1. Privacy at the VTA Website

Because we receive certain types of information from visitors to the VTA website, we want you to understand the terms and conditions regarding the use of that information. This privacy policy discloses what information we receive and how we use it.

2. What type of information does VTA receive at its website?

VTA will only gather personally identifiable information through lawful means, and we limit the collection of personal information to what is relevant and necessary to accomplish a lawful purpose of VTA.  The information we collect depends upon what you do when visiting this website. In general, we collect two types of information: the personal information you provide voluntarily, and aggregated information about users as a whole that we collect automatically.

3. Personal Information

“Personal information” is information about an individual that identifies or describes that specific individual, including the individual’s name, address, phone number, email address, and social security number.  VTA collects personal information from you only if you volunteer to use some of our services, and the collection of the information is necessary to deliver to you the specific service, such as to respond to your question or provide subscriptions that you have chosen.  We may request personal information when you submit comments to VTA or register for services or programs we may offer.   This personal information may include your name, email address, phone number, street address, etc.   If you use VTA's online employment application, we may also request other types of personal information required to process your application.

4. Use of your personal information

If you choose to submit information to us, VTA will only use your personal information to provide you with the services you have requested or to provide you with information regarding VTA’s services.  VTA does not sell or rent personally identifiable information to any third party.  VTA will not disclose personally identifiable information to any third party not affiliated with us, except for disclosures to service providers who may assist us in such areas as data collection, extraction and storage, other business activities, and disclosures that are required by law, as discussed in Section 5 below.  VTA service providers do not share information gathered from our clients with other parties for promotional purposes, and limits their use of client information to advance their ability to deliver requested services to VTA.

5. Disclosure of personal information as required by law

In the State of California, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state and local government.  At the same time, there are exceptions to the public’s right to access public records.  These exceptions serve various needs, including maintaining the privacy of individuals.  Both state and federal laws provide exceptions.  All information collected at this website becomes public record that may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exemption in law exists.  In addition, we will disclose personal information when required by law, or if we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on us, (b) protect and defend our rights, or (c) protect the rights, property, and other interests of our users or others.   Information in anonymous, aggregated form may be shared freely.

6. Aggregated Information

We receive certain types of information about general activity at the VTA website. If you do nothing during your visit at this website but browse or download information, we automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:

1. the Internet Protocol Address and domain name used (such as “aol.com”) but not the email address;
2. the type of browser (such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Firefox) and operating system (such as Windows or Unix) you used;
3. the date and time you visited this website;
4. the web pages or services you accessed at this website;
5. the website you visited prior to coming and immediately upon leaving this website; and,
6. the form or forms that you downloaded at this website, if any.

This aggregated information does not include personal identifying information and therefore, we cannot use aggregated information to identify you. VTA gathers and compiles this information into an aggregate form for statistical analysis and reporting to improve the content of our web services and to help us understand how people are using our services.

VTA uses third party measurement software from Webalizer to gather and compile aggregated information. Webalizer does not collect, track or have any access to personal information received at the VTA website. To find out more about Webalizer, their technology, or their privacy policy, please visit http://www.webalizer.com.

7. Links

The VTA website contains links to other websites.   If you access those links, you will leave the VTA website.  VTA does not control those other websites, and therefore is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these other websites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our website and to read the privacy statements and terms/conditions of use for each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy policy applies solely to information collected by the VTA website.

8. Cookies

A cookie is a small data file that websites commonly write to your hard drive when you visit them. A cookie file contains information that can identify you anonymously in order to track traffic patterns and add functionality to the website. Cookies don't identify you personally, but rather identify your computer when you visit a website. A cookie can't read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other websites. Your browser can be set to warn you before accepting cookies. In this case, you will receive the warning message with each cookie. You may choose to refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. You do not need to have cookies turned on to use most parts of the VTA website. VTA allows users to clear cookies.

9. Security

VTA has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its telecommunications and computing infrastructure.  Security measures have been integrated into the design, implementation, and day-to-day practices of the entire operating environment as part of our continuing commitment to risk management.  This should not, however, be deemed in any way as warranting or guaranteeing the absolute security of the information provided via this website.

10. Children’s Privacy

VTA does not knowingly collect information from children under 13 years of age.  Any personal information from a child under the age of 13 that has been unknowingly collected and stored by VTA will be deleted upon written request from the child’s parent or legal guardian.  Deletion requests should be addressed to:

            Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority
            Attn: Web Master
            3331 North First
            San Jose, CA  95113

11. Updates

If we decide to update our privacy policy, we will update this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it. VTA reserves the right to update this privacy policy at any time. This page was last updated on January 1, 2009.

12. Consent

By using the VTA website, you consent to the collection and use of information as described above.