MERLIN Online Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the MERLIN Online site, part of Maryland State Government online.

Maryland law mandates:

• that State agencies shall not create personal records unless the need for the information is clearly established;
• that personal records shall be relevant to the purposes for which they are collected, and
• that personal records be accurate and current; and
• that personal records not be obtained by fraudulent or misleading means.

When we request personal data from online customers, we must notify you:

• of the purposes for which the information is collected;
• the consequences to you for refusing to provide the personal information (i.e. Not being able to receive help via e-mail if no e-mail address is provided);
• your right to inspect and correct personal records (a contact name and information will be listed for this purpose);
• that all information we collect is generally available for public inspection; and
• that this information may be made available to other entities if they request it.

To ensure that our online customers understand this, a link to this privacy policy will appear on each page that is used for collecting information.

Please refer to the eMaryland Technology Website for additional information on information technology policies in Maryland. The State of Maryland is committed to providing you with web sites over which you may securely and confidently transact businesss with the State.

MERLIN Online's Privacy Policy is that any personal contact information about a website visitor, including their name, phone number and street or email address will only be collected with the expressed permission of the visitor. Collection of personal contact information will only be exercised as a necessary part of interactive communication with visitors to the website. Required notices (in the form of links to this privacy policy) will always be provided to website visitors who are sharing personal contact information, on the page where the information is collected.

MERLIN Online uses a visitor's IP address and domain name to help diagnose problems with its server, administer its website and to generate a website use report. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are using the Internet. A "server" is the machine that houses our website and sends you the web pages you request after identifying your computer by its IP address. A domain name is the Internet address of your company or Internet Service Provider (i.e. dnr.state.md.us or mdmerlin.net). IP addresses and domain names are not linked to anything personally identifiable. The user's session is logged, but the user remains anonymous.

The only personal information (name, address and contact information) being collected online at this time is for the purpose of resolving problems with the MERLIN Online site (via e-mail), or for the visitor to offer feedback. In the case of feedback via the site's visitor survey, contact information is not required, and is only collected when voluntarily provided by you, the visitor.

The developers and administrators of MERLIN Online are not responsible for the privacy policy or practices of sites outside of the www.mdmerlin.net domain, including those sites which MERLIN Online offers links to.

Please read before using our site.

By using this site, you signify that you agree to the MERLIN Online Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use the site. We reserve the right to change, modify, add, or remove portions of this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically. Your continued use of MERLIN Online following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this website, please contact the MERLIN Online webmaster.