Privacy Policy

Dickey Rural Networks (DRN), which is comprised of Dickey Rural Telephone and its subsidiaries, recognizes its responsibility to help protect personally identifiable information collected about our customers and visitors to our website.  With respect to our cable services, this notice is being provided in accordance with the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, a federal law that requires all cable operators to notify customers of the collection, use, and disclosure of personally identifiable information regarding a cable customer.

Online privacy concerns focus primarily on the protection of customer identifiable information which an individual expects to be kept private.  Customer identifiable information is information that when associated with an individual identifies that individual.  For example, a customer’s name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address.

In order to provide our customers with a broad range of products and services as effectively and conveniently as possible, we use technology to manage and maintain customer information.  The following policy serves as a standard for all employees for collection, use, retention, and security of nonpublic personal information.

Collection of Personally Identifiable Information
DRN collects certain personally identifiable information from each customer.  This information consists of data such as the customers’ name, address, phone number, Social Security number, payment and deposit records, bank account numbers used to pay for our services, credit information, maintenance and complaint information, service options you have chosen, and the number of television sets and computers in your household that are connected to our communications system.

For quality assurance and training, we sometimes review email correspondence and record or listen to calls made to or from our customer service and repair personnel, sales office, and business account managers.


We may also collect non‐personally identifiable information when you visit this website.  When you access drtel.com, DRN may place “cookies” on your computer’s hard drive.  These cookies, which store only the zip code you have entered, provide information about your activities on our site so that we may provide you with customized content and facilitate your use of the site.  Accepting all cookies is voluntary, and you may still use the site if you decline our cookies.

Use of Personally Identifiable Information
The information collected is used for purposes such as the following: to make sure you are being billed properly for the services you receive; to send you pertinent information about our services; to maintain or improve the quality of our services; to answer questions from customers (i.e., for troubleshooting); to ensure compliance with relevant law and contractual provisions; to protect against unauthorized use of services we provide; to market cable or other services or products that you may be interested in; and for tax and accounting purposes.  We do not disclose any of your personally identifiable information when we send you information on behalf of third parties, and you can always choose to opt-out of receiving commercial e‐mail announcements that we send about our own products or services or those of third parties.

Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information
Like other businesses, we may share customer information for various reasons: to comply with laws or to respond to lawful demands such as subpoenas or court orders; to assert or defend our legal rights or the rights of our employees, agents, contractors or customers; to investigate and protect against fraud, harassment, or other types of unlawful activity involving us, other providers we do business with, or our customers; or as otherwise permitted by law.  The types of persons to whom information about you may be disclosed by us in the course of providing cable services to you include the employees of DRN, agents, repair and installation subcontractors, sales representatives, accountants, billing and collection services and credit report agencies, and authorized representatives of governmental bodies.  The law allows us to disclose your name and address for non‐cable related mailing lists or other purposes unless you tell us you do not wish to disclose this information.  With respect to the disclosure of lists containing the names and addresses of customers, you may exercise your right to prohibit the release of your name and address on these lists by notifying DRN, in writing at the address set forth on your monthly billing statement, of your desire not have such information disclosed.

Time Period That We Retain Personally Identifiable Information
Generally, personally identifiable information will be collected and maintained by DRN during the period of time you are receiving service, as well as for a reasonable amount of time thereafter, in order to do any follow‐up billing. After such a time, when the information is no longer necessary to conduct cable‐related activities and is not required by us for any legitimate business purpose the personally identifiable information will be destroyed. 

Right to Review and Update Personally Identifiable Information
As a customer, you may review any personally identifiable information collected by DRN relating to you during business hours at the address set forth in your monthly billing statement. Please notify us in advance of your visit so the information concerning you can be collected and made available for your inspection. You have the right to correct any error in the information.

Customer Proprietary Network Information
In the course of providing service to telephone customers, DRN collects information concerning the telephone services you purchase and how you use them.  This information is known as “customer proprietary network information,” or “CPNI.”  CPNI includes any information on the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location, and amount of use of your service that we obtain because we are your telephone carrier.  DRN will use CPNI to determine which customers may benefit from new services or products.  We will use information about your account that is within our database, legally referred to as Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) unless you restrict that use.  CPNI does not include the names and telephone numbers published in telephone directories or information we obtain as a result of providing your cable or Internet service.  We use CPNI to monitor the quality of the service we provide and to prepare your bills.  You have a right, and we have a duty, under federal law to protect the confidentiality of CPNI.  We have the right under federal law to use your CPNI to provide telephone service, to bill you, to market services related to services you already buy from us, and to protect our facilities and property.  You have the right to disapprove of our use of CPNI for marketing services other than those that are related to services you already buy from us and to withdraw access to CPNI at any time.  Withdrawing access to CPNI will not affect our ability to provide telephone services to you, or the quality of the service we provide.

CPNI data will be used by Dickey Rural Networks and its subsidiaries only. This data will not be shared by DRN with any third parties without your authorization or unless required by law to do so.  By using any DRN website or any DRN service, you signify your acceptance of this policy and other DRN policies.  Your continued use of any DRN website and any DRN service following changes to this or other DRN policies will be deemed your acceptance of those changes.

Third-Party Websites
To make our website more valuable to our visitors, we may offer some features in conjunction with other providers.  Our website may also include links to other websites whose privacy policies and practices we don’t control.  Once you leave our website by linking to another one (you can tell where you are by checking the address – known as a URL – in the location bar on your browser), use of any information you provide is governed by the privacy policy of the operator of the website you are visiting.  That policy may differ from ours.  If you can’t find the privacy policy of any of these websites via a link from the site’s homepage, you should contact the website directly for more information.

Collecting Information from Children Under 13
Our website is intended for general audiences.  Our content is not designed to attract children.  We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Note that other providers’ web pages are accessible through links on our website, and those providers may have different practices on collecting and using information from children under 13.  If you are concerned about those sites, you should review them and their privacy statements.

Security of Personally Identifiable Information
The security of personally identifiable information is a high priority for us.  While no website can guarantee security, we employ security technologies to help protect the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information.

Mobile Application(s):
This privacy policy also applies to any and all mobile applications used or distributed by DRN. 

  • How DRN Collects Your Information
    DRN collects and processes the information provided directly by you when you install the App and register for an account to use the App.  Specifically, this information includes:
    • Your name, email address, location, user’s phone or contact book data, user’s inventory of installed apps, and user’s screen recording;
    • Browser information and session cookies related to your access and use of the App;
    • Data insights DRN attains based on correlation and analytics of your information collected in providing the App, which may be used in aggregated and dis-aggregated formats or to obtain trend analytics, to provide the App; and
    • Use of the above-described collected information in aggregated and dis-aggregated formats to enhance our current App or to provide App features.
  • How DRN Uses the Information
    DRN uses the information collected as described in this Privacy Policy, including personal information, to:
    • Provide you with the App as described in the Agreement;
    • Implement, improve and/or enhance the App, including to make future releases available to you;
    • Carry out DRN obligations as described or authorized in the Agreement and this Privacy Policy;
    • Enforce DRN rights arising from the Agreement between you and DRN; and
    • Fulfill any other purpose authorized by you and reasonably required for the App.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We may modify or update our services from time to time, and if necessary, the provisions of this privacy statement.  In the case of material changes to our privacy practices, we will post changes to our privacy policy here for a period of time before such changes become effective.

COMPLAINT RESOLUTION
In compliance with the requirements of Section 76 of the FFC Rules, we are required to inform you that Dickey Rural Networks has in effect the following procedures to ensure that any complaints that may arise concerning the technical quality of the cable television signals we deliver to you are promptly and efficiently resolved:

  1. All complaints concerning the technical quality of the cable television signals we provide to you should be put in writing and sent to the following address: DRN, Attn: Customer Service, P.O. Box 69, Ellendale, ND 58436. Alternatively, you may call Dickey Rural Networks at 877.559.4692 to discuss the problem with one of our customer service representatives.
  2. All complaints received concerning the technical quality of the cable television signals will be logged in on the same day of receipt. The date, time, and nature of the complaint will be noted, as well as the name, address, and telephone number of the subscriber.
  3. Complaints concerning the technical quality of cable television signals will be investigated by a service technician. If the problem can be resolved without a service call to your premise, you will be advised of this and the resolution of the complaints will be noted in our trouble ticket software, which is maintained by the company. 
  4. All reasonable efforts will be made by our service technicians and other employees to resolve any complaints concerning the technical quality of service promptly and efficiently. If our service technician fails to correct the problem, you may contact DRN at 877.559.4692, and we will review the complaints and the corrective action taken. If we are not able to take any further action to correct the problem, we will promptly inform you of our determination and the reason we cannot correct the problem. If you believe our investigation and handling of a complaint is deficient in some manner, you may contact the City of Ellendale, 55 3rd Ave S, Ellendale, ND 58436, or the appropriate local franchising authority.

Do‐Not‐Call Policy
The National Do Not Call Registry has been established to address unwelcome telemarketing calls. The registry applies to all telemarketers, with the exception of businesses with whom you have an existing relationship and certain non‐profit and political organizations. You can register your number online at WWW.DONOTCALL.GOV or call toll‐free, 1‐888‐382‐1222 (TTY 1‐866‐290‐4236), from the number you wish to register. Registration is free.

Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement or any other services we provide, please contact us.
Customerservice@drtel.com  |  701.344.5000 |  877.559.4692