Privacy Policy Your Privacy At this website, we attempt to protect your privacy to the maximum extent possible. However, perfect security does not exist on the Internet and we cannot fully ensure that that your personally identifiable information will not be disclosed to third parties. Further, because some of the information that we receive through this website is subject to the Public Records Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66, Section 10, we cannot guarantee absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through this site may be made available to members of the public under that law. Please note that there are exemptions to the Public Records Law that protect certain personally identifiable information from disclosure relating to persons age sixty and older - see Massachusetts General Laws Chapter. 40 8B. This policy informs you of the information that we collect from you at this site, what we do with it, to whom it may be disseminated, and how you can access it. Based on this information, you can make an informed decision about your use of this site and whether to share personally identifiable information with us through this site. Personally Identifiable Information. We use the term "personally identifiable information" to mean any information that could reasonably be used to identify you, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, Social Security number, birth date, bank account information, credit card information, or any combination of information that could be used to identify you. Information Voluntarily Provided by You. This site collects voluntary information from you through e-mails and web forms, which could contain personally identifiable information. Information Automatically Collected and Stored by this Site. This website employs the use of "Cookies." We use cookies to improve the quality of our service by storing user preferences and tracking user trends, such as how people search. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some features and services may not function properly if your cookies are disabled. This site does collect and store your "Internet Protocol ("IP") address," (which does not identify you as an individual) indefinitely, as well as information about the date and time of your visit, whether a file you have requested exists, and how many "bytes" of information were transmitted to you over the Web from this site. We use your IP address to assess the frequency of visits to this site and the popularity of its various pages and functions. We will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that you provide to us with your IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation. Dissemination of Your Personally Identifiable Information. We do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through this website or submitted to the Town in conjunction with using functions on the website, and there is no direct or online public access to the information. However, once you voluntarily submit personally identifiable information to us related to your use of the site, its dissemination is governed by the "Public Records Law" and other applicable laws and regulations. For this reason, part or all of the information you send us may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request. There are pieces of information, such as personally identifiable information for persons sixty and older, credit card numbers, TIN, username, or password that are not considered public for the purposes of a public records request. For more information on types of data exempted from disclosure under the Public Records Law, please read the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Public Records Law. In addition, the information that you voluntarily submit will be disclosed only to Town employees or officials, or those under contract with the Town, with a "need to know" for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. The information will be used for such purposes as: answering your questions; responding to any requests for assistance; generating summary statistics about usage; auditing applications and detecting fraud; aiding in the planning, design and development of the Barnstable, MA.gov site; and fulfilling the Town's legal obligations. Security. Because information sent to the Town is not encrypted, you should not send messages containing information that you consider highly sensitive to this website. We use standard security measures to ensure that information provided by you, including your personally identifiable information, is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. We also use software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Contact Information. For questions about your privacy while using this website, please contact [email protected]. Definitions: Cookies are files that a website can place on your computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a website can use to track such things as your password, lists of web pages you have visited, and the date when you last looked at a specific web page, or to identify your session at a particular website. A cookie file allows the website to recognize you as you click through pages on the site and when you later revisit the site. A website can use cookies to "remember" your preferences, and to record your browsing behavior on the web. Although you can prevent websites from placing cookies on your computer by using your browser's preference menu, disabling cookies may affect your ability to view or interact with some websites. An "Internet Protocol Address" or "IP Address" is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send you the file that you have requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to us may identify the computer from which you are accessing the Internet, or a server owned by your Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information.
