Data Privacy - USA

Last Updated January 1, 2020

Waste Management has 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 Waste Management's websites ("Sites"), mobile applications, the delivery of our services, and other interactions with you. Please note that when you access any external links from Waste Management's Sites (including any Waste Management subsidiary Sites), such external websites may have different privacy policies from the Sites and Waste Management is not responsible for the privacy practices of such external websites. We encourage you to read all privacy policies posted on the web sites that you visit. 

1. Personal Information Collection

Waste Management 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, 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 Waste Management Sites that require registration for certain services, or if you require more information about those services.  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 (i.e., to determine whether containers have been overfilled).

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. 

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 Waste Management 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, Waste Management may collect information that cannot be used to identify you.  For example, we may aggregate non-personal information about you and other customers who visit our Sites. Aggregated information will not contain any information that can be linked directly back to you. 

2. How Waste Management Collects Personal Information

Waste Management collects personal information we receive from you and from others sources. Waste Management collects your personal information in connection with our products and services we provide to you. We also 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. For example, "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. You do not have to accept our cookies and you may set your browser to restrict their use and you may delete them 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.  Under the laws of certain countries, cookies may be served, as long as individuals have provided their consent, having been given clear and comprehensive information, in particular about the purposes for which their personal data will be processed. Effective consent may be provided by using your browser settings, as long as you take positive action. Before using Waste Management Sites, you are advised to check your current browser settings to ensure that the settings reflect your consent for Waste Management to place cookies on your devices.

Waste Management 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 web site'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 technologies to analyze your movements while accessing our Sites.  The technologies include web "beacons", "pixel tags", and "clear gifs". These 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.

3. Choice

Waste Management allows you to choose (opt out) whether your personal information is to be disclosed to a non-related third party for purposes other than Waste Management-related communications, business or services.  

4. Our Use of Your Personal Information

Waste Management  may use your personal information to contact you via mail, e-mail, telephone or mobile device in order to give you updates about Waste Management'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. We may also use your IP address, or unique devices identification numbers to help protect Waste Management 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 business partners or affiliates 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.

5. Our Disclosure of Your Personal Information

We do not sell, lease, or license your personal information to third parties.

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 take commercially reasonable steps to ensure these service provider adhere to the security standards we apply to your personal information and we prohibit them from using your information for their own marketing purposes.  

Waste Management 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 Waste Management 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.

6. 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.

7. 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 Waste Management 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.

8. Children and Data Collection

Waste Management's Sites are general audience Sites. Waste Management'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 Waste Management 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].

9. Notice to California Residents

If you are a California resident, please click here for additional information about your privacy rights.

10. How You May Access and Change the Information that Waste Management 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 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: Privacy Officer
1001 Fannin St. 
Houston, Texas 77002

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 Waste Management'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. For residents of India, click here for applicable privacy terms.

11.  Changes to this Privacy Policy

Waste Management 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.

12.  Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about our efforts to protect your personal privacy, or if you require additional information about Waste Management's privacy commitment, please contact us at our designated request address: [email protected].