Overview

Welcome to the DPPCMASS.gov website. Your privacy is one of our top priorities. This policy applies only to the use of DPPCMASS.gov website.

As you navigate the website, you will see links that, when clicked, will take you to other Commonwealth of Massachusetts websites. These other websites may be operated by state agencies. Clicking these links may also take you to other websites outside of Massachusetts state government.

These other websites may have individual privacy policies specifically tailored to the interactions available through each site. Because this privacy policy only applies to DPPCMASS.gov, you should examine the privacy policy of any website, including other Commonwealth websites, that you access using this website.

A quick summary of major points

• Whenever you visit DPPCMASS.gov, be aware that some information is automatically collected. None of the information automatically collected is personally identifiable, which means this information would not identify you as an individual.
• Some services, such as the submission of a form, will require you to provide additional, and potentially personally identifiable information.
• DPPCMASS.gov is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. If you submit any information to us, that information may become public record and subject to disclosure upon request.

A privacy partnership

Your privacy with respect to the use of DPPCMASS.gov results from a partnership between you the user, and the Commonwealth. At DPPCMASS.gov, we work to protect your privacy in accordance with best industry practices and the EOTSS Enterprise Information Security Policies and Standards. However, because some of the information that we receive through this website is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law (M.G.L. c. 66) we cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through DPPCMASS.gov may be made available to members of the public under that law. This policy informs you of the information that we collect from you at DPPCMASS.gov, what we do with it, to whom it may be disseminated, and how you can access it. Based on this information, you can make an informed decision about your use of DPPCMASS.gov. You can maximize the benefits of your privacy partnership with the Commonwealth by making informed decisions about whether to share personally identifiable information with us through DPPCMASS.gov.

Personally identifiable information

We use the term “personally identifiable information” to mean any information that could reasonably be used to identify you, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, Social Security number, birth date, bank account information, credit card information, or any combination of information that could be used to identify you.

Dissemination of your personally identifiable information

We do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through DPPCMASS.gov or submitted to the Commonwealth in conjunction with using functions on DPPCMASS.gov, and there is no direct or online public access to the information. However, once you voluntarily submit personally identifiable information to us related to your use of DPPCMASS.gov, its dissemination is governed by the Public Records Law, the Fair Information Practices Act (M.G.L. c. 66A), and other applicable laws and regulations. For this reason, part or all of the information you send us may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request. There are pieces of information, such as credit card numbers, TIN, username, or password that are not considered public for the purposes of a public records request. For more information on types of data exempted from disclosure under the Public Records Law, please refer to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law.

Information voluntarily provided by you

DPPCMASS.gov collects voluntary information from you through surveys, online forms, any emails sent to DPPCMASS.gov, and any suggestions, requests, or comments posted on pages hosted by DPPCMASS.gov (such as blogs or wikis). All such information, including comments and emails sent by you to DPPCMASS.gov, may contain personally identifiable information.

Information automatically collected and stored by DPPCMASS.gov

Some information is automatically collected when you visit DPPCMASS.gov.

DPPCMASS.gov collects and stores your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, indefinitely, as well as information about the date and time of your visit, whether a file you have requested exists, and how many “bytes” of information DPPCMASS.gov transmitted to you over the web. We use your IP address to assess the frequency of visits to DPPCMASS.gov and the popularity of its various pages and functions. We will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that you provide to us with your IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation. The one exception is that when you fill out information in a form on DPPCMASS.gov, we receive your IP address along with this submission. We do not use this form-related IP address information unless it may be relevant and material to a criminal investigation.

Cookies and usage data

Cookies are simple text files stored on your web browser to provide a means of distinguishing among users of this website. The use of cookies is a standard practice among Internet websites.

DPPCMASS.gov uses cookies and tools for data collection and analytics to learn more about how visitors to DPPCMASS.gov find and interact with the pages they visit.  We may use this information to improve our service offerings and better tailor individual user experience. These tools may also collect data such as browser information, operating system, and page views through the implementation of “persistent cookies” or “session cookies.”

We use “session cookies” to enhance or customize your visit to this website. Session cookies can be created automatically on the device you use to access this state agency website. These session cookies do not contain personal information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We may use the cookie feature to store a randomly generated identifying tag on the device you use to access this website. A session cookie is erased during operation of your browser or when your browser is closed.

The software and hardware you use to access DPPCMASS.gov allows you to refuse new cookies or delete existing cookies. Refusing or deleting these cookies may limit your ability to take advantage of some features of this website. Some of the tools permit you to opt-out of the tool by allowing that tool to plant a persistent cookie on your web browser indicating that you have opted out. If you disable cookies on your browser or use a different browser, different computer, different user account, etc., you will need to opt-out again.

Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy (e.g., possibly in response to a public records request), we do not combine the information collected through the use of any tool with personally identifiable information.

Online forms on DPPCMASS.gov

Third-party services may provide online forms on DPPCMASS.gov. When you use such a service, your form submission is sent directly to a DPPCMASS.gov email account (e.g., public records request forms). Form submissions sent to the service provider are then transmitted to state government staff. Information submitted to the form service providers will be used only for internal purposes and will not be distributed or sold to other third parties unless required by law or pursuant to a valid government request.

In addition, the information that you voluntarily submit will be disclosed only to Commonwealth employees or officials, or those under contract with the Commonwealth, with a “need to know” for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. The information will be used for such purposes as: providing and improving service offerings, answering your questions, responding to any requests for assistance, generating summary statistics about usage, auditing applications and detecting fraud, aiding in the planning, design and development of DPPCMASS.gov, and fulfilling the Commonwealth’s legal obligations.

We will collect and aggregate the information you provide through surveys and through DPPCMASS.gov’s collection of non-personally identifying analytics data to improve DPPCMASS.gov and make the site more responsive to customer needs. Where appropriate, we may provide the information you submitted voluntarily through a form or email to the person or company that is the subject of your inquiry, or to a government agency responsible for the matters referred to in your communication.

Your access and opportunity to correct

The Public Records Law and the Fair Information Practices Act provide you with certain rights to get information about you that is in our records. To learn more about the circumstances under which you can get and correct this information, please click on the above links to these laws.

Security

Because information sent to the Commonwealth may not be encrypted, you should not send messages containing information that you consider highly sensitive to DPPCMASS.gov. We use standard security measures to ensure that information provided by you, including your personally identifiable information, is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. We also use software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, we make no attempts to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Policy changes

We reserve the right to change the terms of this policy at any time. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed of any updates. The date that this policy was last modified can be found at the top of this page. Any modifications are effective immediately.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this privacy policy is not and should not be construed as providing any form of business, legal, or other advice, nor do we warrant as fail proof the security of information provided through this website. Users may wish to consult with their own counsel.