Privacy Policy

Overview
In accordance with Sections 30-2-10 through 30-2-50 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism has established this policy on the collection and dissemination of personal information. This policy applies to all personal information collected to fulfill a legitimate public purpose whether obtained through an online visit or an in-person visit to our office. A person or private entity shall not knowingly obtain or use personal information obtained from SC PRT for commercial solicitation directed to any person in this state. 

Purpose 
The purpose of this policy is to inform individuals about the collection and use of personal information by SCPRT. Nothing herein should be construed to, nor does it, create any new or different rights than those available under existing State and federal laws. 

Definitions 
For the purpose of this policy, “personal information” means information that identifies or describes an individual including, but not limited to, an individual’s photograph or digitized image, social security number, date of birth, driver’s identification number, education level, financial status, bank account(s) number(s), account or identification number issued by and/or used by any federal or state governmental agency or private financial institution, employment history, height, weight, race, other physical details, signature, biometric identifiers, and any credit records or reports. “Legitimate public purpose” means a purpose or use which falls clearly within the statutory charge or mandates of an agency, board, commission, institution, department, or other state entity. “Commercial solicitation” means contact by telephone, mail, or electronic mail for the purpose of selling or marketing a consumer product or service. “Commercial solicitation” does not include contact by whatever means for the purpose of: (a) offering membership in a credit union; (b) notification of continuing education opportunities sponsored by not-for-profit professional associations: (c) selling or marketing banking, insurance, securities, or commodities services provided by an institution or entity defined in or required to comply with the Federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act, 113 Stat.1338:or (d) contacting persons for political purposes using information on file with state or local voter registration offices. 

Use, Collection and Retention of Personally Identifiable Information through the Internet 
When you request a vacation planner, enter a sweepstakes, send an ePostcard or page to a friend, or sign up to receive an eNewsletter, we ask that you register, providing your name, address, email address, and perhaps your interest, activities and your general preferences. We request this information so that we can process and fulfill any request for information that you may make. 

We have industry standard technology to protect this information. 

We may use this information internally to identify your specific interests so that we can keep you informed of new attractions, activities or other information that has been added to this site. As an example we might send you an email announcing a new festival, or other attraction you might enjoy. You can opt-in or out of receiving email messages from us at any time. 

Sometimes we will use the information you fill out about who you are, what attractions, activities, products or other information you are requesting in aggregated but not personally identifiable form for research. 

With regard to sending you emails or other mailings from qualified third parties, we don’t assume that you have “opted in” to allow us to send you email or other mailings simply because you have not “opted out.” Unless you request us to send the information, we will not send information. 

We do share information you provide us with those who need it to supply the information you have asked for through us. We notify those who receive this information that the Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002 prohibits persons or private entities from using any personal information obtained from SCPRT’s Web site for commercial solicitation directed to a resident of South Carolina and that a person knowingly violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties specified in 30-2-50 (D). 

Use of Cookies 
Our web applications may create “cookies” to hold user information. These “cookies” are then sent to, and stored on, the user’s computer. This information is handled in the same way as other personally identifiable information obtained by us. No user information will be gathered through the use of “cookies” except that which is required to run the specific application(s) being accessed by the user.

We use a third party to serve ads on our behalf across the internet. The third party may also collect anonymous information about your visits to our web site. This is primarily accomplished through the use of a technology device, commonly referred to as a web beacon or an Action Tag, which we place on various web pages within our web site that allows the third party to collect anonymous information. The third party may use information about your visits to this and other web sites in order to provide ads about goods and services of interest to you. The third party reports the anonymous data that they collect on our behalf back to us, which we link to our customer's personally identifiable information for the purposes of better serving you. When we merge this data, it is treated under this policy as personally identifiable information as described above.

  • Tailored Ads
    • Wouldn’t it be easier if your favorite restaurants could recommend menu items based on your previous visits? That’s what we’re doing with ads. By opting in to this feature, you’ll get ads that are tailored to your interests in order to help you discover the best of South Carolina.
  • Website Experience
    • We update our website based on data we collect that tells us how the site is used, including which site pages are visited the most, how long people stay on them, and how quickly people are able to find the information they’re looking for. Each update provides you with a better experience when you visit our website.
  • Social Media Integration
    • We integrate video and social media feeds directly into our website to enhance your experience. By opting in to this feature, you don’t have to leave our website to see additional content.

Personal Information and Public Disclosure 
In the state of South Carolina, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by a government agency. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public’s right to access certain records in order to preserve the privacy of individuals. Such exemptions are authorized by both State and federal laws. Information collected may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless such an exemption in law exists. In the event that there is a conflict between this policy and a State or federal law governing the disclosure of public records, the applicable State or federal law shall control. 

The Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002 prohibits persons or private entities from using any personal information obtained from SCPRT for commercial solicitation purposes. A person knowingly violating this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to the penalties specified in 30-2-50(D). 

Non-SCPRT Web Sites 
Various web sites will be linked through us. This includes web sites of other governmental agencies, as well as web sites of third party private entities. Many of these sites may not be subject to the South Carolina Code of Laws, or may operate under different privacy standards. Visitors to those web sites are advised to check the privacy statements of those sites and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information without a clear understanding of how the information will be used. 

Some third party private entities may collect or receive Personal Information directly from you, or from other sources via Social Networking Sites. If you log on to the Service with your login credentials from a social networking site (e.g., Facebook, Google, Instagram, etc.), we may receive Personal Information about you from such Social Networking Site (which may include your name, email address, profile picture URL, and encrypted access credentials), in accordance with the terms and conditions (e.g., terms of use and privacy policy) of the Social Networking Site. Some third party private entities may encrypt and store this information so that it can be used for the purposes explained in this statement, and verified communication between our site and the Social Networking Site. 

For example, if you log on using Facebook Connect, with your permission Facebook will provide us your basic information (which may include your name, email address, profile picture URL, and encrypted access credentials), in accordance with Facebook’s terms and conditions. 

Any information retrieved from a Social Networking Site will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you log on to our service using a Social Networking Site, the associated Social Networking Site will know that you have logged onto our site, and will display the South Carolina State Parks App as one of your applications with authorized access. Some third party private entities may work with the Social Networking Site’s application protocol interface (developer API) in a way that allows you to authorize us access to your account on that Social Networking Site on your behalf. In order to provide this authorization, you do not provide us your user name or password to the Social Networking Site, instead it is given directly to the Social Networking Site API via our site. Once authorized by you, the Social Networking Site provides an encrypted token, which we verify via the Social Networking Site API,  that allows the Social Networking Site to recognize us when we ask, on your behalf, for access to your basic account information needed for our services. 

You may revoke our access to any Social Networking Site at any time by removing the app in the appropriate settings from within your account settings on the applicable Social Networking Site.

Limiting Access to Personal Information 
SCPRT shall take reasonable measures to limit access to personal information. We have notified and instructed our staff of their responsibilities concerning the protection of personal information. 

Party Responsible for Administration of the Policy 
The person responsible for the administration of the SCPRT web site privacy policy is Devyn Whitmire.

If you have questions about this privacy policy, the practices of this site, or your interaction with this web site, please contact: 

      Dolly Chewning 
      South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism 
      1205 Pendleton Street 
      Columbia, South Carolina 29201 

Statement of Notice 
This privacy policy serves as notice of the relevant provisions of the Family Privacy Protection Act of 2002. A copy of SCPRT’s privacy policy is posted in the central office and each remote site of SCPRT for review by employees, clients and the general public. In addition, this policy is contained on SCPRT’s internet web site. A copy of SCPRT’s privacy policy is available upon request to interested parties. 

Questions, Comments 
We consider our privacy policy to be vital to establishing the trust we hope to build with our visitors. 

Note: You can access your personal account information and change your preference settings there at any time (including telling us not to send you email), by clicking on the “My Profile” link on every page.