Privacy Statement - updated 29 August 2007
Website of Connacht Waste
Connacht Waste has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy. By visiting ConnachtWaste.ie you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Notice.
This statement relates to our privacy practices in connection with the aforementioned websites. We are not responsible for the content or pricacy practices of other websites. Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such. Some technical terms used in this statement are explained at the end of this page.
General Statement
Connacht Waste fully respects your right to privacy, and we will not collect any personal information about you on this website without your clear permission. Any information which you volunteer to Connacht Waste's websites will be treated with the highest standard of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Acts, 1988 & 2003.
What Personal Information About Customers Does Connacht Waste Gather?
The information we learn from customers helps us personalise and continually improve your online experience at ConnachtWaste.ie. Here are the types of information we gather:
Information You Give Us:
We receive and store any information you enter on our website or give us in any other way. You can choose not to provide certain information, but then you might not be able to take advantage of many of our features. When you register for an account, we require personal information (like name, email address, etc.). We use the information that you provide for such purposes as responding to your requests, customising our online services for you, improving our online services, and communicating with you.
Where a user voluntarily provides personal information, the data will be used for analysis, research or customer service purposes only. Any personal data provided by you to us will be held in accordance with the data protection principles set out in the Data Protection (Amendment) Act, 2003, the Data Protection Act, 1988, Electronic Commerce Act, 2000, and other relevant EU and Irish legislation.
If we do use mailing lists to pass on information on your account(s) or promotions to you about our online services, we will always have a clear mechanism for you to remove yourself from future mailings.
Connacht Waste assures you that the identity of all who contact us through this website is kept confidential: we do not rent, sell, or exchange mailing lists, or otherwise disclose such information to third parties, except as may be required by law, or through voluntary cooperation with law enforcement authorities if we judge that such cooperation is necessary to combat fraud or other crime.
Automatic Information:
For general web browsing no personal information is revealed to us, although certain statistical information is available to us from our website logs. For example, like many websites, we obtain certain types of information when your web browser (browsers are pieces of software that allow you to access the internet; examples include: Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, etc.) accesses ConnachtWaste.ie. See below for examples. Also, to ensure the security of your online account information in our ePayments area, we use cookies to ensure that security is maintained by preventing the “hijacking†of your online identity (see below for more on cookies). The only information that is stored in that cookie is a key code which can be used by our server only during the current visit to verify your identity online. The cookie becomes unusable after either the user logs out or after 20 minutes of inactivity on our website.
Examples of information collected:
- Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the internet (for example 192.168.88.21)
- Login—if using our account services
- Email address—if you email any of our public email addresses
- Computer and connection information such as browser type and version, operating system, platform, referring url and pages visited
Connacht Waste will make no attempt to identify individual visitors or to associate the technical details listed above with any individual, except in cases where criminal activity has taken place (i.e. in response to a "hacking" incident). It is the policy of Connacht Waste never to disclose such technical information in respect of individual website visitors to a third party (except for law-enforcement bodies and then only in response to illegal activity such as "hacking"; also our Internet Service Providor which records such data on our behalf and which is bound by confidentiality provisions in this regard), unless obliged to disclose such information by a rule of law. The technical information will be used only by Connacht Waste, and only for statistical and other administrative purposes. You should not that technical details, which we cannot associate with any identifiable individual, do not constitute "personal data" for the purposes of the Data Protection Acts, 1988 & 2003.
Cookies
Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer's hard drive through your web browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser and to provide security while you access the Members’ Area.
The "Help" portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of some of ConnachtWaste.ie’s account-based features, and we recommend that you leave them turned on.
To ensure the security of your online account information in our Members’ Area, we use cookies to ensure that security is maintained by preventing the “hijacking†of your online identity (see below for more on cookies). The only information that is stored in that cookie is a key code which can be used by our server only during the current visit to verify your identity online. The cookie becomes unusable after either the user logs out or after 20 minutes of inactivity on our website.
Does ConnachtWaste.ie Share the Information it Receives?
Rarely. In cases where there is a statutory requirement to share information with a government agency or other local authority or where your information must be shared with another agency in order to answer a customer query, then the minimum amount of information required will be shared in an appropriate manner. Generally, information is shared with other agencies as an aggregate rather than as a specific piece of data.
We may choose to release automatic information (see above) and other information received to the website to companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction. Information of this type will only be shared about users who have caused or attempted to cause damage to ConnachtWaste.ie. This type of information would be shared only as a result of “hacking†attacks, fraud or other illegal activities.
Agents
Connacht Waste is a regional organization formed by the Local Authorities of the Connacht Region (Galway City, Galway County Council, Leitrim County Council, Roscommon County Council, Sligo County Council and Mayo County Council). Connacht Waste may share information with these local authorities, as needed.
How Secure is Information About Me?
It is important for you to protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer. Be sure to sign off when finished using our Members’ Area and to sign off from your computer when using a shared computer.
What Information Can I Access Online?
ConnachtWaste.ie will make as much public information available online as possible in order to improve the transparency of our organization.
Links To Other Websites
In order to make more information easier to find for our users, ConnachtWaste.ie links to content owned and hosted by other local authorities, government agencies, companies, organizations, etc. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites. Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such. We link to other websites that provide information relevant to members of the public. Connacht Waste makes no promises or recommendations about the quality of services provided by groups owning the websites we link to.
Glossary of Technical Terms Used
web browser
The piece of software you use to read web pages. Examples are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and Opera.
IP address
The identifying details for your computer (or your internet company’s computer), expressed in "internet protocol" code (for example 192.168.72.34). Every computer connected to the web has a unique IP address, although the address may not be the same every time a connection is made.
cookies
Disclaimer
Connacht Waste, its affiliated Local Authorities’ Councillors, directors, employees, servants and agents, affiliates or other representatives and their respective parent and subsidiary companies, shall not be liable in respect of any claims, emergencies, demands, causes of action, damages, losses, expenses, including without limitation, reasonable legal fees and costs of proceedings arising out of or in connection with the use and/or dissemination of personal information relating to you in accordance with this privacy policy and your consents.
You should be aware that where you link to another website from the Connacht Waste, that Connacht Waste has no control over that other website. Connacht Waste has no responsibility for the privacy practices of other websites.
Amendments
Connacht Waste reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend this privacy statement at any time, and you should regularly check this privacy statement for any amendments.
More Information/Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this or another Connacht Waste website or your dealings with this website, you can contact:
Webmaster
IT Section
Mayo County Council
Aras An Contae
The Mall
Castlebar, Co. Mayo
