Policies of the Council
Privacy Policy: www.ocscouts.org
Introduction
The Occoneechee Council ("the Coucil") is committed to respecting and
protecting the personal privacy of its members and those who visit its Web site.
It is our policy to acquire personal information from users only by overt and
voluntary means, only when it is in the interest of the user to provide it, and
to utilize this information only for the purpose it was provided.
The information that follows explains the kinds of information the Council
Web site collects, how it is used, and the conditions under which it is made
available to third parties, how information is maintained, and our compliance
with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
NOTE: This privacy policy applies only to
www.ocscouts.org. This privacy policy does not apply to any council or unit Web
site, as their content is not controlled by the National Council of the Boy
Scouts of America. Please contact the administrator of any council, unit, or
other Scouting-oriented Web site for information about their own privacy
policies and the information they collect about their site visitors.
What information does this site collect?
This site collects anonymous data that is not indicative of and cannot be
traced to an individual without the cooperation of their Internet Service
Provider. This data includes information about the user's remote IP address,
referral data (which page "linked" to the present request), and the browser
software's user-agent string. This information is accepted passively from the
HTTP headers that are sent from the user when requesting any file from the
server. Other anonymous data entered by the user may be collected in a common
repository, including terms entered into the search engine, ZIP codes entered
into the council locator, etc.
Personally identifiable data is collected only by means of form interfaces on
the site, into which the user must voluntarily enter the information requested.
This information is requested only when it is necessary to accomplish the overt
purpose indicated by the interface containing the form that requests it. Such
interfaces require only the information reasonably necessary to accomplish the
overt purpose indicated on the interface.
How do we use "Cookies"?
Visitors should be aware that non-personal information and data may be
automatically collected by the Occoneechee Council's Web site through the use of
"cookies." "Cookies" are small text files a Web site can use to recognize repeat
visitors, facilitate the visitor¹s ongoing access to and use of the site, and
allow a site to track usage behavior and compile aggregate data that will allow
content improvements. Cookies are not programs that come onto a visitor¹s system
and damage files. Generally, cookies work by assigning a unique number to the
visitor that has no meaning outside the assigning site. If a visitor does not
want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple
procedure in most browsers that allows the visitor to deny or accept the cookie
feature. the Council Web site simply uses "cookie" technology only to obtain
non-personal information from its online visitors in order to improve visitors¹
online experience and facilitate their visit within our site. The acceptance of
cookies by a visitor's browser is not required to visit our site. What
organization is collecting the information?
Information entered by site visitors is retrieved directly by the Boy Scouts
of America, Occoneechee Council.
How does the Council use the information it collects?
The anonymous information collected is used to monitor the usage of this Web
site and the interests of those who use it. Data such as the volume of traffic
to the server, the number of visitors a certain section of the site receives
each month, or the most popular search terms are analyzed to derive general
statistics about the site's reach and the audience's usage patterns.
Personally identifiable information is used only for the express purpose for
which it was submitted. For example, if a user enters their contact information
in a "register for training", “Contact Us”, “Send an Email”, type form, the
information will be used only for that event or to correspond with them
regarding the particular event.
With whom does the Council share the information that is collected?
The Council does not share personally identifiable information about its web
site visitors with anyone.
Reports, statistics, and other analyses of aggregate anonymous information
may be shared within the organization or provided to third parties at the sole
discretion of the Occoneechee Council. This information does not include any
personally identifiable information.
Exception: the Occoneechee Council and the Boy
Scouts of America reserve the right to use all information at their disposal and
to share this information with ISPs and other third parties as necessary to
investigate any incident of misuse or abuse of its site, server, or information
systems.
How does the Council maintain the information it collects?
In most cases, personally identifiable information is not maintained. Once it
has been used for its intended purpose, it is deleted. Because of the brevity of
this interval, no mechanism is provided to enable users to alter or delete
information they have submitted.
How does the Council comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection
Act (COPPA) of 1998?
The Occoneechee Council does not use its Web site to collect any personally
identifiable information from children under 13 years of age. Any interface that
requests personally identifiable information that appears on an interface that
can be expected to be viewed by children less than 13 years of age is
accompanied by a notice that submissions cannot be accepted from users less than
13 years of age. Where "age" or "date of birth" is requested, no information
will be stored or transmitted unless the response indicates that the user is 13
years of age or older.
Providing personal information is never a prerequisite for accessing any of
the content or resources on this Web site. Specifically, refusal to provide
personal information via a Web interface will never result in a user being
denied access to any on-line content or resource he would be able to access were
the information submitted.
To learn more about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of
1998, you may visit the Federal Trade Commission's web site.
Policy Modifications and Deviations
We may modify this privacy policy and will post those changes here. If the
privacy policy changes in the future, we will not disclose any personal
information you have submitted to us under the current Privacy Policy in a
manner that is materially inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, without your
prior consent.
It may be necessary to deviate from this general policy in unique instances
and for specific purposes. In such instances, a link will be provided to a
description of the deviation. This link will be placed where it can be
reasonably expected to be noticed prior to submitting any information for which
this privacy policy is modified or exempted in any way.