Privacy Policy

Introduction

Southern Linc is committed to safeguarding your privacy in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy details information we collect about our customers and website visitors ("you"), how we use it, and your options about certain uses of information. By visiting our website, purchasing products and services from us, including through our online store, or by using our communications products and services ("Services"), you consent to our collection and use of your information as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

Please review this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes. Southern Linc may change the terms of this Privacy Policy at any time with notice to you via our website of any material changes. You will be able to see whether changes have been made by checking the effective date posted at the end of this policy. All changes to the Privacy Policy are effective immediately when we post them. Your continued use of our website and Services after any posting of changes to this Privacy Policy signifies that you accept such changes.

Information We Collect

CPNI

Customer Proprietary Network Information ("CPNI") refers to information that relates to the quantity, configuration, type, destination, location, and amount of use of the telecommunications Services you purchase from us, as well as the information contained in your bills for those Services. The manner in which we collect, use, disclose, and protect your CPNI is specifically described in our CPNI Guidelines.

Other Types of Information Collected

Southern Linc collects several types of information when you communicate with us, visit our website, or use our Services. Portions of that information may be "Personal Information," meaning information that identifies, or reasonably could be used to identify, an individual website visitor and/or Southern Linc customer. In general, we may collect the following types of information:

  • Customers and prospective customers who communicate with us and purchase Services may be required to provide certain information (including Personal Information), which may include contact information, such as your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address; financial information, such as payment information and credit or debit card information; Social Security Number; taxpayer identification number; driver's license number; the reason for contacting us; and other account-related information. When you apply for Services, we may obtain credit information from outside credit reporting agencies.
  • When you contact us or we contact you, we may record or monitor that communication or keep a record of the transaction for quality assurance and training.
  • When you visit our website, we, or our third-party service providers, may automatically collect certain information about the interactions between your web browser and our website, and other websites unrelated to our website. Information collected may include your IP address, your search activity, the web pages you visit and how long you visit them, and information about your connection, including your time zone, language preferences, browser type and version, and connection speed. If you create an online account on our website, we may collect information about your user identification, password, and secret questions and answers.
  • When you use our Services, we, or our third-party service providers, may automatically collect certain information about your device and about the interactions between your device and our network. Information collected may include your location, using cell sector, GPS coordinates, or other advanced positioning data, network performance data, and information about your connection, including your time zone, language preferences, operating system, platform type, and connection speed.
  • Customers may also be required to provide information regarding usage, service history, and other equipment and performance-related information when visiting our website, using our Services, or obtaining service support.
  • We may automatically measure and monitor network performance and your device's performance in order to improve performance.

How We Collect Information

Southern Linc may collect information from you through one or more methods, including the following:

  • You may be required to provide us with some or all of the types of information described above when you communicate with us, including through our website, about Services that we offer or provide.
  • Third-party agencies, such as credit bureaus or data brokers, may provide us with information, such as credit information or demographic and interest data, that we request so that we may make credit-related decisions to offer and/or provide Services to you.
  • Southern Linc's independent dealers and sales representatives may provide information to us so that we may provide our Services to you. (Note that applicable customer agreement(s) for Services may govern the receipt, use, and disclosure of some information).
  • Third parties may provide us with your contact information and other marketing lead information, such as “refer a friend” options or social media platforms.
  • Southern Linc may automatically collect certain types of information when you use our Services or visit our website, as described in more detail below.

How We Use the Information

Depending upon the type of information collected, Southern Linc may use the information in a variety of ways, including:

  • To facilitate 911 emergency services;
  • To establish, monitor, and maintain your account and billing records, to determine payment and credit risk, and to provide account-related services;
  • To provide you with the Services you have purchased, obtained, or requested;
  • To bill you and collect payment for your use of the Services;
  • To provide customer support and to respond to your questions regarding our Services;
  • To determine your eligibility for new products and services;
  • To share information with you regarding service offerings and promotions;
  • To invite you to customer appreciation events;
  • To deliver customized content or advertising that may be of interest to you;
  • For the general support of internal operations, including network operations, protection, improvement, and management;
  • For the general operation of our website, including maintaining functionality of the website and diagnosing website issues, analyzing trends, providing more efficient service, organizing and analyzing IP addresses by a third-party provider, maintaining and/or enhancing security for website visitors and the website, producing traffic volume statistics, and making the website and our and our affiliates' infrastructure more useful and secure;
  • To authenticate you and protect the confidentiality and security of your account and related information;
  • In connection with investigatory efforts, to prevent or respond to suspected or actual violations of our Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policy; and/or
  • For other legally permissible purposes, such as monitoring and disclosing any use of the website, or information relating to such use, to federal authorities or agencies in an effort to protect the security of our and our affiliates' critical infrastructure.
Online Interest-Based Advertising

Southern Linc uses cookies on its website to display ads to website visitors while they browse the web. Cookies are small data files placed on your computer by the websites you visit and can be used to help recognize you as a user of that website. Our website may ask your web browser to store a small text file on your computer, which will then be sent back to our website automatically each time you click on a new page on our website. These cookies enable the presentation of Southern Linc ads when site visitors search on Google or visit other third-party vendors. Cookies also enable us to provide you with the best browsing experience possible. A cookie cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses.

Southern Linc may run interest-based advertising campaigns that collect Personal Information including, but not limited to, email addresses and telephone numbers. We do not share with Google or other third parties any Personal Information gathered via interested-based cookies or product data feed associated with our ads. Visitors can opt-out of Google's use of interest-based ads by visiting Google Ad Settings. To opt-out of other third-party interest-based advertising programs, go to the National Advertising Initiative's Consumer Opt-Out. You can also refuse cookies or delete cookie files from your computer by changing your web browser privacy settings. Please note that you may not be able to use certain features of our website if your web browser does not accept cookies.

Location Information

Your device will be able to determine your geographical location. We may monitor, collect, and use this wireless location information, as well as other information contained on our network and your device, to provide you with Services, including wireless voice and data services, emergency services, and to operate, maintain, and improve our network. Additionally, some devices feature services based on the general location of your device. With these additional services, you will receive prior notice and must provide your consent before your location is used or stored. If you consent to these additional services you are authorizing Southern Linc to collect, use, and disclose your location in order to provide the additional services you enabled. Many third-party applications and services also use location information, including apps and operating systems. You should carefully review any third-party policies before choosing to share your location information with these third-party applications and services. See “Third Party Websites and Applications” below for more information.

Sharing Your Information

We share your information (including, in some cases, Personal Information) only with third parties that perform services on our behalf, and only as necessary to provide those services, including, but not limited to, payment processors, debt collection and credit agencies, communications with you, billing services, marketing providers, and other third-party providers that assist in the purchase or provision of Services. Additionally, we may share such information with third parties as part of a merger, acquisition, sale of company assets, or transition of service to another provider.

As mentioned above, the manner in which we collect, use, disclose, and protect your CPNI is specifically described in our CPNI Guidelines. Federal law governs our use and sharing of CPNI.

We may also share aggregate anonymous data relating to services transactions on the website, location, and overall use of the Services for marketing, research, and other purposes. Southern Linc does not sell your Personal Information to third parties or otherwise provide your Personal Information for reasons other than those stated in this Privacy Policy.

Children's Privacy

Our website is not directed to, nor designed to attract, children under the age of 13. Our offer of services is limited to adults (age 18 or as provided by law). Please refer to applicable customer agreements or terms of service for specific age requirements of each type of service. WE DO NOT TARGET CHILDREN FOR THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION ONLINE AND DO NOT KNOWINGLY COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM ANYONE UNDER AGE 13, UNLESS WE FIRST OBTAIN PERMISSION FROM THAT CHILD'S PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN.

IF YOU PURCHASE SERVICES FOR FAMILY USE AND ALLOW USE BY CHILDREN, SUCH USE IS WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE. THUS, ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED AS A RESULT OF SUCH USAGE WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH AN ADULT CUSTOMER OF OUR SERVICES, AND WILL BE TREATED ACCORDINGLY UNDER THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

Safeguarding Your Information

Southern Linc has established physical, electronic, technical, and administrative measures designed to protect your CPNI and Personal Information. We are committed to the safeguarding and protection of your information; however, there is always a risk of cyber attacks and we cannot guarantee the protection of your information against every unauthorized attempt to access, use, or disclose your information. We maintain and protect the security of computer storage and network equipment, and we require user names and passwords for access to data. We have implemented encryption or other appropriate security controls to protect any Personal Information when stored or transmitted by us. We also require any third parties who may have access to your Personal Information pursuant to this Privacy Policy to protect any Personal Information they may receive in a manner consistent with this Policy.

Passwords

Southern Linc will never ask for your password to access your online account in an unsolicited telephone call or e-mail. Except as provided in other instructions pertaining to the Services we provide, you should never lend, give, or otherwise disclose any of your passwords to any unauthorized person. When selecting user names and passwords to set up an online account with us, you should choose words or characters that are not obvious.

Third Party Websites and Applications

When you download applications or make online purchases, you may leave our website and browse to a third party website to download or make such purchase. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PRIVACY POLICY ONLY ADDRESSES THE USE AND DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED BY US, NOT BY THE THIRD PARTY'S WEBSITE OR APPLICATIONS. SOUTHERN LINC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRIVACY PRACTICES OR THE CONTENT, INFORMATION, APPLICATIONS, OR SERVICES OF THIRD PARTIES. When you access, use, download, or navigate to a service, app, or a third party website for any reason, information collected and used is governed by that third party's privacy policy and terms of service - and not our Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review the applicable privacy policy and terms of service of third parties before use or disclosing information.

MOTOTALK is a product of Motorola Mobility, Inc. ("Motorola"). Your use of MOTOTALK is pursuant to a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license and is subject to Southern Linc's MOTOTALK Terms of Use and Motorola's privacy policy and Terms and Conditions, which may be amended periodically.

Social Media Services

Southern Linc works with certain third-party social media services to offer you their services through our website. For example, you can use third-party social media services, including, but not limited to, Facebook and Twitter, to share information about your experience on our website with your friends and followers. Those social media services may be able to collect information about you, including your activity on our website. These other services may also notify your friends, both on our website and on the social media services, themselves, that you are a user of our website or about your use of our website, in accordance with applicable law and their own privacy practices.

Contacting Us and Limiting the Use of Your Information

We are happy to address any questions or concerns you may have regarding our Privacy Policy. You may select your communication preferences, such as opting in or out of receiving marketing communications, such as emails, phone calls, text messages, and postal mailings, at the Southern Linc Communication Preferences Center. You may also contact our Customer Solution Center by dialing 611 from your Southern Linc phone, by dialing 1-800-818-LINC (1-800-818-5462), or by emailing us at privacy@southernco.com.

Updating Your Information

You may review your Personal Information upon request by contacting our Customer Solution Center. If there are any inaccuracies in your information, please contact the Customer Solution Center. Master Account Holders that have established their Online Account Manager may review and update information from the Online Account Manager tool.

Revised 9-27-16