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DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYEE TRUST FUNDS
WEB SITE PRIVACY POLICY
PRIVACY STATEMENT
The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) maintains
this Web site to provide benefits information and service to Wisconsin
state and local government employees and employers. In order to
operate this site, we collect information about how the Web site
is used. The purpose of this privacy policy is to let you know what
information we collect, why it is collected, how we use it, and
the extent to which the information may be disclosed to third parties.
INFORMATION COLLECTED
We collect and analyze certain information in order to continually
improve the value of the materials available on our site. The data
in our Web site logs is not personally identifiable, and we make
no attempt to link any data with individuals. When you browse or
download information from our Web site, we collect and store the
following information:
- Your Internet Protocol (IP) address or domain name;
- The date and time you visited our Web site; and
- The Web pages or services you accessed at this site.
An IP address is a unique number assigned to your computer
and is functionally similar to a street address or telephone
number. A domain name is an IP address that has been converted
into words. We count IP addresses and domain names to determine
the number of visitors to each Web page, document or form during
specific time periods. Analysis of the number of visitors to
a page helps us to determine if we should continue to provide
the information on the page in the future.
- The type of Web browser and computer operating system.
Knowing the type of browser (for example, Internet Explorer,
Netscape, etc.) and computer operating system (for example,
Windows 95/98/XP, Macintosh PowerPC, etc.) used to access our
Web site helps us to configure our pages to display properly.
Web pages do not always display the same on every type of browser
and operating system and thus must be coded for appropriate
access.
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The Web site you visited prior to coming to ETF’s site.
We collect the name of the Web site you visited prior to coming
to ETF’s Web site to determine the sites that provide
the most referrals to our site, as well as to learn which search
engines (for example, Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, etc.) are used
most frequently to find ETF’s site. This information helps
us to find effective ways to attract visitors and to properly
structure our Web site to appear when you look for it using
a search engine.
SECURITY
Any personally identifiable information obtained by ETF via this
Web site is protected from public access from the Internet. It is
only available to the public when it is appropriate for release
pursuant to applicable state and federal laws.
We provide users of our Web site with a secure means to send electronic
mail (e-mail) to ETF, using a fill-in form on the Web site at contact
us. The form uses Secure Sockets Layers (SSL), the industry
standard for securely transferring information on the Internet.
If you send us a message using the form we have provided, all information
in your message is encrypted, or scrambled, into a code as it is
sent over the Internet. This means that your message cannot be read
by anyone other than us. However, if you send us an e-mail message
using another means, such as AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, or other e-mail
client, your message may not be protected from being read by a third
party before the message reaches ETF.
PERSONAL INFORMATION AND CHOICE
"Personal information" is information about an individual
that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal
information includes personal identifiers such as an individual's
name, address, phone number, drivers license number and Social Security
number.
A domain name or IP address is not considered personal information.
While an IP address can be associated with an individual computer,
the IP address does NOT automatically identify the name of the computer's
user or its purchaser.
We do not collect any of your personal information via our Web
site unless you voluntarily provide it to us; for example, if you
choose to send an e-mail message to ETF. If during your visit to
the ETF Web site you send us an e-mail message, the following information
will be collected: Your E-mail address and contents of your E-mail
message. We may use the information in your e-mail message to respond
to you, to research issues you identify, to further improve our
Web site, or to forward the e-mail to another state or federal agency
for appropriate action.
If you voluntarily provide ETF with personal information, state
and federal privacy laws may protect it. However, if the information
is not protected by federal or state law, this information is a
public record once you provide it and may be subject to requests
for public inspection and copying.
COOKIES
Cookies are small text files placed on your computer’s hard
drive by a Web site that you visit. A cookie contains information
that your browser saves and sends back to a Web server when you
visit a Web site again. There are different types of cookies. ETF
uses only session cookies. Session cookies allow data to be maintained
for your benefit as you navigate our Web site. For example, a session
cookie is used to temporarily store the information you enter into
the Web site’s Retirement Benefits Calculator. Session cookies
go away when you terminate your visit to the Web site. The information
on these cookies is retained by ETF only while your session is active.
You can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all
cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each browser is different,
so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how
to change your cookie preferences.)
LINK DISCLAIMER
The ETF Web site has links to other sites. These links may include
Web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations
and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no
longer on a site covered by this privacy policy and are subject
to the policies of that new site.
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