Privacy Policy for the Official Website of the City of Brewer
Individuals who visit the City of Brewer website are important to us. Because visitors to our website are important, we do not capture personal information about them without their permission. We endeavor to collect only the minimum amount of information needed to meet the purposes for which the website was created.
Public Disclosure
All information collected on the City of Brewer 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 – Maine’s Freedom of Access Act.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
Visitors to the City of Brewer Website
We may collect some or all of the following information through our web hosts 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 City of Brewer 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.
The information we collect is used to improve the content of our web services and help us understand how people are using our services. 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 others 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 engage in these activities will not impair your ability to browse our website. However, it may impair your ability to utilize some of our online services.
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 City of Brewer 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 city website may be maintained in order to respond to the request, forward that request to the appropriate department, or to provide the web designer with valuable customer feedback to assist in improving the site. E-mail addresses obtained as a result of a request to the city site will not be sold or given to private companies for marketing purposes.
Electronic Form Filers
Any other information provided by a visitor at the request of the City of Brewer, 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 a city department. 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 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
In order to better serve you, the user, we may use cookies for certain types of online transactions.
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 may 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.
We do not use cookies in order to track your visit to our website.
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. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of many of the City of Brewer services, and we recommend that you set your web browser to accept cookies.
You can refuse the cookies or delete the cookie file from your computer by using any of the widely available methods.
Disclaimer
Materials on this site are provided for general informational and educational purposes only. Many of the materials are from our archives or archives of others and should not be assumed to be up-to-date. None of the materials are provided as specific legal advice. Readers should not act upon any information without communicating directly with the appropriate department. Web links are not intended as referrals or endorsements of the linked entities.
Various websites may be linked through the City of Brewer website. Visitors 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. This Privacy Statement does not apply to non-City of Brewer websites linked to the City of Brewer website.
Contact Information
To offer comments about the City of Brewer website or about information presented in this Privacy Statement, contact mstuart@brewermaine.gov.