WEB SITE PURPOSE AND SCOPEs The Johnston County web site is provided as a public service. The site is managed by the Johnston County MIS Department, but is a collaborative effort among all departments within Johnston County government. Our goals for the development of the Johnston County web site are to: - Provide an Internet gateway that links to County Services information, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Maps and Locations data, economic development and tourism information, legislative information and more.
- Improve public access to County government information, programs, and services.
- Provide a mechanism for County government to become more efficient, effective, and responsive to the public through the use of online communications, information delivery, and business transaction applications.
- Provide a tool to improve cross-department collaboration on service and information delivery to the customer via the Internet.
PRIVACY POLICY It is the policy of Johnston County Government to protect the privacy of all visitors to the Johnston County web site. We collect no personal information about you when you visit www.co.johnston.nc.us or www.johnstonnc.com, unless you affirmatively choose to make such information available to us. We collect only the minimum amount of logging information for statistical purposes. We do not capture personal information about you without your permission, nor do we share the information we might collect with outside parties. Citizens do not have to provide personal information to visit Johnston County web sites or to download information. Johnston County may use log analysis tools to create summary statistics, administer the performance of the web site(s), diagnose problems, and determine which information is of most interest to the public. We collect this information for analysis purposes only. At any given time, some or all of the following information might be tracked:
| User Client Hostname (Client IP) | The Hostname (or IP address, if DNS is disabled) of the user or client requesting access. | | Server IP | Unique Internet Protocol (IP) address of the Johnston County web server accessed. | | HTTP header (user agent) | The user agent information includes the type of browser, its version, and the operating system it is running on. | | System Date and Time | The date and time of the user/client request. | | Full request (HTTP Request URL) | The exact request the user/client made. | | HTTP Header (Referrer) | URL that referred the requested file. | | Bytes Sent | Amount of data sent from the web server to the web site visitor during that connection. | | Bytes Received | Amount of data sent from the web site visitor to the web server. | | Status | The status code the server returned to the user/client. | | Method | The request method used. | | Universal Resource Identifier (URI) | The location of a resource on the server. | | Protocol Version | The transport protocol and version used by the visitor's web browser. | | Query string of the URI | Anything after the question mark in a URI. | The above information is used for statistical tracking purposes only and is not shared with entities external to Johnston County Government. We use the information we collect to understand how people are using our site. Regular analysis of our web site logs allows us to continually improve the value of the materials and services offered on our site. The information in the web site logs is not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link the information to individuals who have visited our site. Some of this statistical information, such as a running count of the number of visitors to the site or a particular page within the site, may be displayed on the web page itself.
Contacting Johnston County Government through the Web Site Sending an e-mail directly to Johnston County government or submitting a response or question via an online feedback form may result in your e-mail address being collected as a means to reply to your inquiry or e-mail. We may forward your message to a department or agency within County government for appropriate action. We do not share e-mail addresses with third parties, nor do we retain this information in a formal manner. We ask that children obtain their parents' permission before sending personal information via e-mail to our site. We encourage children to always consult with their parents before furnishing personal information online.
Data Security and Quality Johnston County is committed to data security and the data quality of personally identifiable information that is either available from or collected by governmental web sites, and has taken reasonable precautions to protect this information from loss, misuse, or alteration. Any third parties responsible for this information are committed to the same principles, and also are required by contract to follow the same policies and guidelines as Johnston County in protecting this information. Information gathered from the Johnston County web site has security measures in place including firewalls, encryption, and authenticated access to internal databases where needed. E-mail transmissions cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information can be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, late in arriving, incomplete, or infected with viruses. Therefore, Johnston County does not accept responsibility or liability for errors or omissions concerning e-mail content. For web security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, our network manager employs software programs to monitor network traffic, and to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.
DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY Johnston County is dedicated to the practice of democracy and strongly believes in the free exchange of ideas. We believe in maintaining a strict standard of excellence in all of the material associated with the Johnston County government web site. Although we endeavor to keep the web site information up-to-date and accurate, neither the Johnston County Government nor any department, agency, officer, or employee of the Johnston County Government warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published on the web site, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from the site, and shall not be held responsible for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. The information and services provided to the public via the Johnston County web site are provided on an "as is" basis. Johnston County makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Johnston County will not be liable for any damages of any kind resulting from the use of its web site, including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, and/or consequential damages. The information contained within the Johnston County web site is dynamic and will change over time. Johnston County government gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or completeness of the data. It is your responsibility to use the data appropriately and consistently within these limitations. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at Johnston County government, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. Johnston County shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained within its web site. The data and related graphics are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. We do not favor one group over another, and any references herein to any organizations, commercial products, processes, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, do not constitute or imply its endorsement or recommendation by Johnston County government. Johnston County government is not responsible for the content of any external pages referenced through links. The responsibility for content on outside pages rests with the organizations providing the information.
ACCESSIBILITY POLICY It is the policy of Johnston County Government that the information provided on the Johnston County Government pages be as accessible as possible to people with disabilities and individuals accessing web-based information through text-based browsers, Palm Pilots, cellular telephones, slower modem connections, low-end processors, WebTV, and other alternative methods. Johnston County Government has accepted the Accessibility Guidelines of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and also adheres to the accessibility recommendations of the North Carolina Statewide Technical Architecture. With the exception of the GIS Interface Application, all Johnston County web site pages are Bobby-Compliant and are at least Priority Level One accessible. Text-based GIS information can be obtained by contacting the Johnston County GIS Department at 919-989-5153. At this time, some documents on the Johnston County web site, due to their size, are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. Acrobat files can be converted into accessible HTML or ASCII text instantly and for free by using the tools available on the Adobe Systems corporate site at http://access.adobe.com/tools.html. Printed and/or electronic documents are available for those unable to access or view the downloadable files on this web site. To request a printed copy of a web page, e-mail the webmaster at webmaster@johnstonnc.com. To request a copy of a document or file available on the web site, contact the individual department responsible for the information or the webmaster.
WEB SITE LINKING POLICY Various outside web sites might be linked from the Johnston County web site. Many of these sites, including private-sector sites, are not subject to the same privacy regulations as the County site. Visitors to outside sites are advised to check the privacy statements of these sites and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information without a clear understanding of how the information will be used. Johnston County government is not responsible for, nor does it endorse in any way, the content on external sites.
How to Link to the Johnston County Government Web Site You do not need to obtain advance permission to link to us if you are making a simple link to the home page. When linking to the Johnston County web site, please use one of the following domains: http://www.co.johnston.nc.us or http://www.johnstonnc.com. You may also link to one of our sub-pages, where appropriate, using the base URL of either www.co.johnston.nc.us or www.johnstonnc.com. Please note that the URLs of the sub-pages are dynamic as is the content of the sub-pages. It is up to you to verify that your links to our sub-pages are functioning. NOTE: Do not capture the Johnston County web site pages within your site's frameset, or in any way present any Johnston County web site content as your own. All links to our site should be a full forward link that passes the client's browser to our site unencumbered. This means that if your site utilizes frames, you should have the Johnston County site overlay the frameset completely or open in a new browser window. Do not capture the Johnston County web site pages within your site's frameset! Although all content on our site is public information, Johnston County Government maintains and will defend a copyright interest in its pages. Do not link to individual graphics or tables within the Johnston County government pages. This places a download burden on our servers, and such an action can be considered a misuse of County resources. To obtain permission to use one or more of the Johnston County web site graphics on your site, please contact the webmaster at webmaster@johnstonnc.com.
Reciprocal Links Johnston County Government does not enter into reciprocal link agreements. We provide links to sites, on occasion, that are appropriate to our mission. Our creation of a link to your site does not obligate you to provide a link back to our site, but you are welcome to do so. We always appreciate an e-mail telling us of new links to us. Send your link information to webmaster@johnstonnc.com.
USE OF JOHNSTON COUNTY LOGO, GRAPHICS, TEXT, AND IMAGES ON WEB SITE To obtain permission to reproduce the information (text or graphics) contained in the Johnston County web site for any commercial purpose, submit the specifics of your request in writing to the webmaster at webmaster@johnstonnc.com. If permission is granted, the wording "used with permission of Johnston County government" and the date must be noted at the usage point, and the Technology Services department must be provided with a copy of the final product.
HOW TO CONTACT US REGARDING THESE POLICIES If you have questions about our web site policies, or you have suggestions or comments, please feel free to e-mail us at webmaster@johnstonnc.com or contact us in the Technology Services department at 919-989-5153. | 