Thank you for visiting the Office of the Westchester County Clerk’s website. This privacy policy governs the Office of the Westchester County Clerk. Our office recognizes that those who use our website must be confident that their privacy is protected when they visit www.westchesterclerk.com.

This policy describes our privacy practices regarding information collected from users of this website. It describes what information is collected and how that information is used. Because this privacy policy only applies to this website, you should examine the privacy policy of any website, including other governmental websites, that you access via links from this website.

For purposes of this policy, "personal information" means any information concerning a natural person which, because of name, number, symbol, mark, or other identifier, can be used to identify that natural person. The Office of the Westchester County Clerk does not collect any personal information about you unless you provide that information voluntarily by sending an e-mail or by initiating an online transaction, including, but not limited to, the filing of a Uniform Commercial Code Financing Statement, registering with our subscription service or e-filing a document with our Legal Division.

Information collected automatically when you visit this website
When visiting this website, the Office of the Westchester County Clerk automatically collects and stores the following information about your visit:

i. The Internet Protocol Address and domain name used, but not the e-mail address.
The Internet Protocol Address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your
Internet service provider or directly to your computer;
ii. The type of browser and operating system you used;
iii. The date and time you visited this site;
iv. The web pages or services you accessed at this site;
v. The web site you visited prior to coming to this web site;
vi. The web site you visit as you leave this web site; and
vii. If you downloaded a form, the form that was downloaded.

None of the foregoing information is deemed to constitute personal information. The information that is collected automatically is used to improve this website's content and to help us understand how users are interacting with the website. This information is collected for statistical analysis, to determine what information is of most and least interest to our users, and to improve the utility of the material available on the website. The information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and the Office of the Westchester County Clerk is not authorized to sell or otherwise disclose the information collected from the website for commercial marketing purposes.

Cookies
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. To better serve you, 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 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 the website 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.

Information collected when you e-mail this website or initiate an online transaction
During your visit to this website you may send an e-mail to the Office of the Westchester County Clerk. Your e-mail address and the contents of your message including text characters, audio, video, and graphic information formats will be collected. Your e-mail address and the information included in your message will be used to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to improve this website, or to forward your message to another governmental entity for appropriate action. Your e-mail address is not collected for commercial purposes.

The Office of the Westchester County Clerk does not knowingly collect personal information from children or create profiles of children through this website. Users are cautioned, however, that the collection of personal information submitted in an e-mail will be treated as though it was submitted by an adult, and may, unless exempted from access by federal or State law, be subject to public access. The Office of the Westchester County Clerk strongly encourages parents and teachers to be involved in children’s Internet activities and to provide guidance whenever children are asked to provide personal information online.

During your visit to this website you may initiate a transaction such as the submission of a Uniform Commercial Code Financing Statement or the filing of a court record. The information, including personal information, volunteered by you in initiating the transaction is used by our office to operate Office of the Westchester County Clerk programs, which include the provision of goods, services, and information. The information collected by our office may be disclosed for those purposes that may be reasonably ascertained from the nature and terms of the transaction in connection with which the information was submitted.

Information and choice
As noted above, the Office of the Westchester County Clerk does not collect any personal information about you during your visit to this website unless you provide that information voluntarily by sending an e-mail or initiating an online transaction. You may choose not to send us an e-mail or submit data via an online transaction. While your choice not to contact us or submit documents to the Office of the Westchester County Clerk may limit your ability to receive specific services through this website, it will not prevent you from requesting services from the Office of the Westchester County Clerk by other means and should not have an impact on your ability to take advantage of other features of the website, including browsing or downloading publicly available information.

Disclosure of information collected through this website
The Office of the Westchester County Clerk will only collect personal information through this website or disclose personal information collected through this website if the user has consented to the collection or disclosure of such personal information, except as otherwise provided below. The voluntary disclosure of personal information to the Office of the Westchester County Clerk by the user, whether solicited or unsolicited, constitutes consent to the collection and disclosure of the information by the Office of the Westchester County Clerk for the purposes for which the user disclosed the information to the Office of the Westchester County Clerk, as was reasonably ascertainable from the nature and terms of the disclosure.

However, the Office of the Westchester County Clerk may collect or disclose personal information without user consent if the collection or disclosure is: (1) necessary to perform the statutory duties of the Westchester County Clerk, or necessary for the Office of the Westchester County Clerk to operate a program authorized by law, or authorized by county, state or federal statute or regulation; (2) made pursuant to a court order or by law; (3) for the purpose of validating the identity of the user; or (4) of information to be used solely for statistical purposes that is in a form that cannot be used to identify any particular person.

The Office of the Westchester County Clerk may disclose personal information to law enforcement authorities to enforce the Office of the Westchester County Clerk’s rights against unauthorized access or attempted unauthorized access to the Office of the Westchester County Clerk’s information technology assets.

Retention of information collected through this website
The information collected through this website is retained by the Office of the Westchester County Clerk in accordance with the records retention and disposition requirements of the New York State Arts & Cultural Affairs Law. Information on the requirements of the Arts & Cultural Affairs Law may be found at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/records/laws-arts-and-cultural-affairs-57-05. Information, including personal information, that you submit in an e-mail or when you initiate an online transaction such as a Uniform Commercial Code filing is retained in accordance with the records retention and disposition schedule established for the records of the program unit to which you submitted the information.

Access to and correction of personal information collected through this website
Any user may submit a request to the Office of the Westchester County Clerk privacy compliance officer to determine whether personal information pertaining to that user has been collected through this website. Any such request shall be made in writing to the address below and must be accompanied by reasonable proof of identity of the user. Reasonable proof of identity may include verification of a signature, inclusion of an identifier generally known only to the user, or similar appropriate identification. The address of the privacy compliance officer is: Privacy Compliance Officer, Office of the Westchester County Clerk, 110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., White Plains, NY 10601.

The privacy compliance officer shall, within five (5) business days of the date of the receipt of a proper request: (i) provide access to the personal information; (ii) deny access in writing, explaining the reasons therefore; or (iii) acknowledge the receipt of the request in writing, stating the approximate date when the request will be granted or denied, which date shall not be more than ten (10) days from the date of the acknowledgment.

In the event that the Office of the Westchester County Clerk has collected personal information pertaining to a user through their website and that information is to be provided to the user pursuant to the user’s request, the privacy compliance officer shall inform the user of his or her right to request that the personal information be amended or corrected under the procedures set forth in section 95 of the Public Officers Law.

Confidentiality and integrity of personal information collected through this website
The Office of the Westchester County Clerk is strongly committed to protecting personal information collected through this website against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Consequently, the Office of the Westchester County Clerk limits county employee access to personal information collected through this website to only those employees who need access to the information in the performance of their official duties. Employees who have access to this information are required to follow appropriate procedures in connection with any disclosures of personal information.

In addition, the Westchester County Clerk has implemented procedures to safeguard the integrity of its information technology assets, including, but not limited to, authentication, monitoring, auditing, and encryption. These security procedures have been integrated into the design, implementation, and day-to-day operations of this website as part of our continuing commitment to the security of electronic content as well as the electronic transmission of information.

For website security purposes and to maintain the availability of the website for all users, the Office of the Westchester County Clerk employs software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise damage this website.

Disclaimer
Information provided on this Web site is intended to allow the public an alternative form of access to public information. While all attempts are made to provide accurate, current, and reliable information, the Office of the Westchester County Clerk recognizes the possibility of human and/or mechanical error. Therefore, the Office of the Westchester County Clerk makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or suitability of the information provided by this web site, and denies any expressed and implied warranty as to the same. This website contains links to other sites. A link does not constitute an endorsement of the content, viewpoint or accuracy of such websites.

Links to other sites
This website contains links to other sites. The Office of the Westchester County Clerk is not responsible for the privacy practices of such websites. A link does not constitute an endorsement of the content, viewpoint or accuracy of such websites.