MARINet Privacy Policy

Our commitment to privacy

The MARINet member libraries are committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to our site. Protecting your privacy is important to us. This notice explains our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way the library collects and uses your information. We make this notice easy to find on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested.

The Information we collect

The MARINet member libraries collect information from individuals in order to identify those who borrow our materials and/or access licensed online databases. The information that we store includes:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Library card number
• Home library jurisdiction
• Name of parent / guardian (for children who register)
• Driver's license number (collected by some member libraries for identification only)
• Date of birth
• Materials currently checked out (until returned)
• Last Patron to check out an item (kept for a limited period)
• Requests for materials (until filled or cancelled)
• Fines paid or waived (kept for 6 months)

The Information you may choose to collect

The MARINet member libraries will offer the ability for you to create and save searches. In addition, you may store a history of all items you have checked out. Both of these sets of data are stored in a file that only you may access using your barcode, name and PIN. Deletion of your information from this file is also controlled by you.

How we use the information

Mailing and email addresses are used to send notices of holds or reminders of overdue materials. Email addresses are used by the system to send announcements of new materials that match saved searches to patrons who have asked to receive these. Some MARINet member libraries use patron record information for reserving computers. This reservation information is kept for up to 7 days until the reservation is used or cancelled. A record of which workstation was used is kept for up to 48 hours. MARINet has no record beyond that of the program launched, for example that word processing or Internet browser was selected for use. We do not track sites accessed or work done on a workstation.

We use non-identifying and aggregate information to track statistics of activity done on our system. For example we keep for up to 10 days the search terms used to search the catalog; we never track who specifically searched for those terms. We also track aggregate patron activity on our system such as online renewals, holds, or modifications to patron records.

The personal information asked for on our Web site, such as an email address you provide via My MARINet, is sent directly to an internal database accessible only by staff. Information collected by MARINet is not shared with any other agency or organization except as noted above or when we are required to do so by legal court order or subpoena.

Our login form asks for barcode or User ID, and PIN so that we may be certain that you alone look at your record. The patron information may also be used to contact you when necessary, such as to respond to questions or other comments you send to our site or to send you reminders when library materials have not been returned.

Suggestions you submit to our site are forwarded to staff at MARINet member libraries as appropriate. If you identify which library you use, we send your comments to that library; general comments are forwarded to staff at all MARINet libraries.

When you visit MARINet's website we collect and store information to measure the number of visitors to different areas of our site to assist us in making our site more useful to you. This information includes:

• The IP address of your computer or Internet provider
• The date and time you accessed our site
• The Internet address of the website that referred you to our site

Our Commitment to Children's Privacy:

Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important to us. We urge that parents supervise their children's use of the Internet, especially when a child wishes to give out personal information online.

Parents may wish to refer to Child Safety on the Information Highway, produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as a further guide for their children's Internet use.

Confidentiality of Library Records

The Public Records Act, California Government Code Section 6267 mandates confidentiality of your registration and borrowing records. These records include any information the library requires a person to provide in order to register to borrow library materials or to use library computers as well as the record of which materials you have borrowed. All library records relating to an individual's use of the library and its resources are confidential. These records may be consulted and used by staff from any of the MARINet member libraries, but will not be disclosed to others except by request of the library user or when required by law through court order or subpoena.

Library patrons should be aware that the MARINet libraries are obligated by law to comply with the provisions of the USA Patriot Act enacted on October 26, 2001 which makes it easier for government officials to obtain access to library patron records.

When you are using digital content from third party vendors, such as those we subscribe to for eBooks, databases, the catalog, and others, we cannot guarantee that our privacy policies, and California confidentiality laws that apply to library records will apply. We recommend that you check the privacy policy of the company providing the product that you're using.