South Carolina Business One Stop (SCBOS) is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the SCBOS website and governs data collection and usage. By using the SCBOS website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.
Collection of your Personal Information
SCBOS collects personally identifiable information, such as your email address, name, home or work address, or telephone number. SCBOS also collects anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, interests, and favorites. There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by SCBOS. This information can include your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times, and referring website addresses. This information is used by SCBOS for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the SCBOS website.
Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through SCBOS public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others.
Note: SCBOS does not read any of your private online communications. SCBOS encourages you to review the privacy statements of websites you choose to link to from SCBOS so that you can understand how those websites collect, use, and share your information. SCBOS is not responsible for the privacy statements or other content on websites outside of the SCBOS and SCBOS family of websites.
Use of your Personal Information
SCBOS collects and uses your personal information to operate the SCBOS website and deliver the services you have requested. SCBOS also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from SCBOS and its affiliates. SCBOS may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered. SCBOS does not sell, rent, or lease its customer lists to third parties.
SCBOS may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external business partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you. In those cases, your unique personally identifiable information (email, name, address, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party. In addition, SCBOS may share data with trusted partners to help us perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to SCBOS, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.
SCBOS does not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent. SCBOS keeps track of the websites and pages our customers visit within SCBOS, in order to determine what SCBOS services are the most popular. This data is used to deliver customized content and advertising within SCBOS to customers whose behavior indicates that they are interested in a particular subject area.
SCBOS websites will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on SCBOS or the website; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of SCBOS; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of SCBOS, or the public.
Use of Cookies
The SCBOS website uses "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time.
The purpose of a cookie is to tell the web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize SCBOS pages, or register with SCBOS website or services, a cookie helps SCBOS to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on.
When you return to the same SCBOS website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the SCBOS features that you customized. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer.
If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the SCBOS services or websites you visit.
Security of your Personal Information
SCBOS secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. SCBOS secures the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.
When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.
Data From Users Outside of the United States
Although the SCBOS website is accessible over the Internet and therefore available worldwide, the SCBOS website and its content are intended for residents of the United States only. If you choose to access the SCBOS website from locations outside the United States, such conduct is at your own risk and subject to the laws of the United States of America, which may differ from privacy laws in your state or home country, and you are responsible for compliance with any local laws and regulations. Nothing in the SCBOS website should be interpreted as a promotion or solicitation for any product of any nature that is not authorized by the laws and regulations of the country where you are located. Personal information collected through or on the SCBOS website may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which we or our affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents maintain facilities, and by using the SCBOS website you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. Users from outside the United States should not use or access the SCBOS website or disclose any information, including personal information, through the SCBOS website. Individuals outside the United States who disclose any data through the SCBOS website, including personal information, hereby acknowledge and consent to such data being stored in the United States or any other country, and transferred outside your country.
Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002
The Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002 prohibits persons or private entities from using personal information obtained from State agencies for commercial solicitation purposes. A person knowingly violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties specified in S.C. Code Ann. Section 30-2-50(D).
For general use or browsing of the SCBOS website, visitors are not asked for personally identifiable information, and none will be collected.
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
Children under the age of 13 are not eligible to use services that require submission of personal information and should not submit any personal information to us. This includes submitting personal information to the SCBOS website as part of a user profile or personalization profile. If you are a child under the age of 13, you can use these services only if used together with your parents or guardians. Seek guidance from your parents or guardians if you are under the age of 13.
If SCBOS decides to begin collecting personal information from children under the age of 13, it will notify parents that it is being requested, disclose the reasons for collecting it, and disclose our intended use of it. SCBOS will seek verifiable parental consent before collecting any personally identifiable information. If SCBOS does collect such information, parents may request information on the type of data being collected, view their child's information, and, if they choose, prohibit SCBOS from making further use of their child's information. SCBOS will not provide personal information about children to third parties.
Email Correspondence
Except as otherwise provided in this policy: (1) SCBOS will not disclose the email addresses of members of the public who have communicated electronically with a governmental body without the affirmative consent of the affected individual; and (2) Personally identifiable information contained in a question or comment sent to SCBOS in an email message or submitted in an online form is only used by SCBOS to respond to the question or comment.
Email messages will be treated the same as any other written communication. They may be subject to public inspection or legal disclosure. Please do not put confidential and personal information, such as social security number, date of birth, bank account, credit card information, mother's maiden name, or medical information in your email communications to SCBOS. Your privacy cannot be protected or insured by SCBOS during email or unsecured web form transmission.
If you send an email message or complete a web form which contains personal information, SCBOS collects and stores the following information:
- Any personally identifying information, which you choose to provide (for example your mailing address), in an electronic mail message or web form requesting information, any comments on policies, issues, or events you send in a Live Chat session. Information collected in this manner is used solely for information and, in some cases, to respond to you. An email automatically includes your email address and certain routing information, including your internet server. SCBOS may redirect the message to a specific state agency or local government if SCBOS staff believes that the state agency or local government may be more qualified to respond.
Links to Other Web Sites
The SCBOS website has links to many other websites. These include links to websites operated by other governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses. Many of these websites may not be subject to the South Carolina Code of Laws, or may operate under different privacy standards. Visitors to those websites are advised to review the privacy statements of those websites. The SCBOS is responsible for any content on a linked site.