Preamble:
The Central Coast Regional District website is one of the region's key tools for communicating with the public about who we are and what we do. In today's world of social media and electronic communications, a big concern for those visiting any website is, "what will the host organization do with my personal information?"
CCRD is committed to creating a transparent environment which explains how CCRD handles personal information in an effort to address website use privacy concerns.
Introduction
The Central Coast Regional District is strongly committed to protecting the privacy of its user community. The intent of this privacy policy is to clarify what information may be obtained about users of the Central Coast Regional District website, how this information is used and our disclosure practices. Please note that this information may be updated at any time in order to address new issues and reflect changes on our website. We will post those changes here as they occur, so you will always be aware of our current policies. This privacy policy applies only to the Central Coast Regional District website and not to other community, company or organization sites to which we provide links.
Site usage information
Every computer connected to the Internet is given a domain name and an IP (Internet Protocol) address, containing a set of numbers. This information reveals nothing personal about the visitor.
When a visitor requests a page from within the Central Coast Regional District website, our web servers automatically recognize that computers' IP address and domain name. Such data is used in the aggregate to help determine general usage patterns and fine-tune layout patterns to ensure our site is as user friendly as possible. This information is not collected or evaluated for individuals and our web servers do not automatically record e-mail addresses.
Cookie technology
From time to time, the Central Coast Regional District may send a “cookie” to your computer. A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. A cookie cannot:
- Read data off your hard disk;
- Read cookie files created by other web sites;
- Damage your system.
The Central Coast Regional District website may utilize cookie technology to aid visitors in filling out forms or ensuring that requested information is not sent to the visitor more than once.
You can choose whether to accept cookies by changing the settings of your browser. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies, or allow your browser to show you when a cookie is being sent. If you choose not to accept these cookies, your experience at our site and other Web sites may be diminished and some features may not work as intended.
What else should I know about my online privacy?
The Central Coast Regional District website contains many links to many external websites. The Central Coast Regional District is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. Please check with those sites to determine their privacy policy.
Please keep in mind that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information online-for example through e-mail, discussion lists or elsewhere-that information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your personal information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online.
Security
The Central Coast Regional District exercises care and due diligence in managing, transmitting and securing personal information once we receive it. We have taken careful measures to secure both your information and our physical premises. This may include access to an on-site office, secure access levels to databases or the use of passwords and encryption. However, it is important for you to know that data transmission over the Internet is not 100 percent secure. Despite our efforts, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.
Disclosure policy
The Central Coast Regional District does not share any of the individually identifiable information you may provide with the sites to which the Central Coast Regional District links. We may, however, share aggregate data with such websites (such as how many people use our site).
Your personal information may be disclosed without your consent if the Central Coast Regional District has reason to believe that doing so is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against anyone damaging, injuring or interfering with our rights, property, users or anyone else who may be harmed by such activities. We will also disclose your information without your consent where we are required by law.
Links to other websites
Our privacy policy only applies to the Central Coast Regional District website. It does not apply to external sites that you may connect to from our site.
We recommend that you read the privacy policy of any website before you divulge individually identifiable information, to understand how they manage personal information. We are not responsible for the content or practices of websites operated by third parties that are linked to our sites. These links are provided as a service to our visitors. Unless otherwise stated, they do not constitute our endorsement, sponsorship or approval of their content, policies or practices.
Acceptance
By accessing any of the pages within the Central Coast Regional District website, you signify your acceptance of our privacy policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our website. Your continued use of the Central Coast Regional District website following the posting of changes to these terms will mean that you accept those changes.
Where the information you are providing to us is sensitive, your consent must be expressed. The following are examples of expressed consent:
- Clicking on the submit button on a form that includes individually identifiable information
- Sending an e-mail requesting a product or service
- The manner in which your consent is granted may vary depending on the sensitivity of the information that you are providing to us. Where the information is less sensitive, implied consent will be considered appropriate.
For more information please visit the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.