Privacy Policy
The following statement explains the Internet Privacy Policy adopted by the City of Norfolk for its Web site (web pages at addresses beginning with http://www.city.norfolk.va.us, http://www.norfolk.gov, and http://www.norfolkgov.com).
The following is intended to explain our current Internet privacy protection practices. The information presented here is not meant to be a contract of any type, either express or implied, and should not be treated as such by site visitors. We reserve the right to amend our Internet Privacy Policy and Internet Privacy Policy Statement at any time, without prior notice to any visitor.
- Governing Law
- Collection of Information
- Use of "Cookies"
- Use of Collected Information
- Protection of Information
- Choice to Provide Information
- Minor's Privacy Policy
- Visitor Comments or Review of Personal Information
Governing Law
Virginia statutes, including, but not limited to, the Virginia Privacy Protection Act of 1976 and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, govern our maintenance of public records and access to personally identifiable information in public records. Other sections of the Virginia Code, as well as certain federal statutes address confidentiality issues.
Collection of Information
When a visitor accesses our Web site,
the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the visitor’s computer is
collected. This computer address does not contain any personally
identifiable information about the visitor.
Moreover, no personally identifiable information is collected
about visitors who simply browse this site or who download information
from it.
Use of "Cookies"
A “cookie” is a small piece of data stored on the visitor's hard drive containing information about the visitor and/or the session. The City’s Web site does not place any "cookies" on a visitor’s computer.
Use of Collected Information
The Internet Protocol (IP) address
of a visitor’s computer is used to route the requested web page
to his / her computer for viewing.
The requested web page and the routing information is sent
to our Internet Service Provider (ISP) or other entities involved
in transmitting the requested page to the visitor.
The routing information may be retained indefinitely. Ordinarily,
however, the routing information is deleted periodically from the
City’s computer after the web page is transmitted to the visitor.
The City does not try to obtain any information to link it
to the visitors who browse our Web site.
Routing information is used primarily in a statistical summary
type format to assess site content and server performance.
However, logs of routing information are also retained to
permit a security investigation on rare occasions when a "hacker"
attempts to breach computer security.
In such cases, the logs of routing information may be forwarded
together with any other relevant information in our possession to
the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Protection of Information
The
City of Norfolk does not sell, rent or otherwise distribute visitor
information, including e-mail addresses, to any outside company
or organization. We do not reveal specific information about subscribers
or other personally identifiable data to unaffiliated third parties
for their independent use, except if required to do so by the Virginia
Freedom of Information Act or other law. This policy applies to
information that may be collected on the City's Web site and on
that of any third party with whom the City contracts to provide
Internet related-services.
Choice to Provide Information
A visitor is not required legally to provide any information at the City’s Web site. However, the City’s Web site will not work without the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the visitor’s computer. Failure of the visitor’s browser to provide nonessential technical information will not prevent his / her use of the City’s Web site, but may prevent certain features from working. The visitor’s failure to provide optional information may mean that the particular feature or service associated with that part of the web page will not be available for his / her use.
Minor's Privacy Policy
The general privacy policy of the City of Norfolk will apply to the collection of any information obtained children age 13 and under. Additionally, the following guidelines will be followed with respect to any information collected from children under the age of 13.
The information that City may seek from children includes, but is not necessarily limited to: name, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, school, hobbies and any question or comment submitted.
Parental consent must be obtained before collecting, using or disclosing personal information about a child.
New parental consent must be obtained if the City makes a material change in how it collects, uses or discloses any information from children.
A parent may review the personal information collected from his / her child after the City has verified the identity of the requesting parent. A parent may revoke his/her consent and may request that deletion of information collected from his / her child. When parental consent is revoked, the City Web site will stop collecting, using or disclosing information from that child. Revocation of parental consent may terminate a child's participation in an activity where the collected information was required to participate in the Web site activity.
For additional information go to FTC's Consumer Response Center and the Kidz Privacy Web sites.
Visitor Comments or Review of Personal Information
Visitors who have questions about this Internet Privacy Policy Statement or would like to review or correct any of their personal information, may contact the Norfolk Office of Communications at 757-664-4266 or via e-mail at webmaster@norfolk.gov.
