Privacy and Cookies

The citizensinformation.ie website is maintained by the Citizens Information Board, a statutory agency responsible for providing information, advice and advocacy services to the public in Ireland. The Citizens Information Board fully respects your right to privacy, and will not collect any personal information about you on this website without your clear permission. Any personal information which you volunteer will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Acts, 1988-2003.

This statement relates to our privacy practices in connection with this website. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites. Some technical terms used in this statement are explained at the end of this page.

Collection and use of personal information

The citizensinformation.ie website does not collect any personal data, apart from information that you volunteer. (For example, when providing feedback or asking a question). Any information you provide in this way is used only for the purpose you provide it.

Information we routinely collect

We may collect the following information from each user of this site:

• Statistical information (IP address and hostname, web browser version, pages visited etc.).
• The previous website address from which you reached us, including any search terms used
• Other information submitted in forms, for example if you submit your personal details when requesting a form or providing feedback

What we use the information for

Any personal information you provide will be used only for the purpose supplied. If you make a request for a form, the details supplied will be passed to the Department or Agency responsible. Queries submitted are handled by the Citizens Information Board. Your details will be deleted from the system after a set period of time. Any other information collected, is used only for analysing usage patterns, in order to guide us in improving the site.

Citizens Information will neither make attempts to identify individual visitors, nor associate the technical details listed above with any individual. It is our policy never to disclose such technical information in respect of individual website visitors to any third party unless obliged to disclose such information by a rule of law. The technical information will be used only by only for statistical and other administrative purposes.

You should note that technical details, which we cannot associate with any identifiable individual, do not constitute "personal data" for the purposes of the Data Protection Acts, 1988 - 2003.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of information, stored in simple text files, placed on your computer by a website. Some cookies can be read by the website on your subsequent visits. The information stored in a cookie may relate to your browsing habits on the webpage, or a unique identification number so that the website can "remember" you on your return visit. Other cookies are deleted when you close your browser and only relate to the working of the website. Generally speaking, cookies do not contain personal information from which you can be identified, unless you have furnished such information to the website.

Citizensinformation.ie uses cookies in a number of places.

• When you first visit citizensinformation.ie, you will see a message informing you about cookies. If you click the 'Hide this message' button, citizensinformation.ie will set a cookie which records your preference.
• The website sets a cookie when you view or use the 'Contact us' form. This cookie does not contain any personal information, but is used to help prevent a security attack called 'cross-site referral'.
• A cookie is also set to allow the text-resizing and high-contrast buttons to work.
• A number of cookies are set to allow some checklist functionality to work.
• If you access citizensinformation.ie with most mobile phones, you will be asked if you would prefer to view the mobile version of the website. A cookie is set to record if you access the site with a mobile phone or with a desktop browser.
• This website uses Google Custom Search to provide the site's search functionality. Google may set cookies when you use the search function. You can find Google's privacy policy here: www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
• Cookies from Google may also be set when Google Maps are displayed on this website.

Most browsers allow you to turn off cookies or to customise your settings for cookies. To find out how to do this, see the 'Help' menu on your browser. Please note that if you turn off cookies or change your settings, some features of citizensinformation.ie may not work correctly.

Further Information or to make a request

If you are concerned about how personal data is processed via this website, please do not hesitate to bring such concerns to our attention at:

Citizens Information Board
Ground Floor
George's Quay House
43 Townsend St
Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 761 07 9000
Fax: +353 1 6059099

Glossary of technical terms used

Web Browser

The piece of software you use to read web pages. Examples are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.

IP Address

The identifying details for your computer (or your internet companys computer), expressed in internet protocol code (for example 192.168.72.34). Every computer connected to the web has a unique IP address, although the address may not be the same every time a connection is made.