Thank you for visiting the City of Lake Wales web site and reviewing our privacy policy.  Our privacy policy is clear: We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our web site unless you choose to provide that information to us.

Online Utility payments

When you submit sensitive information via our secure web site, https://secure.cityoflakewales.com, your information is protected online. All personal information you enter while on this site is encrypted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer). Our servers do not store credit card information.

Email

E-mail addresses are public records pursuant to Section 668.6076, Florida Statutes, and are not exempt from public-records requirements. If you do not want your e-mail address to be subject to being released pursuant to a public-records request do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by telephone or in writing, via the United States Postal Service.

Information Collected and Stored Automatically

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the web site, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:

The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com") and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer by your internet service provider whenever you are connected to the internet) from which you access our web site;

1. The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
2. The date and time you access our site;
3. The pages you visit; and
4. If you linked to the City of Lake Wales web site from another web site, the address of that web site.

We use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors, to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits.

If You Send Us Personal Information

If you choose to provide us with personal information, as in an e-mail to City staff, or by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it to us through our web site, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us get you the information you have requested. We treat emails the same way we treat letters sent to the City offices. We are required to maintain many documents for historical purposes, but we do not collect personal information for any purpose other than to respond to you.  However, information we receive may be considered public information which is subject to disclosure under Florida law.  Except for information disclosure required by Florida law, we only share the information you give us with another government agency, if your inquiry relates to that agency. Moreover, we do not create individual profiles with the information you provide, or provide such information to any private organizations. The City of Lake Wales does not collect information for commercial marketing.

Protection of Minors

We are especially concerned about protecting children's privacy. We hope parents are involved in children's Internet explorations. It is particularly important for parents to guide their children when children are providing personal information on line. We specifically ask children to get their parents' permission before providing any information on line -- at our site or any other site -- and recommend parents always be involved in those decisions. Most importantly, when children do provide information through the City of Lake Wales web site, it is only used to enable us to respond to the writer, and not to create profiles of children.

Collection of Personal Information from or through Social Media Sites

When you interact with any of our pages or accounts on a social media platform, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram or Pinterest, we may collect the Personal Information that you make available to us on that page or account including your account ID or “handle.” However, we will comply with the privacy policies of the corresponding social media platform.