Privacy Policy and Freedom of Information

The Corporation of the County of Essex is committed to protecting the privacy of any personal information you may provide when visiting our website. Our privacy policy complies with the provisions set out in the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

We collect data each time a visitor enters the County's website. This information is used to collect statistical information about visitors as a whole, and does not single out or identify specific individuals. Information collected may include:

• Your IP address.
• The name of your Internet Service Provider.
• Web browser information.
• Date and time of your visit.
• Pages accessed at the County's website.

When visiting our site you are not expected to tell us who you are. When/if we do ask for personal information, it is our commitment to provide notice outlining our legal authority to collect it and include the following information:

• The purpose for collecting the personal information.
• How the information will be used and who will have access to it.
• How the information will be recorded and stored.
• Who to contact if you have any questions.

All information voluntarily sent to the County website by email, feedback form or other means, becomes the property of The Corporation of the County of Essex. We do not sell, nor distribute this information. This privacy statement is limited to the County of Essex website.

The Corporation of the County of Essex assumes no responsibility for the websites that are linked to, hosted by or otherwise electronically connected to the County's website or web server. The Corporation of the County of Essex may change this policy at any time at its sole discretion.

If you have received your own personal health information and believe that your information is not correct, you can complete the online Access/Correction Complaint form and mail the application fee to the Privacy Officer. We will let you know if we are going to make the requested change to your personal health information. If we do not agree that there is an error in your personal information, you can provide a signed letter advising that you disagree with personal information that we have for you in our records and we will attached that statement of disagreement to your personal information record.

The Corporation of the County of Essex's website is provided for information purposes only. The County does not accept any responsibility for reliance thereon. The authors publishing on the County's website do not make any representations or warranty, express or implied, including without limitations, as to the quality, merchantability and fitness for the County's website. The County shall not be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, exemplary, consequential or other damages including lost profits and the user saves the County harmless.

The Corporation of the County of Essex does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy of this information, nor is it responsible for any expenses or damages incurred directly or indirectly resulting from the use of this information.

Please check with County staff for the most up to date information. In the case that information available at County facilities and that of the County's website is in discrepancy, it shall be deemed that the material located at the County facilities is current and correct overriding the material contained within the website. It is always in the best interest of the viewers to contact the County of Essex when in doubt to ensure timely and accurate information.

The County of Essex reserves the right to discontinue, change or modify this site at any time without notice. Links to other websites or references to other organizations, products, services or publications do not constitute endorsement or approval by the County of Essex, and the County of Essex makes no representations whatsoever about any other website that you may access through this one.

The County of Essex assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of translations that you perform using the GoogleTM Translate tool. GoogleTM Translate is a third-party automated translator and, as such, may make mistakes that a skilled human translator would not otherwise make.

The County of Essex will not be liable for damages arising from, but in no way limited to, the transmission of confidential information over the Internet.

The material provided on this website cannot be duplicated in whole or in part without the express written permission of the County of Essex or its legal representatives.

Fill in the online Freedom of Information Request form and pay the $5.00 Freedom of Information Request Fee.

If your request is for you own personal information, include a photocopy of a piece of identification with your signature. If you are requesting information on behalf of another person, include a letter with their signature authorizing you to make the request along with a photocopy of a piece of identification with their signature.

We will respond to your request within 30 days.

• We will contact you with an estimated cost before processing your request if we believe it will cost more than $25.

• You will need to pay 50 per cent of that cost before we proceed if it is more than $100.

• All fees must be paid by cash, cheque or money order, payable to “Treasurer, County of Essex.” Do not mail cash.

You can appeal to Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner within 30 days of receiving our decision if you are not satisfied.

Your appeal must include a copy of your original request for information and a copy of the County's decision letter. Forward your appeal request with the appropriate fee to the Privacy Commissioner's office:

2 Bloor Street East

Suite 1400

Toronto, Ontario

M4W 1A8

519-326-3333

The appeal fee for personal information requests is $10

The appeal fee for a general records request is $25