Some customers of Public Service District #1, a water utility in Preston County, are concerned about information the utility recently requested.
But, a utility official said customers do not have to provide all the information asked for in the letter.
Frances Rayl said she and her neighbors got a letter and an updated application for water service with their most recent bill on Saturday.
The letter states PSD 1 is required to keep up-to-date information on its accounts. Current customers who have not completed an up-to-date application form in the past year need to do so within the next 30 days.
Some of the information requested would be expected, names, phone numbers, dates of birth addresses, and account numbers. However, the application also seeks Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, the names of all home occupants, place of employment and the employer’s phone number.
“Things like your Social Security number, your driver’s license, your you know, work information, that kind of stuff has nothing to do with getting water service,” Rayl said. “And knowing, you know, who is all living in the house, if you have children, their names and their ages. I mean, what has this got to do with water service?”
Her neighbor Michael Delardas is also concerned.
“It struck me and a number of neighbors that I have been in contact with as being completely unwarranted, and a violation of our privacy. Some of the wording is coercive. At the bottom of the document, there is what I would regard as an outrageous unilateral announcement that they had the right to, without notice, to come and inspect the plumbing of my house. They had no such right to inspect the plumbing of my house, ever,” Delardas said.
All the information requested is optional and customers who aren’t comfortable giving everything will not lose service, said Aaron Watkins, chief operator at PSD #1.
“Recently, we had mailed out an optional questionnaire requesting information. Again, it was an optional request for the customers’ information because we’re upgrading our billing system,” Watkins said. “The billing system we have is 20 years old, and we’re getting ready to upgrade it.”
Watkins said the utility wants to make sure it has as many contacts for customers as it can. With the new system there will be a lot more information and things they can do and they want to make sure customers have full access.
Watkins stressed no one will lose service by not filling out the form or only partially filling it out.
“It’s not anything mandated or a full request. I mean, if somebody’s not comfortable giving Social, by any means, they don’t have to give their Social or anything like that. … I actually had several customers that actually reached out to us today and asked us the same thing. And I just met with a gentleman there 10 minutes ago, and he said there were several things he wasn’t comfortable (with). And I said ‘that’s no problem at all.’ They were just information slots that our billing system allows us to take.”
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