Privacy

We may use the information we obtain about you to:

• provide and manage our services, including to process, evaluate, communicate and fulfill requests, inquiries and claims we receive in connection with our services; 
• create, manage, administer and communicate with you about your account, including identifying and authenticating you so you may access your account or use certain features of our Digital Services; 
• personalize your experience with our Digital Services (such as to tailor content and information we may communicate to you, and to offer location-based and personalized content and communications); 
• provide customer and technical support;
• process, evaluate and respond to requests, inquiries and applications we receive in connection with our services;
• provide you with information about Duke Energy;
• subject to applicable law, communicate about and administer our services, events, surveys, programs and promotions (such as by sending alerts, promotional materials, newsletters and other marketing communications);
• perform data analytics (such as market research, trend analysis, data aggregation and anonymization, financial analysis and customer segmentation);
• operate, evaluate and improve our business (including administering, enhancing and improving our services; developing new services; managing our communications and customer relationships; and performing accounting, auditing, billing, reconciliation and collection activities); 
• protect against and prevent fraud and other unlawful activity, unauthorized transactions, claims and other liabilities; 
• conduct investigations and comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, relevant industry standards, contractual obligations, and our policies and terms (such as our privacy policies and Terms of Use); and 
• maintain and enhance the safety and security of our services, network, information, customers, employees and others.

We also may use the information we obtain about you in other ways for which we provide specific notice and obtain your consent if required by applicable law. We may combine information we obtain about you (such as through our Digital Services or from third parties) for the purposes described above. 

Third-Party Online Analytics Services

Through our Digital Services, we may obtain personal information about your online activities over time and across third-party apps, websites, devices and other online services. We use third-party online analytics services on our Digital Services, such as those of Google Analytics. The service providers that administer these analytics services use automated technologies to collect data (such as email, IP addresses, cookies and other device identifiers) to evaluate, for example, use of our Digital Services and to diagnose technical issues. For more information about how Google Analytics collects and processes data and the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, please visit www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html and https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

In our Digital Services, we may use certain Google Analytics advertising features, such as Remarketing with Google Analytics, Google Display Network Impression Reporting, Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting, and integrated services that require Google Analytics to collect data for advertising purposes, including the collection of data via advertising cookies and identifiers. In connection with these Google Analytics advertising features, Google Analytics may collect data about your traffic via Google advertising cookies and identifiers. To learn more about how Google uses this information, please visit www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. If you do not want Google Analytics to use this information for the purpose of serving you targeted ads, you may opt out of certain Google Analytics advertising features by visiting the Google Ads Settings page available at https://adssettings.google.com/.

Online Tracking and Interest-Based Advertising

Through our Digital Services, both we and certain third parties may collect information about your online activities to provide you with advertising about products, services and corporate initiatives tailored to your individual interests. Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent for the processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes. You may see our ads on other websites or mobile apps because we participate in advertising networks. Ad networks allow us to target our messaging to users considering demographic data, users’ inferred interests and browsing context. These networks track users’ online activities over time by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of browser cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, server logs and other similar technologies. The networks use this information to show ads that may be tailored to individuals’ interests, to track users’ browsers or devices across multiple websites and apps, and to build a profile of users’ online browsing and app usage activities. The information our ad networks may collect includes data about users’ visits to websites and apps that participate in the relevant ad networks, such as the pages or ads viewed and the actions taken on the websites or apps. This data collection takes place both on our Digital Services and on third-party websites and apps that participate in the ad networks. This process also helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.

To learn how to opt out of ad network interest-based advertising in the U.S., please visit www.aboutads.info/choices and http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.

We do not sell or otherwise share personal information about you except as described in this Digital Privacy Policy. 

• Subject to applicable law, we may share your personal information with our affiliates and subsidiaries for the purposes described in this Digital Privacy Policy.
• We may share your personal information with service providers who perform services for us or on our behalf, such as those related to payment processing, database and web hosting, email service providers, map service providers, sweepstakes administrators, credit reporting agencies, advertising and marketing, electronic bill payment services or debt collection, data analytics and administrative or management functions. We do not authorize these service providers to use or disclose the information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements.
• We also may share your information with third parties who are providing the product, service or information that you have requested. 
• We may disclose personal information about you (1) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), (2) to law enforcement authorities or other government officials to comply with legal requests, (3) when we believe disclosure is necessary to prevent physical harm or financial loss, (4) to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights, (5) in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual fraud or illegal activity or (6) otherwise with your consent.

We reserve the right to transfer any information we have about you in the event of a potential or actual sale or transfer of all or a portion of our business or assets (including in the event of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, reorganization, divestiture, dissolution, liquidation or other corporate restructuring).

Some state laws, and certain state utility commissions with regulatory oversight of our utility service territories, require that certain customer information be protected from disclosure to our affiliate companies. The relevant laws and codes of conduct may be found here:

• Florida: Rule No. 25-6.014 and Rule No. 25-6.015
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• North Carolina and South Carolina
• Ohio

We offer you certain choices in connection with the personal information we obtain about you. To update your preferences, limit the communications you receive from us or submit a request, please contact us as specified in the How to Contact Us section of this Digital Privacy Policy. 
 
You will receive email communications from us in connection with your use of our Digital Services and other services, such as when you sign up for an account online, perform an online transaction (for example, paying your bill or requesting a new password) or provide your email address to a customer contact representative, or about new products and services. To opt out of receiving these marketing emails, use the one-click unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email you received. In some instances, Duke Energy will co-brand with another company. Please be aware that the privacy policy referenced at the bottom of the webpage governs the collection of information on that page.

Our Digital Services may transfer you to or provide links to third-party websites or provide you access to certain third-party features (such as the ability to view third-party videos and content or connect to certain social networks or third-party services through our Digital Services) for your convenience and to provide selected services or functions. These third-party websites and features may use cookies to collect information on our sites, including via plug-ins and widgets. These third parties may operate independently from us. The privacy practices of the relevant third parties, including details on the information they may collect about you, are subject to the privacy statements of these parties, which we strongly suggest you review. To the extent any linked services or third-party features are not owned or controlled by us, Duke Energy is not responsible for these third parties’ information practices. 

We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against accidental, unlawful or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use.

The Digital Services are designed for a general audience and are not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under the age of 13 through our Digital Services. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 13, we will promptly delete the information from our records. If you believe that a child under the age of 13 may have provided us with personal information, please contact us as specified in the How to Contact Us section of this Digital Privacy Policy.

This Digital Privacy Policy may be updated periodically and without prior notice to you to reflect changes in our personal information practices. We will indicate at the top of the policy when it was most recently updated.

If you have any questions about this Digital Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or if you would like us to update information we have about you, change your preferences or exercise other applicable privacy rights, please email our Privacy Team at ethicsofficer@duke-energy.com or contact us using the information below:

	Duke Energy	Duke Energy Progress
General Correspondence Address Not for customer account inquiries or payments	550 S. Tryon Street Charlotte, NC 28202	P.O. Box 1771 Raleigh, NC 27602
Customer Service Email/Web	Contact Us	Contact Us
Customer Service Telephone	Carolinas - 800.777.9898 Florida - 800.700.8744 Indiana - 800.521.2232 Ohio and Kentucky - 800.544.6900	Carolinas - 800.452.2777