Privacy Policy

Our Commitment: Respect and Protect Our Customer’s Privacy

Your privacy is important to us. Brazos Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (Brazos Communications) respects and protects the privacy of our customers. We carefully ensure the confidentiality of each customer’s telephone account and calling information. Our employees are educated about their obligation to safeguard customer information and telephone calls, and are held accountable for any failure to meet their obligations.

The Information We Obtain and How We Use It

Brazos Communications obtains information about customers that help us provide service. This information is used for business purposes only. For example, we need to know your name, address, and the services you buy from us for billing purposes and to better serve you when you contact our service representatives about your account. It may also be beneficial for us to know about your telephone bill, your calling patterns, and whether you have special needs, so that we can offer you the most effective services for your needs when you contact us.

We publish and distribute directories in print. Customer names, addresses and telephone numbers are included in these directories without restriction to their use. Brazos Communications is required by law to provide customer names, addresses and telephone numbers to unaffiliated directory publishers and directory assistance providers for their use in creating directories and offering directory assistance.

Information typically available from details on a customer’s monthly telephone bill that has been obtained in the normal course of providing telephone service is known as Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI). CPNI might include the type of line, technical characteristics, class of service, current telephone charges, local and long distance billing records, directory assistance charges, usage data and calling patterns. BRAZOS COMMUNICATIONS does not sell CPNI in any form, including billing records, types of service, and calling habits to third parties. We do not use CPNI for marketing purposes, nor do we provide CPNI to any third party or affiliate, except as required by law or in certain normal courses of business, as explained below.

  • When you dial 911, information about your location may be automatically transmitted to a public safety agency.
  • Certain information about your long distance calls is transmitted to your billing company for billing purposes.
  • As necessary, Brazos Communications must disclose information to comply with court orders or subpoenas. We will also share information to protect our rights or property and to protect use of our services and other carriers from fraudulent, abusive or unlawful use of services.
  • Brazos Communications may also use third parties or contractors to do work for the Cooperative, such as billing services. These third party contractors have the same obligations as our regular employees concerning the confidentiality of our customer information. In cases where it is necessary to provide CPNI to a third party or affiliate, BRAZOS COMMUNICATIONS requires that those parties sign an agreement that they will protect the confidentiality of our customers’ CPNI.
  • We may, where permitted by law, provide personal information to credit bureaus, or provide information and/or sell receivables to collection agencies, to obtain payment for our products and services. We will enter into the Cooperative or companies with whom we deal in this regard appropriate confidentiality agreements.

Your Telephone Account Information Rights

Under Federal Law, you have the right to, and we have the duty to protect the confidentiality of your telecommunications service information. Although it is Brazos Communications policy not to use or provide CPNI to others for marketing purposes, under Federal Communication Commission rules, without further authorization from you, we can use CPNI to offer you services of the type you already purchase from us, or we may share CPNI with our affiliates that offer different categories or service, if they already have an existing service relationship with you. (Brazos Communications has affiliates that offer long distance, and Internet services.)

As mentioned previously, Brazos Communications does not currently use or provide CPNI for marketing purposes; however, if we should decide in the future to use or provide CPNI to offer you services that may be different from the type of services you currently buy from us, you will be notified in advance. You will then have the opportunity to tell us you do not want us to use your CPNI for that purpose.

Service to Enhance Your Privacy

You may choose to have a non-published number that will eliminate your telephone number from Brazos Communications printed directory or directory assistance. The non-published number will not be provided to directory publishers or directory assistance providers.

You may choose to have a non-listed number. Non-listed numbers are not available in Brazos Communications printed directory, but are publicly available through directory assistance. These numbers may be provided to other directory assistance providers.

You may choose to exclude partial or all address information from your listings.

Privacy management services, such as Caller ID and Caller ID blocking, are available to customers.

Contact US: Questions, Comments, Concerns

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you may contact us by calling our business office at 1.800.687.3222 and/or 940.564.5659 or write to us at 109 N. Ave D Olney, Texas 76374.

 


 

Internet Customer Privacy Policy

Protecting your privacy is important to us. We hope the following statement will help you understand how Brazos Communications collects, uses, and safeguards the personal information you provide on our web site.

Information Collection

When you browse the Brazos Communications web site, you do so anonymously. Personal information — including your E-mail address — is not collected. Your IP address (the Internet address of your computer) is logged to give us an idea of which parts of our web site you are visiting and how long you are spending time there. We do not link your IP address to anything personally identifiable. The only other information automatically provided to us is the type of computer and operating system you are using. This information is supplied to us by your browser.

There are times that we may request that you voluntarily supply us with personal information, including your E-mail address and possibly your postal address, for purposes such as correspondence, site registration, free gifts, making a purchase, or product registration. We do not share our email database or any of your personal information with any company outside our organization.

Like many other commercial web sites, the Brazos Communications web site may utilize a standard technology called a “cookie” to collect information about how the site is used.

Your Acceptance of These Terms

By using this site, you signify your assent to the Brazos Communications Online Customer Internet Privacy Statement. We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions from this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of the Brazos Communications web site following the posting of changes to these terms means you accept these changes.


Security Policy of Brazos Communications

Details of Brazos Communications’s Security Policy

The Internet is an open system and there is no absolute guarantee that the personal information you enter to request verification will not be intercepted by others and decrypted. Although this possibility is remote, it does exist. We have included the safeguards described below to reduce the risks:

  • Brazos Communications is taking all reasonable and appropriate measures, including encryption, to ensure that personal information is disclosed only to you.
  • So your Internet communications can remain confidential, you must use a Web browser which supports the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security protocol. Your web browser probably already supports SSL.
  • Brazos Communications will not give, sell or transfer any personal information to a third party.

If you are not comfortable with these risks, please call 1-800-687-3222 to speak to a specially trained technician about your concerns.