Last Modified: November 18, 2019
Welcome to www.synergyutilitybilling.com (the “Website”) operated by Synergy Utility Billing LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company (“Synergy”, “we”, “our”, or “us”). This privacy policy (this “Privacy Policy”) is intended to inform you about how Synergy collects and uses your personally identifiable information (“PII”) and other information in operating the Website including without limitation through your use of certain of our services offered through the Website and otherwise by us (collectively, the “Services”).
How does the Website work?
The Website enables anonymous users of the Website (each, a “User” and collectively, “Users”) to learn more about us and Users who register with us (each, a “Subscriber” and collectively, “Subscribers”) to use our bill tracking and payment services offered through the Website and otherwise by us (collectively, the “Services”). The term “you” and “your” shall refer to Users and/or Subscribers, as applicable. For clarity, all references to the “Website” in this Privacy Policy will include the Services and any additional mention of the Services in combination with the Website shall be made out of the abundance of clarity for the particular context given.
Subscribers may be either property owners, managers and/or landlords (each, a “Manager” and collectively, “Managers”), or residents of properties operated by Managers (each, a “Resident” and collectively, “Residents”). The Website enables Mangers (via the “Community Manager Portal” accessible through the Website) to view utility analytics, track Resident bill payments and review other account status, and utilize other features, and enables Residents via the “Resident Portal” accessible through the Website) to access their accounts, review and pay past and current bills, and utilize other features.
Your use of the Website is subject to Synergy’s Terms of Use for the Website, which can be found at www.synergyutilitybilling.com/terms-of-use (the “Terms of Use”).
By using the Website, you consent to the collection and use of your PII and other information by Synergy and third parties working on our behalf as described in this Privacy Policy.
How can the terms of this Privacy Policy be modified?
We reserve the right to change how we handle and use the information that we collect through the Website, and to modify this Privacy Policy at any time in our sole discretion. You agree to review this Privacy Policy periodically to be aware of all such modifications. You further agree that your continued use of the Website after a modified version of this Privacy Policy has been posted shall be deemed to be your conclusive acceptance of any modified version of this Privacy Policy. We will indicate that changes to this Privacy Policy have been made by updating the date indicated after the “Last Modified” indicator at the beginning of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the initial version and each modified version of this Privacy Policy, as applicable, then you are not authorized to use the Website. A current version of this Privacy Policy is accessible via the footer of the Website’s homepage.
What type of PII does Synergy collect from you and how do we use it?
Our Subscribers who are Managers have provided us with certain PII of certain of their respective Residents (including name, address, and email address) so that we can register Residents and enable them to use the Website as Subscribers. We will collect the PII of each Manager (including those individuals acting on behalf of such Manager) and of each Resident. Our third party database and payment gateway provider Starnik Systems, Inc. (“Starnik”), who operates the “Community Manager Portal” and the “Resident Portal” on our behalf, will have access to your PII from us and also will collect your PII directly when you use such features. Some, but not all, of the PII collected by Starnik will be shared with us. For instance, your credit card information will be collected by Starnik but not shared with us. You understand and agree that all PII and other information you submit to Starnik-operated portions of the Website (namely, the “Community Manager Portal” and the “Resident Portal”) are governed by Starnik’s privacy collection, use and security protocols as should be memorialized in its privacy policy for such portals, and are not governed by this Privacy Policy.
You can make general use of the Website without providing any PII to Synergy. However, you will need to provide us with certain PII in order to use certain of the Website’s functionality including certain of the Services, such as becoming a Subscriber.
Subscribers must provide certain PII to Synergy in order to register with us, including without limitation a Subscriber’s name, address, email, phone number and payment information (if a payment is being made by a Resident).
We intend to use all such information collected through the Website or otherwise from you for multiple purposes, including without limitation to keep you informed about our activities by sending you emails or by reaching you by phone. We may also ask you for general statistical, non-PII about yourself and your interests.
You agree that by submitting your PII to us, you authorize us or third parties to whom we have transferred your PII or who collected your PII to contact you for advertising, marketing and other commercial purposes. Synergy also may share your PII with third parties for direct marketing and/or other purposes, and you acknowledge that the handling of your PII by such third parties will not be governed by the terms of the Privacy Policy but rather by whatever terms and conditions may be provided by such parties. If you would rather us not share your PII with any third party for direct marketing purposes, please either (1) do not submit PII to us, or (2) indicate your desire for us not to share your PII with third parties for direct marketing purposes by submitting such a request in writing (an “Opt-Out Request“) to us at: Synergy Utility Billing LLC, Attn: Legal. 155 Oberlin Avenue N, Unit C, Lakewood, NJ 08701, as well as by electronic mail at support@synergyutilitybilling.com.
Please note that it may take several weeks for us to comply with your Opt-Out Request, and that until we are able to comply with such request we may continue to use your PII as described in the Privacy Policy. Please note that after receiving your Opt-Out Request, we may continue to maintain your name and other PII to help us ensure that we can honor such a request, to communicate to you about your registration account, and/or for other purposes not related to direct marketing by third parties.
Please note that if we receive your Opt-Out Request after having shared your PII with a third party for direct marketing and/or other purposes or having otherwise transferred or disposed of your PII, we may not have the ability to control the use of such PII by any third party, and in such an event we shall not be liable or otherwise responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damages or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of such PII by any such third party or resulting from any such transfer or disposition. If you are concerned about us sharing your PII with third parties or otherwise our transferring or disposing of your PII, you should not provide your PII to us.
How else do we use your PII?
Synergy or entities working on our behalf (including Starnik as described above) may use your PII to help fulfill your requests in connection with your use of the Website including your use of the Services, or to help us or third parties communicate with you about different resources offered as part of the Website or our activities, or otherwise. For example, we may transfer information collected at registration, including your PII, to service providers and other third parties who assist us in running the Website.
Under what other circumstances may we release PII?
In addition to sharing your PII with third parties as described above, we may also release your PII to other third parties if we believe that such release is necessary (a) to comply with the law (e.g., a legal process or a statutory or regulatory authorization or requirement) or a court order, (b) in order to apply or enforce the Terms of Use or otherwise protect our interests, (c) in order to protect you, other Users or Subscribers, or us from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of the Website or from other harm, or (d) if we reasonably believe that a danger to any person or property requires the disclosure of such PII.
Our rights under this Privacy Policy may be automatically assigned by Synergy, in our sole discretion, to a third party or parties, and such an assignment will inure to the benefit of our successors, assigns and/or licensees. Without limitation of the foregoing, we may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of our assets, including without limitation your PII, with any parent company, subsidiary, joint venture, and/or any company under our common control, as well as to a potential acquirer and/or an acquirer, including without limitation in connection with a merger, reorganization, or sale of assets or stock, or in the event of a bankruptcy. In each such an event, the PII we have collected from you may be one of the assets transferred in connection with any such a transaction or event.
What other information does Synergy collect through the Website?
We may also collect anonymous and aggregate information from you about your preferences in navigating the Website by using cookies, action tags and other methods. Cookies are small text files that identify your computer and can track your behavior across multiple platforms. We may use cookies to, among other things, monitor usage of the Website, customize features of the Website, identify your computer’s or other device’s operating system and browser, and complete transactions. An action tag is a small, graphic image on a webpage that is designed to allow the website owner or a third party to monitor who is visiting a website by collecting the IP address of the computer to which the tag is sent, the URL of the webpage that the tag comes from and the time at which such webpage was viewed. Action tags may be associated with cookie information. We may also use such anonymous and aggregate information for promotional and other business purposes.
We also may engage in retargeting, which is a form of online targeted advertising to consumers based on their previous Internet actions. Retargeting tags online users by including a pixel within the target webpage or email, which sets a cookie in the user’s browser. So if you do not want to participate in our retargeting activities, then please set your browser to not accept cookies.
Do I have the ability not to be identified by Synergy?
Yes. If you do not want to be identified by us, you can set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies and refuse cookies when your browser alerts you to their presence. You can also adjust the settings in your browser to refuse all cookies. If you do not want us to have any of your PII, do not submit any of your PII to us. Please keep in mind that if you refuse cookies you may not be able to use certain Website functionality, including without limitation using our registration mechanism to become a Subscriber.
How do we store information?
Synergy takes steps consistent with commercially reasonable industry standards to secure PII collected from you from loss, misuse, unauthorized access and destruction while under our control. However, please note that despite our efforts to protect information provided to us, we cannot guarantee that such information will not be lost, disclosed or accessed by accidental circumstances or by the unauthorized acts of others.
Does Synergy provide links to other websites?
Synergy may provide links to other websites or resources of possible interest to you, or Subscribers may provide information to or engage in relationships with third parties by using the Services. The collection and use of your PII and other information by such websites or otherwise by such third parties (including without limitation by Starnik) shall be subject to the policies and procedures of such websites and not those contained in this Privacy Policy. The information collected by our service providers or other third parties working on our behalf, including without limitation credit card settlement companies, in consummating payments you may have made through the Website or otherwise in the course of assisting us, is subject to the privacy policies of such third parties and is not subject to this Privacy Policy.
What are our policies regarding children?
The Website is intended for general use by persons who have reached the age of consent in their state of residence and it is not targeted to anyone under thirteen (13) years of age. Synergy does not knowingly collect PII from anyone under thirteen (13) years of age. If we learn that we have unintentionally collected PII from anyone under thirteen (13) years of age, we will promptly delete such information.
What are Your California Privacy Rights?
If you are a California resident, you may ask us to refrain from sharing your PII with certain third parties for marketing purposes, and you have the right to know how we have used certain of your PII. Please express your preference to us, or otherwise make written requests to us, by contacting us at: support@synergyutilitybilling.com or at the following address: Synergy Utility Billing LLC, 155 Oberlin Avenue N, Unit C, Lakewood, NJ 08701.
Do we respond to Do Not Track Signals?
The Website does not have the capability to respond to “Do Not Track” signals received from various web browsers.
Do we have a mechanism to address the removal of PII and complaints about the handling of information that we collect?
If you wish to remove PII that you have submitted to us, please send us an email requesting such removal (with the word “Removal” in the email subject line) to support@synergyutilitybilling.com. If you have questions or concerns about any of our information collection or handling practices, please contact us at support@synergyutilitybilling.com or write to us at 155 Oberlin Avenue N, Unit C, Lakewood, NJ 08701.