Muskegon Government Privacy Policy

August 24, 2008

Muskegon-MI.gov Privacy Policy

NOTE: Also see the Muskegon Government Terms of Service.

This privacy policy describes how we handle your personal information for services available through the City Web Site (the “Web Site”). By accepting the Privacy Policy and the Conditions of Use Agreement through your use of this Web Site and/or in registration of an account or other use of this Web Site, you expressly consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is effective upon acceptance for new users and is otherwise effective on October 17, 2008, and shall continue to be effective thereafter for all users until such time as this Privacy Policy shall be revised.

COLLECTION
You may browse the Web Site without telling us who you are or revealing any personal information about yourself. Once you give us your personal information, you are not anonymous to us. If you choose to provide us with personal information, you consent to the transfer and storage of that information to our servers.
We may collect and store the following personal information:

• email address, physical contact information, and other identifying information you provide us;

• transaction information based on your activities on the Web Site (such as browsing and searching, including item and content you generate from such search or that relates to your use);

• computer sign-on data, statistics on page views, traffic to and from the Web Site, and ad date: other information, including IP address and standard web log information; and

• supplemental information from third parties.

MARKETING
We may provide your personal information to third parties related to this Web Site for their marketing purposes. We may also combine your information with the information we collect from other companies (such as demographic data) to improve and personalize our services.

USE
Our primary purpose in collecting personal information is to provide you with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience and to provide you with information related to available real estate in West Michigan. You agree that we may use your personal information to:

• provide the services and support you request;

• prevent, potentially prohibited or illegal activities, and enforce our Conditions of Use Agreement;

• customize, measure, and improve our services and the Web Site’s content and layout; and

• tell you about targeted marketing, updates, and promotional offers based on your communication preferences; and compare information for accuracy, and verify it with third parties.

OUR DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION
We may disclose personal information to respond to legal requirements, enforce our policies, respond to claims that a listing or other content violates the rights of others, or protect anyone’s rights, property, or safety.
We may also share your personal information with:

• real estate developers or service providers related to the Web Site;

• other third parties to whom you explicitly ask us to send your information;

• law enforcement or other governmental officials, in response to a verified request relating to a criminal investigation or alleged illegal activity (In such events we will disclose name, city, state, telephone number, and email address); and

Although we attempt to restrict disclosure as provided in the agreement, City and any related entity or individual shall not be liable under any circumstances for any disclosure of any kind whether intentional or unintentional.

COOKIES
We may use cookies (small files placed on your hard drive) on certain pages of the Web Site to help analyze our web page flow, customize our services, measure promotional effectiveness, and promote trust and safety.

A few important things you should know about cookies are that:

• We may offer certain features that are only available through the use of cookies;

• We may use cookies to help identify you and maintain your signed-in status;

• Most cookies are session cookies, meaning that they are automatically deleted from your hard drive at the end of a session; and

• You are always free to decline cookies if your browser permits, although doing so may interfere with your use of the Web Site.

You may encounter cookies from third parties on certain pages of the Web Site that we do not control. (For example, if you view a web page created by another user, there may be a cookie placed by that web page.) We are not responsible for cookies placed by web sites not under our control and any information obtained by such cookies.

THIRD PARTIES
Except as otherwise expressly included in this Privacy Policy, this document addresses only the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. If you disclose your information to others, whether they are advertisers, buyers, or sellers on our Web Site or other sites throughout the Internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. Since the City does not control the privacy policies of third parties, you are subject to the privacy policies of those third parties. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose your personal information to others.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
Please note that this Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We will post any Policy changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, for certain services, email notification of Policy changes).