Thank you for visiting my “Mark for Council” campaign web site. Protecting the personal privacy of individuals who use the Internet is a priority of mine, and I appreciate the opportunity to describe to you the policies I have put in place to safeguard the privacy of individuals who visit my web site. If you have questions or concerns about my Internet privacy policy, I want to hear about them and hope you will contact me, by electronic mail, telephone, or mail, to let me know your opinions. My basic Internet privacy policy is simple: my web site collects no personal information about you when you visit the site unless you choose to provide that information to me during your visit. Let me describe more specifically the type of information that may be gathered when you visit my web site and how that information is handled.
Information Collected and Stored Automatically
My website aggregates data about visits, such as statistics that show which parts of each web site were visited the most, the domain from which you access the web site, the date and time of your visit, the pages you visit, and the address of the web site, if any, that provided the link from which you reached my web site. This information is gathered only for the purpose of enabling me to improve the online service I provide to visitors of my web site.
No individual identifying or personal information (such as your name) is automatically gathered when you visit my web site. It does not use ‘cookies’ or other means to track your visit to my site in any way.
If You Send Me Personal Information
Active Collection: Personal information may be collected in a number of ways when you visit my web site. I collect certain information you voluntarily provide to me, such as when you make a donation, send me an email, or sign up to receive email or text message updates, fill out a form, connect through a social feed, sign up to be a volunteer or host an event, or request information. Such information may include personal information, such as your name, mailing address, email address, phone number, and credit card information. Personal and demographic information may also be collected if you provide such information in connection with leaving comments, sending an email or message to another user, or participating in any interactive forums or features on the site. In addition, from time to time I may collect demographic, contact or other personal information you provide in connection with your participation in surveys, promotions, and other activities on the site.
I tabulate comments received through my web site concerning Rockville issues so that I will be fully informed about the views of residents, businesses, and visitors. From time to time, I come across a comment or a situation described in an e-mail message (as well as postal mail, phone calls, and faxes) that I feel makes a point of such general interest that I would like to refer to it in a speech, presentation, meeting, forum, debate, blog post, report, or make some other use of it, in connection with my election campaign. If you intend your message to be confidential, and would prefer that it not be used in such a way, please feel free to advise me of your preference in the message, so I can be sure to respect your wishes and see that your views are held entirely within my office. Please note that any and all communication sent to me through official City of Rockville channels, such as mpierzchala@rockvillemd.gov, are part of the public record and available to anyone upon request.
In addition, the City of Rockville’s Board of Supervisors of Elections (BSE) may require me to collect personal information from donors. For example, the BSE requires me to collect (and disclose) the name and mailing address of all individuals who donate to my election campaigns.
Passive Collection: When you use the web site, some information is also automatically collected, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your operating system, the browser type, the address of a referring web site, and your activity on our site. I treat this information as personal information if I combine it with or link it to any of the identifying information mentioned above. Otherwise, it is used in the aggregate only.
How Do I Use the Personal Information I Collect?
I use personal information collected through my web site for the purposes described in this Policy or elsewhere on the web site. For example, I may use personal information I collect:
- to provide the services, products, or information you request, and to process and complete such requests and any related transactions;
- to send you confirmations, updates, alerts, and support and administrative messages and otherwise facilitate your use of, and our administration and operation of, the web site;
- to notify you about important changes to the web site;
- to send you newsletters and otherwise provide you with information or services you request or that I think will be of interest to you, such as sending you information to keep you informed about various campaigns, candidates, issues, events, resources, promotions, products and services;
- to help connect you with other supporters, and to solicit volunteers, donations and support for the Mark for Mayor campaign and for candidates, issues and organizations that I support;
- to remind you to send in your voter registration form and to vote;
- to assist you in finding your registration information and polling location;
- to contact you if other information is necessary under city, state, or federal election laws;
- to request feedback and to otherwise contact you about your use of the web site;
- to respond to your emails, submissions, questions, comments, and requests and to provide customer service;
- to monitor and analyze site usage and trends, and to personalize and improve the Site and our users’ experiences on the Site, such as providing ads, content, or features that match your profiles or interests, and to increase the Site’s functionality and user friendliness;
- for any other purpose for which the information was collected.
What Personal Information Do I Share with Third Parties?
It is my policy not to share the personal information we collect from you through my web site with third parties, except as described in this Policy or as otherwise disclosed on the site. For example, we may share personal information as follows:
- with vendors, consultants, and other service providers or volunteers who are engaged by or working with us and who need access to such information to carry out their work for us;
- with candidates, organizations, groups or causes that we believe have similar political viewpoints, principles or objectives;
- to report required information to the City of Rockville, including name and mailing address of individuals whose contribute to my campaigns;
- when you give us your consent to do so, including if we notify you on the site, that the information you provide will be shared in a particular manner and you provide such information;
- when we believe in good faith that we are lawfully authorized or required to do so or that doing so is reasonably necessary or appropriate to comply with the law or legal processes or respond to lawful requests, claims or legal authorities, including responding to lawful subpoenas, warrants, or court orders;
- when we believe in good faith that doing so is reasonably necessary or appropriate to respond to claims or to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Mark for Mayor campaign, our users, our employees, our volunteers, copyright owners, third parties or the public, including without limitation to protect such parties from fraudulent, abusive, inappropriate, or unlawful activity or use of our Site;
We are not responsible for the actions of any service providers or other third parties, nor are we responsible for any additional information you provide directly to any third parties, and we encourage you to become familiar with their privacy practices before disclosing information directly to any such parties. Nothing herein restricts the sharing of aggregated or anonymized information, which may be shared with third parties without your consent.
Links to Other Web Site
My web site has links to other useful web site on the Internet, including web site of other elected officials and government agencies, people and organizations that I support or find useful, and web site relating to the City of Rockville. This Policy does not apply to such linked sites, and we are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of these websites or any other sites that are linked to from our Sites. I encourage you to learn about their privacy and security practices and policies before providing them with personal information.
What Choices Do You Have Regarding the Use of Your Information?
You may “opt out” of receiving text messages, email updates and newsletters by following the instructions in those text messages and emails. Please note that I may still send you other types of emails, such as emails about your use of my web site, or use information as otherwise described in this Policy, even if you opt out of receiving email updates and newsletters. Changes to information in your account does not affect information provided to others as set forth in this policy, including in connection with petitions or donations or that has been previously shared with like-minded candidates, organizations, groups or causes.