2016 Customer Information
Updated May 1, 2016
For additional information, find your local contact information
We cannot cover here every situation that affects your information, but we have included those we believe are most of interest to you. We show any important changes in bold. We also offer updates for you at Cox.com. Any updates are effective as of the date first published on Cox.com. If you receive your bills electronically, we will send this notice by email. If you would like a written copy, contact us at privacy@cox.com.
Your Information –We limit the personal information we collect from you. In providing our services, we sometimes collect personally identifiable information, such as your name, physical address, telephone numbers, social security number, driver's license number, and email addresses ("Personally Identifiable Information"). We may also collect other non-personally identifiable information, such as information about premium services, general location, demographics, billing information, maintenance, repair, services, equipment, software, usage, settings and preferences to aid in customer support and in recommendations for you. If non-personally identifiable information is directly linked to Personally Identifiable Information, it will be considered personally identifiable information while it is linked. Aggregate and de-identified information is not considered Personally Identifiable Information.
Our policy is to collect Personally Identifiable Information to help us provide the services we may offer with the quality you deserve. We take reasonable precautions to identify you or your authorized representative when we are contacted about your account. We sometimes ask for Personally Identifiable Information for special reasons, such as for research, in surveys or registering in apps or at our web sites. If so, we will tell you first how we will use it, and you may choose not to participate.
Cable Television Services
We may use cable and Internet technologies to collect information about your video selections. We treat this information as confidential, and we will not use it to identify you to third parties other than affiliates, vendors and business partners without your consent. We use this information to make recommendations to you and for other purposes, such as to market new or additional services to you. You may opt-out of our use of viewing information for recommendations for most devices by using the settings menu on your set-top box or application, or by going to http://www.cox.com/privacyrequest.
We collect viewing and demographic information and may use it or, when de-identified, share it with others for programming, ratings, marketing, advertising and similar purposes. Also, limited Personally Identifiable Information is collected and used in providing some types of cable television services, such as pay-per view, interactive, entertainment-on-demand and devices we provide to you.
Internet Services
Like most Internet service providers, we automatically collect and store Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (an identifier given to your connection while online), the volume of data transmitted and received through your service, Internet connection performance, modem MAC addresses, and connection dates and times. We may also collect and store other usage statistics, such as the volume of data transmitted by protocols, devices and services, to help us understand how our network is used and to tailor the services we offer. If you are accessing the Internet away from your home through a WiFi connection provided by Cox or its partners, we may also collect the device MAC ID, device type, location and session information such as duration and location of the access point used.
Applications – We offer "apps" to customers to access certain services. This privacy notice governs use of such apps. The App terms and conditions accompanying the apps may also detail special terms concerning their collection and use of information.
Telephone Services
In providing telephone services, we receive usage information, including calls made and received and their duration. We treat this information as private and retain it in most jurisdictions for up to eighteen months. We do not share these records with others, unless required by law. Except when required by law, we do not listen to or record your calls to third parties. We do monitor and record certain calls with Cox customer care employees or agents for quality and training purposes.
Cox Home Security
Home security services offered by Cox are subject to this privacy notice and the terms, conditions and privacy provisions contained in the applicable home security service agreement.
Personally Identifiable Information
We consider Personally Identifiable Information confidential, and use it only in providing the services we, our affiliates, or our partners offer. Personally Identifiable Information is used, for example, for the following activities: sales, installation, training, operations, administration, advertising, marketing, support, development of new products and services, data usage, management, maintenance, customer care, communications with you, and billing and collection. We may combine Personally Identifiable Information with demographic and other information for purposes consistent with this Notice.
Sharing Restrictions
It is our policy not to disclose Personally Identifiable Information to persons outside of Cox, other than our affiliates, vendors and business partners, without your prior consent or as otherwise specified in this statement.
Aggregate Information
We use and share aggregate information about usage by groups of customers for a variety of purposes. Aggregate information does not identify individual customers. We use aggregate information along with demographic data from other sources and may share it with others.
Outside Parties and Vendors
We sometimes use affiliates, vendors or partners in providing services to you and may share Personally Identifiable Information for these purposes. We require these parties to maintain at least the same level of confidentiality we maintain ourselves. We also prohibit them from using Personally Identifiable Information for any purpose other than providing the services.
Telephone Services
If you call to discuss your telephone account, we may ask for your "Cox PIN", found in the top right portion of your bill. If you request, Customer Care can remove your Cox PIN from your bill to enhance your security. At Cox offices, telephone customers must show a government-issued photo ID. If you, or anyone authorized by you, make significant changes to your telephone account, Cox will send you notice to confirm that you made these changes. If you suspect that someone may have made unauthorized changes to your account, contact Customer Care at the telephone number on your bill. If we discover any unauthorized access to your telephone account, we will send you notice promptly, in keeping with applicable law.
Our telephone customers can designate their listings as non-published for print or electronic directories or for directory assistance services. We do not publish these directories and are not responsible for their content or accuracy. Because of the complexity of this process and the involvement of others, errors sometimes occur. Our telephone services are subject to tariff or contractual terms that limit our liability in the event of listing errors. For more information on telephone privacy, see the Customer Proprietary Network Information notice below.
Cable Television Services
When you use an interactive service to participate in or to order a product or service, we will ask for your permission to provide contact information to the appropriate party. As explained above, we also use viewing information for certain purposes.
Internet Services
Unless addressed to us, we do not read the content of your online communications, unless required by law or court order. We may however, retain and provide such communications if we are legally required to do so. We generally scan incoming and outgoing email messages electronically to identify and filter out likely spam. We also monitor for malware and other threats that could harm your equipment, the network or other users. We may communicate with you online concerning such threats, as well as offerings from Cox that you may be interested in. For more information, see our Policies at Cox.com We also provide general location-based online advertising based on your general geographic area and ZIP code, similar to direct mail you receive through the US Mail. Visit Location-Based Advertising for more information and instructions on opting out of this service.
Special Exceptions – We reserve the right to disclose Personally Identifiable Information if we have a good faith belief it is necessary to: (1) comply with the law; (2) protect our network, rights or property or those of others; (3) respond to fraud, abuse or unauthorized reception; (4) enforce our Policies posted on Cox.com; or (5) act in an emergency to protect your safety or that of another person. We may also transfer Personally Identifiable Information as a part of a sale or transfer of business operations.
Taking Proper Precautions
Maintaining the security of your personal computer is an important way to protect your privacy and to help us protect our network and customers. You must follow our Policies posted on Cox.com and maintain your antivirus software, firewall, wireless network security and your operating system to prevent harm and potential theft of data. You should regularly back up your computer to preserve your files, including messages you want to keep, and change your login password regularly. Always be sure you know with whom you are dealing before clicking on an Internet link or giving personal information. When communications enter the Internet, it is possible for outside parties to access them. Since we cannot control websites or services operated by third parties, you should review their terms of service and privacy policies before use. We encourage you to visit our website at Cox.com or the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") at http://www.ftc.gov for tips on protecting yourself and your personal information.
We may take protective action related to your Internet service or contact you to help with security issues we identify, such as malware infections. Unsecured WiFi home networks can make you vulnerable to a number of problems, such as unauthorized persons using your Internet service. We may check for unsecured Wi-Fi networks attached to Cox Internet service and provide instructions to you on how to secure them. We monitor our network and scan incoming and outgoing email messages to filter out likely spam, harmful messages, viruses, malware, spyware and related threats that could harm your equipment, the network or others. We may also share network traffic data with trusted third parties who work to protect ISPs and the Internet from botnets and other threats.
Spam
We try to block incoming and outgoing spam using a variety of methods. You can help by preventing unauthorized access to your computer. You can forward unwanted spam to spamreport@cox.net and phishing scams to phishingreport@cox.net to help update our filters. We may use email to send transactional, informational, or relationship messages related to your service. However, we will never ask you to send personal information to us by unsecured email. If you prefer, you may opt-out of marketing messages we may send by notifying us in response to the email you receive.
Cookies and Web Beacons
We and other parties may place ads on our websites and email using "cookies" and web beacons or clear GIFs or other similar technologies to collect information about your visit to our website and email and to manage your preferences. These tools do not provide any information that personally identifies you. They can, however, be read by the provider to note information about your visit, such as your type of browser, operating system and IP address. Cookies may also help to recognize you when you log in as a registered user or as a repeat visitor. You can control the cookies your computer accepts through the settings on your device. Doing so, however, may limit the personalization available to you. We use these tools to tailor our site and email to better serve you by remembering you and any options you select. We may share non-personal information obtained from these tools with vendors, advertisers and others.
Online Advertising (added May 1, 2016)
When you use our services, Cox may display advertisements, public service announcements, and other messages to you. Cox does not use your web surfing activity or other online behavior to determine the advertisements and other information shown to you. Location-based online advertising is based upon your zip + 4 zip code, similar to direct mail you receive through US mail. Visit Location-Based Advertising for more information and instructions on opting out of this service.
Behavioral or Interest Based Ad Options
Cox and other website owners or advertisers may use special types of cookies or other tools to provide customized ads based on visits to their websites. You can find more information about these tools, including benefits they can provide at http://www.networkadvertising.org. Many companies that collect information for behavioral advertising are members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI"). NAI offers the ability for you to opt-out of the behavioral advertising programs of their members by going to http://www.aboutads.info/choices. Please note that if you use a different computer, change your web browser, or delete your cookies, you may need to renew your opt-out choices. As there is no commonly accepted response for Do Not Track signals initiated by browsers, we do not respond to them.
Information We Must Disclose – What we must disclose.
We regularly receive legal requests for customer information from government and law enforcement personnel. We also receive discovery requests in civil cases. In all such cases, we cooperate by providing the information required by law. Cox does not volunteer customer information or give access to customer communications to law enforcement or others, except in the "Special Exceptions" detailed above or if we have a good faith belief that an emergency involving an immediate danger of death or serious physical injury requires disclosure. Many criminal subpoenas require that we not disclose or notify you of the request. Due to this fact and the volume of requests we receive, we do not assume any duty to notify you of receipt of any legal requests.
Internet Information – We sometimes receive subpoenas for information concerning your Internet access. Files shared over "peer-to-peer" services often include your IP Address, and you could be identified in this way if we receive a lawful subpoena. Law enforcement can obtain details about your Internet use and the content of communications through a warrant or similar authority.
Telephone Information – Law enforcement must obtain a warrant or other similar authority to use a telephone wiretap or a device to capture dialing information. Law enforcement can also subpoena account and call record information.
Cable Television Programming Selections – Your video programming selections may generally be obtained only under court order and after notice is sent to you and you are given the opportunity to object in court.
We maintain an Information Security and Privacy program that continues to work on new ways to protect Personally Identifiable Information. For our most sensitive databases, we use encryption within controlled and secured environments that have restricted access. Although we work to ensure the integrity and security of our network and computer systems, no one can guarantee that security measures will prevent unauthorized access or use. We generally retain personal customer information of current and former customers until no longer needed for business, tax, or legal purposes.
Children should always get permission from a parent or guardian before sending their information over the Internet. Our websites are not directed at, or intended for use by, children under the age of 13. If you believe your child may have provided us with their information, you can contact us at the address on your bill and we will delete the information. We treat information concerning services provided for family use as that of our adult customer, even if used by a child. We encourage adults to assure responsible use by minors. You can find more information about protecting children's privacy by clicking on "Take Charge" on Cox.com or visiting http://www.ftc.gov.
We work closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other groups to eliminate child pornography on the Internet. The law requires us to report any evidence we learn of concerning child pornography.
California law requires that we provide to certain customers, upon request, certain information regarding the sharing of Personally Identifiable Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We may share Personally Identifiable Information with some affiliates for those affiliates’ direct marketing purposes. If you make a request by sending an email to privacy@cox.com, we will provide you with a list of personal information that we may have shared with some or all of these affiliates.
You may check the accuracy of your Personally Identifiable Information in your account by contacting a Customer Care representative. You may also examine your Personally Identifiable Information and advise us of any errors you believe we should correct, upon prior request and at your own cost, during business hours at the Cox office listed on your bill. You can enforce your legal privacy rights concerning our collection, use and sharing of your personally identifiable information. Among your remedies is the right to bring a civil action and seek damages, reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs under 47 U.S.C. Section 551.
Other terms and conditions affect our service offerings, including the online privacy policies for our websites, service contracts, our Acceptable Use Policy for High Speed Internet service, tariffs and the Terms of Use for our websites and apps. We intend this statement to be part of these documents. Changes in our service offerings or the law may cause us to make changes to this and other policies from time to time. We will post any changes at Cox.com, along with the effective date of the changes.
We may take measures to respond to extraordinary levels of usage, denial of service attacks, or other circumstances that may have a significant effect on your service or the service of other subscribers. We are committed to the management of our network to improve service offerings, protect you, and create new services for you. We use inspection technology to understand the types of traffic on our network, for growth and capacity planning, for customer service and analysis purposes, and to develop and market products and services that may be of interest to you. We do not use inspection technology to shape or throttle Internet traffic. We may use inspection technology for security purposes including identification and blocking of botnets, viruses, phishing sites, and malware. We use other measures to ensure the best overall experience for you, such as: rate limiting of email (as set forth in our email policies), email storage limits (including deletion of dormant or unchecked email), rejection or removal of spam, and data usage management. We also employ other means to protect customers, children, and our network, including blocking access to child pornography.
If you subscribe to Cox telephone service or any other Cox service classified as a “telecommunications service,” federal law creates certain additional privacy protections and use restrictions with respect to a category of information known as “customer proprietary network information” or “CPNI.” CPNI refers to the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location, and amount of your use of a telecommunications service that is made available to us solely by virtue of our relationship with you, as a customer. CPNI also includes information in your bills pertaining to your telephone service. CPNI does not include subscriber list information, such as your name, address and telephone number or other information that has been published in any directory format, or information that does not identify you personally. Examples of CPNI include information about your phone service found on your monthly telephone bill, the technical characteristics of your service, the class of service to which you subscribe, your current telephone charges, your long distance and local service billing records, directory assistance charges, usage data, and calling records.
We have a duty, under federal law, to protect the confidentiality of CPNI. Cox does not sell your CPNI, and your CPNI will not be disclosed to third parties outside of Cox and our affiliates, agents, joint venture partners, vendors, and independent contractors, except as required by law or detailed here.
We may use your telephone CPNI to offer our communications-related products or services that may enhance products or services to which you already subscribe. Unless you tell us otherwise within thirty days of your first receipt of this CPNI notice, we may also use your telephone CPNI to offer you communications-related products or services that are outside of the same category of service to which you already subscribe. You can restrict or withdraw the right for us to use your CPNI for these marketing purposes at any time at http://www.cox.com/privacyrequest. When you contact us, we may ask for your consent to use your CPNI in marketing our services to you at that time. This consent applies only for the duration of the call or Internet session. We will not use your CPNI for any other marketing purposes without your permission. Restricting our use of your CPNI will not affect your service. If you previously contacted us to approve or deny our use of your CPNI, we will continue to honor your request and you do not need to contact us again.
Pursuant to an order of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), our residential Broadband Internet Access Services, such as Cox High Speed Internet service offered by Cox on a retail, mass-market basis (“Internet Service”) are now classified as a “telecommunications service.” Certain information relating to your use of our Internet Service will be considered CPNI and subject to additional privacy protections and use restrictions. In the absence of specific guidance from the FCC, we will take reasonable, good faith steps to protect the CPNI of our Internet Service customers in accordance with the requirements of the Communications Act, as applicable, and as described in this privacy notice. You can restrict or withdraw the right for us to use your CPNI for marketing Cox services to which you do not already subscribe or for other marketing purposes at any time by visiting http://www.cox.com/privacyrequest.
To help reduce unwanted telemarketing calls, the FCC offers telephone subscribers the opportunity to register their residential telephone numbers, including wireless numbers, on its national Do Not Call registry. You may register for the list without charge by calling the FTC at 1-888-382-1222 FREE or TYY 1-866-290-4236 FREE from the telephone number you are registering, or by going online at www.donotcall.gov. The FCC/FTC rules contain an "established business relationship" exception that permits a company that has such a relationship with you, like Cox, to call even if your number is registered.
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