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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPalm Desert Privacy PolicyCITY OF PALM DESERT PRIVACY POLICY Purpose The purpose of this statement is to define the City of Palm Desert's (“City”) policy with regards to the collection and use of personally identifiable information. Privacy Notice We collect no personal information about you without your knowledge when you visit this site, although you may choose to provide this information to us in specific instances. However, we do collect and store certain information automatically. Information Collected and Stored Automatically When you browse, read pages, or download information in the City’s website domain, we automatically gather and store certain technical information about your visit. This information never identifies who you are. The information we collect and store about your visit includes • the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the domain from which you access the Internet (e.g., 123.45.67.89), whether yours individually or provided as a proxy by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) • the type of browser (e.g., Internet Explorer; Google Chrome; Mozilla Firefox) and operating system (e.g., Windows) used to access our site • the date and time you access our site • the pages you visit (recorded by the text and graphics files that compose that page) • the Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our site. We use the summary statistics to help us make our site more useful to visitors, such as assessing what information is of most and least interest to visitors, and for other purposes such as determining the site's technical design specifications and identifying system performance or problem areas. This information is NOT shared with anyone beyond the support staff for this website and other appropriate City staff, except when required by computer security, law enforcement investigation or other authorized legal purpose, and is customarily used only as a source of anonymous statistical information. Cookies Some City applications use "cookies." A cookie is a small data file that certain web sites write to your hard drive when you visit them. A cookie file can contain information such as a user id that the site uses to track the pages you have visited. But the only personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie is only a text file and cannot read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Cookies can track user traffic patterns, recognize your computer's browser when you return, and could provide personalized content without requiring sign-in. You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. However, they may be required to use some of the web applications on the City's site. E-Mail Addresses E-mail addresses obtained through the web site will not be sold or given to other private companies for marketing purposes. The information collected is subject to the access and confidentiality provisions of the Public Records Act, other applicable sections of the California code as well as federal laws. E-mail or other information requests sent to the City web site may be maintained in order to respond to the request, forward that request to the appropriate agency within the City, communicate updates to the City page that may be of interest to citizens, or to provide the City web designer with valuable customer feedback to assist in improving the site. Individuals can cancel any communications regarding new service updates at any time. If You Send Us Personal Information If you choose to provide us with personal information—such as filling out a Contact Us or registration form and submitting it to us through the website—that information will be used only to complete the activity for which it was provided, whether it is a one-time event (e.g., returning the results from a web search, forwarding an email message, or submitting a business license application online), or a recurring event, such as providing a subscription service. This information may be used for the technical support of the website and its computer system, or to enhance, evaluate, or otherwise review the website or service. The information may also be used to contact an individual in response to a request for information. You may choose to provide us with personal information, as in an e-mail message containing your comments or questions. We use this information to improve our service to you or to respond to your request. There are times when your message is forwarded, as e-mail, to other employees who may be better able to help you. Personal information, collected as noted herein, is retained to meet the needs of the stated purpose and is then discarded at the earliest time possible. The City does NOT collect information for commercial marketing. Personal information is shared only with employees of the City involved in processing data for the completion of the stated purpose, entities for which the City is acting as an agent, and/or entities acting as the City's agent (an agent in this instance is defined as a third party that processes data only for the completion of the stated purpose), except for authorized law enforcement investigations, or as otherwise required by law. Although we take reasonable measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of information, we cannot assure you that personally identifiable information that we collect will never be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this privacy policy. Messages transmitted via email are not secure and any information transmitted to this site via email should be assumed to not be confidential. Security The City is committed to data security and the data quality of personally identifiable information that is either available from or collected by our web site and has taken reasonable precautions to protect such information from loss, misuse or alteration. The City operates "secure data networks" protected by industry standard firewalls and password protection systems. Only authorized individuals have access to the information provided by our users. When a City application accepts credit cards or any other particularly sensitive information for any of its services, it encrypts all ordering information, such as your name and credit card number, in order to protect its confidentiality. Links to Other Sites Our site may contain links to other sites whose information practices may be different from ours. Please read the other sites' privacy notices, and note that we have no control over information that is submitted to, or collected by, these third parties. Access to Your Information Unless otherwise prohibited by state or federal law, rule or regulation you will be granted the ability to access and correct any personally identifiable information. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access to review or make corrections to your information. Each City service that collects personally identifiable information will allow for review and update of that information. See individual requests for information for specifics. Disclaimer of Liability The City of Palm Desert, nor any of its programs, employees, agents or individual elected officials, shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained in the City's website and the City assumes no responsibility for anyone's use of the information. In no event shall the City’s website, or its programs, employees, agents or individual elected officials be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement or substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this system, even if advised of the possibility of such damage. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury, including but not limited to those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence or under any other cause of action. Communication made with the City through this website shall not constitute public comment or legal notice to the City or any of its officers, employees, agents or representatives with respect to any past, existing, or potential claim or cause of action regarding the City or any of its agents, officers, employees, agents or representatives, where notice to City is required by laws, rules or regulations. Disclaimer of Warranties and Accuracy of Data Although the data found on the City’s website have been produced and processed from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty, express or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. This disclaimer applies to both isolated and aggregate uses of the information. THE CITY OF PALM DESERT PROVIDES THIS INFORMATION ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, FREEDOM FROM CONTAMINATION BY COMPUTER VIRUSES AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS ARE DISCLAIMED. Changes may be periodically made to the information herein; these changes may or may not be incorporated in any new versions of the City’s website. If a user has obtained information from any of the City web pages via a source other than the City website, be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution. Data can also quickly become out of date. It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data associated with a file, and that the originator of the data or information be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. Use of this website constitutes acceptance of this waiver of liability and warranties.