A Minnesota law, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act generally requires that data held by government to be open to the public. There are some exceptions to this law, but for purposes of this privacy statement, you should assume that everything you do at this web site is available to anyone upon request.

Information collected at this site is public and is subject to inspection and copying by the public. During your visit to this web site, information that is not readily identifiable to an individual is automatically collected and stored in a web server log file. This information is used to analyze web traffic and improve our web services.

For more detail on our privacy policy, please see the detailed statement that follows.

Information Collected and How It is Used
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If you do nothing during your visit to this web site but browse or download information, we automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:

• The Internet Protocol (IP) address and domain name used, but not the email address. The IP address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer. We use the IP address to direct web pages to your computer;
• The type of browser and operating system you used;
• The date and time you visited this site;
• The web pages or services you accessed at this site; and
• The web site you visited prior to coming to this web site.

The information we automatically collect or store is used to improve the content of our web services and to help us understand how people are using our web services. We analyze our web site log files to continually improve the value of the materials available on our site and the site navigation. These log files are not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link them with the individuals that browse the web site.

If, during your visit to this web site, you participate in a survey or send an email, the following additional information will be collected:

• E-mail correspondence: The sender's e-mail address and the contents of the e-mail;
• Survey or other web form: Any information you volunteered in response to the survey or web form.

We use your email to respond appropriately. This may be to respond directly to you, to address issues you identify, to further improve our web site, or to forward the email to another person or agency for appropriate action. Survey information is used for the purpose stated in the survey. Please assume that your email address, the contents of the email message and your survey responses are public and so are available to anyone who asks.

Users are cautioned that the collection of individual data requested from or volunteered by children on-line or by email will be treated the same as information given by an adult and is subject to public access. We have no way of identifying the age of a visitor to our web site.

Access and Correction of Personal Data
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You can review any personal data we collect about you. You may recommend changes to your personal data that you believe to be in error by submitting a written request that credibly shows the error. Submit your request for corrections to the Commissioner of Finance, 4th Floor, Centennial Office Building, 658 Cedar Street, St. Paul, MN, 55155. In all cases, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. See the Contact Information section for how to contact us.

Cookies
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Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your web browser. They provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to a web site.

On occasion we may use a cookie as part of an on-line survey, but only for the purpose of preventing users from completing the survey multiple times. If used, this cookie contains only the name of the survey and we use the cookie solely to identify that a user has previously completed the survey. If such a cookie is used it is designed to expire in conjunction with the end of the survey.

Some agency pages to which this web site links may be employing cookies. Other state agencies have developed their own privacy policies and you may look to these to see whether or not cookies are being employed on those agencies' web sites. Generally, you can refuse a cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer by using any of the widely available methods, including options in your browser program.

Security
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The State of Minnesota has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its telecommunications and computing infrastructure. For site security purposes and to ensure that our service remains available for all users, our computer system employs software programs to identify attempts to gain unauthorized access or to otherwise misuse or cause damage to our system. In the rare case that our system identifies a potential security threat, identifying information about the user or the suspicious activity may be retained for further review or other purposes.

Disclaimer
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This web site has links to other web sites, including links to web sites operated by other government agencies. When you link to another site, you are no longer on this web site and this Privacy Statement will not apply. When you link to another web site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.

Contact Information
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To offer comments about this web site, or to comment about the information presented in this Privacy Statement, please send your comments to the email address at the bottom of this page.