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NOTE TO
SUBSCRIBERS: The following notice covers the privacy practices of Road Runner and,
additionally, those of Time Warner Cable-affiliated cable operators. If your Road Runner service is provided by a
different cable operator, you may also wish to consult that other operator's
privacy policies and notices as well. TIME WARNER CABLE AND AFFILIATED ISPS SUBSCRIBER PRIVACY NOTICE
We at your local Time Warner Cable-affiliated
cable operator (“Operator,” “we” or “us”) are providing this Notice to inform
you of our practices regarding personally identifiable information that may be
collected in the course of providing services to you over our cable system,
including video programming services and ISP Services (“cable-based services”). This notice is also being provided on behalf
of Time Warner Cable’s affiliated ISPs whose services are being provided over
our cable systems (America Online and Road Runner and any other affiliated ISP
Service which we may offer in the future (collectively, “Affiliated ISPs”)). This Notice is being provided in accordance
with the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 (the "Cable
Act"). In addition to the Cable
Act, this Notice also makes reference to the Electronic Communications Policy
Act of 1986, as amended (“ECPA”), and the Online Copyright Infringement
Liability Limitation Act of 1998 (“Copyright Act”), which are also applicable
if you are a subscriber to an ISP service provided by Operator over its cable
system (an “ISP Service”). This Notice
pertains to personally identifiable information about you that you have
furnished to Operator, or that Operator has collected, in connection with the
provision of cable-based services to you.
The provisions of this Notice also apply as indicated herein to
personally identifiable information that you have furnished to Affiliated ISPs
or that they have collected in connection with their provision of ISP
Service. Personally identifiable
information does not include aggregate data that does not identify you. The Cable Act’s subscriber privacy
provisions apply to cable operators, as defined in the privacy provisions of
the Cable Act (“Cable Operators”), providing cable and other services over
their systems. Our Affiliated ISPs
intend to conduct their privacy practices as set forth in this Notice, which provides subscribers to their ISP
Services (i.e., their ISP services as provided by
Operator over its cable system) with information required by the privacy
provisions of the Cable Act, whether or not these Affiliated ISPs qualify as
Cable Operators. Our Affiliated ISPs
may provide subscribers with other information concerning their general privacy
practices through additional policies and notices, which will continue to apply
unless inconsistent with this Notice.
When using our Affiliated ISPs, you may wish to review these additional
policies and notices. The provisions of this Notice do not apply to
non-affiliated, third party ISPs (e.g., EarthLink) whose ISP Services are
provided on Operator’s cable systems.
These non-affiliated ISPs may have their own privacy policies, which you
may want to review. You should also be
aware that most of the content and applications provided through your ISP
Service are provided by third parties, and that by accessing the online content
of these third parties you may cause or enable the transmission by the system
to them of personally identifiable information. The policies described in this Notice do not apply to such third
parties. These third parties may have
their own privacy policies, which you may also want to review. Seven
areas are covered by this Notice: 1. The nature of personally identifiable
information collected about you and the way such information is used; 2. The nature, frequency, and purpose of
any disclosure that may be made of such information; 3. Disclosure
of information to governmental entities and through legal process; 4. The period of time such information
will be maintained; 5. Your
online communications on your ISP Service; 6. The
times and place you may have access to the information collected; and 7. Your
rights under the Cable Act. 1. Collection and Use of Personally
Identifiable Information In order
that Operator can provide service to you and operate efficiently, Operator
collects the following types of information about you that may constitute
personally identifiable information:
your name, home, email and work address, telephone numbers, social
security number, and credit and credit card information. Depending on the services Operator provides
to you, our records also may include information on billing, payment, damage
and security deposits, maintenance and repairs, how many television sets you
have connected to cable or that are cable ready, the location of these
television sets in your home, the number and location of PCs in your home and
your PC configuration, the service options you have chosen, and the number of
converters, cable modems or other cable equipment installed in your home. We may remotely check your PC to the extent
necessary to determine whether it is susceptible to unauthorized access or the
dissemination of computer viruses. We
may also keep records of research concerning subscriber satisfaction with our
services, which are obtained from subscriber interviews and
questionnaires. Additionally, Operator
may have a record of whether you rent or own your home in the event that
landlord permission is required prior to installing our cable facilities. We also maintain subscriber correspondence
(via e-mail or otherwise) and, if you are an ISP Service subscriber, we may
keep records of violations and alleged violations of your ISP Service
Subscription Agreement with Operator (your “Subscription Agreement”) and other
rules governing your use of the ISP Service.
Finally, Operator may sometimes obtain from third parties publicly
available information about our subscribers. The information described in the preceding
paragraph is used for purposes such as the following: to make sure you are
being billed properly for the services you receive; to send you pertinent
information about Operator’s services; to maintain or improve the quality of
Operator’s services; to answer questions from subscribers (i.e., for
troubleshooting); to ensure compliance with relevant law and contractual
provisions; to market cable or other services or products that you may be
interested in; and for tax and accounting purposes. Operator’s system, in delivering and routing the
ISP Services, and the systems of Operator’s Affiliated ISPs, may automatically
log information concerning Internet addresses you contact, and the duration of
your visits to such addresses. Operator
does not use or disclose any personally identifiable information that may be
derived from these logs for marketing, advertising or similar purposes. Operator, as described above, as well as
your ISP, in providing the ISP Service to you, also has access to personally identifiable
information about you or your ISP account, including the name and address
associated with a given IP address or, possibly, one or more e-mail
accounts. You have consented, in your
Subscription Agreement, to the collection of personally identifiable
information as described in this paragraph.
Under the Cable Act, a Cable Operator may also
collect personally identifiable information over a cable system without
subscribers’ consent if it is necessary to provide services to subscribers, or
to prevent unauthorized access to services or subscriber data. Our Affiliated ISPs also may collect the
following types of information that may constitute personally identifiable
information: --registration
and account information,
including your name, address, telephone number, screen names and email
address(es), means of subscription, billing and payment (including credit card)
information, and complaint and service history; --account
usage information, including
information about how often and how long you use the relevant ISP Service,
areas of the ISP Service visited and features of the ISP Service selected or
used, and purchases that you have made through the ISP Service; --technical
information, including
information about your computer system, its software and modem, and your
geographical location; --other
subscriber information,
including preference and other information you provide when you use or
personalize your use of your ISP Service, information provided by our
Affiliated ISPs’ business partners, information you publish on the ISP Service,
and information from other sources (for example, publicly available
supplementary data). The information collected by our Affiliated
ISPs in connection with your use of their ISP Services may be used in
connection with the provision and maintenance of the relevant ISP Service and
to fulfill transactions that you request, to personalize or improve your online
experience, or as otherwise necessary in the course of their businesses (for
example, in audits, billing matters, or research). Our Affiliated ISPs may also use this information to provide
advertising and other offers for goods and services to you, subject to the
marketing preferences you may select when using their ISP Services. If you are a subscriber to one or more of
our Affiliated ISPs, you have consented in your Subscription Agreement(s) to
the collection of such information for the uses described above. 2. Disclosure of Personally
Identifiable Information Personally identifiable information that
Operator maintains related to its subscribers will be disclosed by Operator
without the prior written or electronic consent of subscribers only if: (1) it is necessary to render, or conduct a
legitimate business related to, the services that are provided to you; (2) such
disclosure is required by law or legal process as described below; or (3) for
mailing lists as described below. The types of persons to whom information about
you may be disclosed by Operator in the course of providing cable service to
you include the employees of Operator and its related legal entities, agents,
repair and installation subcontractors, sales representatives, accountants,
billing and collection services and credit reporting agencies, consumer and
market research firms, and authorized representatives of governmental
bodies. Also upon reasonable request,
personally identifiable information is disclosed to persons or entities with an
equity interest in legal entities related to Operator when they have a legal
right to inspect our books and records. In addition, if you are an ISP Service
subscriber, information, including personally identifiable information, may be
shared between Operator and your ISP in providing the ISP Service. The types of persons to whom information
about you may be disclosed in the course of providing an ISP Service to you may
include, in addition to those persons listed above, your ISP and its employees
or other entities who provide content and/or services to the ISP Service or to
you via the ISP Service. Information for billing purposes is generally
provided by Operator on a monthly basis.
Information for other purposes is provided by Operator as it is needed. Unless you object, the Cable Act also permits
Cable Operators to disclose personally identifiable information to others, such
as advertisers and direct mail or telemarketers, for non-cable related
purposes. Under the Cable Act, any
disclosures for purposes other than as described in the first three paragraphs
of this Section 2 and in Section 3 of this Notice is limited to the following
“mailing list information”: your name, address and the particular services to
which you subscribe (e.g., HBO or other premium channels or tiers of service).
In addition, Operator may add to its mailing list publicly available information
about subscribers that is obtained from third parties. Mailing list information cannot include the
extent of your viewing or use of a particular service, including the extent of
your use of any ISP Service, or the nature of any transaction you make over the
cable system. Operator may disclose
such mailing list information from time to time. If you wish to have us remove you from our mailing list, please
notify us in writing at the main office of your local Operator. In addition to any disclosures permitted in
the first paragraph of this Section 2, our Affiliated ISPs may also disclose,
pursuant to the consent you granted in your Subscription Agreement, the
personally identifiable information described in Section 1 in connection with
the provision of services to you, in order to fulfill transactions that you
request, to personalize your online experience, to comply with criminal or
civil legal process (including as described in Section 3 of this Notice), and
as otherwise necessary in the ordinary course of their businesses. For example, our Affiliated ISPs may
disclose your personally identifiable information routinely to their employees,
agents and contractors to maintain, market, provide, and audit your ISP
Service; to outside auditors to check their records; to attorneys and
accountants as necessary to render services to such ISPs; and to merchants from
whom you make purchases. The frequency
of such disclosures varies according to business needs. The names and addresses
of subscribers to our Affiliated ISPs may also be disclosed to selected
companies in order to provide you direct mail product and service offers,
subject to the marketing preferences
you may select when using your ISP Service.
In disclosing name and address information for such purposes, our
Affiliated ISPs may combine these lists with publicly available information
(such as census and household information), or segment them (i.e., create
separate sub-lists) based on such publicly available information or on other
information (such as when the subscriber began using the ISP service, or the
subscriber's computer type). 3. Disclosure of Information to
Government Entities and Other Legal Process Federal law requires Operator to disclose
personally identifiable information to a governmental entity or other third
party pursuant to a court order. If the
court order is sought by a governmental entity, the Cable Act requires that you
be afforded the opportunity to contest in court any claims made in support of
the court order sought. At such a
proceeding, the Cable Act requires the governmental entity to offer clear and
convincing evidence that the subject of the information is reasonably suspected
of engaging in criminal activity and that the information sought would be
material evidence in the case. In
addition, pursuant to an administrative subpoena, state welfare agencies may
obtain the names and addresses of individuals as they appear in the subscriber
records of cable companies with respect to those who owe, or are owed, welfare support. Such information may be obtained without a
court order and does not require that a subscriber be given notice of and the
opportunity to contest the disclosure. If you are a subscriber to an ISP
Service, ECPA requires your ISP and us to reveal information to the government
in certain additional circumstances.
ECPA addresses both the content of communications on the ISP Service, as
well as subscriber record information. ECPA requires your ISP and us to disclose
to governmental authorities the content of communications in response to a
criminal warrant or court order without any notice to you and without your
consent. In addition, under ECPA the
government may require Operator or your ISP to disclose subscriber record
information (but not the content of communications) pursuant to a warrant,
court order or subpoena without any notice to you and without your consent. If you subscribe to an ISP Service, a private party may use a
subpoena under the Copyright Act to obtain information about you to maintain a
copyright infringement suit against the poster of online material, without any
notice to you. Additionally, our
Affiliated ISPs may release information about you to comply with valid legal
process such as a subpoena or court order, or as required by law. In your Subscription Agreement, you have agreed that Operator and
our Affiliated ISPs may also disclose any information in its possession to
protect its rights, property and/or operations, or where circumstances suggest
that individual or public safety is in peril. 4. Time
Period That We Retain Personally Identifiable Information Operator and its Affiliated ISPs
maintain personally identifiable information about subscribers for as long as
it is necessary for business purposes.
This period of time lasts as long as you are a subscriber and up to
fifteen additional years so that we and our Affiliated ISPs can comply with tax
and accounting requirements. When
information is no longer necessary for these purposes, we destroy the
information unless there is a legitimate outstanding request or order to
inspect the information. 5. Your
Online Communications on an ISP Service In addition to the situations described in Section 3, ECPA
provides for other exceptional circumstances under which Operator and/or your
ISP may be compelled to disclose information about you or your communications,
or are permitted to disclose such information.
For example, such information may be disclosed to law enforcement if it
appears to be evidence of child pornography, or was inadvertently obtained and
appears to pertain to a crime. Such
disclosure is also permitted to an addressee or intended recipient (or his or
her agent), or to a person involved in forwarding such information to its destination;
when it is necessarily incident to providing service or to protect our rights
or property; to others with your consent or the consent of an addressee or
intended recipient (or his or her agent) of communications sent by you; or as
otherwise provided for by law. In your
Subscription Agreement, you have agreed that Operator and our Affiliated ISPs
may disclose any information in their possession to protect their rights,
property and/or operations, or where circumstances suggest that individual or
public safety is in peril. 6. Access
to Records Under the Cable Act, you have the right to
inspect the records of a Cable Operator that contain personally identifiable
information about you and correct any errors in such information. If you wish to inspect these records, please
notify Operator in writing and an appointment at our local business office will
be arranged during our regular business hours. 7. Your
Rights Under the Cable Act The Cable Act provides you with a cause of
action for damages, attorneys’ fees and costs in Federal District Court should
you believe that any of the Cable Act’s limitations on the collection,
disclosure, and retention of personally identifiable information have been
violated by a Cable Operator. Your
Subscription Agreement contains your agreement that, to the extent permitted by
law, any claims that you have under the Cable Act will be decided in
arbitration and attorneys’ fees and punitive damages will not be available. |