Privacy Policy
Version 1.0
October 05, 2010

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Privacy Policy

The policy of the Freedom of Information Commission is to respect and protect the privacy of our website users, consistent with the applicable laws of the United States and the State of Connecticut, including the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act and the Connecticut Personal Data Act. We do not collect or solicit personal information.  We will, however, disclose any personal information that is subject to public disclosure under applicable law.

In addition, visitors should be aware that the Freedom of Information Commission could be required to disclose personal information in response to valid legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena, or court order.  Disclosures may also be necessary to protect the Freedom of Information Commission’s legal rights or during emergencies if physical safety is believed to be at risk. We think that these events are unlikely, but they are possible.

Policy Revision and Notification of Changes

The Freedom of Information Commission will update this policy as new services and features are added. We will tell our users about policy changes through notices on this page, which will always contain a version number and date. Any information collected under the current policy will remain subject to these terms. Information collected after any changes take effect will be subject to the revised privacy policy.

What Information About Users Does the Freedom of Information Commission Collect?

A. Automatic Information

The following information is collected and stored automatically from all users accessing the CT.gov web sites, including ours, to browse or download information:

The Internet domain and Internet Protocol address from which you access our site;
The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
The date and time you access our site;
The pages you visit; and
If you linked to CT.gov from another website, the address of that website.
This information is used to create summary statistics, which are used for purposes such as assessing what information is of most interest to users, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas.

It is our understanding that this information is not reported or used by CT.gov in any manner that would reveal personally identifiable information, and will not be released to any outside (third) parties unless legally required.

B. Personal Information You Provide to Us

The Freedom of Information Commission does not retain personally identifiable information about you when you visit our web sites unless you choose to provide such information to us (i.e. sending an e-mail, participating in a survey, responding to a feedback or "contact us" form, etc.)

We consider any information that could reasonably be used to identify you as "personally identifying information." This includes, but is not limited to:

Your name
Your address
Your e-mail address
Your Social Security number
Your password
Bank account information
Credit card information
Any combination of data that could be used to identify you such as your birth date, your zip code and your gender.
We 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 our agency.

If personal information is requested on the web site or volunteered by the user, state or federal law may protect it. However, this information is a public record once you provide it, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.

E-Mail Communications and Web Forms

If you send us an electronic mail message with a question or comment that contains personally identifying information, or fill out a form that e-mails us information, we ordinarily will only use this personally identifying information to respond to your request. We may redirect your message to another government agency or person that is in a better position to answer your question.  However, this information is a public record when you provide it, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.

All e-mail messages collected by the Freedom of Information Commission contain the e-mail addresses of persons who voluntarily communicated with or requested information from us. E-mail addresses are not sold or leased. When a user has given us his/her e-mail address for purposes of communicating with or requesting information from us, that communication becomes part of the public record and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.

Does the Freedom of Information Commission use Cookies to Collect Information About a User?

We do not use cookies to retain information on our site. A cookie is a text file, not a program, which is sent to your computer when you access a site. Cookies do not disclose your name or e-mail address to a web site. They can only tell a web site if you have visited before and can pass short bits of information from the web site back to itself the next time you visit.

Does the Freedom of Information Commission Share the Information it Receives with Anyone?

Except as provided by applicable state and federal laws, we do not collect, use or disclose user information without the user’s knowledge and approval.

In addition, all our contractors must comply with this policy.

Can I Access and Correct My Personal Information?

Persons concerned about information contained in their personal records should contact us directly.

The Freedom of Information Commission does not collect any personally identifiable information other than what you provide us.

Do I Have a Choice About Whether or Not My Personal Information is Provided to Others?

The Freedom of Information Commission does not obtain personally identifiable information about you when you visit our web sites unless you choose to provide such information to us (i.e. sending an e-mail, participating in a survey, responding to a feedback or "contact us" form, etc.).  Except when prohibited by applicable law, we do disclose, but do not sell or lease, any personal information about our users to any other government or commercial entity for any purpose.

There may be instances when we send ongoing updates or announcements to interested parties. In such cases, visitors will have the choice whether or not to receive these updates or announcements.

However, it is important to understand that under applicable state and federal law, various forms of correspondence and other communications may be subject to public disclosure.

Commitment to Security

The Department of Information Technology, which manages the computers that support our web site, has put into place appropriate safeguards to ensure that any personal information is secure from destruction, corruption, unauthorized access and breach of confidentiality. This effort includes an ongoing review of safety measures, implementation of changes, and regular training for their personnel.

Disclaimer/Links to other Sites

Our web site contains links to other web sites. These may include links to web sites operated by other government agencies, non-profit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on our web site and this privacy notice does not apply. When you link to another web site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that web site.

For Further Information, Contact:

If you wish to contact the Commission, you may do so at the following address and telephone number:

Freedom of Information Commission
18-20 Trinity Street - Suite 100
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Telephone: (860) 566-5682; TOLL-FREE (CT ONLY): (866) 374-3617
Fax: (860) 566-6474
EMAIL: foi@ct.gov
WEBSITE: http://www.state.ct.us/foi/

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Please Note: Other Connecticut state government agencies, organizations' and institutions' privacy policies may be different from this one.

Individual Connecticut state government agencies, organizations and institutions with web addresses in the form of www."xyz".state.ct.us or www.state.ct.us/"xyz"  where "xyz" is a state agency/organization name or acronym), https://ctstatelibrary.org/ (Connecticut State Library), dep.state.ct.us (Department of Environmental Protection), www.ctdhe.org (Department of Higher Education), dmvct.org (Department of Motor Vehicles), wcc.state.ct.us (Worker's Compensation Commission), www.ctstateu.edu or www."xyz".ctstateu.edu (where "xyz" is one of four Connecticut State University campus acronyms), www.commnet.edu or www."xyz" commnet.edu (where "xyz" is one of twelve Connecticut Community-Technical college campus acronyms), www.uconn.edu or www."xyz" uconn.edu (where "xyz" is the name of a regional campus or professional school at the University of Connecticut), www.cosc.edu (Charter Oak State College), www.uchc.edu (University of Connecticut Heath Center), www.jud.state.ct.us (Judicial Branch) and www.cga.state.ct.us (Legislative Branch), may have their own privacy policies and they may be significantly different from this one.

More important, individual service delivery functions or data collection applications within those agencies', organizations and institutions may have privacy policies specific to those particular activities.

Please take the time to locate, read and understand the privacy policy associated with the particular Connecticut state government site or application you are using.