Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting our website, doas.georgia.gov. We strive to provide online resources in a safe, secure manner that respects your privacy when you visit our websites. This privacy statement addresses the collection, use, disclosure and security of information that may be obtained by the state of Georgia through the use of the georgia.gov portal.

Use of Personal Information

The Georgia Department of Administrative Services (hereafter referred to as "DOAS") is the sole owner of the information collected on www.doas.georgia.gov. DOAS collects information from our users at several different points on our website through cookies, log files, clear gifs, and/or third parties to create a profile of our users. To protect your privacy, we do not sell or trade personally identifiable information that visitors voluntarily provide in any registration or contest submission. This personal information is used to better understand visitors' use of the DOAS sites, which helps us provide stronger content and functionality appropriate to visitors' needs. We do not share your profile with other parties.

Log Files

Like most standard website servers, we use log files. This includes Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user movement in the aggregate and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses, etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Tracking Clicked Links

To create a better electronic community, we track patterns of use on this site. We note which links are clicked to tell us what areas are of most interest to our visitors. A "referrer" is the information passed along by a Web browser that references the Web URL you linked from and is automatically gathered by our Web server. This information is used to identify broad demographic trends that may be used to provide information tailored to your interests. You will not be personally identified from this information.

Surveys

Occasionally our site may request information from users via surveys or polls. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether to disclose this information. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Users' personally identifiable information is not shared with third parties unless we give prior notice and choice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys, they may not use our users' personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

Security

This website takes every precaution to protect our users' information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, their information is protected both online and off-line. All users' information is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information. All employees are kept up to date on our security and privacy practices. The servers that store personally identifiable information are in a secure environment, in a locked facility.

Links

This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we, DOAS, are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this website.

Legal Disclaimer

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our website.

Opt-Out Policy

DOAS will use email addresses and other personally identifiable information to contact visitors who communicate with us. For example, we email visitors who provide us with their email addresses for specific purposes such as receiving our email newsletters. After gathering any user information, we offer users the opportunity to remove their information from our database so as not to receive future communications or to no longer interact with the website until they later chose to.

Each email communication always contains instructions on how to discontinue receipt. If a visitor at any time chooses to no longer receive such information and opt-out from any future mailings, they will have the opportunity to update and modify any information they have previously provided by visiting the "Profile Pages" section and updating and/or modifying the information previously provided.

Notification of Changes

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we deem appropriate, so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected. If, however, we are going to use a user’s personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection we will notify users via email. Users will have a choice as to whether we use their information in this different manner. However, if users have opted out of all communication with the site, or deleted/deactivated their account, then they will not be contacted, nor will their personal information be used in this new manner. In some cases where we post a notice, we will also email users who have opted to receive communications from us, notifying them of the changes in our privacy practices.

Web Linking Policy

We welcome links to our website and believe strongly in the utility of hyperlinks, which allow you to point directly to content, whether on the same site or an external site.

DOAS.ga.gov contains links to other sites that we do not control; therefore, we are not responsible for these other sites. We provide these links for your reference and convenience, but we do not endorse the content of these other sites.

Please Do NOT

• Use the Georgia Department of Economic Development's (Peach) logo, Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) logos, or any other logo image without prior written permission. For specific questions regarding Georgia brand standards and logo usage, contact brand@georgia.org. To request permission to use other information or graphics on this site, contact communications@doas.ga.gov.
• Copy editorial content and paste directly on to your site.
• Attribute a link on your site to DOAS.Georgia.gov and then link to another site.
• Frame content or otherwise present it as your own.
• Use any images without permission.