Finance Authority of Maine Web Site Privacy Statement
Introduction
As a visitor to our web site, you are important to us. For this reason, we do not capture personal information about you without your permission. Our goal is to collect only the minimum amount of information needed to serve your needs.
Public Disclosure
All information collected on this web site will be treated the same as any written communication and is subject to the confidentiality, public disclosure, and legal discovery provisions of 1 MRSA Chapter 13 as well as the confidentiality of 10 MRSA 110.
Non-personally Identifiable Information
We may collect some or all of the following information about visitors to the Finance Authority of Maine web site who view or download information:
Information Definition
Date Date the visit occurred.
Time Time the visit occurred.
Client IP Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the web site 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 Finance Authority 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 web site visitor.
Bytes Sent Amount of data sent from the web server to web site visitor during that connection.
Bytes Received Amount of data sent from web site 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 our Web services and help us understand how people are using our services. We analyze our web site logs to continually improve the value of the materials available on our site. The information in our web site logs is not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link it with the individuals that browse our web site.
Some of the statistical information, such as a running count of the number of visitors, may be displayed on the web site or shared with other agencies to aid in the provision of better service to the public.
Personally Identifiable Information
"Personally identifiable information" is information that readily identifies a specific individual. It includes, for example, an individual's name, street address, e-mail address and 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 browse. However, it may 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 Finance Authority of Maine 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. The e-mail will be used to respond appropriately. The e-mail message and address may be forwarded to another state agency or partner providing services for appropriate action.
Electronic Form Filers
Any other information provided by a visitor at the request of the Finance Authority of Maine, 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 or partner providing services 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 serve you better, 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 then 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" for ordering brochures might need to be displayed on a later "check-out" screen.) When we use cookies in this way, the cookie is stored on the 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 the web browser. We do not store sensitive information in such cookies; only unique user identifiers or generic preference values are stored.
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 Finance Authority of Maine's Internet services and we recommend that you leave them turned on.
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, on the risks of cookies to users, titled "Information Bulletin I-034: Internet Cookies" (http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/bulletins/i-034.shtml)
The Privacy Statement does not apply to non-Finance Authority of Maine web sites linked to the Finance Authority of Maine web site.
Contact Information
To offer comments about the Finance Authority of Maine's web site or about information presented in this Finance Authority of Maine Web site Privacy Statement, you may contact:
Communications Coordinator
Finance Authority of Maine
5 Community Drive, P.O. Box 949
Augusta, Maine 04332-0949
Tel: 1-800-228-3734/(207) 623-3263 ext. 228
FAX (207) 623-0095 TTY: (207) 626-2717
To review or request correction of your personal information you may contact:
Communications Coordinator
Finance Authority of Maine
5 Community Drive, P.O. Box 949
Augusta, Maine 04332-0949
Tel: 1-800-228-3734/(207) 623-3263 ext. 228
FAX (207) 623-0095 TTY: (207) 626-2717
