Sedgwick County is committed to safeguarding all
information obtained through our web site. Therefore, the
collection and storage of information not covered by the
Kansas Open Records Act will be governed by the
following guidelines:
Collection and Use of Customer Information
We make use of individual identifying information
that customers provide for the purposes of personalizing
the user’s experience on our website and fulfilling
specific requests for services. We may collect and store
general information such as:
- The name of the domain from which
the user accesses the Internet; for example, msn.com
(Microsoft Network) or aol.com (America Online).
- The Internet address of the Web
site from which the user linked directly to our site,
if any. For example, www.yahoo.com if Yahoo’s search
engine was used to find our site.
- The type of web browsing software
used to view our site such as Netscape Communicator or
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- The date and time
- The pages the user visited
Certain user
requests, like those for e-commerce, employment and tax
related services, require additional information like
name, address and credit card number in order to meet the
request.
The length of
time that information is retained will vary. For
instance, information gathered through the
Personalized Tag system will be kept only until the
order for an automobile license tag is completed (about
four weeks), whereas information gathered through the
HR*Partners’ e*Apps site may be kept indefinitely at the discretion of the applicant. Yet other
information is channeled into non-Internet based systems
where it supports County applications such as appraiser
renditions and purchasing. In each case, Sedgwick County
maintains this information only as long as necessary to
provide quality service. Generally, a means is provided
in each system that allows the user to delete personal
information at any time. In other cases, the information expires and is automatically deleted.
It is important to Sedgwick County that information we
keep is accurate and current. Customers who find
information that is incomplete, inaccurate or not
current, or who desire specific details about the
individual identifying information we maintain, should
e-mail the Sedgwick County
Webmaster or call (316)
660-9809. Queries regarding the Kansas Open Records Act
should be directed to Sedgwick County’s
Freedom of
Information Officer or call at (316) 660-9846.
Use of Cookies
A cookie is a small data file that certain Web sites
write to your hard drive when you visit them. A cookie
file can contain information such as a user ID that the
site uses to track the pages you've visited, but it is
important to note that the only personal information a
cookie can contain is information you supply yourself.
A cookie cannot read data off your hard disk nor can it
read cookie files created by other sites. We use cookies
to remember information from one page to the next
(session cookies), and information we store
indefinitely will be stored in databases, and not in
cookies on visitor PC’s.
From time to
time, we may use cookies to track user traffic patterns.
We do this to determine the usefulness of site
information to our users and to see how effective our
navigational structure is in helping users reach that
information. We do not correlate this information with
data about individual users, nor do we share or sell this
information.
Users can set
their browser to notify them when a site attempts to add
or update a cookie. The user then has the opportunity to
accept or refuse the cookie on a case-by-case basis.
Users may also set their browser to refuse all cookies.
While most of our pages do not use cookies, setting the
browser to reject them will make some services on our
website unavailable.
Protection of and Access to Information
Sedgwick County maintains security standards and
procedures to prevent unauthorized access to confidential
information about our customers. Customer’s personal
information is restricted to only those Sedgwick County
employees with a business reason to know such
information. Employees are mandated by County Policy to
never divulge such information unless required to
transact proper and normal County business, or to comply
with
the Kansas Open Records Act.
Information Sharing
Information may be exchanged with other organizations
where it is absolutely necessary to transact business
(for instance, with the State of Kansas while ordering a
personalized vehicle tag). Information may also be
provided when legally required or permitted with criminal
and civil investigations. We may also share information
to verify the existence and condition of a user’s
checking or credit card account during purchases, or when
required by independent auditors or otherwise authorized
to do so. Sedgwick County does not sell, lease or
give away personal information about our customers.
Email
We may archive the content of email messages including
email address and our response. Users are reminded
that email is not secure against interception. Email
messages with sensitive information or containing
personal data such as credit card numbers or social
security numbers are discouraged. Sedgwick County
accepts no responsibility for intercepted e-mail
messages. Customers sending such messages do so at their
own risk.
Disclosure of Privacy Principles
Sedgwick County may make changes to this statement and
to our related procedures at any time, so users should
check back periodically. We also maintain links to other
sites, and, as we do not have control over their content
or privacy procedures, users are encouraged to
familiarize themselves with their privacy policies as
well.
If you have any questions or concerns about this
privacy statement,
please contact us.
Sedgwick
County
Internet Disclaimer
Sedgwick County, Kansas’ Internet
web site provides "hyperlinks" to other Internet web sites that contain
information created, published, maintained, or otherwise posted by institutions, or
organizations independent of Sedgwick County.
Sedgwick County does not endorse, approve,
certify, or control those external web sites and the County does not guarantee the
accuracy, completeness, efficacy, or timeliness of information located at those sites.
Use of any information obtained from those
web sites is voluntary, and reliance on that information should only be undertaken after
an independent review of its accuracy. Reference on Sedgwick County web site or any
"linked" to external web site to any specific commercial product, process, or
service by trade name, trademark, service mark, or otherwise does not constitute or imply
endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Sedgwick County.
