Updated May 7, 2021
The Metropolitan Council is committed to protecting the privacy of users in accordance with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act; this privacy statement explains how. We reserve the right to alter our privacy policy as business needs require. Any changes to this policy will be posted on this website in a timely manner.
Information collected and used during your visit
If you visit our sites to browse, read, and/or download information, the following information is collected and used:
Web visit logs and web traffic data
The Metropolitan Council or its designated service providers routinely collect and store information from online visitors to our websites to help us manage our sites and improve service. Information collected may include the pages visited on the site, the date and time of the visit, the internet address (URL) of the referring site, the domain name and IP address from which the access occurred, the version of browser used, the capabilities of the browser, the device type used to access the website, and search terms used on our site-search application or from referring commercial search engines. We make no attempt to identify individual visitors from this information.
Cookies
Cookies are pieces of information stored by your web browser on behalf of a website and returned to the website on request. This site may use cookies for two purposes: to carry data about your current session at the site from one web page to the next, and to identify you to the site between visits. This information is classified as private or nonpublic in accordance with MN. Stat.§ 13.15.
Unless otherwise notified on this site, we will not store data, other than for these two purposes, in cookies. We use this information to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our sites and to help us make our sites more useful. We cannot and do not associate any of this information with individual persons, distribute this information to any third parties, or use it in any manner other than for statistical analysis in improving our sites for visitors.
If you prefer not to receive cookies, you may turn them off in your browser, or may set your browser to ask you before accepting a new cookie. Some pages may not function properly if the cookies are turned off.
Information voluntarily provided by you
You may choose to identify yourself by sending us an email, completing an online form, participating in online forums or other interactive services, or responding to our data requests. We use the personally identifying information to process or respond to your requests or ours.
If you do provide personally identifiable information, the information you provide is up to you. However, if you do not provide certain information, such as your name or email address, it may be impossible for us to respond to or fulfill your request, or for you to participate in optional online services.
Also, users are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by minors online or by email will be treated the same as information given by an adult and may be subject to public access.
Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, some of the information that individual users share with the Metropolitan Council is private data. If you share information when signing up for a notification or subscription list, such as a newsletter, your telephone number, email address, internet user name, password, internet protocol address, and any other similar data related to your online account or access procedures are classified as private data. Please note that these data are private for individuals and that the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act defines an individual to mean “a natural person”. For more information, please refer to MN. Stat. § 13.356.
Your rights as the subject of government data
MN. Stat.§ 13.01 governs your right to see and know about the data that government entities collect, keep, or can release about you:
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All data the Metropolitan Council collects are public and can be seen by anyone unless classified as private or not public by state or federal law.
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You have the right to know what data is collected about you and to view all public or private data about yourself at no cost or be charged a reasonable fee for copies.
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You have the right to have the meaning of data explained to you in a way you understand.
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Information you provide that is classified as private data may be provided to Metropolitan Council staff with a work assignment that reasonably requires access, state and federal enforcement agencies, persons/entities named pursuant to a court order, any person you authorize to receive this information through a signed release, and any other person or entity authorized by state or federal law to receive the information.
Security
Information e-mailed to us via the Internet is not secure and could be intercepted and read by others. We recommend that you not use email to send us private or sensitive data about yourself or others unless the data is encoded or encrypted.
Disclaimer of endorsement
Our websites may contain links to other public or private organizations. The Metropolitan Council does not guarantee the accuracy of the information on other organizations' web pages that we are linked to, and the Metropolitan Council is not responsible for the privacy policies or content of such websites. Links to any product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply any endorsement, recommendation, or association with those sites, the material contained therein, or the sponsoring entities by the Metropolitan Council or any of their employees or contractors.
Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this site, please contact:
Metropolitan Council
Attn: Office of Communications
390 N. Robert Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
[email protected]
651-602-1500 (voice)
651-602-1550 (fax)