San Rafael, CA Library Privacy Statement

SAN RAFAEL LIBRARY POLICY

PRIVACY STATEMENT

Your Right to Privacy

The San Rafael Public Library recognizes the need to protect your right to privacy regarding the questions you ask and the materials you borrow.

Confidentiality of Library Records

The Public Records Act, California Government Code Section 6267, mandates confidentiality of your registration and borrowing records. These records include any information which a library requires a library user to provide in order to become eligible to borrow books and other materials, and any information which identifies the library user borrowing particular books and other material. All library records relating to an individual library user's use of the library and its resources are confidential. These records may be consulted and used by library staff in the course of carrying out library operations, but will not be disclosed to others except at the request or consent of the library user, or pursuant to subpoena, court order, or otherwise required by law.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT PRIVACY AT THE LIBRARY

Our Commitment to Privacy

Protecting your privacy is important to us. This notice explains our information practices, what information the library collects, and how the library uses that information.

The Information San Rafael Public Library Collects

This information applies to all information submitted to the San Rafael Public Library in person or on the web site. On some web pages, you can make requests, make comments, or reserve a computer to use the Internet. The types of personal information collected are:

• Name
• Address
• E-mail address
• Phone number
• Library card number
• Date/year of birth (for card registration only)
• Materials currently checked out
• Overdue material (until returned)
• Fines, paid or waived (kept for 6 months)

The Way We Use This Information

We do not share information collected with outside parties. We use return e-mail addresses to send notification of reserve materials and overdue materials. Mailing addresses are used for overdue and billed notices. There is a check-off box on the application if you would like to receive information from the Friends of the Library or the San Rafael Public Library Foundation. For reserving an Internet computer, your bar code and your PIN are kept in the Library Online System until your reservation is used or cancelled (up to 7 days), and to show workstation usage (up to 24 hours).

Internet Privacy

When you visit the library's web site, we collect and store only information to measure the number of visitors to our site. 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

In accordance with Library Confidentiality Policy, we will not well, lease, or otherwise distribute or disclose your e-mail address, phone number, borrower records, or other personal information for non-library purposes to outside parties unless required by law.

The library's website uses ""cookies"" to allow you access to certain functions (such as the on-line catalog and electronic resources, etc.) within our site. These cookie files do not capture any personal user information (such as e-mail address or user passwords). Temporary cookie files are automatically deleted when you close your browser.

Some of the library web site/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.

Our Commitment to Children's Privacy:

Protecting the privacy of children is especially important to us. We attempt to minimize exposure of children's personal information when possible by using children's first names only when promoting events on or off our web site. We are also prudent in our use of children's e-mail information, using them only for notification of reserves or overdue or billed materials. Children up to the age of 14 must have a parent's signature on file to access the Internet. Due to the ease with which children can divulge personal information on the Internet, as well as the possibility of inadvertently bringing up inappropriate sites, we urge parents to supervise their children's use of the Internet. Information collected at the San Rafael Public Library is not shared with any other agency or organization.

SRPL: Privacy Policy 6/03