Privacy Statement

This Notice of Privacy Rights (“Notice”) explains how Ramsey County, Washington County, and Ramsey/Washington Recycling & Energy (collectively, “us” or “we” or “our”) collect and handle individual data collected from you during your visit to FoodScrapsPickup.com (the “Site”), and while providing the related joint Food Scraps Pickup Program (the “Services”). For purposes of this Notice, “individual data” means “all government data in which any individual is or can be identified as the subject of that data, unless the appearance of the name or other identifying data can be clearly demonstrated to be only incidental to the data and the data are not accessed by the name or other identifying data of any individual.

You have privacy rights under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and, potentially, other laws, rules, and regulations. These laws require us to keep certain individual data private and give you notice of our legal duties and practices to protect private and confidential individual data. We must follow the terms we have agreed to in this Notice. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and apply any changes to all present and future individual data that we collect about you, except as prohibited by the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

This Notice describes how we may use or disclose your individual data, including any private or confidential individual data, with whom that individual data may be shared, and the safeguards we have in place to protect it. It also describes your rights to access and amend your private or confidential individual data. You have the right to approve or refuse the release of specific individual data, except when the release is required or authorized by law or regulation.

Links to External Websites on the Site

The Site may have links to other websites, including sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses. Inclusion of a website implies no endorsement or claim of its accuracy.

When you follow a link to another site, you are no longer on the Site and this Notice will not apply. You are subject to the privacy policy or notice of that site.

Acknowledgement of Receipt of This Notice

You will be asked to provide a signed acknowledgment of receipt of this Notice. Our intent is to make you aware of the possible uses and disclosures of your protected data and your privacy rights. The delivery of Services will in no way be conditioned upon your signed acknowledgment. If you decline to provide a signed acknowledgment, we will continue to provide you Services as described in this Notice, and will use and disclose your protected data for treatment, payment, and operations, when necessary.

What Individual Data Do We Collect From You?

When you visit the Site and use the Services, we need to collect certain individual data from you that is private and confidential in nature. You provide that individual data to us by signing up for the Services on the Site. Additionally, you may choose to voluntarily provide us individual data by email or other correspondence. We request the following individual data from you:

• Your first name, last name, address, and telephone number;
• Your email address, account password, and order history;
• Your demographics, household type, number of people residing in your household, race and/or ethnicity, and age; and
• How you heard about the Services.

Please note: Unless restricted by law, all correspondence to and from us, including data submitted through the Site or electronic forms, may be public data subject to the Minnesota Governmental Data Practices Act and/or may be disclosed to third parties.

Why Do We Ask for Private or Confidential Individual Data?

We may ask you for some private or confidential individual data so we can:

• tell you from other persons by the same name or similar name;
• decide if you can receive the Services from us;
• decide on what type or how much of the Services you may receive;
• provide you with the Services you requested;
• ensure you receive the full benefits of the Services;
• make reports, do research, audit, and evaluate the Site and Services;
• inform our Solid Waste Management plans.

Do You Have to Provide Any Individual Data to Us?

No, you are not required to provide any data to us. However, in order to use the Site and receive the Services, you must provide the individual data designated as “required” on the Services sign-up page, some of which is private or confidential.

What Will Happen if You Do Not Provide the Requested Individual Data?

We need certain “required” individual data about you to administer and provide you with the Services. The following categories of data are required from you if you want to receive the Services:

• First name, last name, address;
• Email;
• Account password;
• Order history.

Without this data, we will not be able to provide the Services to you. Purposely giving us wrong individual data may result in an investigation and charging you with fraud.

Our Duties to You Regarding Private or Confidential Data

Private and confidential data may include personal data and demographics: for example, age, mailing address, and e-mail address. We are required by law to do the following when collecting and processing your private and confidential data:

• Ensure that your private and confidential data is kept private, accurate, complete, and current for the purposes for which it was collected;
• Provide you notice of our legal duties and privacy practices related to the use and disclosure of your private and confidential data;
• Notify you if you are affected by a “breach” of the security of your data, as defined under applicable law;
• Comply with the terms of this Notice currently in effect; and
• communicate any changes to this Notice to you.

How We May Use Or Disclose Your Individual Data

Following are examples of permitted uses and disclosures of your individual data. These examples are not exhaustive.

Required Uses and Disclosures

By law, we must disclose your individual data to you upon your request, unless you have already requested and received your individual data within the previous six months.

For Use and Improvement of the Site and Services

We may use and disclose your individual data to provide, coordinate, or manage the Site and Services. This includes the coordination or management of the Services with a third party Services provider. When we share your individual data in this manner, we will do so only as necessary to improve or provide the Site and Services to you. Additionally, when sharing your individual data with third parties, we will ensure, through contract or otherwise, that those third parties do not share your data, or use your data for any purpose other than to improve or provide the Site and Services to you.

Summary Data

We may use your individual data to create summary data, including, but not limited to, statistical records and reports to better understand participation rates across Ramsey and Washington Counties, barriers to participation in the Services, and to evaluate Services program features.

Required By Law

We may use or disclose your individual data if law or regulation requires the use or disclosure.

Oversight

We may disclose your individual data to an oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. These oversight agencies might include government agencies that oversee the Services, government benefit programs, other government regulatory programs, and civil rights laws.

Legal Proceedings

We may disclose your individual data during any judicial or administrative proceeding, in response to a court order or administrative tribunal (if such a disclosure is expressly authorized), and in certain conditions in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.

Law Enforcement

We may disclose your individual data for law enforcement purposes, including the following:

• responses to legal proceedings,
• data requests for identification and location,
• circumstances pertaining to victims of a crime,
• deaths suspected from criminal conduct,
• crimes occurring at a Ramsey County or Washington County site, and
• medical emergencies believed to result from criminal conduct.

Research

We may disclose your individual data to researchers/evaluators when authorized by law.

Criminal Activity

Under applicable federal and state laws, we may disclose your individual data if we believe that its use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. We may also disclose your individual data if it is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual.

Your Rights Regarding Your Private and Confidential Data

You have the following rights regarding your private and confidential individual data stored by Ramsey County or Washington County.

Right to Access Your Private and Confidential Individual Data

Once every six months, you have the right to be informed, upon request, whether you are the subject of any stored individual data, and whether such data is classified as public, private, or confidential. If you are the subject of any stored private or confidential data, you may further request to be shown that data without charge and, if desired, you may request the content and meaning of that data.

Right to Contest the Accuracy of Individual Data

You have the right to contest the accuracy or completeness of any individual data we collect and store about you. To exercise this right, you must notify us in writing and describe the nature of your disagreement regarding the data. Upon receiving your written notice, we will, within 30 days: (1) correct inaccurate or incomplete individual data and attempt to notify past recipients of inaccurate or incomplete individual data; or (2) notify you that we believe the individual data to be correct.

You have the right to appeal our determination if you disagree with it.

To exercise any of your rights described above, please send us a request at the Contact Data located below.

Right to Obtain a Copy of This Notice

You may obtain a paper copy of this Notice by sending a request at the Contact Data located below.

Complaints

If you believe that your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint. Please send your complaint in writing to the Contact Data located below. We cannot deny you service or treat you badly because you filed a complaint against us.

Contact Data