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Metropolitan Planning Council Privacy Policy
The Metropolitan Planning Council ("MPC") respects your personal privacy and
is committed to adhering to federal and state privacy laws and industry
guidelines in order to protect you and your identity. This privacy policy
describes how we handle the personal information that you provide to us on this
site. This policy applies only to the metroplanning.org site; not to any third
party sites that may be accessible from here.
After reading this privacy policy, which is incorporated into and is a part
of this site's terms and
conditions, you will know:
Please be sure to read this policy before using
this site or submitting information to us. Our privacy policies may change from
time to time and your continued use of this Web site is acceptance of such
changes, so please check this area periodically for updates to this policy.
1. INFORMATION MPC COLLECTS FROM YOU
Active Information Collection
Like many other Web
sites, we actively collect information from our Web site visitors when they
customize the site, register for an event or become an MPC member through our
Web site. Also, if you communicate with MPC via e-mail through the Web site,
some of the information that you submit may be personally identifiable (that is,
information that can be uniquely identified with you, such as your name,
address, e-mail address, phone number, etc.).
When you use our Web site to customize the site for your use, register for an
event or become a member of MPC, we specifically ask for your full name, home
and work telephone numbers and addresses, your organization name and job title,
e-mail address and areas of interest. Your name and e-mail address are the
only required information. You must supply your e-mail address to receive MPC
e-alerts (e-mail updates), and a home or work address to receive MPC mailings.
If you wish to receive legislative updates, you must provide your home address,
so we can match you with your correct legislative districts. Registered users
who provide this information can benefit from MPC e-alerts (e-mail updates),
occasional contests and e-mail invitations to events. Communication of your
interest areas, which is optional, allows us to target e-mails and other
mailings to your specific interests. Remember, if you send us an e-mail message,
you provide us with your e-mail address. If you register for an event, become a
member or make a donation on the MPC Web site, we will collect your credit card
number and the other information necessary to fill your request.
Passive Information Collection
As you navigate
through a Web site, certain information can be passively collected (that is,
gathered without you actively providing the information) using various
technologies and means, such as navigational data collection. Like most Web site
operators, we track IP addresses and use both session and persistent cookies.
Our system also automatically gathers information about the areas you visit on
this site and collects operational information about the technology you use,
such as your browser, type of computer, operating systems and Internet service
providers.
We collect such passive information to understand what areas of this site are
most popular, which areas may require improvement and what technologies are
being used by our visitors. This information helps us to update and improve this
site. This information can also be used for security purposes, to detect and to
block security breaches and to provide you with a safe online environment.
2. HOW MPC USES YOUR INFORMATION
MPC's mission of serving the public interest through outreach, advocacy and
partnerships begins with your support. When you register in an area of interest
on our Web site, or use the Web site to register for an event, become a member
or make a donation, we add you to our mailing lists, which we use to contact you
about events or developments in which we believe you may be interested.
MPC may disclose your personal information for use (e.g., event or
publication announcements, subscription offers, or membership solicitations) by
reputable, nonprofit organizations that publish information or sponsor events
related to MPC's mission. MPC does not knowingly provide mailing lists for the
purposes of fundraising by third parties. We ask the organizations to which we
provide lists not to use those lists for fundraising, political promotions or
any purpose inconsistent with MPC policies. Although MPC does not currently
rent, sell or otherwise share your information with third parties for purposes
unrelated to MPC's mission, it may do so in the future. If you do not want your
information to be shared, you should contact us at info@metroplanning.org as
described in Section 3.
MPC also uses your personal information to enhance the operation of this site
and allow you to use all of its features. MPC will disclose any information that
it is required to disclose by law, as requested by an appropriate regulatory
authority or as needed in an investigation of improper or illegal conduct in
connection with our Web site (e.g., fraud, misrepresentation, intellectual
property infringement, hacking or any other activity that may put MPC at risk).
MPC reserves the right to transfer any information provided in the event of a
merger.
MPC may provide aggregate statistics about our members, event registrations,
online traffic patterns and related information to reputable third parties, but
these statistics will not include any personally identifying information.
Our Web site contains links that direct visitors to Web sites maintained by
or on behalf of our sponsors and other third parties. Such third-party sites may
solicit, or contain technology to collect, information about our users. This
information is collected and used by our sponsors, and is outside of our
control. If you have any questions about a Web site to which you link from MPC's
site, you should contact the responsible sponsor directly.
3. CHOICES YOU HAVE ABOUT HOW MPC USES YOUR
INFORMATION
We strive to provide you with as many choices and as much control as possible
regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms
to provide you with the following control over your information:
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In the event you no longer wish to receive e-mail communication from
MPC, you may opt out by replying to any e-mail correspondence we send,
entering "remove" in the message subject line, or by e-mailing us at info@metroplanning.org. To be
removed from our mailing list for written communications, please send an
e-mail to info@metroplanning.org
with your request. Be sure to include your full name as it appears on
your mailing label. You may also call 312/922-5616. Please understand that
we will need a reasonable time to process a request for removal, and that
you may continue to receive messages and mail from us until we have
processed your removal request.
Personalization information may be modified at any time by returning to
our Web site and viewing the Personalize our site/preferences page. This information
will be saved through a persistent cookie so your preferences will
automatically appear when you use the same computer. Please do not
personalize the site if you are using a public computer.
If you wish to ascertain what personal information is saved in the MPC
database, send an e-mail to info@metroplanning.org or call
312/922-5616. After verifying your identity, we will provide it. We will
correct or delete information pursuant to your request.
If you do not wish us to share your personal information with other
organizations, you may opt out by sending an e-mail with the subject line
"do not exchange" to info@metroplanning.org .
If you do not wish us to collect cookies, you may set your browser to
refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you do so,
please note that you will not be able to personalize the site, and some
parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
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because if you do not agree with our practices, your ultimate choice is not to
use this site. Remember, by using any part of this site, you accept and agree to
our privacy practices. If we update this privacy policy, your continued use of
this site (following the posting of the revised policy) means that you accept
and agree to the terms of the revised privacy policy.
4. HOW MPC PROTECTS YOUR INFORMATION
We work hard to protect your personal information. We use both technical and
procedural methods to maintain the integrity and security of our databases,
including SSL encryption for data transfer, firewalls, restricted access to
certain data and employee training. The Web site is coded with security in mind
so that there is no "open" vulnerability that would allow unauthorized
individuals to access or otherwise view user data. The safety and security of
your information also depends on you. If you personalize the site, your
information is saved to our Web site's database and referenced by a
personalization ID assigned to your computer: please do not personalize the site
if you are using a public computer. Any comments you provide to our poll may be
edited and published by MPC on this Web site and attributed to you by name (see Terms and Conditions).
Please do not submit comments if you do not wish for them to be published on
this Web site. When you provide information via e-mail on this Web site you do
so at your own risk.
This site contains links to other Web sites operated by third parties that
may be of interest to you, including Web sites of our sponsors. We cannot
control these third party sites, which may collect personal information from
you. When you follow a link and leave this site, you do so at your own risk.
5. WHAT MPC DOES ABOUT CHILDREN VISITING THIS SITE
This site is not intended for children under the age of 13. We will not
knowingly collect information from site visitors in this age group. We encourage
parents to talk to their children about their use of the Internet and the
information they disclose online.
6. HOW YOU CAN CONTACT MPC
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or
the information practices of this site, please contact us at:
Metropolitan Planning Council
25 E.
Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312/922-5616
info@metroplanning.org
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