Individuals who visit the WV.gov website are important to us. Because visitors to our website are important, we do not capture personal information about them without their permission. We endeavor to collect only the minimum amount of information needed to meet the purposes for which the website was created.
Use of This Policy
Various websites are linked through the WV.gov website. State and local government agencies may have their own privacy statements posted on their sites, which take precedence over this policy. The WV.gov Privacy Statement does not apply to non-West Virginia State Government websites that may be linked from WV.gov. Visitors should read the privacy policies of individual sites and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information without a clear understanding of how the information will be used.
Privacy Statement
Public Disclosure
All information collected on the WV.gov website will be treated the same as any written communication and is subject to the confidentiality and public disclosure provisions of West Virginia Code Chapter 29B.
Visitors to the WV.gov Website
We may collect some or all of the following information about visitors who view or download information from our website:
| Information |
Definition |
| Date |
Date the visit occurred. |
| Time |
Time the visit occurred. |
| Client IP |
Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the website visitor. The IP address recorded is normally that of the visitor's Internet service provider, e.g., aol.com if the visitor connects from an America Online account. |
| Server IP |
Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the State of West Virginia web server accessed. |
| HTTP Status |
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) error code. E.g., "404 Requested Page Not Found." |
| HTTP Request URL |
Identifies the web page or file requested by the website visitor. |
| Bytes Sent |
Amount of data sent from the web server to website visitor during that connection. |
| Bytes Received |
Amount of data sent from website visitor to the web server. |
| User Agent |
Type of web browser or other client software that made request to the web server. |
| Referrer |
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that referred to the requested file. |
| Protocol Version |
Version of HTTP used by the visitor's web browser software. |
The information we collect is used to improve the content of our web services and help us understand how people are using our services. We analyze our website logs to continually improve the value of the materials available on our site. The information in our website logs is not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link it with the individuals that browse our website. Some of this statistical information, such as a running count of the number of visitors, may be displayed on the website or shared with other state governments to aid in the provision of better service to the public.
Personally Identifiable Information
"Personally identifiable information" is information about a person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. It includes, for example, an individual's name, street address, e-mail address, or phone number.
Personally identifiable information will not be collected unless you voluntarily send an e-mail message, fill out and send an online form, or fill out personal information and send in a survey. Your choice not to participate in these activities will not impair your ability to access certain information or obtain a service from state government (though you may not be able to complete the transaction or service online). Unless specifically protected under state law, any information provided may be inspected by the public or disclosed in a legal proceeding.
E-mail Messages
E-mail messages, sent to any West Virginia State Government address, will be treated the same as any other written communication. They may be subject to public inspection or legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before they are destroyed. E-mail or other information requests sent to the state website may be maintained in order to respond to the request, forward that request to the appropriate agency, or to provide the web designer with valuable customer feedback to assist in improving the site. E-mail addresses obtained as a result of a request to the state site will not be sold or given to private companies for marketing purposes.
Electronic Forms
Any other information provided by a visitor at the request of an agency of West Virginia State Government, such as the completion and electronic filing of a form, will be considered to be voluntarily provided by the visitor and will be treated in the same manner as information provided in written form or in person during a visit to the agency. Information provided may be subject to public inspection and legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before it is destroyed. It may be shared with another state agency for appropriate action.
Surveys
Surveys will be used for the purpose stated. If personally identifiable information is collected it may be subject to public inspection and legal disclosure and may be saved for a period of time before it is destroyed.
West Virginia Interactive Subscribers
The Information Resource of West Virginia collects, retains and utilizes personal information about its customers only when they volunteer to subscribe to West Virginia Interactive. The information is used to administer subscriber accounts and to provide products, services and other opportunities requested by West Virginia Interactive subscribers. Records containing personal information about West Virginia Interactive subscribers are confidential and may only be released with the express written permission of the subscriber pursuant to the provisions of West Virginia Code Chapter 29B.
Cookies
In order to better serve you, the user, we use cookies for certain types of online transactions. Cookies are small text files that a web server may ask your web browser to store, and to send back to the web server when needed. Cookies may be used to store a transaction identifier or other information a user may provide.
We use cookies in the following ways:
- Complex Transactions: Cookies are used to store and retrieve unique transaction identifiers or other server-generated or user-provided information in complex, multi-page web applications. This allows us to distinguish between different users, and to use information provided at one stage of an application at a later time (for instance, items placed in a 'shopping cart' might need to be displayed on a later 'check-out' screen). When we use cookies in this way, the cookie is stored on your web browser only temporarily; the cookie is destroyed at the end of the transaction or at the end of the browser session.
- Customized Services: Cookies may also be used to automatically identify a particular user to the system, in order to provide a customized service, such as a personalized web page. In this case, a cookie containing a unique user identifier will be permanently stored on your web browser. We do not store sensitive information in such cookies; only a unique user identifier or generic preference values are stored. Personal information you give us for processing a transaction or using one of our personalization features, may be stored on our secure web server.
We do not use cookies in order to track your visit to our website. The "help" portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies or how to disable cookies altogether. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of many of West Virginia's eGovernment services, and we recommend that you set your web browser to accept cookies.
If you have further questions about cookies, the Computer Incident Advisory Capacity unit that monitors computer problems for the U.S. Department of Energy issued a study on March 12, 1998 of the risks of cookies to users, titled Information Bulletin I-034: Internet Cookies. You can refuse the cookies or delete the cookie file from your computer by using any of the widely available methods.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
Children under the age of 13 are not eligible to use services that require submission of personal information and should not submit any personal information to us. This includes submitting personal information to the website as part of a user profile or personalization profile. If you are a child under the age of 13, you can use these services only if used together with your parents or guardians. Seek guidance from your parents or guardians if you are under the age of 13.
If we decide to begin collecting personal information from children under the age of 13, we will notify parents that it is being requested, disclose the reasons for collecting it, and disclose our intended use of it. We will seek verifiable parental consent before collecting any personally identifiable information. If we do collect such information, parents may request information on the type of data being collected, view their child's information, and, if they choose, prohibit us from making further use of their child's information. We will not provide personal information about children to third parties.
Contact Information
To offer comments or ask questions about West Virginia privacy policies please contact:
Ashley Summitt
Chief Privacy Officer
(304) 766-2646
Email Us
1124 Smith Street, Suite 4700
Charleston, WV 25301