Section A. Introduction
Thank you for visiting the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority website and reviewing our Privacy Notice. This statement addresses collection, use and security of and access to information that may be obtained through use of the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority website. This notice covers the following topics: Information Collected and How it is Used; Personal Information and Choice; Public Access to Information; Nondisclosure of Certain [Personal/Private] Information; Review and Correction of Personally Identifiable Information; Cookies [and applets]; Security; Disclaimer; Contact Information.

Section B. Information Collected and How it is Used
Information collected if you only browse this site. If you do nothing during your visit to our website but browse, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store the following information about your visit: The Internet Protocol Address and domain name used. The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer. We use the Internet Protocol Address to direct Internet traffic to you. This address can be translated to determine the domain name of your service provider (e.g. xcompany.com or yourschool.edu); The type of browser and operating system you used; The date and time you visited this site; The web pages or services you accessed at this site; and The web site you visited prior to coming to this website. The information we automatically collect or store is logged and used by the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority only to improve the content of our web services and to help us understand how people are using our services. The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority analyzes the website logs to determine how our website is being used, so that we may continually improve the site's usefulness to the public. What we collect if you volunteer information: If during your visit to our website you participate in a survey, send an email, or perform some other transaction on-line, the following additional information will be collected: The email address, and contents of email, for those who communicate with us via email; information volunteered in response to a survey; information volunteered through an on-line form for any other purpose. The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us. We use your email to respond appropriately. This may be to respond to you, to address issues you may identify, to further improve our website, or to forward the email to another agency for appropriate action. Survey information and information from other on-line forms is used by the Authority to improve the quality of our services or for any additional purposes identified when we present a survey or otherwise request information from you. The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority may use and disclose to third parties summaries or other non-personally identifiable information derived from information submitted on the site for other internal or external purposes, but the Authority will not disclose any such information personally identifying you without your prior permission.

Section C. Personal Information and Choice.
You may choose whether to provide personal information on-line. "Personal information" is information about a natural person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal information includes such things as an individual's name, address, and phone number. A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information. We collect no personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us by sending us email, participating in a survey, or completing an on-line form. You may choose not to contact us by email, participate in a survey or to provide any personal information using an online form. Your choice to not participate in these activities will not impair your ability to browse Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority website and read or download any information provided on the site. If personal information is requested on the website or volunteered by the user, state law and the federal Privacy Act of 1974 may protect it. However, this information is a public record once you provide it, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law. If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority Public Information Officer as shown in the Contact Information Section of this statement. Users are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by children on-line or by email will be treated the same as information given by an adult, and may be subject to public access.

Section D. Public Access to Information
In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records that serve various needs including the privacy of individuals. Exceptions are provided by both state and federal laws. All of the information collected at this site becomes public records that may be subject to inspection and copying by members of the public, unless an exemption in law exists.

Section E. Nondisclosure of Certain Personal Information.
The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority may request you to provide certain personal/private information in order to fulfill a request made by you and/or to improve the quality of our services. Examples of information that is not available for public review include: Personal information maintained on borrowers or applicants for Authority programs; lists of individuals to be used for commercial purposes; personal information maintained on employees, appointees, or elected officials.

Section F. Review and Correction of Personally Identifiable Information.
You can review any personally identifiable information we collect about you by using the information in the Contact Information section at the end of this Notice. You may recommend changes to your personally identifiable information you believe to be inaccurate by submitting a written request that credibly shows the inaccuracy. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

Section G. Cookies and Applets.
To better serve our users we may use "cookies" to customize your browsing experience with the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority website. Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your web browser. Cookies created on your computer by using this website do not contain personally identifying information and do not compromise your privacy or security. Applets are tools downloaded to your computer to work with the software you have. Applets are intended to enhance your browsing experience by enabling you to view information in a unique manner. We use applets with this site to provide visual enhancements such as hover buttons and alternate text formats. You are not required to use applets to browse this site. Choosing not to accept applets will not affect your general ability to browse this website and download information, but may adversely affect how information appears on your computer or your ability to view the information that the applet is intended to support.

Section H. Security
The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority, as manager of this website, has taken and are continuing to take several steps to safeguard the integrity of its data and prevent unauthorized access to information collected on the website and maintained by the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority. These measures are designed and intended to prevent corruption of data, block unknown or unauthorized access to our systems and information, and to provide reasonable protection of private information in our possession. This information should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided via Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority website.

Section I. Disclaimer.
The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority website has links to other websites. These may include links to websites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority website and this Privacy Notice will not apply. When you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site. Neither the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, nor any agency, officer, or employee of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at their own risk.

Section J. Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority Contact Information.
You may contact the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority to review your personal information or request correction of your personal information as follows: Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority 99 Summer Street, Suite 1000 Boston, Massachusetts 02110 Fax: 617.737.8366 Phone: 617.737.8377 or toll free in Massachusetts: 888-662-4332 Email: webmaster@mhefa.org