MASSACHUSETTS
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY WEB SITE
PRIVACY POLICY
(Last Updated August 18, 2003)
Welcome to the web site
of the Massachusetts Unclaimed Property
Division a department of the Massachusetts
State Treasurer & Receiver
General. Your privacy is one of our
top priorities. The following policy applies
only to the use of the Unclaimed
Property web site. Other web sites
operated by the Massachusetts State Treasury or other state agencies
have different policies. We strongly
suggest that you read the privacy
policies for each web site that
you visit.
A Privacy Partnership. Your privacy
with respect to the use of this web
site results from a partnership
between the Commonwealth and you,
the user. At this web site, we
attempt to protect your privacy to
the maximum extent possible. However,
because some of the information
that we receive through this web
site is subject to Public
Records Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter
66, Section 10, we cannot ensure
absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through
this
site may be made available to members
of the public. This policy
is meant to inform you of how
we utilize this information, specifically
detailing what we do with the information
you provide, to whom it may be
disseminated and how you can access it. Based on this information,
you can make an informed choice
about your use of this site. You
can maximize the benefits
of your privacy partnership with the
Commonwealth by making informed
choices about whether to share
personally identifiable information with us through this site.
Personally Identifiable Information.
We use the term "personally identifiable information" to
mean any information that could reasonably
be used to identify you, including
your name, address, e-mail address,
social security number, birth date,
bank account information, credit card
information, or any combination of
information that could be used to
identify you.
Information Voluntarily Provided
by You.
This site collects voluntary information
in different ways including e-mails,
claim submissions and information
you provide, e.g. your fax number, e-mail
address or information we require
to complete an authorized transaction.
| Information Automatically Collected and Stored.
Session cookies are specifically used on this web site-- these
are cookies created by the web site that exist only as long
as you visit this web site. They are not stored permanently
on your computer. Cookies are a small piece of data stored
locally by your browser that saves information and helps identify
you to web sites upon subsequent visits. We will not attempt
to match any personally identifiable information that you provide,
unless required by law. |
Dissemination of Your Personally
Identifiable Information. We
do not sell any personally
identifiable information collected
through this web site. The information
that you voluntarily submit will
be disclosed to our employees
or officials for the purposes
of fulfilling
their job responsibilities. However,
once you voluntarily submit personally
identifiable information to us,
its dissemination is governed by
the Public
Records Law, the Fair Information Practices Act (Massachusetts
General Laws
Chapter 66A), Executive Order 412, and other applicable laws
and regulations. Therefore, part
or all of the information you
provide may be subject to a public records
request and furnished to a member
of the public.
We retain information we collect
under some of our programs
for an indefinite period to help
us provide you with notifications
of our newer programs, and future events. We will only use
the
information to answer your questions,
respond to any requests for assistance,
and fulfill the Commonwealth's
legal obligations. When appropriate, we may provide the information
you
submitted to the person or company
that is the subject of your
inquiry. In addition, we
may
provide the information submitted
to the government agency responsible
for the matters referred to in your communication.
Minors. This web site does
not seek to collect information
from individuals under
the age of 18. Individuals
under the age of 18 should receive
permission from their
parent or legal guardian before providing
any information.
Third Party Web Sites.
This site may provide
links to other Internet
sites controlled by third parties
not affiliated with
the Massachusetts State Treasury or the
Unclaimed Property
Division. These sites may have
privacy statements
that differ from this privacy
statement. You should
review the privacy statement of any third
party web site that
you access from this site.
The inclusion of links
from this site to
others does not imply any
endorsement by the
Massachusetts State Treasury or the
Unclaimed Property
Division of any product, service or vendor.
Any mention of products,
services or vendors is for informational purposes only.
Your Access and Opportunity
to Correct. The Public
Records Law and the
Fair Information
Practices Act provide you certain rights to obtain
information about
yourself that we maintain. To
learn more about
the circumstances, under which this information can be accessed
and
corrected,
please click on the
above references
to these laws.
Security. The Unclaimed Property Division
is committed to protecting the security of your personal
information. We use procedural and technical safeguards to
protect your personal information against loss or theft as
well as unauthorized access. We use Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
to protect the transmission of your information to us.
This technology encrypts the information you provide, such as your social security
number, making it virtually impossible for anyone other than Unclaimed Property
Personnel to read it. Servers that store personally identifiable information
are in a secure environment, in a locked facility. The Unclaimed Property
Division is currently the only department of the Massachusetts State Treasury
that utilizes this technology.
Although the Massachusetts State Treasury and the Unclaimed
Property Division has taken steps to ensure that your personal
information is secure, we cannot guarantee that the information
you provide will not be intercepted by others and decrypted.
We are not liable for a breach of security that occurs for
reasons outside of our control. |
Policy changes.
The information
contained within this privacy
policy may expand
or change over time without
notice. Please
check back periodically for updates. We will
post substantive
changes
to this policy
at least 30 days
before they take effect. Any information we collect under
the current privacy
policy will remain
subject to the
terms
of this policy.
After any changes
take effect, all new information we collect, if
any, will be subject
to the new policy.
Contact Information.
For questions
about your privacy while
using this
Web site, please
contact webmaster@tre.state.ma.us.
Information collected in our
site:Unclaimed Property ‘cookies”
and voluntary
submissions– links to third
party
web sites
have their own policies
|
