Web Policy

Web Policy

Disclaimer

The Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) provides links to many web sites that are not controlled, maintained, or regulated by DPOR or any organization affiliated with DPOR, and as such DPOR is not responsible for the content of those web sites. Use of information obtained from those web sites is voluntary, and reliance on that information should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy. Reference at those web sites to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by DPOR.

Link Policy

This web site and its document collection may include hyperlinks to sites on the World Wide Web or Internet that are neither controlled nor sponsored by DPOR or the Commonwealth of Virginia. They are included here solely for their value as educational, reference or research tools, or because they relate to the mission of this agency and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Inclusion of any hyperlink should not be interpreted as an endorsement by DPOR or the Commonwealth of Virginia of either the site's sponsor or any commercial product. 

Individuals who visit the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation are important to us. Because visitors to our Web site are important, we do not capture personal information about them without their permission. We strive to ensure that we collect only the minimum amount of information needed to meet the purpose for which the network was created. 

DPOR may be required to collect personal information, such as a user's name and address, because of legal requirements or in order to provide customer services. In doing so we are subject to the requirements for administering information systems as established in the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (Chapter 38 of Title 2.2 of the Code of Virginia). Pages that appear after you click on a link may be controlled by a different agency or entity, whose practices are not under DPOR's control. 

Fostering and maintaining the public's trust is a cornerstone of DPOR. We appreciate the trust and confidence that you place in us by providing requested personal information.

Privacy Policy

It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia that personal information about citizens will be collected only to the extent necessary to provide the service or benefit desired; that only appropriate information will be collected; that the citizen shall understand the reason the information is collected and be able to examine their personal record which is maintained by a public body. This website:  

  • Collects no personal information. 
  • Does not place a cookie on your computer. 

DPOR's Internet privacy policy is: 

  • You do not have to give us personal information to visit our site. 
  • We do not collect personally identifiable information (name, email address, or other unique identifiers).

Information is collected for statistical purposes and DPOR sometimes performs analyses of user behavior in order to measure customer interest in the various areas of our site (see below for details). We will disclose this information to third parties only in aggregate form. 

Information collected and stored automatically

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the Web site, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit: 

  • The Internet domain (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; 
  • The type of browser and operating system used to access our site; 
  • The date and time you access the DPOR site; 
  • The pages you visit; and
  • If you linked to the DPOR Web site from another Web site, the Internet address of that Web site. 

 

We use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors - to learn about the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, what information is of most and least interest, and technical information that will enhance ease of use, such as the types of technology our visitors use and system performance or problem areas. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits. 

Information collected from e-mails and online forms

Many of our Web pages allow you to send us an e-mail. If you provide personally-identifying information, for example, in an electronic mail message containing an inquiry, we will use that information to respond to your inquiry. In addition, in some cases, it may be used to send you follow-up information about services in which you have expressed an interest. 

Most correspondence, including e-mail messages, is subject to public disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, with personally identifying information redacted in accordance with the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act. Remember that e-mail is not necessarily secure against interception. If your communication is very sensitive or includes information such as your bank account, charge card, or social security number, you should send it by regular mail unless our Web site indicates the particular site is secured.

Security -- Detection of unauthorized intrusions

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system utilizes hardware and/or 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.

Use of Cookies

"Cookies" are small files either stored on a server or sent back to a visiting computer. In certain applications, user information is stored as cookies of the type that are then sent back and stored on the user's computer. This website does not place a cookie on your computer.

Freedom of Information Act

See the "About FOIA" tab on the Records and Documents page.

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