Orange County Library System Privacy Policy
The Orange County Library System is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information as well as information regarding your individual use of the Library or its services. The policy outlined below addresses some specific privacy concerns.
Information We Collect
The registration information acquired by the Library for the purpose of allowing a patron to borrow books and other materials is limited to what we believe is necessary or useful to conduct Library business. Personal information gathered such as name, address, phone number, e-mail address, photo and driver’s license number are gathered for the purpose of identification and accountability for use of Library materials. The registration information required by the Library is confidential and exempt from a public records request.
Records of Library use (i.e. quantity of or titles of materials checked out and returned or services used) are maintained only for the purpose of statistics or for the business purpose of recovering materials or fees. Users at their own discretion may choose to activate the “Reading History” option online which will create a history of items checked out on that account. This is information not otherwise maintained by the Library. The Library may ask for an e-mail address for the purpose of sending advance “about to be due” electronic notices, overdue notices, program announcements or other Library news.
From time to time, we may use personal information, for Library purposes only, for new unanticipated uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices do change, we will post the policy changes on our website to notify you and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you have any concerns about how your information is used, please contact us at comments@ocls.org.
Protecting Information About You
Personal information requested by the Library and information regarding a card holder’s use of the Library is protected by Florida Statute 257.261 According to this statute this information may be turned over to a third party for the purpose of collecting materials, fines or fees owed the Library. This information is also subject to the provisions of Section 215 the USA PATRIOT Act which provides the federal government with the ability to request such records.
Please be aware of the fact that choosing to activate the “Reading History” option for your account creates a record which is accessible by both of the above mentioned exceptions to the general privacy of your record.
The Library will not sell, lease or otherwise share any personal information to outside parties except as outlined above or unless required by law.
Use of the Library’s Web Site
When you visit the Library’s web site, we collect and store only information to measure the number of visitors to different areas of our sites to assist us in making our sites more useful to you. This information includes:
- The address (IP) of your computer or internet provider.
- The date and time you accessed our site.
- The Internet address of the web site that referred you to our site.
The Library’s web sites use “cookies” to allow you access to certain functions (such as the on-line catalog and electronic resources, etc) within our sites. These cookie files do not capture any personal user information (such as e-mail address or user passwords). Some of our subscription databases such as Learn A Test do use “cookies”.
Some of the Library web sites/pages contain links to external sites not maintained by the Library. The Library cannot be responsible for your privacy when you disclose information to outside web sites. It is your responsibility to protect your personal information.
Miscellaneous Records
Records, including but not limited to, correspondence with the Library or reports of incidents at the Library are considered public records as set forth in subsection 119.011(11) of the Florida Statutes.
E-mail Communications with the Library
E-mail addresses gathered as part of your Library registration are confidential and exempt from a public record request asset forth in subsection 257.261(1) of the Florida Statutes. E-mail communications with the Library and the e-mail addresses associated with them are a public record.
Visitors to our website should be aware that the Library complies with the following required posting to our website.
668.6076 Public records status of e-mail addresses; agency website notice.—Any agency, as defined in s. 119.011, or legislative entity that operates a website and uses electronic mail shall post the following statement in a conspicuous location on its website:
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
Additionally the Library places the following message on all outgoing email.
Florida has a very broad Public Records Law.Virtually all written communications to or from State and Local officials are public records available to the public and media upon request. The Orange County Library System policy does not differentiate between personal and business emails. E-mail sent via any Library-owned system will be considered public and will only be withheld from disclosure if deemed confidential pursuant to State Law.
Approved by the Library Board of Trustees November 9, 2006
