waterpatrol.org
Boat & Water Safety Information for Hennepin County Minnesota Lakes & Rivers
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Water Patrol Website Privacy Policy

Introduction

Thank you for visiting the Hennepin County Sheriff's Water Patrol (Water Patrol) web site and reviewing our privacy policy. This policy explains how the Water Patrol handles the information collected from you during your visit.

We do not collect personal information about you when you visit the web site, unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information for commercial purposes.

The Water Patrol may amend this policy from time to time. We will prominently display on this website any substantial changes in the way we use your personal information.

Here is how we handle information about your visit to our website:

The Collection and Use of Information / Traffic Analysis.

If you only browse through the website, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. Only the following information is automatically collected and stored about your visit:

  • The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our website;
  • The type of web browser and operating system used to access our site;
  • The date and time you access our site;
  • The pages you visit;
  • If you linked to our website from another website, the address of that website;

We use this information to help us make the site more useful to visitors, to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use.

Personal Information and Choice for Electronic Government

You may choose to provide us with personal information, by sending us an e-mail message containing your comments or questions or by filling out a form with your personal information. We use this information to improve our service to you or to respond to your request. Your message may be forwarded, as e-mail, to other Hennepin County agencies and employees who may be better able to help you. We only share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. The Water Patrol does not use personal data you provide for commercial marketing.

Public Access Information & Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

Several state and federal laws protect the privacy of the information we collect about you. The Water Patrol does not disclose personally identifiable information you provide online unless authorized by State, federal law or with your (written) permission.

You may decline to participate in any activity that asks for information (for example, surveys or emails). Your choice to not participate will have no effect on your ability to access information on the Water Patrol web sites.

Use of Cookies

To better serve you, we occasionally use "cookies" to customize your browsing experience. Cookies are simple text files stored by your web browser when you first visit a web site. They provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to the web sites. Cookies are used to identify a web user and may also be used to track a user's browsing habits. Web browsers normally accept cookies, unless the user has specifically turned the capability off.

The Water Patrol uses a “session” cookie only. The cookie does not install or save or read anything on your computer. It is simply used to temporarily remember some information to enhance the web application functionality. The cookie is deleted from your system when the browsing session is terminated.

Disclaimers

The Water Patrol shall not be liable to any person or entity for any loss or injury arising, directly or indirectly, out of or caused in whole or in part by the Water Patrol's errors, acts, or omissions in procuring, compiling, collecting, interpreting, reporting, communicating, delivering, or assembling the information, data, or records displayed on this web site.

Information Accuracy

The information contained in this web site was accurate and complete for the purposes for which it was collected at the time of publication. The Water Patrol reserves the right to make changes and improvements at any time and without notice and assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions, discrepancies, unauthorized modification of electronic data, errors in transmission, web browser incompatibilities, and other aspects of electronic communications that are beyond our control.

External Links

The Water Patrol Web site has many links to other web sites including links to web sites operated by other government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Inclusion of a Web site implies no endorsement or claim of its accuracy.

When you follow a link to another site, you are no longer on the the Water Patrol web site and this privacy policy will not apply. You are subject to the privacy policy of that new site, if one exists. You are encouraged to examine the privacy policy of that site.

(See External Link Policy below for further information)

Unauthorized Access / Site Security

Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this web site are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. 

To ensure that this service remains available to all users, the Water Patrol web site employs commercial software programs to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. 

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used and destroyed according to Hennepin County guidelines for records management and retention.

Contact Information

To offer comments about the information provided in this privacy policy or the site in general, you may contact:

Webmaster
Hennepin County Water Patrol
4141 Shoreline Drive
Spring Park, MN 55384

If you would prefer to send your comments via e-mail, send to webmaster@waterpatrol.org

External Link Policy

The Hennepin County Sheriff's Water Patrol strives to maintain a professional Internet web site that meets county standards as well as current conventions in local government web site management. This web site is provided as a public service to County residents and others seeking information and services from the Water Patrol. This web site is intended to aid the Water Patrol in pursuing its strategic mission, vision and goals. This web site is not intended as a public forum.

Objectives of External Link Policy

The objective and purpose of this policy is to provide a policy and procedures for the posting of hypertext links to externally controlled web sites (external links) on the Water Patrol web site. This policy applies to Water Patrol information and services provided on the web site domain www.waterpatrol.org, along with sub-domains generally referred to as the Water Patrol web site. External links may be provided to further the mission and goals of Water Patrol, however, this policy does not guarantee any party a link on the Water Patrol web site.

External Links

The Water Patrol web site may contain links to Internet web sites that are not under the control of the Water Patrol or Hennepin County. These external links are provided to further the purposes of the Water Patrol and not as a benefit to the linked party. The Water Patrol is not responsible for availability of external resources, the content of these web sites, or for any links the web sites may contain. The inclusion of external links does not mean that the Water Patrol endorses, warrants, or accepts responsibility for the content or uses of such web sites. The Water Patrol reserves the right to deny or remove external links at its sole discretion, at any time, without notice.

Conformance

All links on the Water Patrol web site to external Internet web pages must remain consistent with the principles and guidelines as stated herein.

  1. Links to commercial vendors/businesses who charge for services and/or information, media, public interest groups and private individual sites are generally prohibited.
  2. Links to the following types of web sites may be authorized by Web Administration or designee if the sites are determined to be consistent with the mission and goals of the Water Patrol.
    1. Government web sites, including federal, state, and local government.
    2. Sites of other government authorities which serve the residents of Hennepin County.
    3. Sites sponsored by civic groups or clubs whose purpose is in keeping with the mission of the Water Patrol and whose information may be considered useful to the visitor. (Examples are snowmobile clubs, the Power Squadron, etc.)
    4. Sites that provide software plug-ins necessary for the user to access files on the County web site, such as Adobe’s Acrobat  Reader plug-in.
    5. Links to research or data that supports a County program or activity.

Cooperative or Example Links

  1. Cooperative links are directly related to County sponsored or cosponsored activities, programs, or events.
  2. Example links are listings of sites that provide useful and valuable information, without being an exhaustive or representative list of all possible links.

Hennepin County may provide links to nonprofit and private partners, cosponsors, affiliates and coordinating agencies and groups with which we will cooperate in delivering specific services. The Water Patrol  is not bound to provide links to competing groups or similar groups under any circumstances. Providing cooperative or example links in the context of specific events or programs is not intended to affect competitive advantage in normal commercial enterprise or endorse political affiliation or intent in civic, religious or other community organizations.

Links shall not be made to web sites whose primary purpose is serving a specific candidate for elected office, or web sites whose primary purpose is supporting or seeking to defeat any specific candidate for elective office or ballot proposal.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments about this policy, direct them to webmaster@waterpatrol.org.

Hennepin County reserves the right to modify this external link policy at anytime without prior notice.