ZEROENERGY DESIGN PRIVACY POLICY
This website and any other URLs and websites administered by Independence Energy Homes, Inc. d/b/a ZeroEnergy Design (collectively, the “Site”) are offered by Independence Energy Homes, Inc. d/b/a ZeroEnergy Design and its affiliates (collectively, “ZED” or “we” “our” or “us”) to you, the user, subject to your acceptance of all the terms and conditions as set forth below ("Privacy Policy"). The terms "you" “your” and "user" refer to all individuals and entities that access the Site. ZED has created this privacy policy to make sure you know what information ZED collects and how ZED uses it. By using the Site, you expressly consent to the collection, storage, disclosure and use of your information as outlined in this Privacy Policy and you agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.
If you reside outside the U.S., your personally identifiable information will be transferred to the U.S. and processed and stored there under U.S. privacy standards. By visiting our Site and providing information to us, you consent to such transfer to, and processing in, the U.S.
ZED will occasionally update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in ZED’s practices and services. When changes are made to this Privacy Policy, ZED will post a notice on the Site. Regardless of notice, by visiting this Site, you are accepting the terms of the then-current Privacy Policy. If you follow any external links, located on the Site, to third-party websites, ZED is not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of these other websites.
ZED encourages you to check back, from to time, and review this Privacy Policy so that you always will know what personally identifiable information ZED collects, how it is used, and to whom it is disclosed.
But first, a note about the content on the Site:
ZED provides information on ZED’s Site for educational, general advisory, and informational purposes only. The information on the ZED Site is copyrighted material and is intended for your personal use. You may not distribute, sell or otherwise commercialize ZED’s advice or content.
Your use of the Site:
As a condition to your use of this Site, you agree not to:
Upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any information, materials or other content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, offensive, invades another's privacy, or promotes bigotry, racism, hatred for harm against any individual or group;
Impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
Forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any content transmitted through the Site;
Upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any information, materials or other content that infringes upon another's rights, including any intellectual property rights (including but not limited to, copyrights, patents, trademarks, or trade secrets);
Upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
Upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
Reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any of the software used to provide this Site or the Service and/or resell or redistribute the Service, or any part of the Service or use any unauthorized means to modify or reroute, or attempt to modify or reroute, the Service, including, but not limited to, altering affiliate IDs;
Interfere with or disrupt this Site or the Service, or any servers or networks connected to the Site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site;
Obtain, collect, store or modify the personal information about other users, to harass or stalk any user of the Site in any way;
Use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to 'meta-search' the Site or download data from the Site. ZED reserves the right to block automated programs that do not comply with these restrictions;
Upload, email, transmit, or post any content encouraging illegal activity or racism, hate speech, incitement of hate;
Upload, email, transmit or post any other content that ZED deems to be inappropriate; or
Use any ZED services for any illegal or unlawful purposes.
What information does ZED collect?
ZED may collect information about you, when you interact with the Site, including, your name, email, phone number, and/or personal information you choose to submit to the Site, and other data as specifically described herein.
You may provide us with this personal information when you:
Sign up for newsletters or the blog feed;
Submit a job application or inquiry;
Submit information through any contact form on the Site;
Request customer support or send ZED any other communication; and/or
Make use of ZED’s Social Media Widget features.
Information collected by Cookies:
ZED uses cookies on the Site to improve the quality of the Site and services to you. One of the features of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. A cookie is a small text file on your computer which a website sends to your computer to allow the website to store information which uniquely identifies ZED’s users. ZED's cookies do not collect or store personally identifiable information. Rather, the cookie stores a token which uniquely identifies a particular user at a particular time. That token is then linked to the user information in ZED’s secured databases. You can always delete the cookies and reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to display a message when a cookie is being sent. If you reset your browser, some of the Site features and functionality may not be available to you and you may not be able to take advantage of all the features on the Site.
Do Not Track:
Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. DNT is a way for users to inform websites and services that they do not want certain information about their webpage visits collected over time and across websites or online services. ZED is committed to providing you with meaningful choices about the information collected on the ZED Site for third party purposes, and that is why ZED provides the opt-out links below. However, ZED does not support DNT or recognize or respond to browser-initiated DNT signals.
These links may not represent all opt-out options available or third parties collecting information via the Site.
To opt-out of third party vendors cookies, please visit the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.
To opt-out of the double click and other Google advertising cookies, please visit the Google advertising opt-out page.
To opt-out of analysis via the Google Analytics cookie, please visit the Google Analytics opt-out page.
Your California Privacy Rights:
If you live in California and have an established business relationship with us, you can request a list of the personal information we have shared with third parties for their marketing purposes. We will also give you a list of the third parties that have received your information. You can make a request one time each year. To exercise your rights, you can email us or write to us at the address below. Mention in your letter that you are making a "California Shine the Light" inquiry. We will respond within 30 days.
You may also request that we provide you with an accounting of your personal information held by ZED. You may submit that request to ZED via email at info@zeroenergy.com, or at 156 Milk Street, Suite 3, Boston MA 02109. Upon verification of your identity and within 45 days, we will provide you with a paper copy of your personal information via the United States Postal Service.
Information collected by Web Beacons and Log Files:
When you visit the Site, ZED’s servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website ("Log Data"). This Log Data may include information such as your:
IP address
browser type or the domain from which you are visiting
operating system
your browser ID
how many times your device (computer or phone, for instance) access the Site, including dates and times of such access
Your activities on the Site
For most users accessing the Internet from an Internet service provider the IP address will be different every time you log on. ZED uses Log Data to monitor the use of the Site and the ZED Service, and for the Site's technical administration. ZED does not associate your IP address with any other personally identifiable information to identify you personally, except as required to enforce this Privacy Policy or as necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of ZED, its employees, customers, or other users.
Information collected through Reviews and Testimonials:
You may choose to submit a review or testimonial. If you post a review, ZED may ask for certain information to validate your review or testimonial such as your first name and an optional photo. ZED will not use any testimonial or review that is not accompanied by a photo. If you submit a review or testimonial, ZED may publish your first name, geographic location or other anonymous information but your last name and email address will be kept private. Additionally, any personally identifiable information that you submit as part of the review or testimonial can be read or used by other visitors to the Site. ZED is not responsible for any personally identifiable information that you choose to submit as part of your review or testimonial.
How does ZED secure and store your information?
The security of your personal information is important to us. ZED employs industry standard precautions designed to protect your information from unauthorized access. ZED will make any legally-required disclosures of any breach of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of your unencrypted electronically stored personal data to you via email or conspicuous posting on this Site in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with (i) the legitimate needs of law enforcement or (ii) any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.
ZED currently stores user information via secure cloud-based web hosting services, provided by SquareSpace, Constant Contact, and Google, and the information is stored on servers located within the United States.
Remember that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. ZED cannot promise, and you should not expect, that your personal information or private communications will always remain private. ZED cannot guarantee complete security.
How does ZED use your information?
ZED will not sell or disclose your name, email address or other personal information to third parties without your explicit consent, except as may be specified in this policy from time to time.ZED uses the personally identifiable information you provide to:
Provide the features and functionality of the Site and to improve ZED’s products and services;
Fulfill your requests for ZED’s products and services;
Communicate with you concerning ZED’s products and services;
Send you information about ZED’s products and services;
For ZED’s internal business purposes;and
Help us create content that is most relevant to you.
ZED uses your email address to send you communications you have requested. You can unsubscribe from such communications using the unsubscribe link provided therein.
ZED uses non-personally identifiable information to monitor the use and performance of the Site so that ZED can learn more about how people use the Site which helps us improve ZED’s services and significantly enhance your experience on the ZED Site.
Retention of Data
ZED retains personal information when we have an ongoing legitimate business, legal, or compliance need to do so. Our retention periods will vary depending on the type of personal information. The general factors we consider in determining whether to retain personal information are:
Whether we have a legal or contractual need to retain the information
Whether the information is necessary to provide our services or for functionality of Site features
Whether our account holding users have the ability to access and delete the information from their accounts
When ZED has no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, when personal information has been stored in backup archives), then ZED will securely store such personal information until deletion of such information is possible.
Does ZED disclose the information it collects to outside parties?
Generally, ZED does not share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies without your consent except that:
ZED provides information to its agents and trusted service providers and contractors for limited purposes, without limitation, hosting and maintenance, database storage and management, offering certain products and services; marketing campaigns; communicating with customers; providing customer service; managing information on ZED’s behalf; and enhancing the Site features and functionality. ZED will share your personally identifiable information with these third parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these functions and provide such services, and only pursuant to binding contractual obligations requiring such third parties to maintain the privacy and security of your data.
The service providers engaged by ZED, and links to their individual privacy policies, are listed at: https://www.squarespace.com and https://www.constantcontact.com/and https://analytics.google.com/and may be updated from time to time.
ZED may also release information (including, but not limited to, your name, email address, addresses, telephone number, and activity on the Site) when ZED, in ZED’s sole discretion believes that such release is necessary or appropriate to:
comply with law;
comply with subpoenas, warrants, court orders, government investigations, or other legal process;
enforce or apply the terms of this policy;
investigate or respond to allegations of fraud, intellectual property infringement, or other unlawful activity
investigate fraud or similar claims;
protect the rights, property or safety of ZED, ZED’s users, or others.
to protect ZED’s operations; or
to permit ZED to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that ZED may sustain.
Does this Privacy Policy apply when I access third party websites?
You may be able to access third party websites directly from the Site. However, this Privacy Policy does not apply when you access third party websites. ZED cannot control and cannot be held responsible for the content that appears on those sites and is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of ZED’s affiliation with that third party. Furthermore, ZED is not responsible for the privacy policies of any third-party site or for how they treat information about their users. These third-party sites may place their own cookies on your computer, collect data, or solicit personal information. You may be consenting to those websites through use of the Site. ZED encourages you to read the privacy policies or statements and terms of service for each of the other websites you visit.
Intellectual Property
Independence Energy Homes, Inc. d/b/a ZeroEnergy Design, and other ZED graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and service names are copyrights, trademarks or trade dress of ZED in the U.S. and/or other countries. ZED's trademarks and trade dress may not be used, including as part of trademarks and/or as part of domain names or email addresses, in connection with any product or service in any manner that is likely to cause confusion to consumers or in any manner that disparages or discredits ZED. All other trademarks not owned by ZED that appear on this Site are the property of their respective owners.
You acknowledge that all articles, blog posts, infographics, writings, columns, and any other form of content on the Site (“ZED Content”) is either owned by ZED or ZED has a license/permission to use the same. You acknowledge and agree that any such ZED Content, including but not limited to text, data, photos, graphics, etc. or other material contained or distributed on or through the Site, by ZED, its advertisers or other third parties, is protected by trademarks, service marks, patents, copyrights, or other proprietary rights and laws. You may not use or distribute any ZED Content received through the Site without the authorization of ZED. You agree not to publish, reproduce, copy, in whole or in part, modify, amend, publicly display (including framing), create derivative works of, nor upload, download, post, email, sell, commercially exploit in any way, or otherwise distribute ZED Content available through the Site, in violation of applicable copyright and other intellectual property laws.
ZED considers any solicited or unsolicited suggestions, ideas, proposals, content of any notes, messages, e-mails, postings, letters, concepts or other material submitted to it by you via the Site or otherwise (other than personal information) (collectively, the "Material") to be non-confidential and non-proprietary, and ZED shall not be liable for the disclosure or use of such Material. If, at ZED's request, you send Material to improve the site (for example through the forums, contact forms, or to customer support), ZED will also consider that Material to be non-confidential and non-proprietary and ZED will not be liable for use or disclosure of the Material. Any communication by you to ZED is subject to this Privacy Policy. The intellectual property rights in or relating to the Material will automatically be deemed to be assigned, granted and transferred by you to ZED upon their submission or communication to ZED, and you do assign all rights therein to ZED and agree that the same will automatically become the property of ZED and that ZED may use, exploit, copy, publish, implement, transfer and in all other ways deal with such materials and all of the intellectual property rights therein in any way and for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, ZED may elect, forever, without compensation or accounting to you and without further recourse by you.
DMCA/IP Notification Policy
To notify ZED of infringing or unlawful content on the Site, please provide ZED with the following information:
Your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address;
A description of the exact location on the Site of the infringing or unlawful content;
A description of the claimed infringing or unlawful content, specifying which parts you believe infringe or are unlawful and which parts you believe should be removed;
In the event that you believe that the content infringes your rights, please include a detailed statement specifying your asserted rights and why the content infringes them;
In the event that you believe that the content is unlawful, please include a detailed statement specifying why you believe that the content breaches a particular law; and
A sworn and signed statement that the information provided is accurate and that you are directly or indirectly damages by the content.
ZED takes such notices very seriously. We will evaluate the provided notice and if appropriate based on our sole discretion remove infringing content. Based on our judgment, we may notify the source of the content of your complaint and our actions in response to your complaint. We reserve the right in our sole discretion to restore such content if the source of such content provides evidence that the content should not have been removed. We encourage you to seek the advice of an independent attorney before filing an intellectual property notice or responding to a notice filed by another user.
ZED may be notified of claims of intellectual property infringement by emailing the above requested information to:
ZeroEnergy Design
Attn: Adam Prince
156 Milk St. Suite 3
Boston, MA 02109
Email. info@ZeroEnergy.com
Because ZED may allow content to be posted from third parties and third-party Sites, there is a chance that the ability to remove any allegedly infringing content will be out of our control. While we will make a good faith effort to remove the allegedly infringing content, if you believe your intellectual property has been infringed by a ZED vendor or a user posting content from a third-party Site, we strongly suggest you contact the vendor, third party, or third-party site directly and request the allegedly infringing material be taken down.
Business Transfers
ZED may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your personally identifiable information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy. You will have the opportunity to opt out of any such transfer if the new entity's planned processing of your information differs materially from that set forth in this Privacy Policy.
ZED’s Policy Towards Children
The Site is not directed to persons under 18. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided ZED with personally identifiable information without their consent, he or she should contact ZED info@zeroenergy.com. ZED will take actions to promptly remove such data. ZED does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 16. If ZED becomes aware that a child under 13 has provided personal identifiable Information, ZED will delete such information.
How can I change, delete, or update my information?
You can request that ZED update or change your information or request that we delete your information by emailing us at info@zeroenergy.com. After receiving proof of your identity, ZED will comply with such request. If you have any questions about what information is stored or would like to obtain a copy of such information, please contact us at info@zeroenergy.comor Privacy c/o ZED, 156 Milk Street, Suite 3, Boston MA 02109. After receiving proof of your identity, ZED will provide the information to you.
Unless stated otherwise, ZED’s current Privacy Policy applies to all information that ZED has about you and your account.
Use of this Site by individuals located in the EU
If you are a resident of the European Union or provide personal information through this website while located in the European Union, we offer you certain choices in connection with the personal information we collect from you on this Site.
Users in the European Union may have the choice:
to be provided with a copy of your personal data held by us;
to request the rectification or erasure of your personal data held by us;
to request that we cease processing your data;
to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data (while we verify or investigate your concerns with this information, for example);
to request that your data be transferred to you or a third party.
We may use your data for marketing purposes or disclose your information to any third party for such purposes with your consent, that you may provide by checking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your data. You may object to receiving further marketing at any time without detriment. We will inform you prior to collecting or using your personal information for any purpose not set forth in this Privacy Policy or previously consented to.
To update your preferences and consents, ask us to remove your information from our mailing lists or submit a request, please contact us at info@zeroenergy.com.
General Terms:
If any provision of this Privacy Policy is held unenforceable, then such provision will be modified to reflect the parties' intention. All remaining provisions of this Privacy Policy shall remain in full force and effect. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or franchiser-franchisee relationship is intended or created by this Privacy Policy.This Privacy Policy shall in all respects be interpreted and construed with and by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, excluding its conflicts of laws rules, and the United States of America.ZED may assign its rights and responsibilities hereunder without notice to you. These terms and conditions will inure to the benefit of ZED’s successors, assigns and licensees. Any heading, caption, or section title contained herein is inserted only as a matter of convenient, and in no way defines or explains any section or provision hereof. The failure of ZED to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Privacy Policy will not constitute a waiver of such rights or provisions.Except as explicitly stated otherwise, any notices shall be given by postal mail to ZED; Attn: Legal Department, 156 Milk Street, Suite 3, Boston MA 02109(in the case of ZED) or, in your case, to the email address you provide to ZED (either during the registration process or when your email address changes). Notice shall be deemed given 24 hours after email is sent, unless the sending party is notified that the email address is invalid. Alternatively, ZED may give you notice by certified mail, postage prepaid and return receipt requested, to the address provided to ZED. In such case, notice shall be deemed given three days after the date of mailing.
Resolution of Disputes and Release:
In the event a dispute arises between you and ZED, please contact ZED.Any dispute arising from or relating to the subject matter of this Privacy Policy shall be finally settled by arbitration in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, using the English language in accordance with the Arbitration Rules and Procedures of American Arbitration Association ("AAA") then in effect, by one commercial arbitrator with substantial experience in resolving intellectual property and commercial contract disputes, who shall be selected in accordance with the Arbitration Rules and Procedures of AAA. The arbitrator’s award shall be final and binding. The prevailing party in any arbitration or other proceeding arising under this Privacy Policy shall be entitled to receive reimbursement of its reasonable expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees, expert witness fees and all other expenses) incurred in connection therewith. Judgment upon the award so rendered may be entered in a court having jurisdiction or application may be made to such court for judicial acceptance of any award and an order of enforcement, as the case may be. Notwithstanding the foregoing, each party shall have the right to institute an action in a court of proper jurisdiction for injunctive or other equitable relief pending a final decision by the arbitrator. For all purposes of this Privacy Policy, the party’s consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the United States Federal Courts or state courts located in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Use of the Site is not authorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of the Privacy Policy, including without limitation, this section. You and ZED agree that any cause of action arising out of or related to the Site (including, but not limited to, any services provided or made available therein) or this Privacy Policy must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action arose; otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.
You hereby consent to and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens with respect to venue and jurisdiction in the state and federal courts of Massachusetts. You further agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action. If for any reason a claim is initiated in court rather than in arbitration you and ZED waive any right to a jury trial.
You release ZED (and ZED's officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees) from any and all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with disputes with one or more users, or an outside party.
Unless stated otherwise, ZED’s current Privacy Policy applies to all information that ZED has about you.
The current version of the ZED Privacy Policy was adopted effective as of April 2, 2020.