Thank you for visiting the New York Division of Veterans' Affairs’s online resources. These online resources, including the Division’s website and the Division’s mobile app, are designed to make it easier and more efficient for New York State citizens and businesses to interact with their State government. We recognize that visitors utilizing online resources are concerned about their privacy. The State of New York is committed to preserving your privacy when visiting our online resources.

This policy describes the State's privacy practices regarding information collected from visitors to these online resources. This policy describes what data is collected and how that information is used. The State may, at its sole discretion, change, modify, add, or delete portions of this policy. Because this privacy policy applies only to the Division of Veterans’ Affairs’s online resources, you should examine the privacy policy of any online resources, including other State online resources, that you access through any Division of Veterans’ Affairs online resources.

Information Collected When You Visit These Online Resources

When visiting the Division of Veterans’ Affairs’s online resources, the State may automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:

1. The Internet Protocol address and domain name of your Internet service provider. The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer, which can be used to direct internet traffic to you;

2. The type of browser and operating system you used;

3. The date and time you visited this site;

4. The web pages or services you accessed at this site; and

5. The URL or web site address of the web site you visited prior to coming to the online resource and from which any web page on this site was linked.

This information is used to improve the content of these online resources and to help the State understand how people are using these online resources. This information is collected for statistical analysis, to determine what information is of most and of least interest to our visitors, and to identify system performance or problem areas. The information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes, and the State does not sell or distribute the information collected from the Portal for commercial marketing purposes. The information is retained in accordance with the public record retention provisions in the State Arts and Cultural Affairs Law.

Information Collected When You Email These Online Resources

If during your visit to any of the Division of Veterans’ Affairs’s online resources you send an email to the State, your email address and the contents of your email will be collected.

The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us. The information is retained in accordance with the public record retention provisions in the State Arts and Cultural Affairs Law.

Your email address and the information contained in your email will be used to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to further improve these online resources, or to forward your email to another agency for appropriate action. Your email address is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and the State does not sell or distribute your email address for commercial marketing purposes.

Personal Information and Choice

"Personal information" is information about an individual (e.g., an individual's name, address, and phone number). A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information.
Personal information is not collected through these online resources unless you send an email to the State through any of these online resources. If you do not communicate with these online resources, it does not affect your ability to use any other features of any of these online resources or other State government online resources. 

Currently, the State does not knowingly collect personal information from children or create profiles of children through any of these online resources. People are cautioned that the collection of personal information provided by any individual in an email will be treated the same as information given by an adult, and may, if not protected by federal or State law, be subject to public access. The State encourages parents and teachers to be involved in children's Internet activities, mobile app usage, and utilization of any other online resources, and guide the children whenever children are asked to provide personal information online.

Disclosure of Information Collected Through These Online Resources

Information collected through any of these online resources, personal or otherwise, may, if not protected by federal or State law, be subject to disclosure pursuant to law, such as the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), or court order.

Additionally, the State may disclose personal information to federal or State law enforcement authorities to enforce its rights against unauthorized access or attempted unauthorized access to the State's information.

Security

The State limits employee access to personally identifiable information from these online resources to only those employees who need access to perform a specific job. Security measures have been integrated into the design, implementation, and day-to-day operations of online resources as part of our continuing commitment to the security of electronic content as well as the electronic transmission of information.

NOTE: The information contained in this policy should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided via these online resources. For site security purposes and to ensure that these online resources remain available to all users, the State employs software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage to these online resources.     

Cookies

These online resources are designed to become your personalized access to state government. This ability to customize online resources is often achieved through the use of persistent cookies, which are simple text files stored by your web browser that provide a method of distinguishing among visitors. Cookies created on the device you use to access some (although not all) of the Division of Veterans’ Affairs’s online resources do not contain personally identifiable information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature to store a randomly generated identifying tag on the device you use to access the online resources. The use of cookies is a standard practice among Internet resources. The software and hardware you use to access these online resources allows you to refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file at any time.    

Links Disclaimer

In order to provide visitors with certain information, these online resources provide links to local, State and federal government agencies.  A link does not constitute an endorsement of the content, viewpoint, accuracy, opinions, policies, products, services, or accessibility of other online resources. Once you link to other online resources from any of the Division’s online resources, including resources maintained by the State, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that online resource, including, but not limited to, its privacy policy.

Information Disclaimer

Information provided on these online resources is intended to allow the public immediate access to public information. While all attempts are made to provide accurate, current, and reliable information, the State recognizes the possibility of human and/or mechanical error. Therefore, the State, its employees, officers and agencies make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, or suitability of the information provided by these online resources, and deny any expressed or implied warranty as to the same.

Contact Information

For questions regarding the Privacy Policy, please contact generalcounsel@veterans.ny.gov.
Policy Reviewed: December 11, 2015.