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Privacy Policy

Ratepayer Data Processing, Privacy & Data Ownership Notice

DATA CONTROLLER VS. DATA PROCESSOR DESIGNATION

For all ratepayer, customer account, service request, outage report, and lobby check-in records collected through this digital portal: The Subscribing Municipal Utility is the sole Data Controller. Utility Vessel, operated by J. L. Turner Studios LLC, acts strictly as an independent technology vendor and contracted Data Processor. Utility Vessel does not own, market, broker, or monetize utility customer lists, service addresses, or ratepayer contact records.

1. Overview & Separation of Responsibilities

This Privacy Policy explains how information is processed when ratepayers, property owners, contractors, and citizens interact with web forms, outage reporting tools, public hearing registrations, and lobby kiosk terminals provided by Utility Vessel on behalf of The Subscribing Municipal Utility.

Because Utility Vessel provides software to The Subscribing Municipal Utility on a hosted basis, each municipal utility maintains independent responsibility for complying with applicable state public records laws, redacting protected utility customer data, and responding to ratepayer record requests.

2. Categories of Information Processed

Under the direct configuration and instruction of The Subscribing Municipal Utility, the Platform processes:

  • Start / Stop / Transfer Service Requests & Public Hearing RSVPs: Full name, telephone number, email address, service address, requested utility division (Water, Gas, Electric), and occupancy notes.
  • Ratepayer & Customer Directory: Primary account holder contact details, service location addresses, meter/account notes, and communication preferences.
  • Lobby Check-In & Priority Account Profiles: Account holder name, service division, authorized PIN codes, and critical account notes (such as medical life-support priority flags or property access instructions).
  • Outage, Leak & Service Tickets: Reported outage locations, water leak descriptions, streetlight identifiers, contact details, and utility dispatch resolution notes.
  • System Logs & Metadata: IP addresses, browser user-agent tokens, and security challenge tokens required for system defense, audit trails, and anti-abuse verification.

3. Permitted Purpose of Data Processing

Information processed through the Platform is used strictly to facilitate municipal utility operations and public transparency for The Subscribing Municipal Utility:

  • Facilitating outage restoration, water leak triage, service turn-on/transfer processing, and lobby customer service queue management.
  • Tracking attendance and public comment registrations for Board of Commissioners meetings and public rate hearings.
  • Transmitting utility-authorized boil-water advisories, planned outage alerts, conservation bulletins, and billing reminders.
  • Enabling utility directors, commissioners, and customer service staff to manage ratepayer communications.
  • Maintaining application security, database integrity, and system defense against automated threats.

4. Third-Party Sub-Processors & Infrastructure

Utility Vessel never sells or rents personal data. We engage vetted, enterprise-grade cloud service providers to deliver underlying platform infrastructure under strict confidentiality and security terms:

  • Cloud Hosting & Managed Database Infrastructure: Secure, ISO/SOC-compliant cloud facilities providing encrypted data storage, multi-tenant isolation, and automated disaster recovery backups.
  • Email & Push Delivery Infrastructure: Dedicated transactional and advisory mail relays and push gateways configured with SPF, DKIM, and automated unsubscribe mechanisms.
  • Edge Security & Network Delivery Networks: Reverse proxies providing SSL/TLS encryption, DDoS protection, and non-invasive bot verification without tracking ratepayer identities across the web.

5. Protection of Confidential Account & Medical Priority Records

Sensitive utility account notes and medical life-support priority flags require elevated protection. The Platform enforces strict privacy safeguards:

  • Confidential customer tickets and lobby priority rosters are never indexed by search engines or displayed on public website pages; they are restricted to authenticated utility staff consoles and PIN-secured terminals.
  • Online bill payments are processed via the utility's designated external payment processor link; Utility Vessel does not store raw ratepayer bank account or credit card numbers in tenant tables.

6. Data Retention, Export & Erasure

The Subscribing Municipal Utility retains complete ownership of its database records. Utility administrators can view, edit, export, or permanently delete customer, outage, and check-in records at any time. When an administrator purges a profile or record from the console, the record and associated cloud assets are permanently erased from active database tables.

Upon formal cancellation of a utility's subscription, customer records remain exportable during an established grace period, after which all tenant records and media assets are permanently purged from active production servers in accordance with vendor data lifecycle protocols.

7. Contacting the Utility

To request modification, inspection, or deletion of your utility customer or outage records, please contact the customer service office of The Subscribing Municipal Utility directly, as they serve as the legal Data Controller. For inquiries regarding Utility Vessel's software infrastructure, contact J. L. Turner Studios LLC at [email protected].