I. Commitment to Confidentiality Statement
The City of Eau Claire (“We,” “Us,” or “Our”) is committed to protecting your data and putting you in control of how it is managed.
This detailed privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and protect the information you share when you interact with our website (“Site”) and advertisements and how you can update, manage, or request deletion of your information.
This privacy policy does not cover information that you submit on third party websites, applications, or social media platforms (collectively, “Platforms”) even if we communicate with you on those sites. For example, if you post something on Instagram or Facebook, that information is governed by the privacy policies on those Platforms.
Non-Discrimination Statement
Any form of discrimination based on age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, veteran status, disability, or any other category protected by state or federal law is contrary to the principles and policies of the City of Eau Claire. For these reasons, our content is available and offered to everyone.
III. How We Collect Data
Consent to Processing Data in the United States & Other Jurisdictions
Our Site is governed by and operated in, and in accordance with the laws of, the United States, and is intended for the use of residents of the United States. The City of Eau Claire makes no representation that our Site is governed by or operated in accordance with the laws of any other nation. By using our Site, or providing us with any information, you (a) acknowledge that our Site is subject to the laws of the United States, (b) consent to the collection, processing, maintenance, and transfer of such information in and to the United States and other applicable territories in which the privacy laws may not be as comprehensive as or equivalent to those in the country where you reside and/or are a citizen, and (c) waive any claims that may arise under those laws.
Platforms on Which Data Is Collected
The City of Eau Claire collects information that you provide to us, information from your engagement with our Site, advertisements, and media, and information from third parties with which you have consented to share it. We may combine information that we collect via one method (e.g., from a website or a social media advertisement) with another method (e.g., an in-person event). We do this to get a complete view of your preferences for our content so we may better serve you.
Example Types of Data Collected
Personal Data Provided
The City of Eau Claire may collect some data from all our visitors, including but not limited to the following information:
Data Automatically Collected
The City of Eau Claire collects some data automatically when you use our Site. We may obtain information by automated means, such as through cookies, web server logs, pixels, and other technologies described below.
a) Cookies & Other Technologies
Our Site, advertisements, and other communications may use cookies and other technologies such as pixel tags and web beacons. These technologies help us (1) remember your information so you do not have to re-enter it, (2) enhance our Site, (3) tailor our Site and advertisements to your preferences, (4) manage and measure the usability of our Site, (5) understand the effectiveness of our content, (6) track and understand how you use and interact with our Site, and (7) protect the security and integrity of our Site.
We use Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Google Fonts cookies to maintain and monitor the performance of our Site. You can learn more about how Google services process information on Google’s website.
If you prefer not to accept cookies, you can change your browser settings to notify you when you receive a cookie, so you can choose whether or not to accept it, or you can set your browser to automatically reject any cookies. Please be aware that some features and services on our Sites may not work properly if you do this. To learn more about cookies, please visit allaboutcookies.org.
b) Device Identifiers
We and our third-party service providers may automatically collect an IP address or other unique identifier information (“Device Identifier”) for the computer, mobile device, or other technology (collectively, “Device”) you use to access our Site or third-party websites that publish our advertisements. A Device Identifier is a number that is automatically assigned to your Device when you access a web site or its servers, and our computers identify your Device by its Device Identifier. Some examples of how we may use a Device Identifier include the following: administering our Site, analyzing trends, tracing web page movements, helping identify you and your shopping cart, gathering broad demographic information, and helping to diagnose problems with our Sites.
c) Pixels
In emails and text messages, we use click-through URLs that will take you to content on our Site. We also use pixels to understand whether our messages are read or opened. We use this information to improve our messages, to change the frequency at which our messages are sent to you, and to determine your interest in our content.
d) Data from Third Parties
We receive information from third-party partners, such as publishers that run our advertising or companies that provide services on our behalf. This information that we receive includes marketing and demographic data, analytics, and offline records. We may also receive information from companies that collect or aggregate information from publicly available databases. This could include information about purchasing patterns, the general locations of visitors, and other sites that are of interest to you. We also collect information about users who share interests or attributes to create “segments.” These help us better understand and market to our readers.
Why We Use Data
The City of Eau Claire collects and uses data for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to:
How Long We Retain Data
We retain the information we collect as needed to provide you services and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
We do not control certain privacy settings and preferences maintained by our social media partners including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. If you wish to make changes to those settings and preferences, you may do so by visiting the settings page of the appropriate social media platform.
How We Share Data
We will not sell your information to third parties, but some information may be shared with third parties as described below.
Legal Disclosure
The City of Eau Claire may transfer and disclose information, including your personal information and usage information and Device Identifier (including IP address), to third parties to comply with a legal obligation; when we believe in good faith that the law requires it; at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation; to verify or enforce our applicable policies; to respond to an emergency; or otherwise to protect the rights, property, safety, or security of third parties, visitors to our Site or the public.
Contact, Sales, & Survey Information
The City of Eau Claire does not share or sell reader information. This includes reader names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, financial information, or any other sensitive data about specific readers with readers nor any third parties who are not contracted with us to conduct business and have not signed a non-disclosure agreement.
We may share aggregated data, information, and survey responses that do not identify individuals with the public or other entities at our discretion. If a reader or third party who is not contracted with us to conduct business requests information that includes any of the information or data cited above as prohibited to distribute, we will ask affected readers to opt-in and provide documented consent prior to sharing any of the information, data, or survey responses requested. Readers or third parties that wish to share sensitive information or data among each other are welcome to do so upon their own consent.
Comments
Reader comments submitted in writing, through our Site, or via social media messages may be made available for review by the public or listed on our Sites. Content on customer comments made available to the public is not edited for grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Reader contact information is also logged and removed from any comments or responses publicly posted.
Third Parties Providing Services on our Behalf
We share information with third-party service providers that host or assist with the technical operation of our Site, provide analytics, process orders, transactions and payments, and provide customer service; or other third parties that participate in or administer our promotions, contests, sweepstakes, and surveys or provide marketing or promotional assistance. We may also share information with third parties to help us identify your online preferences, including the advertisements with which you interact. This data may be matched with information that we collect and process about you to provide a better experience using our Site. These third parties are not permitted to use your information for their own independent marketing or business purposes. We may also share non-identifying information, such as aggregate statistics or usage information, with third parties.
Third-Party Requests to Share Data
When viewing our advertisements or our Site or participating in promotions, contests, sweepstakes, or surveys, you may be asked to consent to the sharing of your information with a third party, including social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. If you agree to have your information shared with a third party, it is subject to the privacy policy of that third party.
Interest-Based Advertising & Advertisement Choices
We may use third-party companies to serve advertisements, to measure the performance and engagement of our advertisements, and to provide analytic, preference, and interest information.
These advertising network providers, social media platforms, sponsors, and/or analytics service providers may sometimes use their own tracking technology to capture information about your Device, use, and engagement online. This means that we may recognize your information across different devices that you use or log in from (i.e. computers or mobile devices). We may also recognize that one cookie ID (i.e. from a mobile device) may be connected to another Device (i.e. a computer) by the Device Identifier or log in. This may result in you searching for one of our products on one Device but seeing an advertisement later for that product on another Device. Knowing what devices are being used helps us limit the number of times you may see the same advertisement across different devices.
You can opt out of receiving targeted advertising through the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) Opt–Out Page. Opt-out options are device-specific, so if you use multiple devices, each one must be opted out. You can also opt out of certain targeted advertising programs by clicking on the AdChoices icon that may appear on our advertisements.
Please keep in mind that even if you opt out of targeted advertising, you may still see our advertisements while you are browsing, but they may not be targeted to you based on your interests. Some social media platforms allow you to exercise advertisement choices, clear your history, or limit data collection on that platform as well.
Links to Other Sites
Our Site and other communications may contain links to other websites that are maintained by third parties. These links are provided as a convenience to you, and the City of Eau Claire has no control over and is not responsible for any products, services, or content offered by or found on third-party websites or their privacy policies. Links to third-party sites do not constitute an assumption of liability for or approval, endorsement, or sponsorship of these websites or their content.
VII. Your Choices
How to Opt Out
You may opt out from allowing our Sites to access location data at any time by adjusting the permissions in your mobile device’s browser settings.
You may change your preferences and/or unsubscribe from email communications from us by: (i) clicking the “Unsubscribe” button in the email communication that you received or (ii) sending a request via email to ecodevo@eauclairewi.gov.
In accordance with our routine record keeping, we may delete certain records that contain information you have submitted through our Site. We are under no obligation to store such information indefinitely and disclaim any liability arising out of, or related to, the destruction of such information. In addition, please be aware that it is not always possible to completely remove or delete all your information from our databases without residual data due to backups and other reasons.
Access to Data Collected
You have the right to request that we disclose information about our collection and use of your personal information over the past twelve months, including:
Deletion
You have the right to request that we delete any of the information that we collected from you and retained. These requests are, however, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable request, we will delete (and/or direct our third-party service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies.
We may deny a deletion request where retaining the information is necessary for us or our service providers. For example, data may need to be kept to:
Submitting a Request
Only you, or a person authorized to act on your behalf, may make a request related to your personal information, or you may also make a request on behalf of your minor child. The verifiable request must provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify that you are the person about whom we collected personal information or that you are an authorized representative of the person who wishes to make a request.
We may not be able to respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make such a request and confirm the personal information relates to you. When responding to your request, we will ask you for the email information that you used to interact with us to help verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm that your information is in our system. Information provided to submit a request will only be used for request purposes.
Timing
We will do our best to respond to verified requests within 30 days. If we require more time, we will inform you of the reason and extension in writing. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to verified requests unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will provide an explanation and a cost estimate prior to completing the request. You may only make a request for data twice within a 12-month period.
Minors
Our Site is not directed to children under the age of majority in any state. We do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of majority. If we determine upon collection that a user is under this age, we will not use or maintain his/her/their personal information without the parent or guardian’s consent. If we become aware that we have unknowingly collected personally identifiable information from a child under the age of majority, we will make reasonable efforts to delete such information from our records. If you believe that we may have any information from or about a child under the age of majority, please contact us.
Minors under the age of majority in their state must ask their parent or guardian for permission to use any City of Eau Claire properties.
VIII. Changes & Policy Updates
Please note that we may change information on our Site and/or in this privacy policy at any time, and any changes will be effective immediately upon the publication of revisions.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about privacy, please contact us at:
Re: City of Eau Claire Privacy & Cookie Notice
203 South Barstow Street
PO Box 5148
Eau Claire, WI 54702
ecodevo@eauclairewi.gov
Date of Last Update
This privacy policy was last updated on September 5, 2024.