Online Privacy Policy By using the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) web or social media site, you agree to the terms of the DCCED Online Privacy Policy, as outlined below. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this site. According to the State’s Public Information Law, 2 AAC 96.100-900, information provided to obtain a business license, insurance license, corporation license, professional license, etc., is considered public information except for social security number, driver’s license number, financial information such as credit card numbers and health and medical records. Collection of Personal Information At times, typically when you request reports or forms, download electronic files, or submit information through online forms from the DCCED web site or via email, we may ask you to provide certain information about yourself by filling out and submitting an online form. It is completely optional for you to participate in these programs. If you elect to participate in these programs, however, we may require that you provide your contact information, which may include your name, mailing address, email address, and other personal identifying information. DCCED collects this information in order to record and support your participation in the programs you select. If you order a report, for example, the information may be used to register you with one of our electronic mailout databases so that we could include you in future mailings. DCCED also uses information that you provide (through intentional disclosure through an online form for example) as part of our effort to keep you informed about other services we may be able to provide. Other Internet Protocol (IP) information, as detailed below, may be collected so that we can better maintain statistics on our web site and, in turn, provide our users with better services and data, better site navigation, and a more enjoyable web site experience overall. DCCED recognizes and appreciates the importance of responsible use of this information. If you do not want the information you provide to DCCED to be used to inform you of other DCCED service, and you indicate this preference when you provide the information or request to DCCED, your preference will be honored. Children's Online Privacy Protection DCCED will not willingly or openly collect or distribute information or perform monetary transactions with children under the age of 13 in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998. While this act is intended to apply to web sites and online services used for commercial purposes (which this department is not), in keeping with the intent and purpose of that protection act, DCCED may share personal information in the form of a name, address, phone number, or email address with another agency for the sole purpose of answering the child's inquiry or forwarding their inquiry, but will not make the information publicly available in identifiable form, by any means including by a public posting, through the Internet, or through a home page of a website, a pen pal service, a non-government electronic mail service, a message board, or a chat room. Use of Cookies When you visit our web site, you can surf the site anonymously and access important information without revealing your identity. In order to improve the DCCED web site, we may use "cookies" to track your visit. A cookie is small amount of data that is transferred to your browser by a web server and can only be read by the server that gave it to you. It functions as your identification card, recording your passwords, purchases, and preferences. It cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. Most browsers are set to accept cookies by default. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. (For some web pages that require an authorization, cookies are not optional. Users choosing not to accept cookies will probably not be able to access those pages.) While DCCED may use cookies to track your visit to the DCCED web site (and our separate web servers), and our web servers may automatically log the IP/Internet address of your computer, this information does not identify you personally and you remain anonymous unless you have otherwise provided DCCED with personal information. Please note that DCCED is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of non-DCCED web sites to which this department or its divisions may link.