Privacy Policy

ACCESSIBILITY POLICY

DISCLAIMER

MEDIA POLICY

DOWNLOADS AND PLUG-INS USED ON THIS SITE

FOIA INFORMATION

PRIVACY POLICIES FOR VIRGINIA TOURISM CORPORATION
 

ACCESSIBILITY POLICY

Through its Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is promoting a high degree of Web access for people with disabilities. In coordination with organizations around the world, WAI is pursuing Web accessibility through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. To help support the WAI, this website is complies with W3C guidelines for Web accessibility wherever possible.

Document Accessibility Notice:
Hard copy documents are available for those unable to access or view the downloadable files on this website. Simply contact Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) by e-mail, by FAX at 804-545-5501, or by mail at:

Virginia Tourism Corporation
901 E. Cary St.
Suite 900
Richmond, VA 23219
 

DISCLAIMER

This website provides links to many websites that are not controlled, maintained,or regulated by the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) or any organization affiliated with the VTC, and as such VTC is not responsible for the content of those websites. Use of information obtained from those websites is voluntary, and reliance on that information should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy. Reference at those websites to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by VTC.

MEDIA POLICY

Virginia tourism industry partners who place free listings on Virginia.org are required to secure full rights to any images uploaded to the site (see opt-in language below this paragraph). This website contains numerous images, all of which are either owned outright by Virginia Tourism Corporation, or have been granted perpetual, exclusive, worldwide right to use the materials in any and all media without limitation by participating tourism industry partners, releasing VTC from any liability arising from the use of these materials. In the case that ownership of media is claimed by a third-party, VTC will immediately remove the referenced media and notify the VTC partner and provide contact information to the claimant to resolve their claim.

  • By submitting photographs and/or other materials (collectively, “materials”) to the website, you hereby transfer all rights, title, and interests in and to the materials. In the event that the rights, title, and interests in the materials cannot be transferred, you hereby grant to the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) and VTC’s partners (as defined below) a perpetual, exclusive, worldwide right to use the materials in any and all media without limitation. You release VTC and VTC’s partners from any claims or liabilities arising from the materials and waive the right to pursue any claim against VTC and VTC’s partners arising out of or relating to this agreement, the website, and/or the materials. By submitting photographs to the virginia.org website, you certify that you have all rights to upload and publish these images for use on the VTC website (https://www.virginia.org) and for possible use on the Virginia Travel blog (https://blog.virginia.org) as well as on VTC social media platforms including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

LINKING POLICY

This website may contain hypertext links to external websites and pages containing information created and maintained by public and private organizations other than VTC. These hypertext links may be created by VTC if it determines that establishing the external link will be consistent with assisting or furthering the purpose of this website, which is to significantly and diligently promote tourism in Virginia to citizens and businesses.

In addition, hypertext links may be created by VTC for informational purposes where the linked external website will provide useful and valuable information to visitors to this web portal, or where the linked external website is required or authorized by law.

VTC, in its sole discretion, will determine whether the external website meets the purpose of this website or for the specified informational purposes. The inclusion of a hypertext link to an external website is not intended as an endorsement of any product or service offered or referenced on the linked website, the organizations sponsoring said website, or any views that might be expressed or referenced in the website.

Hypertext links to external websites and pages may be removed or replaced at the sole discretion of VTC, at any time without notice.

In the event you discover problems with or have concerns regarding the format, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of a linked external website, please contact the organization responsible for the linked external website — VTC does not control nor is it responsible for any linked external websites, pages, or content.

 

DOWNLOADS AND PLUG-INS

This website provides content in several formats that require plug-ins, or separate browser components, to properly view. All required plug-ins are free to use. If your browser or assistive technology can not view the content using the plug-in, please contact Customer Service for an alternate version of the content.The Plug-ins used are:

 

PRIVACY POLICIES

Data Collection | Cookies | Child Privacy Act | Contact Us

The following represent practices and procedures pertaining to this website. VTC reserves the right to change these practices and procedures at any time without prior notice. The following is not intended and should not be interpreted as a contract of any nature, either stated or implied.

Individuals who visit this site are important to us. Because visitors to our website are important, we do not capture personal information about them without their permission. We endeavor to ensure that we collect only the minimum amount of information needed to meet the purpose for which the network was created.

VTC may be required to collect personal information, such as a user’s name and address, because of legal requirements or in order to provide customer services. In doing so we are subject to the requirements for administering information systems as established in the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act, Chapter 38 of Title 2.2 of the Code of Virginia. Pages that appear after you click on a link may be controlled by a different agency or entity, whose practices are not under VTC’s control.

We do collect personal information directly from individuals who volunteer to subscribe to one or more of VTC’s newsletters or services. Collecting personal information is necessary in order for VTC to deliver the services requested.

Fostering and maintaining the public’s trust is a cornerstone of the VTC. We appreciate the trust and confidence that you place in us by providing requested personal information.

USE, COLLECTION, AND RETENTION OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION AT VTC

For each visitor, we collect information about the Internet Protocol (IP) address, type of browser used, the date and time of the visit, and the IP addresses of the locations to which the visitor linked during his or her visit to our website. This information is strictly used for statistical reporting purposes.

We collect, retain and use personal information about our customers, other than mentioned above, only when they volunteer to subscribe to a VTC service. We only collect, retain and use personal information where we believe it is essential (and allowed by law) to administer our business and to provide products, services and other opportunities requested by our customers.

USE OF COOKIES AND PIXELS

“Cookies” are small files either stored on a server or sent back to a visiting computer. In certain applications user information is stored as “cookies” of the type that are then sent back and stored on the user’s computer. Any application or web page that uses cookies will identify itself as such. This information is handled in the same way as other user information obtained by VTC. No user information is gathered through cookies except for that needed to run the specific application.

Similarly to cookies, this site also employs the placement of pixels, or small transparent images, in order to facilitate the measurement of certain anonymous analytics. This information is collected only in aggregate and contains no personally identifiable information.

RESTRICTIONS ON THE DISCLOSURE OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION

We do not sell or rent our subscribers’ information to any outside company or organization. We do not reveal specific information about subscribers or other personally identifiable data to unaffiliated third parties for their independent use, except if required to do so by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act or other law.

PROTECTION OF INFORMATION VIA ESTABLISHED SECURITY PROCEDURES

We maintain security standards and procedures regarding unauthorized access to customer information to prevent unauthorized removal or alteration of data.

MAINTENANCE OF ACCURATE INFORMATION

We have established procedures to ensure that information is as accurate and current as is practical to enable us to conduct business with you. Although we strive to do things right the first time, we also respond to requests to correct inaccurate information in a timely manner.

LIMITING EMPLOYEE ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Our network manager is instructed to limit employee access to personally identifiable information to only those employees who need access in order to perform their assigned duties. The network manager is instructed to enforce with its staff their responsibilities in protecting subscriber’s information.

PRIVACY ISSUES RELATING TO THE FEDERAL CHILD PRIVACY ACT

The Federal Child Privacy Act regulates website’s collection of personal information on users under 18 years of age. We do not intentionally collect such information on anyone we know to be under 18 years of age. If such information is inadvertently obtained, the minor’s parent or legal guardian may contact VTC for a description of the specific types of personal information collected from the child and the options available to them under law to ensure their child’s safety.

EUROPEAN RESIDENTS AND DATA COLLECTION

If you are a resident of the European Union we ask that you OPT IN to our data collection policy. If you OPT IN you will still retain certain rights under EU law to any personally identifiable information that we may collect. In most cases, however, the information we collect will be anonymous or collected in aggregate, not connected to any one user, and, in particular, devoid of any and all personally identifiable information except in cases mentioned above.

CHANGES

Virginia Tourism Corporation reserves the right to change this privacy policy as necessary.

CONTACT US

We welcome your comments and invite you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns by contacting us:

Virginia Tourism Corporation
901 E. Cary St
Richmond, VA 23219
or
webmaster@virginia.org