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Disclaimer, Copyright, Privacy, and Security Notice.

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

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· Security

Disclaimer

This World Wide Web (WWW) site is provided as a public service by the State of Rhode Island. This site is intended to be used by the public for viewing and retrieving information only. In providing information on this site, we have attempted to be as accurate as possible. However, the State of Rhode Island makes no claims, guarantees or promises about the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the information provided and is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or  for results obtained from the use of the information. Every possible effort is made to keep the content of this site accurate and current, but that may not always be the case. Distribution of the information does not constitute any warranty. The user assumes the risk of verifying any materials used or relied on. 

Links

The State of Rhode Island’s computer resources and materials may contain hypertext or other links to external sites not owned or controlled by the State.

• Links to external servers do not imply any official State of Rhode Island endorsement of the opinions or ideas expressed therein, or guarantee the validity of the information provided.
  
  
• Links to commercial sites are in no way an endorsement of any vendors’ products or services. 
  
  
• Links to other computer systems are not supervised nor regularly reviewed by the State of Rhode Island.
  
  
• Any information, endorsements of products or services, materials or personal opinions appearing on such external sites are not controlled, sponsored nor approved by the State of Rhode Island.
  
  
• Links may be provided to external servers that are managed in a professional manner, that are fully operational, available most of the time and do not serve inaccurate information or obscene information, including graphics.  The State of Rhode Island will not link to external servers if such link would appear to provide an official endorsement of fundraising efforts or lobbying for a political agenda.

Copyright

The State of Rhode Island makes the content of this WWW site available to the public. Anyone may view information found here without obligation to the State of Rhode Island, unless otherwise stated on particular articles of information to which a restriction on fair use may apply. However, the State of Rhode Island makes no warranty that materials contained herein are free of copyright claims or other restrictions or limitations on fair use or display. The compiled information presented on this WWW site is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. However, use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

Privacy

All State of Rhode Island computer systems are subject to monitoring at all times to assure proper functioning of the systems, to provide security for the computer systems’ operations and the information contained therein, to prevent unauthorized use, and to deter and investigate violations of the law. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of this public computer system, save in areas designated and labeled as being presented by our secure server. 

We may collect some or all of the following information about visitors who view or download information from our websites:

Information	Definition
Date	Date the visit occurred.
Time	Time the visit occurred.
Client IP	Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the website visitor. IP address recorded is normally that of the visitor’s Internet Service Provider, e.g., aol.com if the visitor connects from an America Online account.
Server IP	Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the Rhode Island State Government web server accessed.
HTTP Status	Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) error code, e.g., "404 Requested Page Not Found."
HTTP Request URL	Identifies the web page or file requested by the website visitor.
Bytes Sent	Amount of data sent from the web server to website visitor during that connection.
Bytes Received	Amount of data sent from website visitor to the web server.
User Agent	Type of web browser or other client software that made request to the web server.
Referrer	Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that referred to the requested file.
Protocol Version	Version of HTTP used by the visitor’s web browser software

The information we collect is used to improve the content of our Web services and help us understand how people are using our services. We analyze our web site logs to continually improve the value of the materials available on our site. The information in our web site logs is not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link it with the individuals that browse our web site. Some of this statistical information, such as a running count of the number of visitors, may be displayed on the website or shared with other state governments to aid in the provision of better service to the public.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files which a web server may ask your web browser to store, and to send back to the web server when needed. Cookies may be used to store a transaction identifier or other information a user may provide. We use cookies in the following ways:

• Complex transactions: Cookies are used to store and retrieve unique transaction identifiers or other server-generated or user-provided information in complex, multi-page web applications. This allows us to distinguish between different users, and to use information provided at one stage of an application at a later time (for instance, items placed in a 'shopping cart' might need to be displayed on a later 'check-out' screen). When we use cookies in this way, the cookie is stored on your web browser only temporarily; the cookie is destroyed at the end of the transaction or at the end of the browser session.
  
  
• Customized Services: Cookies may also be used to automatically identify a particular user to the system, in order to provide a customized service, such as a personalized web page. In this case, a cookie containing a unique user identifier will be permanently stored on your web browser. We do not store sensitive information in such cookies; only a unique user identifier or generic preference values are stored. Personal information you give us for processing a transaction or using one of our personalization features, may be stored on our secure web server. Personal information that you give us for processing a transaction or using one of our personalization features, may be stored on our secure web server, retained only as long as necessary and properly disposed of by destruction under the State of Rhode Island Title 38 Access to Public Records law.

We do not use cookies in order to track your visit to our website. The "help" portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies or how to disable cookies altogether. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of many State of Rhode Island e-government services, and we recommend that you leave them turned on.

The State of Rhode Island does use cookies to note new and repeat visitors for statistical purposes. We do not use cookies to keep a database of personally-identifying information about visitors when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Indeed, we do not maintain any information at all that can personally identify a user of our websites.

No other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purpose than those stated above and are scheduled for frequent and regular destruction. The State of Rhode Island makes no guarantee or warranty that servers not managed or controlled by the State of Rhode Island that are linked to this WWW site are not using cookies or collecting personally-identifying data.

Security

For site security purposes and to ensure that WWW service remains available to all users, the State of Rhode Island computer system employs software programs which can monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. The State of Rhode Island website content materials are provided for public use on computer systems located within the State of Rhode Island and for the use and benefit of citizens of Rhode Island and others. Any person choosing to use this system or seeking access to information or materials on this system is subject to Rhode Island jurisdiction. Any dispute arising therefrom shall be decided under the laws and in the courts of Rhode Island.