Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Modern Solutions Consulting LLC (“Modern Solutions,” “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) collects, uses, and discloses information about you. This Privacy Policy applies when you use our website, mobile applications, and other online products and services that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, our “Services” or “Digital Platforms”), contact our customer service team, engage with us on social media, or otherwise interact with us.
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our website or providing you with a notification). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy regularly to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.
CONTENTS
Collection of Information
We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, you share information directly with us when you fill out a form, purchase a subscription, communicate with us via third-party platforms, request customer support, or otherwise communicate with us. The types of personal information we may collect include your name, username, bio, email address, business information, your content, including your avatar image, photos, feedback, and any other information you choose to provide.
In some cases, we may also collect information you provide about others, such as when you purchase a subscription for someone else. We will use this information to fulfill your request and will not send communications to your contacts unrelated to your request, unless they separately consent to receive communications from us or otherwise engage with us.
We do not collect payment information through our Services. We rely on third parties to process payments in connection with our Services. Any information you provide to facilitate such a payment is subject to the third-party payment processor’s privacy policy, and we encourage you to review this policy before you provide any information to the payment processor.
The following explains the categories of Personal Information we may collect from you and how we collect such data.
- Online Forms: When you complete an online form to allow Modern Solutions Consulting LLC, or an authorized independent dealer or installer, to contact you, we collect identifiers such as your name, address, zip code, telephone number, and e-mail address. We may also collect information sufficient to validate your identity as the party submitting the form, which may include your IP address, location information, information about your device, e.g., operating system, and a screenshot or screen recording of the form submission process.
- Communications with Modern Solutions: When you contact Modern Solutions by telephone, or e-mail, we collect identifiers and any other Personal Information you choose to provide, as explained below.
- Telephone: When you contact Modern Solutions by telephone, we will collect the telephone number that you use to call us. Modern Solutions records its telephone calls for training and quality assurance purposes. During a call, we may additionally collect your name, address, e-mail address, and information about your energy needs and usage. If you are a business contact for a commercial client or prospect, this may include business personal information.
- E-mail and Electronic Means: When you communicate with us via e-mail or other electronic means, including through a virtual assistant, we will collect your e-mail address, name, and any Personal Information you voluntarily choose to include in the communication so that we can respond to your questions and provide you with quality service.
- Social Media, Online Forum, Blogs, Message Boards, Chat Rooms: You may choose to interact with Modern Solutions via social media platforms on which Modern Solutions is active, including, but not limited to Facebook, LinkedIn, review sites like Yelp, or through blogs, chat or messaging features available through the Digital Platforms. Relating to these interactions, we may collect identifiers such as your screen name, real name and any information that you choose to provide such as posts, comments or feedback that you post or leave on pages, feeds or inboxes belonging to Modern Solutions. There are areas of the Digital Platforms and social media platforms that are visible to other users or the general public, e.g., blogs. We recommend that you do not post personal details to these areas of the Digital Platforms. YOU ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LOSS OF PRIVACY OR HARM RESULTING FROM YOUR VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION IN PUBLIC AREAS OR FORUMS.
- Business Contacts: Modern Solutions collects the personal or business contact information you provide at trade shows or similar events, including through business card scans or drops, to allow us to contact you or to receive information about us, opportunities with us, or our product or services.
- Testimonials: When you provide testimonials to Modern Solutions for us to publish on the Digital Platforms or in marketing materials, with your consent, we collect and may publish images of you, audio and/or video recordings, and identifiers that may include your name, contact information, and information about your experience with our products and services.
- Applications: When you sign up or use a Modern Solutions application or service, we collect the Personal Information you provide to create a profile, account, generate a quote or estimate, provide payment (e.g., credit card or bank account information) or to receive information about the performance of your system or other Modern Solutions products. This may include identifiers such as your name, address, zip code, telephone number, and e-mail address, as well as financial information to provide payments and information about your solar usage (see below).
- Information About Your Solar Usage: When you purchase or lease a solar system from one of our authorized independent dealers, which may include services like energy monitoring, you provide us directly with Personal Information about yourself and your household or give us access to information about the use of the solar system by your household. This information may include identifiers such as your name, location of the installation, energy produced by the system, energy utilized (energy demand), or the time of day when the energy is utilized. This data may be incorporated into our monitoring system and used for various purposes, such as to monitor the performance of your system and to provide you services you have agreed to receive, e.g., system maintenance.
- Surveys: If you respond to surveys issued by Modern Solutions, we will collect identifiers such as your e-mail address, name, and any information you provide in response to or relating to the survey. If we disclose information relating to the survey to third parties, we will do so in non-identifying, aggregated form. We may disclose your feedback about the performance of an independent dealer or installer to that independent dealer or installer in identified fashion.
- Leasing and Financing: If you request information from Modern Solutions, or lease or purchase products or services from Modern Solutions Consulting LLC, or an authorized independent dealer or installer, we will collect information such as your name, address, information about products leased or purchased, and contact information, including telephone number and e-mail address. For example, when you finance a product with one of our authorized installers, Modern Solutions Consulting LLC may collect information from you, and any co-applicants or co-owners of the dwelling associated with your installation, including your contact information (e.g., name, address, phone number, e-mail address); proof of identity; Social Security or National Identity Number; financial history, including account balances and payment history; credit reports, scores and history; employment and income information, including employment verifications; and utility bills.
- Payments: When you make a payment to us, either directly or through one of our approved service providers, we collect information necessary to process the transaction and validate your identity. This may include identifiers such as your name, contact information (address and telephone number), and depending on the payment methodology, your payment card information (card number, security code, expiration date, or bank account information). When you use a Modern Solutions approved service provider to make a payment, your use of the service is subject to that service provider’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice.
- Career Opportunities: If you apply for a career opportunity with us, we may collect information such as your contact information (name, address, phone number, e-mail address); proof of identity; Social Security or National Identity Number; employment and education history, including information in a resume or CV; references or other information included in a voluntary background or driving record search; and information about you contained in any related communications, including a cover letter.
- Consent: We may use your Personal Information for any other purpose for which you consent.
- Combining Information We Collect: We may combine any of the information we collect from or about you and use it in the manner described in this Policy.
We do not collect sensitive information about you (such as health or medical history, ethnicity, political leanings, religious beliefs, trade union membership, sexual preferences, etc.) and you should not provide such information to us.
Information we Collect Automatically when you Interact with Us
In some instances, we automatically collect certain information, including:
Activity Information: We collect information about your activity on our Services, such as your reading history on our website.
Transactional Information: When you purchase a subscription, we collect information about the transaction, such as subscription details, purchase price, and the date of the transaction.
Device and Usage Information: We collect information about how you access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, such as your hardware model, operating system version, mobile network, IP address, unique device identifiers, browser type, and app version. We also collect information about your activity on our Services, such as access times, pages viewed, links clicked, and the page you visited before navigating to our Services.
Information Collected by Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies: We use tracking technologies, such as cookies and web beacons, to collect information about you. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us improve our Services and your experience, see which areas and features of our Services are popular, and count visits. Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags” or “clear GIFs”) are electronic images that we use on our Services and in our emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, and understand usage. We also work with third party analytics providers who use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services and other websites and applications, including your IP address, web browser, mobile network information, pages viewed, time spent on pages or in mobile apps, and links clicked. This information may be used by our Company and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver content targeted to your interests on our Services, and better understand your online activity. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, see Your Choices below
Cookie Settings
Cookie Settings
Information We Collect from Other Sources
We obtain information from third-party sources. For example, we may collect information about you from social networks, accounting services providers and data analytics providers.
Modern Solutions may purchase or receive information, including identifiers such as your name, address, e-mail address and telephone number from third parties to be used to market Modern Solutions’ products and services to you as explained below.
- Third Parties with Whom We Have a Relationship – We may receive your personal information from third parties with whom we have a relationship, including our authorized independent dealers, home builders, and lenders, to determine whether you are interested in purchasing a Modern Solutions product or service and whether that product or service is right for you.
- Purchase of Data from Unaffiliated Third Parties – Where permitted by applicable law, we may purchase your Personal Information from third parties, e.g. lead generators, and will process your data in accordance with applicable law (and with your consent, where required) to determine whether you are interested in purchasing a Modern Solutions product or service and whether that product or service is right for you.
- Utilities – Where permitted by applicable law, and with your consent, Modern Solutions may obtain information about your energy consumption from your utility provider. This information may be used by us to provide monitoring services and calculate energy savings relating to your system, and may also be used by us to understand how you use your system.
- Referral Programs – We may receive your information from third parties as part of a referral program, including our “Refer a Friend” or “Friends and Family” programs and offers. These may include programs offered by your employer, trade groups or affiliation groups. Your information will only be used for determining your interest in a Modern Solutions product or service.
- Third-Party Site Information – Some of our applications leverage data, including images, from third-party sites or databases, including Google Earth images included in our design a system or estimator functionalities, or utility information provided to us by your utility company with your consent. Where required, we will seek your consent to receive this data.
- Links to Third-Party Sites – If you follow a link to any third-party sites or use sites of a third-party service provider, please note that they may have their own privacy policies and practices. Modern Solutions does not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies or processing of your personal information. Please check these policies before you submit any Personal Information to any third-party sites.
Information We Derive
We may derive information or draw inferences about you based on the information we collect. For example, we may make inferences about your location based on your IP address or infer reading preferences based on your reading history.
Use of Information
We use the information we collect to provide, maintain, and improve our Services, to comply with our legal and financial obligations, and to pursue our legitimate business interests, which include the business purposes set out below:
- Create and maintain your purchased subscription;
- Process transactions and send related information, such as confirmations, receipts, and user experience surveys;
- Send you technical notices, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;
- Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service;
- To facilitate communications with Modern Solutions authorized independent dealers, installers, contractors or related third parties;
- To enforce our legal obligations and rights, including our Digital Platforms terms and conditions, and any contractual rights (e.g., the collection of debt);
- In the event of a merger, sale or other transfer event, in which Personal Information held by us about you is among the assets transferred;
- To comply with laws applicable to publicly traded companies, including those relating to the detection, prevention and monitoring of fraud, anti-corruption, and money laundering, including Know-Your-Customer and related reporting obligations;
- To contact you, including through email, regular mail, and via text (SMS/MMS), if you consent to text communications, e-mail you about products and services that we believe may be of interest to you;
- To provide your information to third parties, including our third-party distributors or authorized independent dealers or installers, so that those third parties may directly contact you about products and services. We may also provide your information to certain non-profit or advocacy organizations with whom we have a relationship to keep you informed about opportunities to become active in support of solar in your community. If you wish to opt-out of receiving e-mails from us or from third parties, please follow the instructions at the bottom of each e-mail;
- Communicate with you about new content, products, services, and features offered by the Company and provide other news and information we think will interest you (see Your Choices below for information about how to opt out of these communications at any time);
- Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities in connection with our Services;
- Detect, investigate, and prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and protect the rights and property of the Company and others;
- Debug to identify and repair errors in our Services;
- Comply with our legal and financial obligations; and
- Carry out any other purpose described to you at the time the information was collected.
Sharing of Information
We share personal information in the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this policy:
- We share personal information with vendors, service providers, and consultants that need access to personal information in order to perform services for us, such as companies that assist us with web hosting, storage, and other infrastructure, analytics, payment processing, fraud prevention and security, customer service, communications, and marketing.
- We may disclose personal information if we believe that disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. If we are going to disclose your personal information in response to legal process, we will give you notice so that you can challenge it (for example by seeking court intervention), unless we are prohibited by law or believe doing so may endanger others or cause illegal conduct. We will object to legal requests for information about users of our Services that we believe is improper.
- We may share personal information if we believe that your actions are inconsistent with our user agreements or policies, if we believe that you have violated the law, or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of the Company, our users, the public, or others.
- We share personal information with our lawyers and other professional advisors where necessary to obtain advice or otherwise protect and manage our business interests.
- We may share personal information in connection with, or during negotiations concerning, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company.
- Personal information is shared between and among the Company and our current and future parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries and other companies under common control and ownership.
- We share personal information with your consent or at your direction.
- We also share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.
Third-Party Embeds
The Company does not host some of the content displayed on our Services. Users have the ability to access content that is actually hosted by a third party, but is embedded in our pages (an “Embed”). When you interact with an Embed, it can send information about your interaction to the hosting third party just as if you were visiting the third party’s site directly. For example, when you load one of the Company’s post page with a Facebook link Embed and follow or click the link, Facebook receives information about your activity, such as your IP address and content visited. The Company does not control what information third parties collect through Embeds or what they do with the information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information collected through Embeds. The privacy policy belonging to the third party hosting the Embed applies to any information the Embed collects, and we recommend you review that policy before interacting with the Embed.
Transfer of Information to the United States
Modern Solutions Consulting is headquartered in Michigan in the United States, and we have operations and service providers in the United States. Therefore, we and our service providers may transfer your personal information to, or store or access it in jurisdictions that may not provide levels of data protection that are equivalent to those of your home jurisdiction. We will take steps to ensure that your personal information receives a reasonable level of protection in the jurisdictions in which we process it.
User Choices
- Subscription Information
You may access, correct, delete and export your subscription information at any time through any of our communications by following the instructions in those communications. Please note that if you choose to cancel your subscription, we may continue to retain certain information about you as required by law or for our legitimate business purposes.
- Cookies
Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually adjust your browser settings to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that removing or rejecting cookies could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.
- Communications Preferences
You may opt out of receiving certain communications from us, such as digests, newsletters, and activity notifications, by following the instructions in those communications. If you opt out, we may still send you administrative emails, such as those about our ongoing business relations.
- Mobile Push Notifications
With your consent, we may send push notifications to your mobile device. You can deactivate these messages at any time by changing the notification settings on your mobile device.
Your Michigan Privacy Rights
The Michigan Consumer Privacy Act or “MCPA” affords consumers residing in Michigan certain rights with respect to their personal information. If you are a Michigan resident, this section applies to you.
The Company does not sell your personal information.
Subject to certain limitations, you have the right to (1) request to know more about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect, use, and disclose about you, (2) request deletion of your personal information, (3) opt out of any sales of your personal information, if we engage in that activity in the future, and (4) not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. You may make these requests by emailing us at info@modernsolutions.com. We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your rights under the MCPA.
If we receive your request from an authorized agent, we may ask for evidence that you have provided such agent with a power of attorney or that the agent otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests to exercise rights on your behalf. This may include requiring you to verify your identity. If you are an authorized agent seeking to make a request, please contact us at info@modernsolutions.com.
California Residents
If you are a resident of California, beginning on January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) (Civil Code § 1798.100) provides you with specific rights regarding your Personal Information. These include:
- Information about Collection, Sale or Disclosure: You have the right to be informed of the categories of Personal Information that we collect about you, the categories of sources from which the Personal Information was collected, the business or commercial purposes for which the Personal Information is used, disclosed, or sold, and the categories of third parties with whom we share the Personal Information, as set forth in this Policy.
- Access to Specific Information: You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your Personal Information over the past twelve (12) months. This includes the categories of Personal Information we collected about you; the categories of sources for the Personal Information we collected about you; our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that Personal Information; the categories of third parties with whom we share that Personal Information; and the specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you. If we sold or disclosed your Personal Information for a business purpose, you have the right to request two separate lists disclosing the categories of Personal Information that we sold about you and to whom; and the categories of Personal Information that we disclosed about you for a business purpose. You have the right to receive the Personal Information, which you have provided to us, in a portable, and to the extent technically feasible, readily usable format.
- Deletion Request Rights: You have the right to request that we delete any of your Personal Information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions.
- Personal Information Sales Opt-Out Rights: You have the right to opt out of the future sale of your Personal Information. The law defines “sale” very broadly to include making data available to third parties in some cases. We let advertising and analytics companies to collect IP addresses and cookie IDs through our sites and apps when you use the Digital Platforms. After you submit your Do Not Sell request, we may continue to share some personal information with our service providers that do not constitute “sales” to help us perform advertising-related functions, including measuring the effectiveness of our ads, managing how many times you see an ad, reporting the performance of our ads, and improving when and where you see our ads. Any opt-out choices you make will only apply to the specific email address that you provide when making the request. To the extent that information disclosed is not identifiable to you, based on the information submitted with your request or based on how information is stored in our systems, e.g., not stored in a manner that allows us to link it with you, the law does not require us to identify this information and apply your request to same.
- Non-Discrimination: Unless permitted by applicable law, we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights under CCPA or applicable law, including by, but not limited to:
- Denying you goods or services;
- Charging you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through the use of discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties;
- Providing you a different level of quality of goods or services; or
- Suggesting that you will receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level of quality of goods or services.
- Exercising Your Rights – Only you or an authorized agent may make a verifiable consumer request related to your Personal Information. To exercise your rights, submit your request to info@modernsolutions.com, which will be reviewed and responded to by Modern Solutions’ Privacy Review Team.
- Designating a Third-Party to Act on Your Behalf – In order to designate a third party to act on your behalf, that person must be registered with the California Secretary of State and must have valid written evidence of authority from you to act on your behalf, e.g. a validly executed Power of Attorney or some other written, notarized documentation that they can provide to us. Absent such documentation, we reserve the right to refuse to comply with third-party requests for information.
- Verifying Your Requests – During the verification process, depending on the nature of your request, e.g. whether you are seeking access to information versus deleting information, we will first seek to verify your identity against known information in our environment, such as your name, e-mail address, and telephone. Upon receiving your request, we may also contact you via email and/or other secured communication channel to verify your identity. In certain instances, e.g. a mismatch against known information or where you are seeking information on behalf of another person with authorization, we may seek additional verification from you, which may be in the form of you providing a copy of a valid, government issued identification or a notarized attestation.
- Exceptions – We may deny certain requests, in whole or in part, based on our legal rights and obligations. For example, we may retain personal information as permitted by law, such as for tax or recordkeeping or to comply with legal obligations, to process transactions, perform continuing obligations, and facilitate requests. In the event a deletion request is denied in whole or in part, you may at that time make a “Do Not Sell” request, as set forth above.
- Shine the Light – California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code § 1798.83) permits users of our Digital Platforms that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of Personal Information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an e-mail to info@modernsolutions.com or write us at:
- Modern Solutions Consulting
2222 W. Grand River Ave
STE A
Okemos, MI 48864, USA
Legal Basis for Processing
When we process your personal data, we will do so in reliance on the following lawful bases:
- To perform our responsibilities under our contract with you (e.g., providing the products and services you requested).
- When we have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data to operate our business or protect our interests (e.g., to provide, maintain, and improve our products and services, conduct data analytics, and communicate with you).
- To comply with our legal obligations (e.g., to maintain a record of your consents and track those who have opted out of non-administrative communications).
- When we have your consent to do so (e.g., when you opt in to receive non-administrative communications from us). When consent is the legal basis for our processing your personal data, you may withdraw such consent at any time.
Data Retention
We store personal data associated with your subscription for as long as your membership remains active. If you cancel your subscription, we will delete your data within 14 days. We store other personal data for as long as necessary to carry out the purposes for which we originally collected it and for other legitimate business purposes, including to meet our legal, regulatory, or other compliance obligations.
Data Subject Requests
Subject to certain limitations, you have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you and to receive your data in a portable format, the right to ask that your personal data be corrected or erased, and the right to object to, or request that we restrict, certain processing.
Questions or Complaints
If you have any concern or questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Company Name: Modern Solutions Consulting LLC
Company Address: 2222 W. Grand River Ave STE A, Okemos, MI 48864, USA
Company Email: info@modernsolutions.com
Company Address: 2222 W. Grand River Ave STE A, Okemos, MI 48864, USA
Company Email: info@modernsolutions.com