Privacy Policy

Last updated: 9/17/2025

Van Buren County (“we,” “our,” or “us”) operates the website . We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring transparency about how we collect and use your information.

Who we are

This website is maintained by the Van Buren County Digital Information Department.
Website:
Mailing Address: 219 E Paw Paw St., Suite 201. Paw Paw, MI 49079
Phone: 269-657-8243
Email: GIS@vanburencountymi.gov

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

When visitors leave comments, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

Media

If you upload images, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the site may download and extract location data from images.

Contact forms

If you use a contact form on our site, the information you provide (such as your name, email address, and message) will be collected for the purpose of responding to your inquiry.

  • We do not use this information for marketing.
  • Form submissions may be retained indefinitely for customer service purposes.

Our forms use Google reCAPTCHA to prevent spam and abuse. reCAPTCHA may collect device and interaction data in accordance with Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service:

Cookies

  • If you leave a comment, you may opt-in to saving your name, email, and website in cookies for convenience. These last one year.
  • If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to check if your browser accepts cookies. This is discarded when you close your browser.
  • Login/session cookies are used for registered users and expire according to system defaults.
  • No additional marketing or advertising cookies are set by our custom plugins.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles may include embedded content (videos, images, etc.). Embedded content behaves as if you visited the third-party website and may collect data or use cookies.

Events Calendar

If you create or submit event, venue, or organizer information, the following may be collected and stored locally:

  • Venue info: name, address, city, state, postal code, phone, website, coordinates
  • Organizer info: name, phone, website, email
  • Event info: name, description, cost, date/time, image

If importing events (e.g., from Eventbrite, Meetup, or iCal/ICS feeds), we may temporarily process the data provided in those feeds.
Eventbrite ticket purchases are handled by Eventbrite, and their privacy policy applies.

We may use APIs from third-party services (e.g., Google Maps, PayPal, Eventbrite, Zoom) to provide features. These services may collect limited data such as IP addresses or authentication details as part of their functionality.

Analytics

We use Google Site Kit to integrate the following Google services with our website:

  • Google Analytics – provides aggregated visitor statistics (such as page views, time on page, and traffic sources).
  • Google Search Console – helps us monitor our website’s performance in Google Search.
  • Google PageSpeed Insights – provides performance reports on our site speed.

These services may collect data such as:

  • Your IP address (anonymized in some cases)
  • Browser and device information
  • Pages visited and interactions with content

Google may use this data in accordance with their Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by using the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Cookies

In addition to the functional cookies described earlier, Google Analytics may set cookies to collect information about how visitors use our site. These cookies help us understand traffic patterns and improve the website.

Who we share your data with

We do not sell or trade personal information.
Data may be shared with trusted third-party service providers strictly for functionality:

  • Google (reCAPTCHA, Maps, Site Kit)
  • Eventbrite (if you purchase tickets)
  • Our hosting provider (Nexcess/Liquid Web) for site operation and security.

Each provider has its own privacy policy.

We share limited data with Google through the Site Kit plugin (Analytics, Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights). Google acts as a third-party data processor, and their privacy practices apply.

How long we retain your data

  • Comments: Retained indefinitely.
  • Contact forms: Submissions are retained as needed to respond to your inquiry. Some submissions may be retained indefinitely if required under Michigan public records law.
  • Event, venue, and organizer info: Retained until removed by site administrators.
  • Registered user accounts: Retained as long as the account is active.

What rights you have over your data

You may request:

  • An export of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Correction of inaccurate information.
  • Deletion of your personal data, except for data we are legally required to retain.

Requests can be made by contacting us (see Contact Information below).

Where your data is sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service (Akismet or similar).
Data may also be transmitted to Google (reCAPTCHA, Maps) or Eventbrite (if using ticketing). These services may process data outside the United States or European Union.

We require third-party providers to comply with applicable data protection standards.

How we protect your data

We take reasonable measures to safeguard your data:

  • SSL encryption for all site traffic
  • Restricted administrative access
  • Regular security updates and monitoring

What data breach procedures we have in place

If a breach occurs, we will:

  • Notify affected users as soon as possible
  • Take immediate steps to secure data
  • Report breaches as required by applicable law

Contact Information

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please contact:

Digital Information Department
Van Buren County
Mailing Address: 219 E Paw Paw St., Suite 201. Paw Paw, MI 49079
Phone: 269-657-8243
Email: GIS@vanburencountymi.gov