In the State of Illinois, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has access to appropriate information obtained and held by the government. At the same time, the Macon County recognizes that personal information collected by the county should be used only for the purpose for which it is collected. Except as authorized by law, such information will not be disclosed to other persons or organizations. Therefore, it is the policy of the Macon County that all personal information collected by Macon County government web sites shall be subject to the following principles:

Electronic information - information collected and held electronically shall be afforded the same protection as non-electronic information;

Collection of personal information - the collection of personal information shall be limited to and consistent with the requirements of the government program or activity;

Use of personal information - individuals shall be informed as to why information is being collected and how it will be used;

Disclosure of personal information - disclosure of information shall be limited to the purpose for which it was collected unless otherwise authorized by law; when practical and provided by law, information may be obtained from other government entities;

Access to personal information - individuals shall be allowed a reasonable opportunity to obtain access to their personal information and to ensure that it is correct; and

Security precautions - reasonable precautions shall be taken to ensure the security of personal information.

Automatically Collected Information

We collect and temporarily store certain technical information about your visit for use in site management and security purposes. This information includes:

This information is only used to help us make our site more useful for you. With this data we learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are retained as required for security and site management purposes only.

• The Internet domain from which you access our Web site (for example, "somecompany.com" , or "someschool.edu", or "somenet.net");
• The IP address (a unique number for each computer connected to the Internet) from which you access our Web site;
• The type of browser (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer) used to access our site;
• The number of bytes of data transmitted during your visit.
• The operating system (Windows, Unix) used to access our site;
• The date and time you access our site;
• The URLs of the pages you visit;
• Your username, if it was used to log in to the Web site; and
• If you visited the Macon County web site from another Web site, the URL of the forwarding site.

Personal Information

If you choose to provide us with personal information, through such methods as completing a form or sending us an email, we will use that information to respond to your message and to help us get you the information or services you have requested.

Remember that email isn't necessarily secure. You should never send sensitive or personal information like your Social Security number in an email. Use postal mail or secure Web sites instead.

Some of our Web sites ask visitors who request specific information to fill out a registration form. For example, vendors looking for marketing opportunities by visiting our NASA Acquisition Internet Service site may be asked to register to obtain email notices of business opportunities. Other information collected at web sites through questionnaires, feedback forms, or other means, enables us to determine visitors' interests, with the goal of providing better service to our customers.

Public Disclosure

Macon County does not disclose any personal information except when: permission has been granted by the individual; where the information is not otherwise protected from disclosure by applicable state or federal laws; or, we are required to do so by law, subpoena, court order or legal process.

Security

Macon County has instituted security measures to protect the information and systems that we maintain. These measures are designed to ensure that this service remains available to all users by blocking unauthorized access to our systems and preventing corruption of data, thus providing reasonable protection of personal information in our possession.