Privacy Policy for the State of Maine

Introduction: Visitors to the Office of Information Technology (OIT) website are our customers. We will not capture personal information about our customers without their direct action and/or permission. Minimal information will be collected, if needed, to meet the purposes for which the website was created. Personal information provided is open to public inspection and legal discovery under State Law Title 1, Chapter 13 of Maine Revised Statutes Annotated unless specifically protected under other Maine statutes.

Public Disclosure: All information collected on the OIT website will be treated the same as any written communication and is subject to the confidentiality and public disclosure provisions of 1 MRSA Chapter 13.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

OIT Website Customers: We may collect some or all of the following information about visitors who view or download information from our websites:

Information:	Definition:
Date:	Date the visit occurred
Time:	Time the visit occurred
Client IP:	Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the website visitor. The IP address recorded is normally that of the visitor's Internet service provider, e.g., aol.com if the visitor connects from an America Online account.
Server IP:	Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the State of Maine web server accessed.
HTTP Status:	Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) error code. E.g., "404 Requested Page Not Found."
HTTP Request URL:	Identifies the web page or file requested by the website visitor.
Bytes Sent:	Amount of data sent from the web server to website visitor during that connection.
Bytes Received:	Amount of data sent from website visitor to the web server.
User Agent:	Type of web browser or other client software that made request to the web server.
Referrer:	Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that referred to the requested file.
Protocol Version:	Version of HTTP used by the visitor's web browser software.

Collected Information: The information we collect is used to improve the content of our web services and help us understand how people are using our services. We analyze our website logs to continually improve the value of the materials available on our site. The information in our website logs is not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link it with the individuals that browse our website. Some of this statistical information, such as a running count of the number of visitors, may be displayed on the website or shared with other state governments to aid in the provision of better service to the public.

Personally Identifiable Information: "Personally identifiable information" is information about a person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. It includes, for example, an individual's name, street address, e-mail address, or phone number. Personally identifiable information will not be collected unless you voluntarily send an e-mail message, fill out and send an online form, or fill out personal information and send in a survey. Your choice not to participate in these activities will not impair your ability to access certain information or obtain a service online. Unless specifically protected under state law, any information provided may be inspected by the public or disclosed in a legal proceeding.

E-mail Senders: E-mail messages, sent to any Maine State Government address, will be treated the same as any other written communication. They may be subject to public inspection or legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before they are destroyed. E-mail or other information requests sent to the OIT website will be used to respond appropriately. The E-mail message and address may be forwarded to another state agency for appropriate action.

Electronic Form Filers: Any other information provided by a visitor at the request of an agency of Maine State Government, such as the completion and electronic filing of a form, will be considered to be voluntarily provided by the visitor and will be treated in the same manner as information provided in written form or in person during a visit to the agency. Information provided may be subject to public inspection and legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before it is destroyed. It may be shared with another state agency for appropriate action.

Surveys: Surveys will be used for the purpose stated. If personally identifiable information is collected it may be subject to public inspection and legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before it is destroyed.

Cookies, Applets, or Other Tracking Devices: In order to better serve you, our customer, we use cookies, applets, or other tracking devices for certain types of online transactions. We do not use cookies in order to track your visit to our website.

Cookies are small text files that a web server may ask your web browser to store, and to send back to the web server when needed. Cookies may be used to store a transaction identifier or other information a user may provide. We use cookies in the following ways:

Complex transactions: Cookies are used to store and retrieve unique transaction identifiers or other server-generated or user-provided information in complex, multi-page web applications. This allows us to distinguish between different users, and to use information provided at one stage of an application at a later time (for instance, items placed in a 'shopping cart' might need to be displayed on a later 'check-out' screen). When we use cookies in this way, the cookie is stored on your web browser only temporarily; the cookie is destroyed at the end of the transaction or at the end of the browser session.
Customized Services: Cookies may also be used to automatically identify a particular user to the system, in order to provide a customized service, such as a personalized web page. In this case, a cookie containing a unique user identifier will be permanently stored on your web browser. We do not store sensitive information in such cookies; only a unique user identifier or generic preference values are stored. Personal information you give us for processing a transaction or using one of our personalization features, may be stored on our secure web server.

The "HELP" portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies or how to disable cookies altogether. If you have further questions about cookies, the Computer Incident Advisory Capacity unit, that monitors computer problems for the U.S. Department of Energy, issued a study on March 12, 1998 of the risks of cookies to users, titled "Information Bulletin I-034." You can refuse the cookies or delete the cookie file from your computer by using any of the widely available methods.

DISCLAIMER

Neither the State of Maine, nor any agency, officer, or employee of the State of Maine warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published on the State of Maine OIT website, nor endorses any products or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of the information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk. The Privacy Statement does not apply to non-Maine State Government websites linked to the OIT website. Customers to those sites are advised to check the privacy statements of those sites and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information without a clear understanding of how the information will be used.

Contact Information: To offer comments about the State of Maine OIT website or about information presented in this Privacy Statement, contact the webmaster.

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