Your Privacy Rights as a COX Customer and Related Information
Notice to Cox Residential Customers
Updated: May 1, 2022
In keeping with our commitment to be the most trusted provider of communications and entertainment services ("Subscription Services"), we are letting you know how we will collect, use, and share your information in connection with our Subscription Services. We summarized each section of this Notice below and the titles are linked to the more detailed sections, however, the complete notice is what governs, not the headings or summaries, and we encourage you to read those too.
For additional information, find your local contact information
Information We Collect and Use
Generally, we collect and use your Personally Identifiable Information to provide you services and as otherwise related to the operation of our business, as detailed below.
Your Personally Identifiable Information
In providing our Subscription Services, we collect a variety of information. Some of this information could identify you personally, such as your name, service and mailing addresses, telephone numbers, social security number, driver's license number, and email address ("Personally Identifiable Information") and other billing and payment records (including credit card and bank account numbers used to pay for our services), subscriber credit information, or other information that could be used to identify, contact, or locate you. We may also collect information about you and other subscribers such as information about premium services, general location, demographics, the services you have chosen to receive, information about equipment and devices connected to our system and network, complaint information, including customer correspondence and communications records, and information regarding maintenance, repairs, services, equipment, software, usage, call recordings (including analysis of recordings to determine your satisfaction with our services and customer support), chat sessions with Cox, and settings and preferences to aid in customer support and in recommendations for you. We may combine Personally Identifiable Information with other information for purposes consistent with this Notice and applicable law. Other information we collect about you may be pseudonymized, i.e., associated with a device number or other unique identifier that does not directly identify you unless it is associated with other information that personally identifies you. We may create aggregate and/or deidentified information (i.e., information from which personally identifiable elements have been removed or modified), which is not considered Personally Identifiable Information.
Cox TV Services
We may use various technologies, including the cable set-top box, our websites, and our apps, to collect information about your Subscription Services video selections and activities, such as information about the TV shows and channels your household watches on different devices ("TV Viewing Information"). We also collect information to provide you with other television services, such as pay-per view, interactive, and entertainment-on-demand. We may share this information as set forth in the "Sharing" section below. Some TV Viewing Information may be linked to Personally Identifiable Information about you (such as when we bill you for a pay-per-view event or movie), while at other times TV Viewing Information is associated with a pseudonymized identifier that does not directly identify you. We may combine TV Viewing Information that does not identify you with other information to help us provide our services to you and to provide us with a better understanding of how different networks, channels and shows are performing. We may use TV Viewing Information to make recommendations about our services to you and for other service-related purposes, such as to market new or additional services. We provide an option for you - on the most recent version of our set-top box - to opt-out of video recommendations based on your TV Viewing Information through the settings menu. We may combine TV Viewing Information and Personally Identifiable Information with demographic and other information for purposes consistent with this Notice. To the extent TV Viewing Information or other information is directly linked with Personally Identifiable Information, it will be treated as Personally Identifiable Information under this Notice. Also, we may share this information as set forth in the "Sharing" section below. For more information on television privacy, see the "Cable Television Protection of Subscriber Privacy" section below.
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 and types of data transmitted and received through your service, device types used, Internet connection performance, modem, gateway, and other device MAC addresses, general geographic area, and connection dates and times. We may also collect and store other usage statistics, such as the volume of data transmitted by certain applications, protocols, devices, and services, to help us understand how our network is used, to give you insight into your household Internet usage, and to improve the Subscription Services we offer. We monitor our network and collect telemetry and other data to measure the quality of our Internet service, and to help us troubleshoot and diagnose service issues you are experiencing. We also monitor our network for security, malware, and fraud prevention purposes. We may communicate with you online, including in browser notifications, concerning maintenance, security and fraud prevention issues, as well as offerings from Cox that you may be interested in. If you are accessing the Internet away from your home through a Wi-Fi connection provided by Cox or its partners, we may also collect the device MAC ID, device type, location of the access point, duration, and session information. This information is typically not collected in a form that identifies you personally but is instead associated with a device or other unique identifier and used for a variety of network management and service-related purposes. In some circumstances – e.g., to prevent or remedy fraud or malicious activity taking place through our network, or to provide you with a general summary about the way you are using our network and the amount of bandwidth you are consuming – we may combine this data with Personally Identifiable Information. To the extent this information is in personally identifiable form we would not share it with a third party without your permission unless required by law.
Email and Online Communications
Unless addressed to us or required by law or legal process, we do not read the contents of your online communications, such as email. We may, however, retain and provide such communications if we are legally required to do so. For Cox email accounts, we generally scan incoming and outgoing email traffic electronically to identify and filter likely spam and malicious email, and for security and fraud prevention purposes. We may use email to send transactional, informational, or relationship messages related to your Subscription Services. If you prefer, you may opt-out of marketing emails to a specific address by notifying us in response to the email you receive, through the "unsubscribe" link found at the bottom of the email.
Cox Internet DNS Privacy
The Domain Name System or “DNS” is an integral part of the Internet, providing a way to link website host names to specific IP addresses. The Cox-provided DNS platform is optimized and configured to help you get the best possible experience from your Internet service. We retain the contents of lookups, or "queries" made to the platform for a period of approximately 5 days. The contents of those queries, including timestamps, requested DNS hostname, and source IP address are continually aggregated and used to identify network trends such as growth, anomalous device behavior, malicious activity (botnets, viruses, spam, spyware, etc.) and potentially damaging traffic such as DoS (Denial of Service) activity. We do not share DNS data with any third party except in limited instances where anonymized or aggregated data is necessary for cybersecurity, DNS analytics, reporting, or research purposes. Following aggregation, the retained or transferred data does not contain any Personally Identifiable Information or data that we believe could be combined or correlated to identify a user or their behavior. Cox does not use customer DNS query information to facilitate advertising, either internally or via third-party advertisers.
Telephone Services
In providing telephone services, we collect usage information, including calls made and received and their duration. We treat this information as private as required by applicable law. We monitor and record calls with Cox customer care agents for quality, training, and analytics purposes.
Cox Homelife
Home security and automation services offered by Cox are subject to this Notice and the terms, conditions and privacy provisions contained in the applicable home security service agreement. If you subscribe to Cox Homelife Care, we collect Personally Identifiable Information about you and/or the individual utilizing the Cox Homelife Care service.
Advertising for Products and Services offered by Advertisers Other than Cox
When watching Cox TV and using Cox Internet for activities such as watching online videos, listening to podcasts or browsing the web, advertisers want to show you advertising for their products and services that are tailored to your household. To show you more relevant TV advertising when watching Cox TV, we combine subscriber information, such as your name and address, and TV Viewing Information, with commercially available information such as age, gender, preferred language, and general interests obtained from third-party sources, including, for example, from public databases, advertisers, and data companies. We do not provide this type of tailored advertising based upon TV Viewing Information that personally identifies you and we do not share information that directly identifies you with these advertisers. For more relevant advertising when you are online, we combine subscriber information, such as your name and address, with commercially available information obtained from third-party sources. We do not use your Cox Internet usage data with any tailored advertising, and we do not share information that directly identifies you with these advertisers.
If you prefer that we not use your subscriber information to show you tailored online or television ads for products or services offered by companies other than Cox, you can opt-out by visiting the preferences center in My Account at www.cox.com. Please note, if you opt-out you will still receive advertising from these advertisers, but it will be generic and not tailored by us to your household.
Customer Proprietary Network Information
For more information on how we treat customer proprietary network information, see the Customer Proprietary Network Information section below.
Communicating with You
We may communicate with you online, including in browser notifications, concerning maintenance, security, and fraud prevention issues, as well as information from Cox that you may be interested in. If you prefer, you may opt-out of marketing emails to a specific address by notifying us in response to the email you receive, through the "unsubscribe" link found at the bottom of the email. You may also manage the types of marketing communications we use by visiting the preferences page within your My Account. We may send communications through text messages to the extent you have opted in or as permitted by law.
Law Enforcement and Legal Requests
Information We Must Disclose
We routinely receive legal requests for customer information from government and law enforcement personnel. We also receive discovery requests in civil cases. We cooperate by providing the information required by law or as compelled by legal process. Cox does not volunteer Subscription Services Personally Identifiable Information, including access to customer communications, to law enforcement or others, except as noted in the Special Exceptions section above, or as otherwise disclosed in this Notice or at the point of collection (e.g., to our vendors in connection with their provision of services to us). 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. The following applies to certain types of your Subscription Services Personally Identifiable Information that may be the subject of law enforcement or legal request:
Internet Information
We sometimes receive subpoenas for your identity in connection with use of your Internet service for apparent copyright infringement or other civil matters. Files shared over "peer-to-peer" services often include your IP address, and if we receive a subpoena, we will provide the Personally Identifiable Information associated with that IP address. Law enforcement can also obtain your Subscription Services Personally Identifiable Information, including details about your Internet use and the content of communications, from us 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, and others, can also subpoena or otherwise compel us through legal process to provide your Personally Identifiable Information, including your telephone account and call record information.
TV Programming Selections
Television programming selections linked to your Personally Identifiable Information may generally be obtained from us by third parties only under court order and after notice is sent to you and you are given the opportunity to object in court. For more information on cable television privacy, see the Cable Television Protection of Subscriber Privacy section below.
Measures to Combat Child Pornography
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 of apparent child pornography and we may share your Personally Identifiable Information in connection therewith.
Third-Party Services
Our Subscription Services may include or link to third-party websites, apps, ads, locations, platforms, code (e.g., plug-ins, application programming interfaces ("API"), and software development kits ("SDKs")), or other services ("Third-Party Service(s)"). These Third-Party Services may use their own cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technology to independently collect information about you and may solicit Personally Identifiable Information and other data from you.
Third-Party Services include third-party content provider apps and links that enable you to access their services via our Subscription Services ("Content Services"). When you access those Third-Party Services in this manner, you are interacting directly with the Third-Party Service even if you have not closed out of our Subscription Services. Examples include when you access any of the following content providers’ services while on our Subscription Services: Netflix, Pandora, Amazon Prime Video, and other third-party apps providing content. In addition, when accessing content networks directly via our Subscription Services, the content network programmers ("Third-Party Networks") may use APIs, SDKs and other technologies to directly collect information from and about you. Third-Party Services may also include third-party audience measurement services. We do not consider these third-party data collections to be a sale or disclosure by us.
In addition, certain functionalities of our Subscription Services permit interactions that you initiate between our Subscription Services and certain Third-Party Services, such as third-party social networks ("Social Features"). Examples of Social Features include: "liking" or "sharing" Cox’s content; logging in to our Subscription Services using your Third-Party Service account (e.g., using Facebook Connect to sign-in to our service); and to otherwise connect our Subscription Services to a Third-Party Service (e.g., to pull or push information to or from the service). If you use Social Features, and potentially other Third-Party Services, information you post or provide access to may be publicly displayed on our Subscription Services or by the Third-Party Service that you use.
When you use Third-Party Services, including Social Features, Content Services and Third-Party Networks, Cox is merely facilitating your access to those services, and you are subject to the data collection and use practices and privacy policies of the Third-Party Services and Cox is not responsible for their data practices. Cox encourages you to review their privacy policies and terms of use.
Security
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. Following our policies posted on www.cox.com and maintaining your antivirus software, firewall, wireless network security, and your operating system can help 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 out your 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 may take protective action related to your Internet service or contact you to help with security issues we identify, such as malware infections. Unsecured Wi-Fi home networks can allow unauthorized persons to use your Internet service for illegal activity which can be attributed to your account. We monitor our network and scan incoming and outgoing cox.com email messages to filter likely spam, harmful messages, viruses, malware, spyware, and related threats that could harm your equipment, the network, or others. We take reasonable precautions to identify you or persons you have authorized when we are contacted about your Cox account. Cox will not contact you to ask for your personal information; if you receive a communication from a person asking for personal information, you should contact Cox directly by phone to verify the communication before giving out any personal information.
Spam
We try to block incoming and outgoing spam using a variety of methods. You can help by preventing unauthorized access to your computer and email account. You can forward unwanted spam to spamreport@cox.net and phishing scams to phishingreport@cox.net to help update our filters. We will never ask you to send sensitive personal information to us by unsecured email.
Telephone Services
Telephone customers must provide a government-issued photo ID or other appropriate identification before we can discuss your information. If you, or anyone authorized by you, make certain 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, in keeping with applicable law.
Children's Policy
Our Subscription Services are intended for use by a general audience and account holders must be of the age of majority or emancipated minors. We do not intend to or knowingly collect personal information (as the term is defined by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA")) from children under the age of 13. If you believe your child may have provided us with their personal information, you can contact Cox at privacy@cox.com and we will delete their personal information to the extent required by COPPA. We treat information in connection with Subscription Services provided for family use as that of the account holder. You can find more information about protecting children's privacy by clicking on "Take Charge" on cox.com or visiting https://www.ftc.gov.
California Customers' Policy
California residents have certain additional privacy rights detailed in our California Consumer Privacy Notice.
Other Terms and Changes in Policy
Other terms and conditions affect our service offerings, including the online privacy policies for our websites and apps, terms of service, customer service agreements, our Cox Internet Acceptable Use Policy, tariffs, and the terms of use for our websites and apps. We intend this Notice to supplement these documents in connection with the Subscription Services. Changes in our service offerings or the law may cause us to make changes to this Notice and other policies from time to time. We will post any changes at cox.com, along with the effective date of the changes.
Our Network Practices
For more information about our network management practices, please read our Internet Services Disclosures at https://www.cox.com/aboutus/policies/internet-service-disclosures.html.
Customer Proprietary Network Information
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 telephone service, the type of telephone 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.
You have a right, and 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 you our communications-related products or services that may enhance products or services to which you already subscribe. Unless you tell us otherwise within thirty (30) 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 Subscription Services to which you already subscribe. You can grant, restrict, or withdraw the right for us to use your CPNI for these marketing purposes at any time by visiting the Privacy Preferences webpage in My Account. 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 Subscription Services.
Cable Television Protection of Subscriber Privacy
We consider the privacy of our subscribers to be very important, and we are committed to keeping Personally Identifiable Information about our subscribers secure and confidential. Your privacy rights under federal law relating to our cable television services are summarized below: