Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) website. This website is designed to make it easier and more efficient for New York State citizens and businesses to interact with their State government. Like all online resources, we recognize that visitors to this website are concerned about their privacy. The State of New York is committed to preserving your privacy when visiting this website. This policy describes the State's privacy practices regarding information collected from visitors to this website. This policy describes what data is collected and how that information is used. The State may, at its sole discretion, change modify, add, or delete portions of this policy. Because this privacy policy only applies to this website, you should examine the privacy policy of any website, including other State websites, you access through this website.

Information Collected When You Visit this Website

When visiting this website the State automatically collects and stores the following information about your visit:

  1. The Internet Protocol address and domain name of your Internet service provider. The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer, which can be used to direct internet traffic to you;
  2. The type of browser and operating system you used;
  3. The date and time you visited this site;
  4. The web pages or services you accessed at this site; and
  5. The URL or web site address of the web site you visited prior to coming to this website and from which any web page on this site was linked.

This information is used to improve this website's content and to help the State understand how people are using this website. This information is collected for statistical analysis, to determine what information is of most and of least interest to our visitors, and to identify system performance or problem areas. The information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and the State does not sell or distribute the information collected from the Portal for commercial marketing purposes. The information is retained in accordance with the public record retention provisions in the State Arts and Cultural Affairs Law.

Information Collected When You Email this Website

If during your visit to this website you send an email to the State, your email address and the contents of your email will be collected. The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us. The information is retained in accordance with the public record retention provisions in the State Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. Your email address and the information contained in your email will be used to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to further improve this website, or to forward your email to another agency for appropriate action. Your email address is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and the State does not sell or distribute your email address for commercial marketing purposes.

Personal Information and Choice

"Personal information" is information about an individual (e.g. an individual's name, address, and phone number). A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information. Personal information is not collected through this website unless you send an email to the State through this website. If you do not communicate with this website it does not affect your ability to use any other features of this website or other State government websites. Currently, the State does not knowingly collect personal information from children or create profiles of children through this website. People are cautioned that the collection of personal information provided by any individual in an email will be treated the same as information given by an adult, and may, if not protected by federal or State law, be subject to public access. The State encourages parents and teachers to be involved in children's Internet activities and guide the children whenever children are asked to provide personal information on-line.

Disclosure of Information Collected Through This Website

Information collected through this website, personal or otherwise, may, if not protected by federal or State law, be subject to disclosure pursuant to law, such as the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), or court order. Additionally, the State may disclose personal information to federal or State law enforcement authorities to enforce its rights against unauthorized access or attempted unauthorized access to the State's information.

Security

The State limits employee access to personally identifiable information from this website to only those employees who need access to perform a specific job. Security measures have been integrated into the design, implementation, and day-to-day operations of this website as part of our continuing commitment to the security of electronic content as well as the electronic transmission of information. NOTE: The information contained in this policy should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided via this website. For site security purposes and to ensure that this website remains available to all users, the State employs software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage to this website.

Cookies

This website is designed to become your personalized access to state government, where you decide what information from state government websites is important to you, and create your own unique state government page. This ability to customize this website is achieved through the use of persistent cookies, which are simple text files stored by your web browser that provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to websites. Cookies created on the device you use to access this website do not contain personally identifiable information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature to store a randomly generated identifying tag on the device you use to access this website. The use of cookies is a standard practice among Internet websites. The software and hardware you use to access this website allows you to refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file at any time.

Links Disclaimer

In order to provide visitors with certain information, this website provides links to local, State and federal government agencies, and websites of other organizations. A link does not constitute an endorsement of the content, viewpoint, accuracy, opinions, policies, products, services, or accessibility of that website. Once you link to another website from this website, including one maintained by the State, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that website, including, but not limited to, its privacy policy.

Information Disclaimer

Information provided on this website is intended to allow the public immediate access to public information. While all attempts are made to provide accurate, current, and reliable information, the State recognizes the possibility of human and/or mechanical error. Therefore, the State, its employees, officers and agencies make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, or suitability of the information provided by this website, and deny any expressed or implied warranty as to the same.

Contact Information

For questions regarding the Privacy Policy please contact [email protected].