Privacy Policy

B-17 Policy Privacy Principles for Member-Consumer Information

ADOPTED: October 31, 2000
REVISED: October 4, 2019
REVIEWED: December 13, 2022

1. OBJECTIVE
   1. Midwest Energy & Communications (MEC) is a consumer-owned and consumer-controlled electric cooperative. MEC operates on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of its member-consumers. Accordingly, the Board has adopted this Policy on Privacy of Member-Consumer Information to establish fair information principles for MEC in carrying out its responsibility to respect the privacy of personally identifiable information about member-consumers.
2. CONTENT
   1. Notice: Midwest Energy & Communications publicly discloses its policies and practices for the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personally identifiable information about member-consumers.
   2. Trust: Midwest Energy & Communications maintains information about member-consumers suitable for its operations and for the benefit of its member-consumers. It collects personally identifiable information only by fair and lawful means and for appropriate purposes. It maintains the information in an accurate, complete, and timely manner as necessary for the purpose for which the information is to be used. Member-consumers may examine service, billing, and capital account information about themselves and may correct any inaccurate, incomplete, or untimely information. Member-consumers can accomplish this by contacting the MEC office.
   3. Security: Midwest Energy & Communications maintains member-consumer information with reasonable and appropriate technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect against foreseeable hazards such as loss, unauthorized access, destruction, misuse, modification, and improper disclosure.
   4. Member Information:
      1. Use and Disclosure: Midwest Energy & Communications uses and discloses personally identifiable information about member-consumers in responsible ways to carry out its operations. It uses identifiable information in support of affiliated subsidiaries that add to the financial well being of the member-consumers of Midwest Energy & Communications. It allows member-consumers to exercise denial of disclosure of personal information to affiliates offering new products and services. Any member-consumer wishing to deny use should contact the MEC office to exercise this right of choice. MEC does not sell, rent, loan, exchange or otherwise release mailing lists or telephone lists of member-consumers to non-affiliates for any reason.
      2. Election: The membership list will be made available for viewing to the candidates for the Board of Directors. Viewing of the list will be restricted to the MEC office and any mailings that the candidate may want done shall be done by MEC at the candidate’s expense. The list shall not be copied, photographed or otherwise reproduced, and any information viewed by the candidate shall not leave the MEC office.
3. RESPONSIBILITY
   1. Each employee, officer, and Director is charged with knowledge of and shall comply at all times with these policies. The President/CEO will make every reasonable effort to ensure that all concerned are familiar with these policies and aware that any violation of such policies will be investigated and resolved appropriately.