The following policy applies only to the use of the Lamoille South Unified Union (LSUU) School District’s websites. As users navigate the District’s websites, the user will see links that, when clicked, will take the user to other websites external to the District. The LSUU strongly suggests that users read the privacy policies for any external site that the users visit. In addition, users should also review the LSUU’s’ websites privacy procedures to learn about the terms of use of the websites.
Website Privacy
At the LSUU’s websites, LSUU attempts to protect the privacy of users to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information that is received through these websites are subject to the provisions of Vermont law, Title 1, Chapter 3, the State of Vermont’s Access to Public Records law, LSUU cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that users provide to LSUU through these websites may be made available to members of the public under the Vermont’s public records law pursuant to a public records request that is made by a member of the public. This website privacy policy informs users of the information that LSUU collects from users at these websites, what is done with the information collected, to whom the information may be disseminated, and how users can access it. Based on this information, users can make an informed decision about their use of this website and whether to share personally identifiable information with LSUU through these websites.
Personally Identifiable Information
The term “personally identifiable information” means any information that could reasonably be used to identify a user, including his/her name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, his/her child’s name, Social Security number, date of birth or any combination of information that could be used to identify either the user and/or his/her child.
Information Voluntarily Provided by the User
The LSUU website collects voluntary information from the user~through surveys posted on the website and/or through e-mails that the user sends directly to LSUU board members. As a result LSUU’s website may collect personally identifiable information the user voluntarily submits, such as name, address, e-mail address or telephone number, so that the LSUU board members may contact the user for follow up to their question, concern or recommendation. Any e-mail messages sent by the user to the LSUU board via the website will contain personally identifiable information such as the user’s email address and any other information the user chooses to give to the LSUU School District Board of Directors to help them respond to your inquiry.
The LSUU website also may collect voluntary information from users through surveys posted on the website and/or through emails that the user sends directly to any employees of the LSUU. As a result LSUU’s website may collect personally identifiable information that users voluntarily submit, such as name, e-mail address or telephone number, so that the appropriate employee of LSUU may contact the user for follow up to the user’s question, concern or recommendation. Any email messages sent by the user to LSUU’s website will contain personally identifiable information such as the user’s email address and any other information the user chooses to give an employee of LSUU to help LSUU respond to the user’s inquiry.
Information Automatically Collected and Stored by these Websites
LSUU’s websites each use “session cookies” to allow visitors to interact with the websites and to use online applications. “Session cookies” do not allow LSUU to personally identify a visitor. These cookies are stored only on the user’s computer and may be deleted by the user. LSUU websites do use Google Analytics to collect and process data. To learn how Google Analytics collects and processes data shared by your web browser when visiting a website, please click here.
Please also note that as a website user, you may control information that is shared by your web browser when interacting or visiting sites by checking the “help” feature or “account settings” of your own web browser to learn how to use these features.
LSUU’s websites do collect and store a visitor’s “Internet Protocol (“IP”) address,” (which does not identify the user as an individual) indefinitely, as well as information about the date and time of a user’s visit, whether a file a user has requested exists, and how many “bytes” of information were transmitted to the user over the Web from LSUU’s website. LSUU’s websites use a user’s IP address to assess the frequency of visits to the websites and the popularity of its various pages and functions. LSUU will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that a user provides to LSUU with a user’s IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation.
Dissemination of a User’s Personally Identifiable Information
LSUU does not sell any personally identifiable information collected through these websites or submitted to LSUU in conjunction with using functions on these websites, and there is no direct or online public access to the information. However, once a user voluntarily submits personally identifiable information to LSUU related to the user’s use of the portal, its dissemination is governed by Vermont’s’ public records law, student records law and other applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to, the federal Family Educational Rights Privacy Act. For this reason, part or all of the information a user sends to LSUU may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request pursuant to a public records request that is made by a member of the public.
In addition, the information that a user voluntarily submits to the LSUU board will be disclosed only to members of the LSUU board or those individuals designated by the LSUU with a “need to know ” for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. The information will be used for such purposes as; answering the user’s 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 LSUU’s website, and fulfilling LSUU’s legal obligations. Where appropriate, the LSUU Board may provide the information submitted by a user through an e-mail to the person or company that is the subject of the user’s inquiry, or a federal, state or local government agency responsible for the matters referred to in the user’s communication. Additionally, where appropriate and with the user’s agreement, the LSUU Board may release the information without a public records request having been received.
LSUU also will collect and aggregate the information the user provides through surveys for purposes of market research to improve these websites and/or to improve the operations of the LSUU and its schools.
A User’s Access and Opportunity to Correct
The Access to Public Records Law provides users certain rights to get information about them that is in the records of LSUU. To learn more about the circumstances under which a user can get and correct this information, please read these laws.
Security
Because emails sent to LSUU are not encrypted, users should not send messages containing information that a user considers highly sensitive to this website. LSUU uses standard security measures to ensure that information provided by a user, including a user’s personally identifiable information, is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. LSUU also uses software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.
Contact Information
For questions about privacy while using LSUU’s websites, please contact the Web Administrator at webmaster@lamoillesouth.org.
Definitions
“Cookies” are files that a website can place on a user’s computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a website can use to track such things as a user’s password, lists of web pages a user has visited, and the date when a user last looked at a specific web page, or to identify a user at a particular website. A cookie file allows the website to recognize a user as the user clicks through pages on the website and when a user later revisits the website. A website can use cookies to “remember” a user’s preferences, and to record a user’s browsing behavior on the web. Although a user can prevent websites from placing cookies on their computer by using the browser’s preference menu, disabling cookies may affect a user’s ability to view or interact with some websites.
An “Internet Protocol Address” or “IP Address” is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send a user the file that he/she has requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to the Cambridge School Committee and/or Cambridge Public Schools may identify the computer from which the user is accessing the Internet, or a server owned by the user’s Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information.