PRIVACY POLICY
Forsyth County Government respects your individual privacy. This Privacy
Policy ('Policy') embodies our commitment to its protection through adherence to
fair electronic information practices. This Policy puts you, the individual, in
control of how your personal information is processed . You have our promise
that we will not electronically process your personal information in any way
that is incompatible with this Policy.
Information Collection and Use
Information Collection
Forsyth County Government is the sole owner of the information collected on
www.forsythco.com. Forsyth County Government collects information from our users
at several different points on our Web site.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's computer tied to information
about the user. Usage of a cookie is in no way linked to any personally
identifiable information while on our site. We only use session ID cookies which
terminate once the user closes the browser.
By setting a session ID cookie on our site we are able to track any
interactive transactions providing additional security to the user. If users
reject the cookie, they may still use our site though they will find some areas
that will not respond correctly and they will not be able to place orders.
Log Files
Like most standard Web site servers we use log files. This includes internet
protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP),
referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to
analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement in the aggregate, and
gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are
not linked to personally identifiable information.
Communications from the Site
Web-based email
Users who utilize our web-based email to send information to Commissioners,
Departments, or any other person or persons should provide a vailid email
address that could be used for replys. Anyone who uses the web-based email for
the purposes of sending willfully or corruptly false statements, accusations,
remarks in regard to any information in the manner to commit or attempt to
commit any fraud will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Special Offers and Updates
Users may occasionally receive information on products, services, or
special events. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present the
option to not receive these types of communications. Please see the Choice and
Opt-out sections.
Customer Service
We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services
and in regards to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone,
in accordance with the users wishes.
Sharing
Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to
disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith
belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial
proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our Web site.
These are the instances in which we may share users' personal
information:
Third Party Intermediaries
We may use an outside shipping company to ship orders, and a credit card
processing company to bill users for goods and services. These companies do not
retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any
secondary purposes.
Choice/Opt-out
Our users are given the opportunity to 'opt-out' of having their
information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point
where we ask for information. For example, any order form has an 'opt-out'
mechanism so users who buy a product from us, but don't want any marketing
material, can keep their email address off of our lists.
Links
This Web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we,
Forsyth County Government, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such
other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to
read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally
identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information
collected by this Web site.
Security
This Web site takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When
users submit sensitive information via the Web site, their information is
protected both online and off-line.
When our registration/order form asks users to enter sensitive information
(such as credit card number), that information is encrypted and is protected
with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page,
such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as
Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to
un-locked, or open, when users are just 'surfing'.
While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also
do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our
users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is
restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a
specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service
representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The
servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure
environment, in a locked facility.
If users have any questions about the security at our Web site, users can
send an email to
webmaster@forsythco.com.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating Personal Information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as zip code,
phone, email or postal address), or if a user no longer desires our service, we
provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally
identifiable information. This can usually be done by emailing our Director of
the Department of Communications at
forsythpr@forsythco.com.
Notification of Changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to
this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate so
our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and
under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in
accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected.
If, however, we are going to use users' personally identifiable information in a
manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users
via email. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their
information in this different manner. However, if users have opted out of all
communication with the site then they will not be contacted, nor will their
personal information be used in this new manner. In addition, if we make any
material changes in our privacy practices that do not affect user information
already stored in our database, we will post a prominent notice on our Web site
notifying users of the change. In some cases where we post a notice we will also
email users, who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of
the changes in our privacy practices.
Contact Information
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy,
please contact us at:
Phone: 770-781-2101
Fax: 770-781-2199
Email: webmaster@forsythco.com.
Postal Address:
110 East Main Street
Suite 210
Cumming, Georgia U.S.A
30040