If you are a California resident, please click here for our Notice at Collection and here for our California-specific privacy policy, which provides additional information about your privacy rights.
If you are a Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Utah or Virginia resident, please click here for our State-Specific Privacy Notice, which provides additional information about your privacy rights.
Waste Management Holdings, Inc. and its wholly–owned subsidiaries ("WM", "we", "our" or "us") have created this privacy policy in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices relating to WM’s websites, mobile applications, the delivery of our services and other interactions with you (collectively, the “Sites”). Please note that this privacy policy only applies to those Sites that post a link to this privacy policy, and when you access any external links from WM’s Sites, such external websites may have different privacy policies from the Sites and WM is not responsible for the privacy practices of such external websites. We encourage you to read all privacy policies posted on the websites that you visit.
In addition to reading this privacy policy, please review our Terms of Use, which governs your use of the Sites and our services. If you do not agree to our Terms of Use and the collection, use and sharing of your information as detailed in this privacy policy, please do not access or otherwise use the Sites.
1. Personal Information Collection
WM may collect personal information which is information that alone or in combination with other information could be used to identify you. This could include your name, telephone number, e-mail address, date of birth, driver’s license number, social security number and home or business and mailing address or other location from which you use our services from information you provide us through technology including when you access certain areas of the WM Sites that require registration for certain services, or if you require more information about those services. If you use certain chat features on our Sites, we may also collect the information you share with us and information about your interactions with the chat. If you decide to purchase our products or services, we and/or our third-party services providers may need to collect certain additional information, like your credit or debit card number and expiration date, bank routing and account number. We also collect photos and videos from cameras on our trucks to analyze the use and delivery of our services (for example, to determine whether containers have been overfilled or damaged and whether there is contamination, and to enforce our terms of service with you).
Device Information. When you are connected to our services via mobile applications (Apps), we may collect device-specific information such as your device model, operating system, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information. We may associate your unique device identifier or phone number with information that you may have used to register for certain services or purchase products. Server logs that are maintained by us or by our third-party service providers may contain information about the services that you have used, and your device-specific information. We may also maintain digital communication logs that track information like your phone number, calling-party number, forwarding numbers, time and date of calls, duration of calls, SMS routing information. We may use your device’s IP address or MAC address to track device-event information such as crashes, system activity, hardware settings, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and referral URL.
Digital or Technical Information. When you visit, use and interact with the Sites, we may receive certain information about your visit, use or interactions. For example, we may monitor the number of people that visit the Sites, peak hours of visits, which page(s) are visited, the domains our visitors come from (e.g., google.com, yahoo.com, etc.), and which browsers people use to access the Service (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.), broad geographical information, and navigation pattern. In particular, the following information is created and automatically logged in our systems:
- Log data: Information that your browser automatically sends whenever you visit the Site (“log data”). Log data includes your Internet Protocol address, browser type and settings, the date and time of your request, and how you interacted with the Site.
- Cookies: Please see the “How WM Collects Personal Information” section below to learn more about how we use cookies.
- Usage Information: We collect information about how you use our Sites, such as the types of content that you view or engage with, the features you use, the actions you take, and the time, frequency and duration of your activities.
Specialized Information. We may collect and store information (including personal information) locally on your device using mechanisms such as browser web storage (including HTML 5) and application data caches. Certain services may include a unique application number in connection with the installation of Apps. This number and information, including, without limitation, operating system type and app version number may be sent to our service providers when you install, update or uninstall Apps.
At other times, WM may collect information that cannot be used to identify you. For example, we may aggregate non-personal information about you and other consumers who visit our Sites. Aggregated information will not contain any information that can be linked directly back to you.
2. How WM Collects Personal Information
WM collects personal information we receive from you and from other sources. WM collects your personal information in connection with the products and services that we provide to you, and some of this information may be collected directly from you or automatically from your interactions with us. For example, we collect personal information from you when you visit our Sites; use chat features; download an app; provide reviews; call us on the telephone; create an online account; sign up to receive our emails; interact with us via third-party social media sites; request customer support; otherwise communicate with us. We and our service providers may use any number of tools to collect information about you, your computer access points, mobile devices, and the web browser that you use to connect to our Sites or digital applications such as cookies, pixel tags, widgets, web beacons, clear gifs and other online tracking technologies, including some that may provide “session replay” services (collectively “Cookies” or “Tracking Technologies”). Cookies are tiny text files that we place on your computer or mobile device when you visit our Sites. We may use cookies to personalize your interactions with our Sites. We may also use certain third-party cookies and technologies that collect aggregated information that we use for our operational and business purposes, including collecting measurements about your interactions with our advertisements. You do not have to accept all of our cookies and you may set your browser to restrict certain of their use. You may also delete cookies after they have been placed on your computer or mobile devices. If you do not accept or delete our cookies, some areas of our Sites may take more time to work, or may not function properly.
You may be able to set your browser settings to use our Site without cookie functionality. Please note that if you block cookies, some services functions and Sites may be unavailable and we will not be able to present personally-tailored content and advertisements to you. Your browser may provide you with some options regarding cookies. Your browser provider may also use certain cookies or other tools that we cannot control. For more detailed information about how to disable or administer your cookie settings in your web browser, please refer to the applicable page for the browser you are using:
- Safari: https://help.apple.com/safari/mac/8.0/#/sfri11471
- Google Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en
- Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-cookies-in-microsoft-edge-view-allow-block-delete-and-use-168dab11-0753-043d-7c16-ede5947fc64d
- Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences
You can withdraw your consent to allow for our use of certain cookies, change your browser settings, and delete the cookies already stored on your computer at any time. Please note that if you delete, or choose not to accept, cookies, you may not be able to utilize the features of the services on our Site to their fullest potential.
WM may also collect additional information from your web browser each time you visit one of our Sites. We may collect information about the pages that you visit and the time spent on each web page or area of the Sites, the promotions or advertisements that you click on, and other actions that you take while using our Sites. This information may include your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, the type of browser, the time that your browser was used to access our Sites, and the referring website’s address. We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”), to help us analyze use of the Sites. For more information on how Google uses this data, go to www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.
Our service providers may also use other standard web-based Tracking Technologies to analyze your movements while accessing our Sites. These Tracking Technologies help us ascertain the effectiveness of our product and service campaigns and marketing programs, allow us to customize the services offered on or through our Sites, and help determine the best use for Sites content, and product and service offerings. Some of this information, including the IP address, may be stored on our Internet service provider’s server logs, and may be available for extended periods of time.
Managing Your Tracking Technology Preferences
Depending on the website you are visiting and your location, you may be able manage your preferences to accept or reject our use of certain Tracking Technologies by clicking on “Cookie Preferences” in the footer of our website.
You can turn off certain third-party targeting/advertising cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative: https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1 and certain analytics cookies by visiting Google: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
3. Our Use of Your Personal Information
WM may use your personal information to contact you via mail, e-mail, telephone or mobile device in order to give you updates about WM’s special events, new services, payment confirmations, current information regarding our products, or other promotions that may be of interest to you. We also use return e-mail addresses to answer the e-mail we receive from you or otherwise respond to your requests. We may also use your IP address, or unique devices identification numbers to help protect WM and our Internet service providers from fraud.
If you submit a resume or seek to fulfill other staffing requirements, we will use that information solely in connection with your application for current or future staffing requirements, and we may also share your resume or application information with our affiliates or third-party businesses that have staffing requirements for which you may be qualified.
Additional uses of your non-personal and personal information will allow us to tailor products and services specific to your needs, to help organize and manage our relationship with you or your business, to conduct business, to provide you with customer and guest support, to perform functions that are described to you at the time of collection, and to enforce our Site’s Terms of Use.
We may also use non-personal aggregate information to improve our Sites and our products and services offerings. For example, our Internet Service providers may report to us that there were a particular number of visitors to a certain area of our Sites, or that a certain number of businesses or a certain number of individuals completed our registration forms in particular areas of our Sites. Such information may also be used to analyze the effectiveness of our business and advertising models.
We use Tracking Technologies for capturing Usage Information for the following purposes:
- Essential Cookies. We may use cookies or other Tracking Technologies that are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you, which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. Some of these cookies do not collect personal information. We also use other first-party cookies to collect certain measurement data that are necessary to help us manage our business activities and that do not collect your personal information. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site may not work properly.
- Performance/Analytics Cookies. We may use cookies or other Tracking Technologies that collect information about your use of our Site and allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the Site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our Site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
- Functional Cookies. We may use cookies or other Tracking Technologies that collect information about your choices on our website and enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalization such as your choice of language or region. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
- Targeting Cookies. We may use Tracking Technologies to display advertisements or display targeted promotions or to manage our advertising. They collect information about your activities on websites. These cookies may be set through our Site by our advertising providers. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
- Session Replay Cookies. We may use Tracking Technologies, which may be provided by our vendors, for purposes of session replay. These cookies record your interactions with our Site, including mouse movements, text, and other information, associated with your visit to our Site. This information is used to help us improve our website and better provide you with information you are interested in when you visit our website. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. This information is used to help us improve our Site and better provide you with information you are interested in when you visit our Site.
- Social Media. We may use certain social media cookies that are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the website to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks on those platforms. They are capable of tracking your browser across other websites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
4. Our Disclosure of Your Personal Information
We do not sell, lease, or license your personal information to third parties for monetary compensation. Please note that selling or sharing may have different meanings under certain state privacy laws. Please see our California-specific policy available here or our State-Specific Privacy Notice available here for further information.
We may share your personal information with service providers that provide certain services to us, including, without limitation, website hosting services, credit card processing, product promotions, order processing and shipping services, and visitor surveys. We may also share your information with vendors that provide advertising and marketing services on behalf of WM. We take commercially reasonable steps to ensure these service providers adhere to the security standards we apply to your personal information and we prohibit them from using your information for their own marketing purposes.
WM may also disclose your personal information as is necessary to: (a) comply with a subpoena or court order; (b) cooperate with law enforcement or other government agencies; (c) establish or exercise our legal rights; (d) protect the property or safety of our company and employees, contractors, vendors, suppliers, and customers; (e) defend against legal claims; (f) help with internal and external investigations; or (g) as otherwise required by law or permitted by law. We may disclose your information to others in connection with the sale, merger, acquisition or financing of a WM company, or in connection with any transaction that involves the sale or assignment of some or all of our assets, including during the diligence process.
We reserve the right to provide non-personal information, such as aggregated data, to third parties.
5. Data Retention
We keep personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, while we have a business need to do so, or as required by law (e.g. for tax, legal, accounting or other purposes), whichever is the longer.
6. Data Storage and Security
You use the Sites at your own risk. We implement commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and organizational measures to protect personal information both online and offline from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. However, no Internet or e-mail transmission is ever fully secure or error free. In particular, e-mail sent to or from us may not be secure. Therefore, you should take special care in deciding what information you send to us via the Sites or e-mail. Please keep this in mind when disclosing any personal information to WM via the Internet. In addition, we are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Service, or third-party websites.
7. Children and Data Collection
WM’s Sites are general audience Sites. WM’s Site content is not directed toward children who are under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children or minors. If WM or its Internet service providers become aware that a child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, we will endeavor to delete that information from our databases. If you have questions about personal information that may have been submitted by a child, please email us at [email protected].
8. Consumer Privacy Notice
8a. Notice to California Residents
If you are a California resident, please click here for our Notice at Collection and here for our California-specific Privacy Policy which provides additional information about your privacy rights.
Residents of California may also, under §1798.83, known as the “Shine The Light” law, request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to our affiliates for direct marketing purposes and the number of affiliates with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. As stated above, we do not sell your personal information to third parties for monetary compensation or as that term is traditionally defined. Please see our California-specific policy available here for further information. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request and identify that you are requesting information under “Shine The Light” and send the request in writing to us at [email protected].
8b. Notice to Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Virginia Residents
If you are a Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Utah, or Virginia resident, please click here for our State-Specific Privacy Notice, which contains additional information about your privacy rights.
8c. Notice to Canadian Residents
For those Site users located in Canada, we are required by law to advise you that your personal information may, at times, be accessible by individuals who are located worldwide. By providing us with your personal information, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with WM’s privacy policy, including the transfer of your personal information across international boundaries to jurisdictions anywhere in the world as permitted by local law, including, without limitation the United States.
8d. Notice to Indian Residents
For residents of India, click here for applicable privacy terms.
9. How You May Access and Change the Information that WM Collects
The first time that you provide us with registration information through our Sites, you may be offered the opportunity to subscribe to and receive additional information about our products and services. After your first use, you can change or update your information and change your initial choices by contacting our customer service e-mail at [email protected]. Each commercial e-mail that we send to you will offer you the opportunity to opt-out of continuing to receive such messages. We may take up to 10 business days to process your opt-out requests. In some instances, we may have already shared your information with one of our authorized third parties before you changed your information preferences, and you may briefly continue to receive e-mail even after you have opted out. FTC e-mail compliance guidance allows us to send you transactional and relationship e-mail without offering you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving those types of e-mail. You may also write to us at:
Waste Management, Attn: WM Privacy Team
800 Capitol St.
Houston, Texas 77002
If you use our App and create a profile, you may be able to delete your App profile by following the instructions provided in the App or contacting us at [email protected].
10. Transfer of Information to the United States
If you are from a non-U.S. country, please be aware that the personal information you submit, including information provided through our Sites, is being sent to a location in the United States. The data protection laws in the United States are likely different from those of the country in which you are located, and your personal information may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in the United States according to laws of the United States. By providing such personal information through the Sites, you are consenting to (and represent that you have authority to consent to), the transfer of such information to the United States for the uses and purposes described in this privacy policy.
11. Social Security Protection Policy Statement
WM seeks to protect the confidentiality of social security numbers (SSNs) by maintaining physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards. We limit access to SSNs to help protect against their loss, misuse or unlawful disclosure. We do not disclose SSNs to third parties except where required or permitted by law.
12. Changes to this Privacy Policy
WM may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by changing the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of this privacy policy, unless other notice is required by applicable law. You should take the time to review this privacy policy each time that you visit one of our Sites.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions or comments about our efforts to protect your personal privacy, or if you require additional information about WM’s privacy commitment, please contact us at our designated request address: [email protected]. For all other questions or comments, please contact us at [email protected].