The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources manages the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” system (web portal and mobile applications). Listed below are the policies observed regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personally identifiable information when you use the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” mobile application (Coastal Homeowner's Handbook). Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to, your name, phone number, and postal address.
Information Collected
Registration in the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” system is not mandatory to use the mobile application; however, registration in the system is required if you wish to save your planning and preparation data. When registering, you are required to provide information such as your name, e-mail address, and a password for the account. This information is used to validate access upon login and provide a personalized user experience.
Access to your location data is not required to use the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook”. We may use general location data to provide you with Weather services that are relevant to your general location.
When you retrieve weather forecasts and conditions using the system’s weather function, you may optionally request the information to be retrieved for your current location. We also collect information that your device sends whenever you use the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook”. This log data may include information such as your device IP address, device type, software version, the pages of our site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, and other statistics.
Use of Information
When you save your planning and/or preparation information in the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook, we may collect your Username and location. The amount and type of information the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” gathers depends on the nature of the interaction. In each case, “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” only collects such information as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of your interaction with “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook”.
We continually strive to improve the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” based on information and feedback we receive from you. The email address you provide may be used to send information to you.
Push Notifications and SMS Messages
We may send push notifications and/or SMS messages related to “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” to your device. You can deactivate these messages at any time by changing the notification settings in the “My Account” tab and in settings on your device
Information Protection
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you enter, submit, and access your personal information, but remember that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. All supplied information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” database to only be accessed by those authorized with special access rights to “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook”.
Cookie Use
Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the site’s or service provider’s systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits and to track the completion status of trip information.
Outside Party Disclosure
We will not sell your information and we do not share your information unless we need to share it with a third-party vendor to improve the service provided, or we are required to by law.
Third Party Service Providers
We may employ third party companies and individuals to maintain or improve the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” or to assist us in analyzing how the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” is used. These third parties have access to your information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.
Legally Required Sharing and Public Records
Information may be shared if required by law. For example, if we are served with a subpoena or a request from law enforcement, we will share the information with them.
All information that we collect is subject to the Public Records Act (Miss. Code Ann. 25-61-1). This means that any member of the public can request the information and we must release it, unless it falls within one of the law’s narrow exceptions.
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance (COPPA)
The “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” mobile application is in compliance with the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act); we do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under the age of 18. “The Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” mobile application, products, and services are designed and directed to participants who are at least 18 years old or older. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us.
Information Retention and Deletion
We treat information collected through the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” program as we do any other internal documents. This means that it may be deleted at some point in the future, but this is unlikely to occur. Please note, deleting the mobile application from your mobile device does not delete any personal information previously collected during the use of the application. If you feel that information is incorrect or would like to have your personal information removed from the system, you may request removal by contacting us by email.
Online Privacy Policy Scope
This online Privacy Policy applies only to information collected through the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” mobile applications and web portal and not to information collected offline.
Changes Policy
Changes to the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” privacy policy may be updated from time to time for any reason and will be posted on the “Coastal Homeowner's Handbook” mobile application on the “Privacy Policy” page.
Contact Information
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
1141 Bayview Ave
Biloxi, MS 39530
By registering to use “Coastal Homeowner’s Handbook”, you certify that you have read and agree to this privacy policy and the terms of use.