Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy of theSimple, Inc

Your Privacy Is Not for Sale.

theSimple, Inc. does not and will not sell your personal information to anyone, for any reason.

At theSimple, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries ("theSimple," "us" or "we"), we are committed to protecting the privacy of information we maintain about you. Below are details about our commitment, including the types of information we collect, how we use and share that information, and your ability to limit certain information sharing. This Privacy Notice applies to customers and other consumers with whom we have a relationship, as well as to former customers. Throughout this Privacy Notice (for the purposes of this Privacy Notice only), "customers" includes individuals who use our services through a relationship with a third party (for example, a reseller of theSimple services) and other consumers with whom we have a relationship, unless specifically noted otherwise. The information we collect and how we may use that information may vary depending upon the third parties, product or service involved.

thesimple.com collects some Personal Data from its Users.

Users may be subject to different protection standards and broader standards may therefore apply to some. In order to learn more about the protection criteria, Users can refer to the applicability section.

Owner and Data Controller

theSimple, Inc.
441 California Ave, Suite 2
Palo Alto, CA 94306

Owner contact email: hello@thesimple.com

Types of Data collected

Among the types of Personal Data that thesimple.com collects, by itself or through third parties, there are: Cookies, Usage Data, unique device identifiers for advertising, phone number, first name, last name and email address.

Complete details on each type of Personal Data collected are provided in the dedicated sections of this privacy policy or by specific explanation texts displayed prior to the Data collection.

Personal Data may be freely provided by the User, or, in case of Usage Data, collected automatically when using thesimple.com.

Unless specified otherwise, all Data requested by thesimple.com is mandatory and failure to provide this Data may make it impossible for thesimple.com to provide its services. In cases where thesimple.com specifically states that some Data is not mandatory, Users are free not to communicate this Data without consequences to the availability or the functioning of the Service.

Users who are uncertain about which Personal Data is mandatory are welcome to contact the Owner. Any use of Cookies – or of other tracking tools – by thesimple.com or by the owners of third-party services used by thesimple.com serves the purpose of providing the Service required by the User, in addition to any other purposes described in the present document and in the Cookie Policy, if available.

Users are responsible for any third-party Personal Data obtained, published or shared through thesimple.com and confirm that they have the third party's consent to provide the Data to the Owner.

Mode and place of processing the Data

Methods of processing

The Owner takes appropriate security measures to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, or unauthorized destruction of the Data.

The Data processing is carried out using computers and/or IT enabled tools, following organizational procedures and modes strictly related to the purposes indicated. In addition to the Owner, in some cases, the Data may be accessible to certain types of persons in charge, involved with the operation of thesimple.com (administration, sales, marketing, legal, system administration) or external parties (such as third-party technical service providers, mail carriers, hosting providers, IT companies, communications agencies) appointed, if necessary, as Data Processors by the Owner.

Legal basis of processing

The Owner may process Personal Data relating to Users if one of the following applies:

·       Users have given their consent for one or more specific purposes.

·       Provision of Data is necessary for the performance of an agreement with the User and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof;

·       Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the Owner is subject;

·       Processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Owner;

·       Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the Owner or by a third party.

In any case, the Owner will gladly help to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Data is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.

Place

The Data is processed at the Owner's operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. Depending on the User's location, data transfers may involve transferring the User's Data to a country other than their own. To find out more about the place of processing of such transferred Data, Users can check the section containing details about the processing of Personal Data. If any such transfer takes place, Users can find out more by checking the relevant sections of this document or inquire with the Owner using the information provided in the contact section.

Retention time

Personal Data shall be processed and stored for as long as required by the purpose they have been collected for.

Therefore:

·       Personal Data collected for purposes related to the performance of a contract between the Owner and the User shall be retained until such contract has been fully performed.

·       Personal Data collected for the purposes of the Owner’s legitimate interests shall be retained as long as needed to fulfill such purposes. Users may find specific information regarding the legitimate interests pursued by the Owner within the relevant sections of this document or by contacting the Owner.

The Owner may be allowed to retain Personal Data for a longer period whenever the User has given consent to such processing, as long as such consent is not withdrawn. Furthermore, the Owner may be obliged to retain Personal Data for a longer period whenever required to do so for the performance of a legal obligation or upon order of an authority. Once the retention period expires, Personal Data shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after expiration of the retention period.

The purposes of processing

The Data concerning the User is collected to allow the Owner to provide its Services, as well as for the following purposes: Analytics, Advertising, Contacting the User, Displaying content from external platforms, Handling payments, Hosting and backend infrastructure, Interaction with live chat platforms, Interaction with support and feedback platforms, Managing contacts and sending messages, Managing support and contact requests, Platform services and hosting, Remarketing and behavioral targeting, Tag Management and User database management.

Further information about Personal Data

How we collect information about you

Application and registration information:

·       We collect personal information from you when you enroll in one of our services or participate in an theSimple promotion. We may also collect personal information about you including the location where the Simple thermostat is installed, type of heating or air conditioning equipment, or other information relevant to enable the best possible experience with our solution.

Transaction and experience information:

·       Once your account has been opened, we collect and maintain personal information about your account activity, including your heating and cooling settings, adjustments to those settings, occupancy patterns, and other information about your home and your interaction with your home. This information allows us to administer your account and provide the services you have requested. Website usage: When you visit our websites, we may use devices known as "cookies," graphic interchange format files (GIFs), or other similar web tools to enhance your web experience. These tools help us to recognize you, maintain your web session, and provide a more personalized experience.

How we use information we collect

theSimple asks you to provide certain information when you initially register to use theSimple services and then afterwards may ask you to provide additional information when you use certain theSimple services for the first time. In addition, theSimple also collects information about your use of theSimple services as a registered user. The following examples represent some of the different types of information that we may collect from you when you register for theSimple services and use theSimple services as a registered user:

·       Registration Data. Registration data is collected when you create an account for theSimple services or subsequently modify your Registration Data. Typical information includes but is not limited to: First and last name, username, password, email address, mailing address, and phone number.

·       Profile Data. Profile data is collected when you access certain theSimple services after you have created an account or subsequently modify your Profile Data. This data may include but is not limited to: additional email addresses, heating and cooling preferences, physical specifications regarding your home, energy usage history, occupancy patterns and schedules, and notification preferences for products and services made available by theSimple

·       Activity Data. Activity data is collected when theSimple service is operating in your home. This data may include but is not limited to: temperature, energy usage, adjustments to thermostat settings, schedules and programs, occupancy data, heating and cooling system performance measurement and monitoring, and other information about you and your home that affects energy usage.

Collectively, your Registration Data, Profile Data, Activity Data, and any other generally available demographic data about you that theSimple gathers from other sources is referred to as "Your Data." Your Data does not include information that third parties may independently gather from other Websites about you using their own cookies, as further described in this Privacy Policy. theSimple uses Your Data, including both Personally Identifiable Information and Non-Personally Identifiable Information in both aggregated and individual forms, to provide theSimple services and support them. We may process and use this data for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy and your use of theSimple service including, but not limited to:

·       Operate theSimple service to provide ongoing automated energy efficiency services and peak load curtailment in your home.

·       Customize, measure, and improve theSimple services, and the content and advertising provided through them;

·       Enforce our Terms of Service and detect fraud and other illegal activities;

·       Bill and collect for any applicable fees or charges;

·       Let you know about new products or services from theSimple or other companies we work with as well as promotional offers, based on your preference settings;

·       Let you know about changes to theSimple services, the Terms of Service, this Privacy Policy, and other terms that apply to our services; and

·       Update any programs or other tools that we provide in conjunction with theSimple services.

theSimple may use Your Data in these forms for internal business purposes, such as for license reporting and assessment of service levels, to better understand how theSimple services are used, to gauge the effectiveness of theSimple services, or determining ways to improve or modify theSimple services. theSimple may also use Your Data to customize theSimple services and make them more relevant to you. For example, theSimple may use such data to make recommendations on ways to save energy in your home. theSimple may use your Registration Data to verify that you are the person authorized to use theSimple services or to manage your account.

How we share and use your information among theSimple affiliates

The term "theSimple" may include affiliated companies that are owned by theSimple, Inc. theSimple may share information we collect about you within our family of companies to help:

·       Provide you with better service or to perform services on your behalf;

·       Respond to communications from you (or as you authorize or request);

·       Make it more convenient for you to use our services.

At any time, you may instruct theSimple not to share information about you with our affiliates for certain purposes, as explained below under "How to limit the sharing and use of your information."

How we share your information outside of theSimple

We may share your information with outside companies and other third parties in certain limited circumstances, including:

·       To help us install equipment in your home and activate your theSimple services;

·       When we use other companies to provide services for us, such as installation and customer support;

·       When we work with other companies to resell theSimple services, to enable those partners to understand your usage of theSimple service, the performance of your home's heating and cooling systems and the effectiveness of your home's building envelope, provide services to you such as installation and customer support, and determine whether you would benefit from additional products and services offered by our partner;

·       When we believe that disclosure is required or permitted under law (for example, to cooperate with regulators or law enforcement, resolve consumer disputes, perform credit/authentication checks or for risk control).

How to limit the sharing and use of your information

You may choose to limit the information we share about you among our affiliates and joint-marketing partners for marketing purposes. If you choose to do so, theSimple will not share with our affiliates consumer reports and other personal information about you that may be used to determine your eligibility for credit; allow our affiliates to market their products or services to you based on eligibility information they receive from another theSimple affiliate; or share personal information about you with an outside company for joint-marketing purposes. You may exercise this choice by contacting us at the numbers or email address in the "Contact Us" section. You only need to contact us once, and your choice will be honored across all of theSimple.

·       Your choice will be applied to you as an individual and will automatically be extended to all of your accounts at theSimple.

·       You may make your affiliate-sharing privacy choice at any time, and that choice will remain in effect until you tell theSimple to change it. If you have previously provided theSimple with this information with respect to your current accounts, you do not need to provide it again.

·       If you exercise your privacy choice, theSimple will continue to share information among our affiliates that identifies you (such as your name and email address), as well as information about your transactions and experiences with us, to perform services on your behalf, respond to communications from you, or, if you are their customer, to offer you products or services.

theSimple also allows you to limit marketing from theSimple affiliate(s) with which you have a relationship. This is separate from your affiliate-sharing choice. You may exercise this choice by contacting us at the numbers or email address in the "Contact Us" section. These preferences will remain in effect for at least two years, after which time theSimple may ask you to update those preferences and may contact you for marketing purposes.

Contact Us

To change your privacy preferences, provide us with updated information, report suspected fraud or identity theft, or for any other questions, you may call 650-690-5346. You may also contact us by email at hello@theSimple.com.

Additional information about Data collection and processing

Legal action

The User's Personal Data may be used for legal purposes by the Owner in Court or in the stages leading to possible legal action arising from improper use of thesimple.com or the related Services.

The User declares to be aware that the Owner may be required to reveal personal data upon request of public authorities.

Additional information about User's Personal Data

In addition to the information contained in this privacy policy, thesimple.com may provide the User with additional and contextual information concerning particular Services or the collection and processing of Personal Data upon request.

System logs and maintenance

For operation and maintenance purposes, thesimple.com and any third-party services may collect files that record interaction with thesimple.com (System logs) use other Personal Data (such as the IP Address) for this purpose.

Information not contained in this policy

More details concerning the collection or processing of Personal Data may be requested from the Owner at any time. Please see the contact information at the beginning of this document.

Changes to this privacy policy

The Owner reserves the right to make changes to this privacy policy at any time by giving notice to its Users on this page and possibly within thesimple.com and/or - as far as technically and legally feasible - sending a notice to Users via any contact information available to the Owner. It is strongly recommended to check this page often, referring to the date of the last modification listed at the bottom.  Should the changes affect processing activities performed on the basis of the User’s consent, the Owner shall collect new consent from the User, where required.

Definitions and legal references

Personal Data (or Data)

Any information that directly, indirectly, or in connection with other information — including a personal identification number — allows for the identification or identifiability of a natural person.

Usage Data

Information collected automatically through thesimple.com (or third-party services employed in thesimple.com), which can include: the IP addresses or domain names of the computers utilized by the Users who use thesimple.com, the URI addresses (Uniform Resource Identifier), the time of the request, the method utilized to submit the request to the server, the size of the file received in response, the numerical code indicating the status of the server's answer (successful outcome, error, etc.), the country of origin, the features of the browser and the operating system utilized by the User, the various time details per visit (e.g., the time spent on each page within the Application) and the details about the path followed within the Application with special reference to the sequence of pages visited, and other parameters about the device operating system and/or the User's IT environment.

User

The individual using thesimple.com who, unless otherwise specified, coincides with the Data Subject.

Data Subject

The natural person to whom the Personal Data refers.

Data Processor (or Data Supervisor)

The natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes Personal Data on behalf of the Controller, as described in this privacy policy.

Data Controller (or Owner)

The natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of Personal Data, including the security measures concerning the operation and use of thesimple.com. The Data Controller, unless otherwise specified, is the Owner of thesimple.com.

Thesimple.com (or this Application)

The means by which the Personal Data of the User is collected and processed.

Service

The service provided by thesimple.com as described in the relative terms (if available) and on this site/application.

Cookies

Small sets of data stored in the User's device.