PRIVACY STATEMENT

General Statement

The Library is committed to protecting the privacy of registered users and visitors to our facilities and website. Privacy and public records obligations of the Library and University are governed by applicable University rules and policy, Florida statutes, and U.S. laws. In order for the Library to process your transactions, certain personal information is required and collected. The Library does not give, share, sell or transfer any personal information to a third party except to meet your specific request, to conduct Library and University business, or unless required to do so by law. (see Warning)

Library Registration Records

Privacy of library registration records is protected under Florida Statutes Section 257.261. Registration information is used (and remains confidential) when you choose to borrow/request materials or services, and to authenticate eligibility to access or use library equipment and services. Only authorized staff may access personal information stored in the Library's files and computer systems.

The Library automatically and electronically receives personal information from the UNF Student Records Office, the Human Resources Department, and the ID-Card Office to create and update the accounts of UNF affiliates. Similar information must be obtained from non-affiliated users if the Library is to establish an account for the user and provide requested library services. If you want to review or correct personal information, please contact both the office from which the information originated (above) and the Library's Circulation Department.

Some of your personal information in library records may not remain confidential if fines, charges, or fee transactions must be forwarded to the UNF Cashier's Office for collection, or when the Library mediates your request with a third party library or provider.

Website

The Library website is governed by the University's Internet Privacy Policy and other use and network policies. We collect non-personal information from each visitor to the Library Web site as a matter of course in managing the site. We do not collect any personal information unless the user provides it to us voluntarily when using a service on the Library Web site.

Personal Information Collected

When you choose to provide personal information to us to conduct a library transaction, we require only the minimum amount of personal information required to process your request. Elements of your personal information may be used to develop internal statistical reports. Examples of personal information that may be required to process a library transaction include:

name
academic status (faculty, graduate, etc)
e-mail address
telephone number
postal address
library or OspreyCard number
SSN number
credit card number

Non-Personal Information Collected

We collect non-personal information from every visitor to the Library website for statistical analysis, site assessment, server performance, troubleshooting, and other management purposes. There is no inherent link to personal information in computer communications unless you have provided that information in the content of your transaction. Examples of non-personal information collected include:

your Internet Protocol (IP) address (much like an Internet "telephone number")
browser type and version, and the operating system you are using,
domain name of the Web site or Internet service provider and referral site from which you linked to our site
geographical location of the network used for accessing the Library Web site
time and date of access.

Use of Cookies

A "cookie" is a small file of personal information stored on a World Wide Web user's computer, created and subsequently read and used by a Web site server in its processes.

The Library website does not use cookies except when you use our proxy server or when you use our troubleshooting tools to determine compatibility with our external electronic database providers. Some of the subscription database providers linked from the Library website use cookies to support search processes on their site. If your browser is not configured to "accept" cookies, you will still be able to access the information on the Library Web site, but you may not be able to perform online searches in all of our providers' databases.

Links

Our website contains links to external websites and licensed databases. The Library is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or the content of these external websites. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy and security information for any site you visit.

Security

Since the Library uses standard systems and communications methods beyond its direct control, no guarantee can be made that transactions made over the Internet or local network, by mail or e-mail, by telephone, or by transactions made at a public service desk are secure and confidential. While diligence is exercised to protect its systems and servers from unauthorized access, the Library and the University may be vulnerable to temporary breaches of security. You must choose the method you wish to convey your requests and personal information to us. We recommend that you take these additional precautions: Log off systems after use. Don't share userids or passwords. Select passwords easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.

Comments or Review

If you have questions or concerns about this privacy statement or the practices of the Library website, please contact us.

Confidentiality of Registration and Circulation Records – Florida Statutes Section 257.261:

"All registration and circulation records of every public library, except statistical reports of registration and circulation, are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and from s. 24(a) of Art. I of the State Constitution. Except in accordance with proper judicial order, a person may not make known in any manner any information contained in such records, except as provided in this section. As used in this section, the term "registration records" includes any information that a library requires a patron to provide in order to become eligible to borrow books and other materials, and the term "circulation records" includes all information that identifies the patrons who borrow particular books and other materials. This section does not prohibit any library, or any business operating jointly with the library, from disclosing information to municipal or county law enforcement officials, or to judicial officials, for the purpose of recovering overdue books, documents, films, or other items or materials owned or otherwise belonging to the library. In the case of a public library patron under the age of 16, a public library may only release confidential information relating to the parent or guardian of the person under 16. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083."

WARNING

Although the University of North Florida Library makes every effort to protect your privacy through implementation of state privacy laws and local practice, under the federal USA PATRIOT ACT (Public Law 107-56), records of your library activities (including materials you borrow and your computer workstation usage) may be obtained by federal agents. That federal law prohibits library workers from informing you (or others) if federal agents have obtained records about you.