name and password.
We may receive and store energy usage information directly from your energy management system, devices, or appliances to create a profile of your energy usage if such data is collected by our third-party service providers.
If you choose to link to your social media account through our site, including, but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube, we may collect information from your social media accounts. Additionally, these third-party social media websites may also collect information from you in order to provide the services through our site. To learn more about the types of information those third-party websites collect, review those websites’ privacy policies and terms of use. You can learn how to access and delete information that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube collect by visiting the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube Settings. For more information on links to third-party websites see Section below “Links to Third Party Web Sites.” By linking to your social media account, you consent to National Grid’s linking of your account to your identity, household, device, browser or other identifier. We may also link your identity to a social media account based on publicly available data and/or data provided directly by you to us.
Information provided to us when you communicate with us for any reason.

Some parts of our site or app use cookies and other technologies to collect this information about your general Internet usage. See section below, “How We Use Cookies,” to learn more.

In addition to using this information to provide services to you, we may use this information to provide third parties with de-identified statistical information about the users of our site and app, and to monitor and conduct an analysis of our site and app traffic and usage patterns.

By submitting a telephone number to us you agree that a representative of National Grid can contact you at the number you provide, potentially using automated technology (including texts/SMS messaging) or a pre-recorded message. Your consent to telephone contact is not an obligation to receive any of our services.

How We Use Cookies

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your device. We use session ID cookies and persistent cookies on our site and in our app. A session ID cookie is temporary. Once you close your browser, the cookie terminates. A persistent cookie is stored on a device’s hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following Internet browser “help” file directions.

On our site and in our app, cookies are not used to invade the privacy of Internet users. We do not track our users across websites or across time.

Our cookies are used to improve the user experience. Persistent cookies enable us to track site and app usage patterns and analyze trends in the aggregate data reports. This helps us to make www.upstateupgrade.nationalgrid.com more useful to visitors. If users reject this cookie, they will continue to have full site and app access. This cookie does not include any personally identifiable information.

We also use cookies to create a continuous connection to the site and app. This type of cookie (a session ID cookie) is only temporary and allows users to complete a form.

All computers have the ability to decline cookies. This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies. Please note that should you choose to decline cookies, you may be unable to access particular parts of our site. Third parties such as Facebook may use pixels, cookies, web beacons, and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from our site and to use that information to provide measurement services and target ads. Our site does respond to web browser “do not track” signals and other mechanisms that provide consumers the ability to exercise choice regarding the collection of personally identifiable information about an individual consumer’s online activities over time and across third-party websites. If you wish to opt-out of this online tracking, please visit the Digital Advertising Alliance’s website available at http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or https://www.youronlinechoices.com/ or the Network Advertising Initiative’s website available at http://www.optout.networkadvertising.org for more information.

Cookie data may also be used by our marketing partners to enhance our customers' advertising experience on our site or other venues across the internet.

However, while some websites allow users to decline cookies, some of our third-party service providers who provide data analytics services through our site, do not necessarily respond to do-not-track requests. The third-party service providers that we use include, but are not limited to, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Nextdoor and Snap. These third-parties do not necessarily respond to your do-not-track requests. However, these third-party service providers do use cookies or pixels to collect standard internet log information and website user behavior information. The information generated by the cookie or pixel about your use of our site (including your IP address and geo-location) is transmitted to these service providers. This information is then used by the service providers to evaluate our users’ use of our site and to compile statistical reports on site activity for us. For more information on how these third-party service providers respond to do-not-track requests, please review their privacy policies and terms of use.

Flash cookies are small pieces of information stored and accessed by Adobe Flash. We do not use flash cookies.

Disclosing your Information

Because protecting your privacy is important to us, National Grid does not sell, trade, rent, give or distribute information about you to any third party. However, where applicable, we may disclose your personal information, including historic energy usage information, to any affiliated business entities or service providers to provide products and services to you.

We may also disclose your personal information to third parties:

Where we sell any or all of our business and/or our assets to a third party, whether through bankruptcy proceedings or other sale or merger.
Where we are legally required to disclose your information, including, but not limited to, pursuant to a valid subpoena, order, search warrant or other law enforcement request.
When we are contractually obligated to disclose your information.

Where we disclose personal information for a purpose set forth herein, we enter a contract with the third party that describes the purpose and requires the third-party recipient to both keep that personal information confidential and not use it for any purpose except performing the contract.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Use of your Information

The information that we collect and store relating to you is primarily used to enable us to provide our products and/or services to you in the best possible manner. In addition, we may use the information for the following purposes:

To provide you with information relating to our services and/or products;
To fulfill or meet the reason you provided the information;
To provide third parties with statistical information about the users of our site and/or app;
To monitor and conduct an analysis of our site and/or app traffic and usage patterns;
To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order or governmental regulations;
To evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by us about our site and/or app users is among the assets transferred.

We may also use your information for targeted advertising. This means that National Grid may display interest-based advertising using information you make available to us when you interact with our site, content, or services and/or products. Interest-based ads, also sometimes referred to as personalized or targeted ads, are displayed to you based on information from activities such as purchasing on our site or visiting certain parts of our site. Advertisers or ad companies working on our behalf sometimes use technology to serve the ads that appear on our site directly to your browser. Those third parties automatically receive your IP address when this happens. They may also use cookies to measure the effectiveness of their ads and to personalize ad content. We do not have access to or control over cookies or other features that advertisers and third-party websites may use, and the information practices of these advertisers and third-party websites are not covered by our Privacy Policy.

We will not use your information to target, segment, or profile individuals based on health (including pregnancy), negative financial status or condition, political affiliation or beliefs, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical affiliation or beliefs, sex life or sexual orientation, trade union membership, data relating to alleged or actual commission of a crime, or for any unlawful or discriminatory purpose or in a manner that would be inconsistent with your reasonable expectation of privacy. We will not use personal information we collected for materially different, unrelated, or incompatible purposes without providing you with notice and/or updating this Privacy Policy.

Links to Third Party Websites

Our site and app provide links to other pages on the Internet. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. When you leave our site or app, we encourage you to read the privacy statements of each website that collects personally identifiable information.

We also contract with vendors to provide enhanced customer information through the Internet. These third-party websites are not under the control of National Grid, and we are not responsible for their contents. These websites have separate privacy and data collection practices, independent of National Grid. We are not responsible or liable for these websites’ independent practices, policies or actions. If you provide any personal information while visiting these websites, you are solely responsible, and do so at your own risk.

Children’s Privacy Policy

“Educational support” is a section of www.nationalgridus.com that includes links to external websites containing information directed at educating children about energy use and safety. Please see the section above, “Links to Third Party Websites.”

www.nationalgridus.com will not collect information that would let us or anyone else contact or personally identify children under the age of 13.

www.nationalgridus.com will not use “cookies” to collect information for contact or identification purposes of children under the age of 13.

www.nationalgridus.com will not allow visitors to publicly post or otherwise send information that would let anyone contact or personally identify children who are under the age of 13.

www.nationalgridus.com will not promise special games, prizes or other offers as a way to try to get information from children under the age of 13 or to encourage children under the age of 13 to take part in activities on our site or in our app.

Under no circumstances shall children under the age of 13 submit personal information to our site or app. We are not liable for any damages that may result from a user’s misrepresentation of age.

European Union

For personal information of individuals that National Grid receives from the European Union, National Grid has committed to handling such personal information in accordance with theEU data protection laws. For personal information transferred from the EU, National Grid utilizes the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses commonly known as “model clauses.” These model clauses are contract templates developed by the European Commission as a mechanism for contracting parties to legalize the cross-border transfer of personal data from Europe.

Please note that the model clauses will apply to the extent there is not another legal basis in place to validate the transfer of personal data from the EU to the U.S.

To learn more about the EU’s model clauses, please visit http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/international-transfers/transfer/index_en.htm.

National Grid has further committed to refer unresolved complaints regarding personal information of individuals that National Grid receives from the European Union to JAMS Mediation and Arbitrators (“JAMS”), an alternative dispute resolution provider located in the United States. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your complaint from us, or if we have not addressed your complaint to your satisfaction, please contact or visit https://www.jamsadr.com for more information or to file a complaint. The services of JAMS are provided at no cost to you.

Disclaimer

National Grid makes no guarantee, warranty or representation, express or implied (including implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose), with regard to the accuracy, completeness, usefulness, timeliness or suitability of the information being provided on our site or in our app.

It is expressly understood and agreed that neither National Grid nor its directors, officers, employees or agents shall assume any liability or responsibility for any damages or claims resulting from any use or disclosure of the information being provided on our site or in our app.

For more information regarding online privacy issues, please visit the Federal Trade Commission homepage at http://www.ftc.gov.

FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: If you reside in California and have provided personally identifiable information to us, you may request information about our disclosure of certain categories of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes under California’s Shine the Light law. Such requests must be submitted to us at the following e-mail address: [email protected]

Massachusetts Gas customers: 800-233-5325
Massachusetts Electric: customers 800-322-3223
Rhode Island customers: 800-322-3223
New York City customers: 718-643-4050
Long Island customers: 800-930-5003
Upstate New York customers: 800-642-4272

If you are a resident of California, effective January 1, 2020, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”):

to know what categories of personal information about you we have collected and used, including how the personal information was collected;
to know what categories of personal information is being sold or disclosed and if it is being sold or disclosed to third parties and a list of categories of information that are sold, or to know that your personal information has not been sold;
to opt-out of the sale of your personal information (click here for more information on “Personal Information Sales Opt-Out and Opt-in Rights”;
to access your personal information, including the right to download or transfer personal information collected during the previous 12 months (for more information on “Access to Specific Information and Data Portability Rights);
to request that your personal information be deleted (click here for more information on “Deletion Request Rights”; and
to equal service and equal price for goods or services even if you exercise your rights under the CCPA.

While California residents have the right to opt-out of the sale of their personal information under CCPA, we do not sell personal information to any third parties, and therefore, we have not included a “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link on our Site. If our practices change, we will update this Privacy Policy and take any other necessary action to comply with applicable law.

If you are a California resident and you want to exercise any of your rights as set forth above, please contact us at

E-mail address: [email protected]

For all requests, it is helpful to put the statement “California Privacy Rights” in the body of your request, describe the nature of your request, and provide your name, street address, city, state, and zip code. In your request, you need to attest to the fact that you are a California resident and provide a current California address for our response. For more information click here to learn about CCPA.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:

Deny you goods or services.
Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

Accessibility Statement

We are committed to making sure that our site and app are accessible to everyone. To access this Privacy Policy in an alternative form, please contact us at the phone numbers or e-mail address set forth in this Policy and we will assist you with your request. For more information, please see our Accessibility Statement here.

Modifications to Privacy Policy

We may modify this Privacy Policy at any time; please check back for updates. If we materially alter our Privacy Policy, we will notify you of such changes by posting a notice on our site or in the app, and/or by contacting you at the e-mail address provided to us. Providing information to us after implementation of our new policy, and/or your continued use of the site and app, will be deemed your agreement that your information may be used in accordance with the new policy. If you do not agree with the changes, then you should not provide additional information to us, stop using the site or app and you should notify us that you do not want your information used in accordance with the changes.

Contacting Us

We offer various ways that you may contact us online regarding queries, comments, requests or complaints—by e-mail or online forms. Please note that while we are in the process of answering your questions or fulfilling your request, information you submit to us may be seen by various people in National Grid. If you decide to send us personally identifying information—for example, in an e-mail containing a question or problem—we will only use this information to help us solve your problem or answer your question. If you have any questions about this privacy statement, please contact us.

National Grid
Data Privacy
175 East Old Country Rd
Hicksville, New York 11801

[email protected]

Effective Date: April 1, 2021