Privacy Statement



Thank you for visiting the Ramona Web site and reviewing our privacy and security policy. Our privacy policy is clear: We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our Web site unless you choose to provide that information to us. The Privacy Policy outlines the information we collect via the Ramona Web site and how we use that information.

Information Collected and Stored Automatically


If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the Web site, read pages, or search for information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:
  1. The Internet domain name (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our Web site;
  2. The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
  3. The date and time you access our site;
  4. The pages you visit; and
  5. If you linked to the Ramona Web site from another Web site, the address of that Web site.

We use this information to help us make the site more useful to visitors, and to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology they use.

If You Send Us Personal Information


If you choose to provide us with personal information by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it to us through the Web site we use that information to create a variety of reports and status maps for use in statewide and national GIS coordination efforts that support coordination and partnership activities, business plan development, and the creation of metadata records. We also use this information to respond to your messages, to help us get you the information you have requested, and to notify visitors about updates to our Web site. We create individual profiles with the information you provide to create metadata records. Ramona does not collect information for commercial marketing and we have employed reasonable measures to prevent data mining from this site.

Information We May Place Automatically on Your Computer's Hard Drive


Ramona stores some information on your computer in the form of a "cookie." This is used to store information you provide to prevent you from having to enter the same information repeatedly. We use a session cookie to store a username and password. This allows us to retrieve the correct datasets you submitted from the database and their registration information. The session cookie is removed when you leave Ramona.

We use a session cookie that contains a Map Parameter ID that resides on your computer. The cookie is set when you use the nested map viewing features in Ramona. The nested map viewer feature allows you to search anywhere in the United States (U.S.) by using a graphical selection tool displayed on a map of the U.S. This graphical selection, redrawing, and searching feature require the use of a session cookie to give you adequate performance and display capabilities. The session cookie is removed when you leave Ramona.

Cookies are not used to collect personal information about you, to collect information from your files, or to damage your files.

For more information on cookies visit the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Site Security


For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this computer system employs commercial software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction.

Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

Links to Other Sites


This Web site offers links to other GIS-related Web sites. Once you link to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site. The National States Geographic Information Council and its development team (hereinafter collectively referred to as NSGIC) assume no responsibility for the information practices of these sites, and these links do not imply affiliation or endorsement of the linked sites. NSGIC does not control and cannot guarantee the relevance, timeliness, or accuracy of the outside materials.

We want to be very clear: We are not collecting personally identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Except as might be required by law, we only share detailed information we receive with statewide coordination councils and government agencies to promote GIS coordination, to develop partnerships that reduce duplication of effort, and to increase access to GIS data.

Liability Statement


This web site is provided as a public service by the National States Geographic Information Council and its development team (hereinafter referred to collectively as NSGIC). NSGIC believes in the free exchange of ideas. It also believes in maintaining a strict standard of excellence in all of the material associated with this web site.

Disclaimer of Liability


In preparation of this site, every effort has been made to offer the most current, correct, and clearly expressed information possible. Nevertheless, inadvertent errors in information may occur. In particular but without limiting anything here, NSGIC disclaims any responsibility for typographical errors and accuracy of the information that may be contained on these web pages. The information and data included on the servers have been compiled by NSGIC from a variety of sources, and are subject to change without notice to you. NSGIC makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding the quality, content, completeness, suitability, adequacy, sequence, accuracy, or timeliness of such information and data.

In any situation where the official printed publications of NSGIC differ from the text contained in this system, the official printed documents take precedence. The services, information, and data made available on this web site are provided "as is" without warranties of any kind.

There are links and pointers to third party Internet web sites contained in this web site. These sites linked from the NSGIC web site are not under NSGIC's control. NSGIC does not assume any responsibility or liability for any information, communications or materials available at such linked sites, or at any link contained in a linked site. NSGIC does not intend these third party links to be referrals or endorsements of the linked entities by NSGIC, and are provided for convenience only. Each individual site has its own set of policies about what information is appropriate for public access. You assume sole responsibility for use of third party links and pointers.

Disclaimer of Reliability


NSGIC makes no representations or warranties regarding the condition or functionality of this Web site, its suitability for use, or that this Web Service will be uninterrupted or error-free.

Disclaimer of damages


By using NSGIC's web pages, you assume all risks associated with the use of this site, including any risk to your computer, software or data being damaged by any virus, software, or any other file which might be transmitted or activated via a NSGIC web page or your access to it. NSGIC shall not in any event be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, incidental, or consequential damages, including, without limitation, lost revenues, or lost profits, arising out of or in any way connected with the use or misuse of the information or lack of information on the NSGIC web site.

Disclaimer of endorsement


NSGIC does not favor one group over another, and any references herein to any organizations, specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, do not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement or recommendation by NSGIC.