Statement of Privacy
Howard County, Maryland is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the Howard County, Maryland Web site or sites and governs data collection and usage. By using the Howard County, Maryland Web site or sites, you consent to the data practices described in this Statement of Privacy.
Collection of your Personal Information
Howard County, Maryland collects personally identifiable information, such as your email address, name, home or work address or telephone number. Howard County, Maryland also collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests and favorites.
There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by Howard County, Maryland. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used by Howard County, Maryland to provide analytics on use of the Howard County, Maryland web site or sites, to maintain quality of the website, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Howard County, Maryland Web site or sites.
Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through Howard County, Maryland public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others. Note: Howard County, Maryland does not read any of your private online communications.
Howard County, Maryland encourages you to review the privacy statements of Web sites you choose to link to from Howard County, Maryland so that you can understand how those Web sites collect, use and share your information. Howard County, Maryland is not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on Web sites outside of the Howard County, Maryland and Howard County, Maryland family of Web sites.
Use of your Personal Information
Howard County, Maryland collects and uses your personal information to operate the Howard County, Maryland Web sites and deliver the services you have requested. Howard County, Maryland also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from Howard County, Maryland and its affiliates. Howard County, Maryland may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.
Howard County, Maryland does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties. Howard County, Maryland may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (e-mail, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, Howard County, Maryland may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to Howard County, Maryland, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.
Howard County, Maryland does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.
Howard County, Maryland keeps track of the Web sites and pages our customers visit within Howard County, Maryland, in order to determine what Howard County, Maryland services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within Howard County, Maryland to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.
Howard County, Maryland will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Howard County, Maryland or the Howard County, Maryland Web site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Howard County, Maryland; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Howard County, Maryland, or the public.
Howard County Mobile App
Howard County, Maryland is using CivicPlus LLC and its subsidiary, SeeClickFix, the developers of an online and mobile service request system which powers TellHoCo and reporting forms. TellHoCo is an application that allows people to report non-emergency related issues to Howard County, Maryland. TellHoCo can be used via the Web on a desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, or tablet.
TellHoCo is a public application. The description entered will be visible to the public. Your display name will also be visible unless you choose to submit as “anonymous”. Your email address will never be displayed publicly.
Use of Cookies
The Howard County, Maryland Web sites use "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a Web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize Howard County, Maryland pages, or register with a Howard County, Maryland Web site or services, a cookie helps Howard County, Maryland to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same Howard County, Maryland Web site, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the Howard County, Maryland features that you customized.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the Howard County, Maryland services or Web sites you visit.
Security of your Personal Information
Howard County, Maryland secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Howard County, Maryland secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other Web sites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
Changes to this Statement
Howard County, Maryland will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect company and customer feedback. Howard County, Maryland encourages you to periodically review this Privacy Statement to be informed of how Howard County, Maryland is protecting your information.
Contact Information
Howard County, Maryland welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that Howard County, Maryland has not adhered to this Statement of Privacy, please contact Howard County, Maryland at ask@howardcountymd.gov. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.