Policies & Disclaimers

If you browse or download information during your visit to this website, we collect and store standard data collected by all web server software. That information is:

 

1. The Internet Protocol (IP) address used for your connection (but not your email address). The IP address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer. We use the Internet IP to respond to your browser request. Example: 172.20.17.75
2. The domain name assigned to your IP Address (if there is one). Example: somedomain.com
3. The type of browser and operating system you used. Example: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows NT; IE4WDUS-1998101501)
4. The date and time you visited this site
5. The web pages or services you accessed at this site
6. The website you visited prior to coming to this site. (Note: this is included so that summary analysis can be done on how visitors get to our site, i.e., from a search engine, from a link on another site, etc.)

We do summarize the information listed above to determine:

 

• What visitors are our most frequent users (item 2 above) to better target our content for the audience
• What browsers are being used on our site to determine what techniques we should use to develop pages that will work with different browsers (item 3 above)
• How often our pages are being visited (item 5 above)
• Traffic from organization names such as search engines that direct people to the site (item 6 above)

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this site may monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. If security monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, system personnel may provide the results of such monitoring to appropriate officials. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the state law and federal statutes.

All information on this site is a public record and subject to the Florida’s Open Government and Public Records laws. In the State of Florida, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by county government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records based on the privacy of individuals. Both state and federal laws provide exceptions. We may request personally identifiable information from you in order to provide requested services, but such information is handled as it would be for an in-person visit to a governmental office.

"Personal information" is information about a person that is readily identifiable to that individual, such as an individual's name, address and telephone number. Such personal information may be exempt from disclosure if disclosure would constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy under the circumstances. A domain name or Internet Protocol (IP) address is not considered personal information. Most information collected by county government is assumed to be open to the public unless specifically exempted.

All information collected at this site becomes a public record unless an exemption in law exists. See Public Disclosure section above for more information on email privacy.

You have the right to review information collected about you by this site. Contact the agency that provides the service you requested.

This site uses the industry standard encryption software Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to enable secure transmission of data. The URL in your browser will change to "HTTPS" instead of "HTTP" when this security feature is invoked. Your browser may also display a lock or key symbol on its task bar to indicate invoked secure transmission. If these indicators are not present, information may be susceptible to interception by other parties. Most Internet email communication is not considered secure. If you are communicating sensitive information, consider sending it in by postal mail or contacting the agency by phone.

A cookie file is a small text file created on your computer by a website. This file contains information the site can use to track such things as your passwords, lists of pages you have visited, the date when you last looked at a specific page, or to identify your session at a particular website. Cookies are used by this site to collect anonymous usage data as well as identify items selected for purchase or payment and to enable site registration functions. While most browsers have an option that prohibits cookies, this option may disable some features on county sites that cannot be used if cookies are turned off.

Manatee County does not accept solicitations to add links to external websites and advertising is not allowed on the Manatee County website. Links from Manatee County's website to other sites on the internet do not constitute an endorsement of the County. When an organization or business sponsors or partners with the Manatee County for an event, project, program, campaign or similar, the County may display on the County website images and external links for the entity, to the extent that it pertains to the function or program.

External links are permitted when necessary to help the public obtain timely information about County-related programs, services, activities, policies or committees. These include links to sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you use one of these links, you are no longer on this site and this Privacy Notice will not apply. When you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of that site.

When you follow a link to one of these sites neither the County, nor any agency, officer, or employee of Manatee County warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published by these external sites, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from these systems, and cannot be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of their information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from these systems does so at his or her own risk.

Manatee County and its elected and appointed officers, employees and agents do not warrant the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information contained in this website and shall not be held liable for any costs or losses of any kind caused by any reliance on such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity who relies on any information contained herein does so at his, her or its own risk and website visitors are encouraged to consult with Manatee County's officers, employees and agents directly before any reliance is made. Any transmitted information may be deemed a public record under Florida law, subject to inspection or copying.