Spectrum Internet DNS Privacy Notice

Effective: August 20, 2020

Your privacy is important to Spectrum. We value the trust you place in us when you use our products and services, interact with us through our online and mobile platforms and tools, such as our websites and mobile applications, or interact with us through person-to-person customer service and sales channels or other electronic means, such as our call centers and/or Spectrum store locations. We take seriously the responsibility of protecting your privacy and the information we collect about you.

The Spectrum Internet DNS Privacy Notice (“Notice”) detailed below describes the type of Domain Name System (“DNS”) data we collect based on our provision of Spectrum Internet service, how we use and share that information, and our storage and retention practices associated with the DNS data we maintain. In reviewing this Notice, we encourage you to also review the Spectrum Privacy Policy for more information about our overall privacy practices, including information about the usage information we collect when you subscribe to our services as well as details about rights you may have under certain federal and state laws when you use, subscribe to, or interact with certain Spectrum products or services.

WHAT DNS DATA DOES SPECTRUM COLLECT AND HOW IS IT USED?

The DNS enables users to navigate to resources on the internet, such as websites, using easily remembered domain names. The DNS maps domain names to numerical IP addresses. For example, when you want to visit a website, like www.spectrum.com, you type the URL (or web address) into your browser and the website automatically loads. DNS enables consumers to reach websites seamlessly by translating the web address you type into your browser into the internet protocol (IP) address used to locate the server hosting the website you are trying to reach. This translation supports many other internet activities including email and the applications on your mobile device. When you use our Spectrum Internet service, we generally act as the DNS resolver, but in some cases you may have chosen to use another third-party service for this function. If you use such a third-party service for DNS this Notice will not apply, and those third-party services’ privacy policies will apply to their collection of DNS data. You should read the privacy policies for these third-party services to understand their privacy practices.

When Spectrum acts as the DNS resolver, we collect and use the data necessary to provide DNS functions including, for example, the timestamp of each request, the DNS request itself, the requesting IP address, the DNS response, and the DNS query response time. Spectrum uses this data to deliver DNS functions and to engineer, manage, deliver, improve, secure, protect, and troubleshoot our DNS and Spectrum Internet service. For abuse and security purposes, as well as related quarantine purposes, the querying IP address and associated device MAC address may be correlated in order to map impacted customer devices to known malware or other security vulnerabilities. This allows Spectrum to identify and protect customer devices that may be infected by malware or other security vulnerabilities. Spectrum may also record the requesting IP address and DNS query data in order to detect and mitigate network security issues and to communicate security issues to affected customers. In some cases, anonymized DNS data is shared with third-party service providers in support of our efforts to identify malware and vulnerabilities on the network.

Consistent with our overall privacy practices described in the Spectrum Privacy Policy, we do not use DNS data for marketing, sales, or advertising purposes, and we do not sell DNS data to third parties for any purpose. Although our DNS services are exclusively managed by Spectrum, in some instances we may use third-party service providers to support our abuse and security detection and mitigation efforts, as discussed above. These third-party service providers are authorized to use DNS data only as necessary to provide these services on our behalf, and we require them to treat the DNS data as confidential and implement reasonable security measures to protect the data. In limited instances, we may make aggregate and/or de-identified DNS data available to security researchers for research, development and innovation purposes that ultimately help Spectrum manage and strengthen our technical capabilities and maintain and improve our network. Spectrum maintains binding agreements with these third-party service providers and security researchers that require them to keep the data confidential and secure, and prohibits them from using the information for any other purpose.

HOW DOES SPECTRUM PROTECT YOUR DNS DATA AND FOR HOW LONG DOES SPECTRUM KEEP IT?

Spectrum is committed to protecting the privacy of our customers and we take our responsibility to secure the information we collect and maintain seriously. We use reasonable security, including technical, physical, and administrative controls, to secure the DNS data we collect and maintain based on your use of our Spectrum Internet service.

Spectrum’s standard retention period for DNS data is 72 hours. Spectrum may retain DNS data for a longer period of time when it becomes necessary, such as if there is a legal and/or security issue. For example, Spectrum may keep DNS data for a longer period of time when it is necessary to comply with laws governing our business, respond to valid legal process (such as a court order), or detect threats, investigate and/or protect the security or safety of our system. Spectrum may also store certain DNS metrics, such as the DNS request type, for up to twelve (12) months. These DNS metrics are kept in an anonymized, de-identified and/or aggregated manner and do not include any individual or device identifier.

HOW TO CONTACT US WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE AND SPECTRUM’S PRIVACY PRACTICES?

Questions about this Notice and Spectrum’s overall privacy practices should be sent to:

Charter Communications, Inc.
Attn: PPR-Legal, Privacy and Cybersecurity
400 Atlantic Street, 9th Floor
Stamford, CT 06901

You may also contact your local customer service office. You can find the phone number for your local customer service office on your monthly bill statement or by visiting our website at www.spectrum.com.