Privacy Policy

Legislation governs the use of personal information in Alberta. This Customer Privacy Assurance Statement (Privacy Statement) sets out the way Apex Utilities Inc. (AUI) collects, uses, and discloses your personal information. If this Privacy Statement is changed in the future, any changes will be posted to our website. Where the terms “include” or “including” are used, the examples following them are not meant to be exhaustive, but are simply intended to make this Privacy Statement clearer.

If you are our customer, “Personal Information” can include your name, address, identifying numbers, and contact information. It can also include your payment history and the amount of natural gas you use over time. AUI understands the importance of your privacy and the sensitivity of personal information provided by you.

When you sign up for natural gas service we will collect your name, address, and other personal information required for service, billing, and payment. While you are a customer of AUI we will also collect information about your use of gas, payment history, and interactions with us. The types of information we will collect include:

• Identifying Information – This information includes your name, address, telephone, e-mail, and other identifying information you provide to us or which we assign to you, like your account number.
• Financial Information – This information includes payment history, credit information, and, depending on your method of payment, can include credit card and banking information.
• Service Related Information – This information includes the type of products and services we provide to you, including usage, maintenance, and repair information. We may also have information about your conversations or correspondence with us, whether service-related or otherwise, and information on your natural gas retail supply contract if you purchase your gas from someone other than AUI.

We will always try to collect your personal information directly from you. Privacy laws say that you are deemed to consent to the collection, use, and disclosure by us of personal information for the purposes outlined below when you volunteer it and apply for gas service. We can collect, use, and disclose your personal information without consent in circumstances including: an emergency; a request by a lawful authority like a government agency; an insurance claim; an account collection; or for other reasons set out in privacy laws.

We may also disclose your personal information in the event of a change in ownership of AUI or other financial arrangements. However, in these circumstances, the parties will be bound by legal agreements to comply with this Privacy Statement.

When you apply for natural gas service it means you consent to us using and disclosing your personal information for the purpose of providing you natural gas service and other associated purposes, which may include:

• Contacting you in case of emergencies;
• Performing maintenance;
• Contacting you to provide information about our products and services;
• Compiling internal information (e.g. accounting and legal);
• Performing trend analyses; or,
• Gathering information for regulatory proceedings.

AUI has physical, technical, and administrative protections in place to secure your personal information. These protections are in place to safeguard your personal information from theft, unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.

We make efforts to maintain accurate information and will update your personal information as required. It is important that you notify us of any changes to your personal information soon after they occur. We will only retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to meet the purposes for which the information was collected.

AUI may transfer certain personal information to third party service providers in connection with the performance of certain AUI natural gas service related functions, including technological and administrative functions such as data processing, management, and storage. In addition, third party service providers may collect personal information directly from you on our behalf. Prior to transferring personal information, AUI takes appropriate steps to ensure these service providers safeguard and use the personal information only for authorized purposes set out in this Privacy Statement or as otherwise permitted by applicable laws.

Please be aware these service providers may be located outside of Canada, including in the United States of America. Specifically, AUI may transfer personal information to service providers for the purposes of data processing, management, and storage for customer care and billing processes. The personal information stored in other jurisdictions will be subject to the law of those jurisdictions and may be accessible by courts, law enforcement, and national security authorities of that jurisdiction.

To ask questions about AUI’s practices regarding service providers outside of Canada, contact our Privacy Officer or call toll-free at 1-877-255-5559.

AUI provides you with the option of using certain online tools such as online application forms. These tools may be provided through third party websites, which are subject to terms of use of the third parties. You should review these terms of use, including any associated privacy policy, in order to understand how these third parties may use or disclose your personal information. If you have any questions about the use of your personal information by these third parties, you should contact the identified third party service provider directly. The use of these online tools is optional and you do not have to use them to apply for AUI services.

At any time you can request to see your personal information. However, all requests must be in writing. We will generally release your personal information to you, but in order to protect it, we may request that verification of identity be provided. We also may request that a fee be paid, but we will notify you of this in advance. Under certain circumstances, we may refuse to release personal information to you. Some examples of these circumstances are:

• If the information has been destroyed;
• If a lawful authority prevents us from releasing it;
• If there is an emergency;
• If disclosure would reveal confidential commercial information; or,
• For other reasons allowed by privacy laws.

If such a circumstance occurs, we will inform you of the reason why the personal information cannot be released.