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Security and Privacy on the Arlington County Website Policy Personal Information Legal Access to Personal
Information Website logs and Cookies Links to Other Websites Terms of Use and Consent
Warranties Approval
The Arlington County Government is committed to protecting online privacy and to ensuring the security of personal information collected on the Arlington County website. No personally identifiable information (any information by which you can be identified) is required to browse the County website. Questions, comments and suggestions voluntarily submitted to the County website through electronic mail may be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary. Personal information required to use some interactive services such as those in the payment portal, e-mail notification of all kinds, payment notification and reminders, bill presentment and payment, request for service, will be treated as confidential. Information that may be collected includes name, address, telephone number, license plate number, vehicle title number, e-mail address, checking account information, and credit and debit card account numbers. Such interactive services are entirely voluntary. Once a customer provides personally identifiable information the data is secured through state of the art technology. The data will be kept for as long as either required by law, or is relevant for the purposes for which it was collected. The County website uses Secured Sockets Layer (SSL) for secure transmissions. SSL applies encryption between two communicating applications, such as the customer’s PC and the server. When data is transmitted over the Internet, it is encrypted at the sending end and then decrypted at the receiving end. Personal information and all credit card account numbers and other payment information will be protected by 128-bit encryption technology, provided your browser is properly configured and your computer is operating properly. Security technology requires that you have a browser that is capable of supporting 128-bit encryption. Such browsers will activate the appropriate security features when you enter an online transaction through this site. In general, you can determine whether you are on a secure site by looking at the symbol at the bottom of your browser screen. If the key is unbroken or the lock is locked, it indicates that you are using a secure server. The Arlington County Commissioner of Revenue requires your Social Security Number for local tax administration purposes pursuant to Virginia Code § 58.1-3017. Social Security Numbers are used as a means of identification, to facilitate tax collection and to provide tax refunds to taxpayers. Social Security Numbers are regarded and protected as confidential tax information and will not be disclosed for any purpose, except as required by law. Arlington County Government will not sell, rent or lease or otherwise disclose your personally identifiable information to others. Information is shared with entities who are contractually acting on behalf of the County. Such entities are governed by this privacy policy with respect to the use of this data and are bound by the appropriate confidentiality agreements. Legal Access to Personal Information Federal law enforcement officials may under certain circumstances obtain access to subscriber databases under the federal Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56). Federal law prohibits Arlington County from informing you if federal law enforcement officials have obtained these records. Other laws may also mandate disclosure. Website logs are used throughout the website. They provide use data for analysis that will lead to an improved site. They do not contain personally identifiable information and no attempt is made to link the logged information with the individuals who actually browse the site. The Treasurer, Economic Development and the Commuter Page use cookies. A cookie is a piece of text that asks permission to be placed on the customer’s computer hard drive. If the customer agrees, the browser adds the text in a small file. The purpose of a cookie is to help analyze web traffic or identify when a given customer visits a particular site. Cookies allow a web application to respond to the customer as an individual. By gathering and remembering information about preferences, the web application can tailor its operation to a customer’s needs, likes and dislikes. Accepting a cookie in no way gives access to your computer or any personal information about you, other than the data you chose to share. This practice is strictly enforced. You may set your web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) to notify you of cookie placement requests or decline cookies completely. You can delete the files that contain cookies. They files are stored as part of your internet browser. Some of the links on the County website lead to resources outside Arlington County government. The presence of these links does not imply, and should not be interpreted as, endorsement, sanction, approval or authorization of these sites or their content. Arlington County government makes no guarantee or warranty, expressed or implied, concerning the content or accuracy of any material on any external website links. Terms of Use and Consent By using the Arlington County website, browsers give Arlington County permission to collect information about the pages browsed by them as an anonymous user for the purpose of calculating aggregate site statistics. If you are under the age of 18, you must not provide your name, e-mail address, or any other identifying information without the consent of your parent or guardian, or as otherwise provided for by applicable law. Information on this website is provided "as is" and to the extent permitted by relevant law without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Arlington County assumes no responsibility for the timeliness, deletion, misdelivery or failure to store any user communications or personalization settings. In no event shall the Arlington County Government be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages of any kind (including but not limited to lost data or profits), or any other damages whatsoever whether or not advised of the possible damage, under any theory of liability, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this information. Nothing in these preceding paragraphs shall exclude liability for fraudulent misrepresentations. These policies have been approved by the Arlington County Technology Leadership Committee, the Office of the County Attorney and upon their recommendation, the County Manager (date). The policies are reviewed annually by the Technology Leadership Committee.
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