Web Site Privacy Policy

(Revised January 2005)

Pacific Gas and Electric Company ("PG&E," "the Company," "we," "us" or "our") is concerned about preventing unauthorized disclosure of customer information. We understand the importance you place on the privacy and security of information that personally identifies you or your Company account information. We refer to this information as "Personal Information." We want you to know what Personal Information PG&E collects at pge.com (the "Web site") and how we use it. PG&E has adopted the following Privacy Policy to explain our commitment to your privacy. By using the Web site, you agree to be bound by the PG&E Privacy Policy. Please review the contents of the PG&E Privacy Policy frequently, as we may amend it from time to time to reflect changes in our services and our policies relating to customer Personal Information. Amendments will become effective when posted on the Web site. PG&E will not provide you with a notice of any change in this Privacy Policy. It is your responsibility to monitor and review any updates to the Privacy Policy.

 
1. Information You Submit

If you register to access various services related to your residential account or other applications involving your business account on the Web site, you may be asked to submit Personal Information such as your PG&E account number, name, address, partial Social Security Number (last four digits), phone number and e-mail address. You may also be asked to submit additional Personal Information or financial information in order to use certain specific services offered in these customer account transaction areas. We will protect all information you provide us on the Web site, as set forth below and in accordance with these Terms of Use.


2. How We Use Your Information

a. The Personal Information you provide us not only enables you to access various customer services offered on the Web site, but also enables us to provide you with better service generally. We may use this information to contact you to respond to an inquiry that you send to the Company or to keep you informed about the Company and its services. If you choose to communicate with the Company by e-mail, then e-mail from the Company to you will be considered to be sent with your consent and will be accessible to anyone who has access to your e-mail.

b. In order to provide you with services offered on the Web site, or to complete transactions or requests initiated by you on the Web site, we may transfer you to outside services provided by third-party operators. In certain instances, the third-party content may be "framed" in such a way it appears you are still on PG&E's Web site. In such cases, we will have agreements with those third parties whose web sites you may be transferred to, under which the third parties agree to maintain the confidentiality of your Personal Information and to use it only to help us serve you.

c. Other than as set forth herein, we will not disclose your Personal Information to third parties without your written consent (which consent may be obtained electronically, such as by e-mail), unless we reasonably believe the disclosure is essential to the conduct of the Company's business or to provide services to you, including but not limited to where such disclosure is necessary to (i) comply with the law, legal process or our regulators, (ii) collect unpaid bills, (iii) enable the Company's employees or consultants to provide service to you and to otherwise perform their duties, (iv) comply with interchange functions, (v) obtain and provide credit reporting information, or (vi) resolve customer disputes or inquiries. We do not provide your Personal Information to third parties for telemarketing, e-mail or direct mail solicitation.

d. We request you protect the confidentiality of your user name and password. You are responsible for all activity on the Web site accessed by your user name and password. Access by the Company's employees or consultants to any Personal Information you provide is limited to only information necessary to provide the business service offered and to allow employees or consultants to perform their duties.

 
3. Surveys, Contests and Promotions

We may on our own or in conjunction with other companies offer surveys, contests, sweepstakes and other promotions ("Events"). You may be asked to supply certain Personal Information to participate in these Events, and this information may, under the rules governing such events, be used by the sponsoring parties for marketing purposes. Even if you previously elected not to receive information or mailings from third parties or us you may still receive information through your participation in these Events. If you are under the age of 18, you may be subject to special rules regarding your participation in certain Events. The rules governing each Event will be clearly posted, as will notification about how the information gathered may be used.

 
4. Children's Privacy Online

We understand children's privacy is important. We have areas of the site intended for the use of children containing information about energy and safety. We also provide free classroom materials for teachers on energy awareness and safety. We do not monitor the age of users of the Web site. However, if you are under the age of 18, you should not submit Personal Information on the Web site or any web sites without the consent of your parent or guardian.

 
5. General Usage Information

a. Your visits to the Web site. We collect information about usage of the Web site, such as the number of visitors to the Web site and the number of users that click on certain links or utilize certain services. For some applications, such as Rate Analysis, we link usage information with the particular customer visiting the Web site. We use industry standard software to create summary statistics of the usage data we collect, which may then be used to highlight what our visitors find interesting, to improve the Web site design specifications, to identify system performance issues and for other internal purposes.

b. Our Use of Your IP Address. An Internet Protocol ("IP") address is a number automatically assigned to your computer every time you browse the Internet. When you visit the Web site, our servers log your current IP address. We may use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our servers and to administer the Web site. Data gathered from logging your IP address is not tied to your Personal Information and is not used to identify you.

c. Our Use of Cookies. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer's hard drive by web page servers. When you visit the Web site, our server may create cookies, making it more convenient for you to use the Web site by verifying when you travel from page to page. Data on the Web site usage we collect using cookies is not tied to your Personal Information and is only used in aggregate form.


6. Links

While browsing the Web site, you may encounter hypertext links to other third-party operated web sites. These other third-party web sites may send their own cookies to you, log your IP address, and otherwise collect data or solicit Personal Information. PG&E DOES NOT CONTROL AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT THIRD PARTIES DO IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR WEB SITES, OR HOW THEY HANDLE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION AND CONSULT THE PRIVACY POLICIES POSTED ON EACH THIRD-PARTY WEB SITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.


7. Security

Once you login to PG&E's online services, any account information you enter or that is displayed in your browser window is secured using an industry standard security technology known as Secure Sockets Layer ("SSL"). By using SSL, we attempt to safeguard the confidentiality of your Personal and Financial Information. Your browser must be capable of supporting SSL. Please check with your browser manufacturer for details.

You may direct any questions about this Privacy Policy to:

Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Director of Internet Services
Mail Code B13P
P.O. Box 770000
San Francisco, CA 94177-0001

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