Internet Privacy Policy

Version 1.2
Updated 07.10.2008

Thank you for visiting the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management Web site.  Our homepage is located at http://www.adem.state.ar.us/.  ADEM is committed to protecting the privacy of those accessing its site.  The purpose of this policy is to inform our site visitors about the collection and use of information.  It was created to meet the requirements of Arkansas Act 1713 of 2003.

Simply stated, our policy is to collect no personal information about you when you visit our site, unless you affirmatively choose to make such information available to us when submitting an Incident Report or registering for training.

About Privacy and Security

This World Wide Web (WWW) site is provided as a public service by the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM).  This Internet privacy policy statement is a description of ADEM's current practices and shall not be construed as a contractual undertaking. ADEM reserves the right to amend its Internet Privacy Policy and this statement at any time without notice. This policy is valid for one day from the time that it is loaded by a client.  ADEM's privacy and public records obligations are governed solely by applicable Arkansas statutes, including, but not limited to, the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (25-19-101 et all) and any applicable United States federal laws.

Definitions

For the purposes of this policy "personally identifiable information" means any information collected online that could serve to identify an individual, such as:

• First and last name
• Physical address
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Social Security number
• Credit card information
• Account number
• Bank account information
• Any combination of personal information that could be used to determine identity

Arkansas Freedom of Information Act

Information which can be identified or associated with a particular person or persons that is available from government web sites is subject to these principles and policies:

• The Arkansas government has information about individuals, or which can be identified or associated with a particular individual, and this information is contained in the public records of the Arkansas state and local government. The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act addresses the type of government information which is available to the public. See Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105. Information generally available under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act and not made confidential elsewhere in the Arkansas Code or by federal law may be posted for electronic access to Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
• The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act recognizes many concerns people have with regard to public records that include information about them, including the right to correct inaccurate information. Consequently, persons concerned with regard to information about them should contact the custodian of the record, which typically is the state agency or other governmental entity that collects and maintains the information.

Information which can be identified or associated with a particular person or persons that is collected by the Department of Emergency Management is subject to these principles and policies:

• The information collected should only be that necessary to provide the information or services sought by the requester, just as a person might provide such information when visiting a governmental office in person. The information collected is subject to the same controls and uses as that collected by governmental offices visited in person, again subject to the access and confidentiality provisions of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, Ark Code Ann., § 25-19-101 through 25-19-107, or to other applicable sections of the Arkansas Code. This information is retained for an indeterminate period of time.  You do not have to provide personal information to visit the network's Web site or download this information.
• The IP (Internet Protocol) numbers of computers used to visit network sites are noted as part of our statistical analysis on use of our web site and how to better design services and facilitate access to them. Government agencies may request personally identifiable information from you in order to provide requested services, but such information is handled as it would be on an in-person visit to a government office.
• Various commercial Web sites may be linked through the network. These private sector sites are not subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Visitors to those sites may wish to check their privacy statements and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information.

Notice of Use

When you come to this web site to browse, our Web server automatically recognizes only the Internet domain and IP address from which you accessed the site. This information does not result in the identification of any personally-identifiable information.  In addition, information is only gathered regarding the volume and timing of access to the site by collecting information on the date, time and pages you visited while at the site.  This government computer system uses industry-standard software to create summary statistics, which are used for such things as assessing what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas so that the content of and functionality of our site can be improved.  We use the information we collect to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, and to help us make our pages more useful to visitors. This information is only used internally, does not contain personal identifiers, and will only be used for internal management purposes.

No other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes.

Where identifying information is required of you (to report an incident, etc.) that information is used only for completing the service requested and is not used for other purposes.  It is treated no differently than information provided to our agency in person, and is subject to the same controls and uses.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs industry-standard methods to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, or the Computer-Related Crimes provisions under Arkansas law, Ark. Code Ann. 5-41-101 et seq.

Simply stated:  We will never deliver to or sell your information to outside parties.  However, please be aware that as a public agency, under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), any records in the possession of ADEM may be subject to being inspected by or disclosed to members of the public for any purpose they may desire, unless specifically exempted by law.

Disclaimer of Liability

The State of Arkansas, the Department of Emergency Management, or any of its employees, shall not be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein and assumes no responsibility for anyone's use of the information. In no event shall the Department or its employees be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement or substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this system, even if advised of the possibility of such damage. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury, including but not limited to those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence or under any other cause of action.

Disclaimer of Warranties and Accuracy of Data

Although the data found using the Department's access systems have been produced and processed from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. This disclaimer applies to both isolated and aggregate uses of the information. The Department provides this information on an "as is" basis. All warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from contamination by computer viruses and non-infringement of proprietary rights are disclaimed. Changes may be periodically made to the information herein; these changes may or may not be incorporated in any new version of the publication. If you have obtained information from the Department from a source other than the Department, be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution. Data can also quickly become out-of-date. It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data associated with a file, and that the originator of the data or information be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, we encourage you to report them to the Department's webmaster (See ‘Contact Us’ below).

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The Department is a distributor of content sometimes supplied by third parties and users. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, users, or others, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Department or the State of Arkansas and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Department or the State of Arkansas.

Disclaimer of External Links

ADEM provides links to many web sites that are not controlled, maintained or regulated by ADEM. These include links to web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on ADEM's web site and this Privacy Policy will not apply. When you link to another web site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.

The Department is not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages referenced. The user specifically acknowledges that the Department is not liable for the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other users, links, or third parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with the user. Links from the Department on the World Wide Web to other sites do not constitute an endorsement from the Department or the State of Arkansas. These links are provided as an information service only. It is the responsibility of the web surfer to evaluate the content and usefulness of information obtained from other sites.

The Web is very dynamic and web site ownership and content change often.  If you find inappropriate or offensive content at a web site reached through one of the Department's links please contact us with details so we may take appropriate action and remove or correct the link.

Dispute Resolution and Privacy Seals

We have the following privacy seals and/or dispute resolution mechanisms. If you think we have not followed our privacy policy in some way, we can help you resolve your concern.

We invite you to contact us if you have questions about this policy.

Contact Us

We invite you to contact us if you have questions about this policy.

Arkansas Department of Emergency Management
Building #9501
Camp Joseph T. Robinson
North Little Rock, AR  72119
USA

Phone:  1.501.683.6700
E-mail:  Web Masters