Introduction
At Washington County, Wisconsin (“we,” “our,” or “us”), we take your privacy very seriously and we take steps to protect it as described in this online privacy policy (“Policy”). This Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit our website (the “Site”) and how we use that information. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is to not use the Site.
This Policy applies to information we collect through (a) your interaction with our Site, (b) other electronic messages between you and our Site, and (c) your interaction with our advertising and our applications on third-party websites and services, such as Facebook®, Twitter®, and social media services. In addition to this Policy, your use of our Site is also subject to our Terms of Use available here: https://www.changetheend.com/terms.
Information We Collect
Information You Provide to Us.
Washington County does not collect or share any personal information through the Site.
Information We Collect When You Use the Site.
When you use or interact with our Site, we may use a variety of technologies that collect information about how the Site is accessed and used. This information may include:
Cookies (also known as browser and mobile cookies). A cookie is a small file placed on your device (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.) which automatically collects and stores information. You may refuse to accept browser cookies by activating the appropriate setting on your browser. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our Site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you direct your browser to our Site.
Web Beacons. Pages of our Site and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags and single-pixel gifs) that permit us, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an e-mail and for other related statistics about our Site (for example, recording the popularity of certain services content and verifying system and server integrity); and
Information from Third Party Analytics. We may use third-party analytics services, such as Google Analytics, to evaluate your use of the Site, compile reports on activity, collect demographic data, analyze performance metrics, and collect and evaluate other information related to the Site. Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). We may use the information we receive from Google Analytics to improve our site. Google Analytics does not collect the IP address assigned to the date you visit our Site OR your name or other identifying information—all information is anonymized. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information. Although Google Analytics plants a permanent cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit our Site, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but Google. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to our Site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use: http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html.
How We Use Collected Information
We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, to present our Site and its contents to you, to provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us, to fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it, to notify you about changes to our Site or any products or services we offer or provide through it, in any other way we may describe when you provide the information, to improve the Site and any services offered through it, for any other purpose with your consent, or for purposes as generally permitted under applicable law. However, other than the specific uses listed above, we will not disclose, sell, share, lease, or rent your contact or personal information to any third party.
Third Party Goods and Services.
We will not use any information to contact you about our own goods and services that may be of interest to you.
Online Behavioral Advertising.
Online behavioral advertising is used to deliver advertisements that are catered to your interests based on your browsing history. We may engage our service providers to display ads on our behalf on the Internet, and our service providers may use information about you to provide you with our ads. We may also engage our service providers to track and report performance of advertising and marketing campaigns to and from us.
You can opt out of online behavioral advertising from certain ads on third party websites by visiting http://youradchoices.com. Furthermore, certain of our ads on third party websites may display an advertising options icon that you can click to learn about your choices. This icon will only appear on certain platforms. Keep in mind that these opt-outs work using cookies, so if you delete your cookies, then you will need to opt out again. Also, as you use different devices or browsers, you will need to opt out on each browser and device, individually. You can also help limit the amount of online and mobile advertising that you can receive by opting out of advertising from Network Advertising Initiative member companies at http://www.network advertising.org/choices.
Data Integration
The information we collect automatically does not include personal information, but we may maintain it or associate it with personal information we collect in other ways or personal information we receive from third parties. It helps us improve our Site and to deliver a better, more personalized experience, including by enabling us to: (a) estimate our audience size and usage patterns; (b) store information about your preferences, allowing us to customize our Site according to your individual interests; (c) speed up your searches; and (d) recognize you when you return to our Site.
Disclosure of Your Information
We may share your information, including your personal information with the following parties: our subsidiaries and affiliates; our subcontractors, service providers and other third parties we use to support our business; a buyer or other successor in the event of or during a merger, divestiture, restructuring, dissolution or other sale or transfer of some or all of Washington County’s assets or equity, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by Washington County is among the assets transferred; for any other purposes disclosed by us when you provide the information; or with your consent.
We may also share your personal information to comply with any court order or legal obligation, including responding to any lawful government or regulatory request, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to enforce or protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our customers or others.
Your Choices About Our Collection, Use, and Disclosure
You ultimately control what personal information we receive from you. We strive to provide you with information and choices regarding the personal information you provide to us and/or that we collect, including:
Tracking Technologies and Advertising.
You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent, when you access our Site. Information on deleting or controlling cookies can be found at www.aboutcookies.org. If you disable or refuse cookies in your browser, please note that some parts of our Site may then be inaccessible or may not function properly.
External Websites
Third Party Links.
Our Site may contain links to websites operated and maintained by third parties, over which we have no control of the privacy policies or content. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of these other websites, and these links do not imply an affiliation between Washington County and the website owner, or any endorsement, approval or verification of any content contained on other websites. Privacy policies on such linked websites may be different from our privacy policy. You access such links at your own risk. You should always read the privacy policy of a linked website before disclosing any of your information on such website.
Social Media.
We may interact with users both with, and without, an online account with us via social media. Please note that any content you post to social media platforms is subject to the specific social media platform’s terms of use and privacy policy.
Do Not Track
The Site does not respond to “do not track” requests. All traffic is treated as equal and processed the same. If you desire to have your browsing be private, we suggest that you use your web browser’s private or incognito function, or similar options.
Notice to California Residents
The Site is not intended to be used by California residents.
Children Under the Age of 13
Our Site is not intended for anyone under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 13, without parental consent, we will delete that information and otherwise comply with the requirements of any applicable law including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under the age of 13, please contact us at contactacs@washcowisco.gov.
Our Security Policy
We endeavor to put in place reasonable measures to secure your personal information from unauthorized acquisition, use, and disclosure; however, please keep in mind that the transmission of information over the internet and on mobile platforms is not always secure, which means we cannot guarantee the security or confidentiality of any personal information we obtain as part of our Site. Therefore, notwithstanding anything to the contrary within this Policy or the Terms of Use www.changetheend.com/terms, the Site is offered to you “AS-IS, WHERE-IS” and your use of our Site is at your own risk.
Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy to reflect changes in the manner in which we deal with personal information, whether to comply with then applicable regulations and self-regulatory standards or otherwise. The Policy posted here will always be current. We encourage you to review this statement regularly. If we make a material change to the Policy, post a notification on the Site. Your continued use of this Site after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes.
Contact Us
To ask questions or comment about this Policy or our Terms of Use, or to remove or change your contact information in our database, or to not receive future mailings or other communications, as well as other inquiries, please contact us at any time at contactacs@washcowisco.gov.