In brief:

As part of providing services to you, we may collect personal information about you.  

As part of providing services to you or to the business you represent (your "Business"), we may collect information, including personal data, about you or other individuals in your Business.  Personal information is data that can be used to identify you.  The information includes:

• Name
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Mailing or Service Address
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• Marital Status
• Social Security Number
• ID numbers such as passport, military ID, state issued ID, driver's license
• Utility account number
• Information about your home or property
• Information about your family
• Information about your company
• Additional registration and login-related information, such as password and verification “security questions”
• Financial-related information such as information you provide when you pay a bill online or submit our Direct Payment Plan Authorization Form
• Health-related information such as medical information collected in our Medical Certification Form
• Employment-related information
• Other information you disclose when you send us an email or ask us a question about our Website or our services
• Technical information about your use of our site including IP address, web server logs, viewing information, and operating system and web browser information
• Contact information for individuals processing billing information we collect for your Business
• For contractors we collect website address and information about appliances you offer and the types of services you provide.
• For contractors and dealers, we collect information about your products and services in our Residential Campaign Order Form

We use a Customer Care and Billing System to log and store customer visits, customer logins, customer communications, customer interactions and billing information, payment history, payment methods, and customer utility services.

In brief:

We collect information from you directly when you enter it into a form on our Websites.  We also collect information when you correspond with us by email or by the chat function on our website, and when you use a mail-in form. We collect information from you indirectly and automatically through the use of cookies, web beacons and log files.  We collect information at utility payment kiosks. 

Direct Collection 

We collect much of the information listed above directly from you when you submit it on our Websites.  This includes information you share on the Contact Us page of our Websites or through our invoice processing system.  We also collect information through our mail-in forms such as our Medical Certification Form and our Direct Payment Plan Authorization Form. We may also collect your information at utility payment kiosks. 

Indirect Collection – Cookies and Other Technology

As part of offering and providing customizable and personalized services, we use cookies and other online tracking technologies to store and sometimes track information about you.  We may use these technologies to:

• Collect technical information
• Provide you with personalized content based on your use of our site
• Enable you to more easily use our site by remembering and using contact information, purchasing information, and registration information
• Evaluate, monitor and analyze the use of our site and its traffic patterns to help improve our site and services
• Assist us with ad reporting functions such as to learn which ads are bringing users to our Website
  
   

In brief:

You can always choose not to submit information.  You can disable cookies in your browser.  You can choose not to use social networking plug-ins.  You can opt-out of our marketing-related emails.

Direct Collection. If you do not want to share your information, you can choose not to participate in a particular service or activity.

Cookies.  You may disable browser cookies in your browser or set your browser to warn you when a cookie is being sent.  You may lose some features or functionality when you disable cookies.  Remember, also, that disabling cookies is browser specific.  If you log on using Google Chrome, you must also disable cookies in Safari if you use that browser at a different time.  

Web Beacons.  It is not possible to disable Web beacons.

Log Files.  It is not possible to disable log files.

Social Networking. If you do not want to share your information, you can choose not to use social networking plug-ins. 

Marketing Emails.  To ensure that you will not receive recurring marketing or other information from us, unless you choose to, we will provide you with simple instructions on each marketing email from us on how to let us know that you have chosen to stop receiving such emails from us.

Do Not Track.  Do Not Track (DNT) is a privacy preference that users can set in their web browsers.  While the United States Federal Trade Commission has endorsed DNT, our Websites do not support DNT codes.

In brief:

Our main goal in collecting information is to improve the site and provide you with the best possible experience on the site.  For example, by using the information we collect, we can provide you with an easy to use and readily available forum to ask questions about our services. 

We may use your personal data and technical information to:

• Answer questions you may have about our products and services
• Notify you of other products, services, and additional programs including assistance programs available from us and our affiliates
• Provide you with account services for our products, services, or related programs
• Engage contractors to assist with utility coverage for remodeling projects or appliance upgrades.
• Personalize online content so that is applies to you and your interests
• Enable you to pay our utility bills online. 
• Send you emails about updates, information, or alerts regarding the Website
• Provide you with advertising targeted on your interests
• Improve our products, services, and Website 
• Compile, analyze, and do research on our users’ demographics and behavior
• Operate the Websites, including administration, internal operations, troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical, and survey purposes
• Facilitate applications and interviews for career opportunities
• Manage your access to the Websites
• Send you information that allows you to use the Websites
• Comply with applicable laws and regulations and other legal requirements
• Maintain the security of the Websites
• Detect, investigate, and prevent activities that may violate our policies or be illegal
• Improve the Websites and present content and information in an optimal way for you and your device(s)
• Provide advertisements on the Websites
• Measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we provide to you and other customers like you, and to deliver relevant advertising to you. 
• Process your Medical Certification Form containing your request to hold on shutting off utility service due to a medical condition.
• Engage you as a contractor or enroll you in our Residential Campaign, Conversion Contractor Program or Employer Contractor Network if you are a utilities contractor. 

We use, and share location data only to provide and improve our service. We use analytics cookie information for analytics purposes but do not associate your personal data with them.

In brief:

We collect your personal data and may use third-party service providers to assist with that collection.

When you are on our site and are asked for personal data, you are sharing that information with us and our service providers.  Although we generally operate the Website and collect the information, we may engage third-party service providers to assist us in that collection. 

Other websites to which we link may collect personally identifiable information about you when you visit those sites.  The information practices of other websites linked to our websites are not covered by this privacy notice. 

In brief:

We share your information with companies who assist us in providing services, when we need to protect our Website or information and when we sell our businesses.  We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

We will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under the circumstances described below.  These are some of the ways that your information may be disclosed: 

Service Providers

We hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, including packaging, delivering, or mailing, website development and operation, answering customer questions about products or services, sending postal mail or email, analyzing website use, processing payments, providing investor information, and processing data.  We will only provide those companies the information they need to deliver the service, and they are contractually prohibited from using that information for any other reason.  We share your information with our Customer Care and Billing System provider, our application support provider, and our payment processors including ACI Worldwide and OPAY.  We use Microsoft Outlook for our email systems including all incoming and outgoing e-mails.   

Contractors

We have a network of contractors who assist with utilities coverage for remodeling projects and appliance upgrades.  We may disclose your information to such contractors to enable them to provide you with services. If you are a customer, we may disclose contractor information to you to receive services.

Data in the Aggregate

We may disclose “blinded” aggregated data and user statistics to prospective partners and other third parties.  Blinded data is data that does not identify an individual person.

Other

We also may disclose your information in special cases.  For example, when we believe that we must disclose information to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating our Terms of Service, Master Service Agreement or Acceptable Use Policy, or may be causing injury to or interference with our rights or property, other website users or customers and their information, or anyone else who may be harmed by such activities.  We may disclose access or monitor your personal data when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service and improve our products and services and our information security. 

As we continue to develop our business, we may buy or sell businesses or assets.  In such transactions, confidential customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets.  In the event of a transaction involving the sale of some or all of our businesses, customer and site visitor information may be one of the transferred assets and may be disclosed in connection with negotiations relating to a proposed transaction.  In such case, the transferred information may become subject to a different privacy notice.

We may also, from time to time, transfer your information to our affiliates located in another country, including between Canada and the United States. Such affiliates may receive, process, and handle your personal data for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice and will provide a level of protection for your information that is comparable to that provided by us. However, while we will take all appropriate measures to prevent the use or disclosure of your information, other than as required for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice, information processed and stored in a foreign jurisdiction may be accessible to foreign government agencies, including law enforcement and national security authorities. 

In brief:

We offer our customers choices for the collection, use and sharing of personal data.  

You may contact us at privacy@washgas.com or visit www.washingtongas.com/privacy to complete an online request form if you wish to view, edit, or delete your personal data from our database, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to accommodate your request.  

If you believe that any inaccurate or inappropriate information has been obtained or provided to others through your use of this Website, you should contact a representative at privacy@washgas.com.

In brief:

We use commercially reasonable efforts to protect your information.The Website does not use encryption except where noted. 

Financial Information

Billing information is handled securely whenever transmitted or received online.

When credit card information is submitted in our billing system it is stored with third party payment processors, presently ACI Worldwide and OPAY.

You should consult the privacy policies of these third parties for further information. 

When we collect information in paper format, such as through our Direct Payment Plan Authorization Form, we store your contact information and financial account information in an encrypted format and destroy your paper form. 

Other Information

Because information sent through the Internet travels from computer to computer throughout the world, when you give us information, that information may be sent electronically to servers outside of the country where you originally entered the information.  Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.  Except as specifically stated, the Websites do not use security encryption measures.  Information that you disclose by use of the Websites (as with any site that is non-secure), by posting a message or using e-mail, potentially could be collected and used by others.  This may result in unsolicited messages from third parties or use of such information by third parties for their own purposes, legal or illegal.  As a result, while we strive to protect your personal data, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or from our services, and you do so at your own risk.  Once we receive your transmission, we use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure its security on our systems.

In brief:

Starting January 1, 2023 Virginia residents are entitled to additional protections under Virginia Law. 

Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act

After January 1, 2023, you will have additional rights under the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA). If you are a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, you will have the right to:

• Request a copy of and access what personal data we have collected about you;
• Request the correction of inaccuracies in the personal data we collect about you;
• Request deletion of your personal data; and
• “Opt out” of processing of your personal data for (1) targeted advertising, (2) sale of personal data, or (3) profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce a legal or similarly significant effect.

We do not currently sell personal data to third parties. However, we may process your personal data for targeted advertising. 

If you are a Virginia resident and wish to exercise any of the rights above, you may do so here www.washingtongas.com/privacy. 

You may also send a request to us by email or postal mail to the address below.

Washington Gas
Attn: Customer Experience - Virginia Privacy Rights 
6801 Industrial Rd, Ste. 140
Springfield, VA 22151    
privacy@washgas.com

You may appeal any decision to not to take action on a request by sending an email or letter to the address above. 

Personal Data Collected and Shared 

We collect, process and disclose personal data for various business purposes described above. While collection practices vary depending on the business purpose, we collect, process and disclose to third parties the following categories of information: (1) Identifiers, (2) Characteristics of Protected Classifications under Federal Law, (3) Internet or Other Network Activity Information, (4) Medical and Health Information, (5) Financial Information, (6) Commercial Information, (7) Inferences Drawn From The Information Collected Above, and (8) Professional and Employment Related Information.  At this time, we do not collect Geolocation Data; Biometric Information; Sensory Data; or Educational Information. We will not share any sensitive data. We disclose personal data to third parties for the purposes described in "With whom do we share your information" above.

Privacy Principles

WGL follows the five privacy principles outlined by the Federal Trade Commission.

Privacy Principles

WGL follows the 10 fair information principles for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data, as well as for providing access to personal data, as outlined in Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA")

WGL Entity

Specific Terms