Privacy Policy

CHEERS Privacy Policy

Last Updated on January 30, 2025

This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) governs the collection and use of personal information by California Home Energy Efficiency Rating Services (“CHEERS,” “we,” “us,” and “our”). This Privacy Policy outlines our practices with respect to information obtained from people who use and visit our website, available at https://www.cheers.org/ (“Site”), and people who interact with us using another site, program, platform, app, or service (“Service”). This Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information collected about employees. To obtain a copy of the employee privacy policy, please contact Human Resources.

1. COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may gather, collect, record, hold, distribute, share, disclose, or otherwise use Personal Information about you. “Personal Information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household. “Personal Information” does not include: (i) publicly available information from government records, or (ii) de-identified or aggregate consumer information.

1.1. INFORMATION PROVIDED BY YOU

We collect Personal Information that you provide to us, including without limitation any Personal Information you provide during your use of the Site or any other Service. For example, we may collect Personal Information from you when you:

Register as a Rater;
Visit our Site;
Provide us with Personal Information through the Site or any other Service;
Create an account;
Seek customer support;
Request any information from or about CHEERS, such as a newsletter, e-alert, or any other information about our products, events, or business partners;
Communicate with a representative of CHEERS;
Communicate with us via third-party social media sites;
Participate in any rebate program, grant program, promotion, training, or; or
Otherwise communicate with us.

In these instances, the following types of Personal Information may be collected from you:

Your name;
Your alias, if any;
Your signature;
Mailing address;
E-mail address;
Telephone number;
Your physical characteristics or description;
Professional or employment-related information, including work history;
Educational information;
Bank account number;
Credit card number;
Account login;
Records of programs or services, purchased, obtained, or considered; and
Records of programs, purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies.

1.2. INFORMATION AUTOMATICALLY COLLECTED.

When you access the Site or use a Service, we automatically collect certain Personal Information about you, including:

Information regarding your interactions with the Site or Service;
Information regarding your interactions with an advertisement;
Internet or Other Electronic Network Activity. We may collect information such as browsing history, search history, and information regarding your interactions with the Site.
Online Identifiers. We (or our service providers) may collect information such as cookies identifiers, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, advertising IDs, pixel tags, and account handles. Combined, these identifiers may be used to create profiles of individuals and identify them.
Device Information. We (or our service providers) may collect information about the computer, tablet, phone, or other device you use to access any of the Programs, including the Internet Protocol address, hardware model, operating system and version, mobile network information, and other unique device identifiers (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Device Identifiers”).
Geo-location Data. Subject to your device permissions, we may collect information about your location (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Geo-location Data”).

1.3. OTHER SOURCES FROM WHICH WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION.

We collect Personal Information directly from you and from third parties, including advertising networks, internet service providers, data analytics providers, government entities, operating systems and platforms, and social media. We may merge or co-mingle that Personal Information with the Personal Information we maintain about you and other data collected on or through our Site.

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

2.1. PRIMARY WAYS WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

Your Personal Information may be gathered, collected, recorded, held, or otherwise used by or on behalf of CHEERS and our service providers to provide, maintain, and improve our services, including for the following purposes:

Allow you to serve as a Rater;
Complete a transaction with CHEERS;
Complete compliance forms and processes;
Send support and administrative messages, and respond to your comments, questions, and customer service requests;
Communicate with you about products, offers, or any other events offered by us and others, and/or to offer and provide you with news and information that CHEERS thinks will be of interest to you;
Allow you to sign up for CHEERS communications, including e-mails and text messages;
Monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities;
Personalize your experience and the advertisements and content you see when you use any Service based on your preferences, interests, and browsing and purchasing behavior;
For compliance purposes, as may be required by applicable laws or regulations or program requirements or as requested by any judicial process or governmental agency (including without limitation for CHEERS’ tax reporting) or as may be requested under any subpoena;
To facilitate your use of various social media sharing features or other integrated tools which you may use as part of social media pages;
To facilitate any rebate programs, training programs, contests, or promotions and process and deliver entries and rewards;
For any other purpose described to you at the time the Personal Information is collected.

2.2. OTHER WAYS WE MAY USE YOUR INFORMATION

In addition, your Personal Information may be gathered, collected, recorded, held, or otherwise used for the following additional purposes:

Outside Professionals. To use with, or otherwise distribute, share or disclose to, any of CHEERS’ professional advisors such as attorneys or accountants (“Outside Professionals”) in order to facilitate the professional advice from those Outside Professionals.
Government Agencies. To use with, or otherwise distribute, share or disclose to, any government agencies or third parties in order to comply with, or otherwise pursuant to, any subpoena, court order, or other governmental order, law, regulation, or program requirement (including without limitation tax reporting).
Compliance. Compliance related to program and document registration requirements and oversight.
Auditing. Auditing related to a current interaction with you, including, but not limited to, counting ad impressions to unique visitors, verifying positioning and quality of ad impressions, and auditing compliance with this specification and other standards;
Security. Helping to ensure security and integrity to the extent the use of your Personal Information is reasonably necessary and proportionate for these purposes;
Debugging. Debugging to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
Transient Use. Short-term, transient use, including, but not limited to, non-personalized advertising shown as part of a consumer’s current interaction with us provided that your Personal Information is not disclosed to a third party and is not used to build a profile about you or otherwise alter your experience outside the current interaction with us;
Services. Performing services on our behalf, including maintaining or servicing accounts, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying customer information, processing payments, providing financing, providing analytic services, providing storage, or providing similar services on our behalf;
Advertising. Providing advertising and marketing services to you. With your permission, we may send you emails or text messages about our stores, new products, and other updates.
Research. Undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration;
Quality and Safety. Undertaking activities to verify or maintain the quality or safety of our products and services and to improve, upgrade, or enhance our products and services; and
Commercial Interests. Advancing our commercial or economic interests, such as by inducing a person to buy, join, subscribe to, provide, or exchange products, goods, information, or services, or enabling or effecting, directly or indirectly, a commercial transaction.

CHEERS may also use or share your Personal Information for another reason that is compatible with the purposes described above. For example, we consider de-identification, aggregation, and other forms of anonymization of Personal Information to be compatible with the purposes listed herein and in your interest because the anonymization of such information reduces the likelihood of improper disclosure of that information. If we need to use your Personal Information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

3. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

We may distribute or disclose Personal Information about you as described herein:

Service Providers. We may share or disclose your Personal Information with our service providers or other third party vendors, including without limitation the following types of service providers:

Email, internet, or other telecommunication service providers, including website hosting
Cloud, other data storage, or other hosting service providers;
Third-party payment service providers, including without limitation third-party credit card processors;
Analytics companies who assist us with various types of data analytics, web analytics, and app analytics;
Third-party delivery or shipping service providers;
Other third-party contractors we engage to assist us in providing our products and services;
App design; and
Database management.

Third-Party Application Providers. We may share or disclose your Personal Information to third parties including payment processors.
Third-Party Analytics Tools. We use analytics tools provided by Google Analytics to collect and process certain analytics data (“Third Party Analytics Tools or Services”). These Third Party Analytics Tools may also collect data about your use of other websites, apps, and online resources for purposes of providing targeted advertising.
Aggregated Form. We may make certain automatically-collected, aggregated, or otherwise de-identified Personal Information available to third parties for various purposes, including (i) compliance with various reporting obligations; (ii) for business or marketing purposes; or (iii) to assist such parties in understanding our users’ interests, habits, and usage patterns for certain programs, content, services, advertisements, promotions, and/or functionality available through the Services.
Advertising/Marketing Partners. We allow third-party advertising and marketing companies, including, but not limited to, Google Ads (collectively, “Advertising Partners”) to place cookies, web beacons, pixels, and other web-tracking technology on the Site. These Advertising Partners use their technology to collect Personal Information about you in order to provide you with advertisements, marketing, or other information that we think may interest you.
These Advertising Partners may also have access to Personal Information about you that they collected over time and across different online services. Personal Information collected and used by Advertising Partners is not subject to this Privacy Policy. For more information on the privacy practices of our Advertising Partners, including how to opt-out of targeted advertising, please visit:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
Merger, Sale, or Other Asset Transfers. We may share, disclose, or otherwise transfer your Personal Information to CHEERS’ Outside Professionals, other advisors, potential transactional partners, or other third parties in connection with the consideration, negotiation, or completion of a corporate transaction in which we are acquired by or merged with another company or we sell, liquidate, or transfer all or a portion of our assets. If another company or individual acquires our business, or assets, that company or individual will possess the Personal Information collected by us and will assume the rights and obligations regarding your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy. The use of your Personal information following any of these events will be governed by this Privacy Policy.
As Required By Law, Subpoena or Similar Government Order. We may access, preserve, share, or disclose your Personal Information if we believe doing so is required to: (i) comply with applicable laws or regulations, including any tax reporting requirements; (ii) comply with any other law enforcement requests or legal process, such as a court order or subpoena; (iii) respond to your requests; or (iv) protect your, our, or others’ rights, property, or safety.
Outside Professionals. We may share or disclose your Personal Information with Outside Professionals to facilitate their provision of professional advice.
Contractors. We disclose Personal Information to entities that help us fulfill a business or commercial purpose including general contractors, subcontractors and Raters (“Contractors”). Contractors are not permitted to sell or share your Personal Information or to use your Personal Information other than to perform the tasks we assign to them.
Consent. We may also share or disclose your Personal Information with your permission.

4. HOW LONG YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE KEPT

We will only keep your Personal Information for as long as is reasonably necessary to conduct business with you or as required by law, regulation, or program requirements. Personal Information will not be kept longer than is reasonably necessary for the purpose it was collected.

5. YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS

5.1. RIGHT TO ACCESS INFORMATION

California Residents (“Residents”) have the right to request that CHEERS disclose certain information about our collection and use of their Personal Information. Once CHEERS receives and verifies your request, we will disclose to you:

The categories of Personal Information we collected about you.
The sources for the Personal Information we collected about you.
Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling your Personal Information.
The categories of third parties with whom we shared that Personal Information.
The specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you.
The categories of Personal Information that were sold or disclosed for a business purpose.
Residents may only access their information twice within a 12-month period.

5.2. RIGHT TO DELETE INFORMATION.

Residents have the right to request that CHEERS delete their Personal Information. Once CHEERS receives and verifies a Resident’s request, we will determine if any exceptions apply. CHEERS may deny your request if retaining the information is necessary for CHEERS or its service providers to:

Complete the transaction for which we collected the Personal Information; provide a good that you requested; take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you;
Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities;
Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law;
Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.);
Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent;
Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your interactions with us;
Comply with a legal obligation; or
Make other internal or lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.

If no exception applies, we will delete your Personal Information from our records and direct our Service Providers to do the same.

5.3. RIGHT TO CORRECT

Residents have the right to request that CHEERS correct any inaccurate Personal Information that it has collected.

5.4. RIGHT TO OPT-OUT

Residents have the right to opt-out of the selling or sharing of their Personal Information. In this context, “sharing” means sharing, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring or otherwise communicating personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

5.5. HOW TO EXERCISE RIGHTS.

To exercise your rights under applicable state law, Residents must submit a verifiable consumer request to CHEERS by either:

Calling CHEERS at (800) 424 – 3377 or
Emailing CHEERS at: help@cheers.org

The consumer request must:

Provide sufficient information to allow CHEERS to verify that the person submitting the request is the person or the authorized representative of the person whose Personal Information is implicated by the request.
Describe the Resident’s request with sufficient detail to allow CHEERS to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.

Only a Resident, or a person authorized to act on the Resident’s behalf, may make a consumer request to CHEERS related to the Resident’s Personal Information. A Resident may also make a consumer request on behalf of their minor child.

CHEERS cannot respond to a Resident’s request if we cannot verify the Resident’s identity or authority to make the request. You do not have to create an account to submit a consumer request. CHEERS will only use Personal Information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.

5.6. RESPONSE TIMING AND FORMAT

If a Resident sends a verifiable consumer request as set forth above, CHEERS will respond in accordance with state law. If we need additional time, CHEERS will inform the Resident of the reason for the extension and the length of the extension. We will deliver our written response by e-mail. Alternatively, if we are unable to honor your request, the response will explain the reasons why.

For data portability requests, we will provide the Resident’s Personal Information in a form that is readily useable and should allow the Resident to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to a Resident’s verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell the Resident why and provide the Resident with a cost estimate before completing the Resident’s request.

5.7. NON-DISCRIMINATION NOTICE

CHEERS will not discriminate against any Resident for exercising any of their rights under applicable state privacy law. Unless permitted by state law, if a Resident exercises any of their rights under applicable state privacy law, we will not:

Deny the Resident goods or services;
Charge the Resident different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties;
Provide the Resident a different level or quality of goods or services; or
Suggest that the Resident may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

6. OTHER WAYS TO LIMIT USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

6.1. UNSUBSCRIBE FROM EMAILS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

If you provide CHEERS with Personal Information and, thereafter, do not want to continue to receive further notices or information from CHEERS, such as emails about our products or services, you may unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of our emails.

6.2 LIMIT USE OF COOKIES AND OTHER WEB-BASED TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

You can prevent certain cookies and technologies from being used by adjusting the settings on your browser or by electing your preferences in the window that appears when you visit the Site. Be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality of this Site and many other websites that you visit.

6.3 DO NOT TRACK

Some browsers have a “DO NOT TRACK” feature that lets website users inform websites or other applications that they do not want to have their online activities tracked. These “do not track” features may also give website users other choices regarding the collection of their personal identifiable information. However, these “do not track” features and “do not track’ signals are not yet uniform. ACCORDINGLY, EACH USER OF THE SITE OR ANY OTHER SERVICE IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE NOT CURRENTLY SET UP TO RESPOND TO ANY OF THE USER’S “DO NOT TRACK” FEATURES OR “DO NOT TRACK” SIGNALS.

7. CHILDREN’S PERSONAL INFORMATION

This Site and Service are not directed to children under the age of 13. We adhere to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and will not knowingly register or otherwise collect any Personal Information from any child under the age of 13. We ask that minors under the age of 13 not submit any Personal Information to CHEERS. If you have reason to believe a child under the age of 13 has provided CHEERS with any Personal Information, please contact us at (800) 424 – 3377 and request that such information be deleted from our records.

8. THIRD-PARTY SITES

The Site and Service may now or in the future link to other websites, forums, or programs that are not under our control and are not owned by CHEERS (collectively referred to as “Third-Party Sites”). Any link to any Third-Party Site from the Site or Services does not imply any endorsement of the privacy practices of the Third-Party Site. No Third-Party Site is authorized to make any representation or warranty on our behalf. If you click on a link to, or otherwise gains access to, any such Third-Party Site, you will be transported to one of these Third-Party Sites.

This Privacy Policy only applies to the Site and the Services. This Privacy Policy: (a) does not describe the privacy policies of any of these Third-Party Sites; and (b) does not govern the collection or use of your Personal Information by the Third-Party Sites. CHEERS is not responsible for the privacy practice of any of these Third-Party Sites. You should review the privacy policies for any Third-Party Sites to determine their practices with respect to the collection and use of Personal Information. You acknowledge and agree that, by clicking a link to or otherwise accessing a Third-Party Site, your Personal Information may be read, collected, shared, distributed, or otherwise used by the Third-Party Site. CHEERS is not responsible for any Personal Information that you submit, or otherwise make available, to Third-Party Sites.

9. DATA SECURITY

To protect your Personal Information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry best practices to make sure your Personal Information is not lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed. Your Personal Information is stored securely by Amazon Web Services. For more information on their data security practices, please visit https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/

10. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the Site.

11. CONTACT US

If you have any questions relating to this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

CHEERS

1610 R Street, Suite 200

Sacramento, CA 95811

help@cheers.org

(800) 424 – 3377