Web Accessibility Statement
Internet Security and Privacy Policy
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 westchesterclerk.com. This policy describes our privacy practices
regarding information collected from users of this website and our applications.
It describes what information is collected and how that information is used. Because
this privacy policy only applies to this website and our applications, 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, preparing tax forms or cover pages with our PREP
system, the filing of a Uniform Commercial Code Financing Statement, viewing records
in our Records Viewer, 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 creation
of a tax form or a cover page for a land record, the submission of a Uniform Commercial
Code Financing Statement, the viewing of an image of a public record, 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 certain publicly available information except in instances when using an online application is required by law.
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/a/nysaservices. 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.
New York State Identity Theft Law
The individual filing these documents at the Westchester County Clerk’s Office acknowledges compliance with the New York State Identity Theft Law which states, in pertinent part that:
No person may file any document available for public inspection with any state agency, political subdivision or in any court of this state that contains a social security account number of any other person, unless such other person is a dependent child, or has consented to such filing, except as required by federal or state law or regulation, or by court rule.
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.