Privacy Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to inform individuals about the collection and use of personal information by SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission. Nothing herein should be construed to, nor does it, create any new or different rights than those available under existing State and federal laws.

Definitions

For the purpose of this policy, “personal information” means information that identifies or describes an individual including, but not limited to, an individual’s photograph or digitized image, social security number, date of birth, driver’s identification number, education level, financial status, bank account(s) number(s), account or identification number issued by and/or used by any federal or state governmental agency or private financial institution, employment history, height, weight, race, other physical details, signature, biometric identifiers, and any credit records or reports. “Legitimate public purpose” means a purpose or use which falls clearly within the statutory charge or mandates of an agency, board, commission, institution, department, or other state entity. “Commercial solicitation” means contact by telephone, mail, or electronic mail for the purpose of selling or marketing a consumer product or service. “Commercial solicitation” does not include contact by whatever means for the purpose of: (a) offering membership in a credit union; (b) notification of continuing education opportunities sponsored by not-for-profit professional associations: (c) selling or marketing banking, insurance, securities, or commodities services provided by an institution or entity defined in or required to comply with the Federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act, 113 Stat.1338:or (d) contacting persons for political purposes using information on file with state or local voter registration offices.

Use, Collection and Retention of Personally Identifiable Information through the Internet

When you request a guidebook, enter a sweepstakes, or sign up to receive an eNewsletter, we ask that you register, providing your name, address, email address, and perhaps your interest, activities and your general preferences. We request this information so that we can process and fulfill any request for information that you may make.
We have industry standard technology to protect this information.

We may use this information internally to identify your specific interests so that we can keep you informed of new attractions, activities or other information that has been added to this site. As an example we might send you an email announcing a new festival, or other attraction you might enjoy. You can opt-in or out of receiving email messages from us at any time.
Sometimes we will use the information you fill out about who you are, what attractions, activities, products or other information you are requesting in aggregated but not personally identifiable form for research.

With regard to sending you emails or other mailings from qualified third parties, we don’t assume that you have “opted in” to allow us to send you email or other mailings simply because you have not “opted out.” Unless you request us to send the information, we will not send information.

We do share information you provide us with those who need it to supply the information you have asked for through us. We notify those who receive this information that the Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002 prohibits persons or private entities from using any personal information obtained from SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission’s Web site for commercial solicitation directed to a resident of South Carolina and that a person knowingly violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties specified in 30-2-50 (D).

Use of Cookies

Our web applications may create “cookies” to hold user information. These “cookies” are then sent to, and stored on, the user’s computer. This information is handled in the same way as other personally identifiable information obtained by us. No user information will be gathered through the use of “cookies” except that which is required to run the specific application(s) being accessed by the user.

We use a third party to serve ads on our behalf across the internet. The third party may also collect anonymous information about your visits to our web site. This is primarily accomplished through the use of a technology device, commonly referred to as a web beacon or an Action Tag, which we place on various web pages within our web site that allows the third party to collect anonymous information. The third party may use information about your visits to this and other web sites in order to provide ads about goods and services of interest to you. The third party reports the anonymous data that they collect on our behalf back to us, which we link to our customer’s personally identifiable information for the purposes of better serving you. When we merge this data, it is treated under this policy as personally identifiable information as described above.

Personal Information and Public Disclosure

In the state of South Carolina, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by a government agency. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public’s right to access certain records in order to preserve the privacy of individuals. Such exemptions are authorized by both State and federal laws. Information collected may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless such an exemption in law exists. In the event that there is a conflict between this policy and a State or federal law governing the disclosure of public records, the applicable State or federal law shall control.

The Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002 prohibits persons or private entities from using any personal information obtained from SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission for commercial solicitation purposes. A person knowingly violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties specified in 30-2-50(D).

Non-SC Lowcountry Web Sites

Various web sites will be linked through us. This includes web sites of other governmental agencies, as well as web sites of private entities. Many of these sites may not be subject to the South Carolina Code of Laws, or may operate under different privacy standards. Visitors to those web sites are advised to check the privacy statements of those sites and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information without a clear understanding of how the information will be used.

Limiting Access to Personal Information

SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission shall take reasonable measures to limit access to personal information. We have notified and instructed our staff of their responsibilities concerning the protection of personal information.

Party Responsible for Administration of the Policy

The person responsible for the administration of the SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission web site privacy policy is Peach Morrison.
If you have questions about this privacy policy, the practices of this site, or your interaction with this web site, please contact:

Peach Morrison
SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission
Post Office Box 615, 1 Lowcountry Lane
Yemassee, South Carolina 29945

Statement of Notice

This privacy policy serves as notice of the relevant provisions of the Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002. A copy of SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission’s privacy policy is posted in the Frampton Plantation Visitors’ Center for review by employees, clients and the general public. In addition, this policy is contained on SC Lowcountry & Resort Islands Tourism Commission’s internet web site. A copy of SC Lowcountry & resort Islands Tourism Commission’s privacy policy is available upon request to interested parties.

Questions, Comments

We consider our privacy policy to be vital to establishing the trust we hope to build with our visitors.