Department of Civil Affairs

To our users:

The Department of Civil Affairs (DCA), Taipei City Government wants you to know that we take an active interest in safeguarding your personal information. To help you understand how our website collects, receives, and safeguards your personal information, please carefully read the contents of the DCA Website Privacy and Security Policy. This policy will allow you to understand the principles and guidelines regarding how we collect, receive, and safeguard the personal information of users who access the services provided by the DCA website and its affiliated websites.

Scope of Policy

The Website Privacy and Security Policy applies to the collection, reception, and safeguarding of your personal information while accessing services provided by the DCA website and its affiliated websites. The DCA policy shall prevail whenever there is any discrepancy between DCA policy and all other affiliated website policies. However, this policy does not apply to websites linked through search results or links on the DCA websites. The privacy policies of these individual sites regarding the collection, reception, and safeguarding of your personal information are not the responsibility of websites.

Personal Information and Other Data Collection

We collect the personal information of users through the following applications:

• Online Activities and Surveys
When you take part in a website activity or fill out a survey on our website, the form may request you to provide information such as name, ID number, phone number, email or mailing address …etc. Participation in some of the activities may require an active CyberCitizen account. It is also possible that you may take part in contests, raffles, or promotional activities on other websites, after accessing them through links on the DCA’s website. In these situations, the privacy policy of the DCA website does not apply to the personal information provided by you to these websites, and we are not responsible for personal information you provide to these websites.

• Subscription to Newsletters
When you wish to obtain DCA information updates via email, you must correctly enter your email address, and other information to subscribe to these services. Based on operational needs, we will preserve the information you have entered and provide the options of unsubscribing or making changes to the services.

• Browsing the Websites
The DCA maintains a record of the log created by the servers when users browse the websites or conduct searches. Information on this log includes user IP, browsing profile, and content tracking. The DCA will track individual user information to acquire data on overall user activity within DCA websites. Unless users voluntarily provide personal information, DCA websites cannot and will not use the records obtained through aggregated non-personal information to analyze the behavior of individual users.

• Others
In addition to the personal information entered by users to log onto DCA websites, it is also possible that users provide their personal information (such as emails and names) in public forums such as discussion and bulletin boards. Personal information provided in this manner is not covered by the privacy protection policy of the DCA websites. Furthermore, we will retain records of all communications from users who email or communicate through other channels.

Use of Cookies

To provide individualized services, DCA websites employ cookies to store settings and/or for record-keeping purposes. Cookies are short pieces of information that the website transfers to the user's hard drive. Users may determine the degree of cookie acceptance by modifying their browser settings. Users can decide whether to accept, be notified of, or refuse cookies. If you select to refuse cookies, there is a chance that you may not be able to access certain features of the website or to participate in certain activities. In general, the following is a list of situations where we attach or read cookies from the user's browser:

• To provide better and more personalized services:
Cookies allow for personalized interaction between the website and the user by facilitating the process of logging in and out of the website, as well as making customary adjustments.

• To collect demographic and profile data for analysis:
The date collected will be used for measuring website access for the purpose of improving the services we provide.

• To keep track of the number of accesses and participations in promotional activities:
In the process of distributing newsletters or organizing promotional activities, there are cases when cookies will be placed to keep track of the degree of user participation and other relevant data.

Use of Personal Data

The DCA website does not sell, rent, or otherwise exchange any of your personal information with other organizations or individuals. Only in the listed situations below will the DCA website provide your personal information to third parties under the policy guidelines:

• Online activities and surveys
The respondent's name and ID number will only be used as basic information in prize-drawing activities at the DCA website. The phone number and email address provided will be used to notify the participant of results; this data will not be used for any other purposes. Other information provided by users will be limited to service analysis. With the exception of specific consent from users, all mentioned data acquired by the DCA website will be used solely for the purpose of data analysis of web traffic.

• Statistics and Analysis
The DCA website will, from time to time, commission internal departments or academic institutions to conduct research on issues including the number of users, areas of interest, and behavior based on registration, survey response, promotional activities, and server login entry. All public information and analysis reports target general behavior of overall users, and will not attempt to analyze the behavior of individual users.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

The DCA website does not sell, exchange, or rent your personal information with other organizations or individuals. Only under the following circumstances and guidelines will we share your personal information with third parties:

• To provide you with additional services or benefits:
In circumstances where sharing your personal information with third parties is necessary to provide additional services or benefits, the DCA website will provide detailed explanations during the activity, and will notify you before collecting any information. You may choose whether to accept or not the additional services or benefits.

• To enhance, evaluate, or research service quality:
To provide accurate and quality service to users, the DCA website will follow the privacy policy when comparing user data with data provided by third parties. Furthermore, to introduce our services and other legal capabilities to potential partners, advertising agencies, or other third parties, the DCA website has the right to disclose anonymous statistical data of individual users.

• Others:
The DCA website has the responsibility to safeguard the privacy and personal information of its users. We will not edit, delete, or provide your personal information and data without your prior consent, with the exception of the following situations:

• Information requested by judicial authorities of the ROC government granted through legal processes
•Creating valid threats in violation of website regulations
• In the interest of extending government website services
•Safeguarding the legal rights of other users

Network and Information Security Policy

As the safety of data transfer through the Internet cannot be 100% guaranteed, the DCA website nonetheless, strives to keep user information safe. There are situations where SSL technology is employed to safeguard data transmissions. As the safety of data transfer is also determined by the security of the Internet environment of the end user, we cannot guarantee that all data transmissions between the DCA website and the end user are ever completely secure. Users should know this and bear the risk of data transfer via the Internet.

Users who disclose their personal information, such as email address and name via public forums of the website should realize that data disclosed in this manner can be collected and used by others. You are not required to reveal your personal information in these forums if you do not wish to expose yourself to such risks. If you disclose your personal information in public forums where information could be accessed by others, there is a chance that you will receive advertisements or spams from other organizations. Please realize that these consequences are not within the control of the DCA website, and we will not bear any responsibility for it.

Amending Privacy and Information Security Policy

The DCA website will amend and update these policies from time to time to adhere to the latest privacy safe-guard measures. Announcements will be posted on the website to notify users of major changes to the guidelines and how we utilize personal information.

Inquiries Regarding Privacy and Security Policy

If you have any questions regarding our privacy policy or how we collect, use, or update personal information, please contact us during regular work hours at (02) 2725-6262, or by fax at (02) 2723-5933. You may also contact us through email................