Overview
The Office of the MTA Inspector General (“MTA OIG”) is committed to protecting your privacy when you use the MTA OIG Website (the “MTA OIG Website”). Consistent with the provisions of the New York State Internet Security and Privacy Act, the New York State Freedom of Information Law, and the New York State Personal Privacy Protection Law, this Policy describes the MTA OIG’s privacy practices regarding information collected from users of the MTA OIG Website.
This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) describes what information is collected when you access the MTA OIG Website and how that information is used. Because this Policy only applies to the MTA OIG Website itself and not linked websites, you should examine the privacy policy of any other website, including government agency websites, that you access from the MTA OIG Website.
Please read this Policy before submitting any personal information, including your E-mail address, when filing a complaint, subscribing to our news updates mailing list, providing information with respect to employment opportunities or for any other reason. Please note that this Policy may change from time to time without special notice to you, so please check back to review the most recent version of this Policy.
For purposes of this Policy, "personal information" means any information concerning a natural person, as opposed to a corporate entity, which, because of name, number, symbol, mark, or other identifier, can be used to identify that natural person. The MTA OIG only collects personal information about you when you provide that information voluntarily by sending an E-mail or by initiating a complaint, subscribing to our news updates mailing list or submitting information for employment purposes. The information that is available to us from your visit to the MTA OIG Website depends upon which sections of the Website you visit and what actions you take during such visit.
When you voluntarily provide personal information to the MTA OIG, it means that you consent to the collection and use of your information by the MTA OIG as described in this Policy.
Information Collected Automatically When You Visit this Website
The MTA OIG monitors the MTA OIG Website user traffic and patterns, and automatically collects certain non-personal information about your visit such as the Internet domain name from which you access the MTA OIG Website, the type of browser and operating system you used, the date and time of your visit, the pages you visit, and the referring website address, if any. This information is used to improve the content of the MTA OIG Website and to help the MTA OIG understand how users are interacting with the MTA OIG Website. This information is not collected for commercial marketing purposes and the MTA OIG will not sell or otherwise disclose the information collected from the MTA OIG Website for commercial marketing purposes.
Cookies
The MTA OIG may use cookies to track how you visit certain pages on the MTA OIG Website. The use of cookies is a standard practice among Internet websites. Cookies are small amounts of data that are sent to your browser from our web servers and are stored on your computer’s hard drive, not on our site. Cookies collect information that includes the server your computer is logged into and your browser type. Cookies used in connection with the MTA OIG Website do not retrieve any other data from your hard drive or capture your E-mail address or any other personal information. Accepting cookies is required if you want to use certain of the MTA OIG Website functions because they are essential for the administration and security of this site.
The software and hardware you use to access the MTA OIG Website allows you to refuse new cookies or delete existing cookies. Refusing or deleting these cookies may limit your ability to take advantage of some features of this Website.
Information Collected When You E-mail the MTA OIG Website or Submit Information for Employment Purposes
During your visit to the MTA OIG Website, you may send an E-mail or submit information concerning employment opportunities to us through this Website. Your E-mail address and the contents of your message will be collected. The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats included in the message. Your E-mail address and the information included in your message will be used to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to improve this Website, or to forward your message to another State agency for appropriate action. Your E-mail address is not collected for commercial purposes, and the MTA OIG is not authorized to sell or otherwise disclose your E-mail address for commercial purposes.
The MTA OIG does not collect any personal information about you during your visit to the MTA OIG Website, unless you provide that information voluntarily by sending an E-mail or initiating a transaction such as the filing of an application for employment. You may choose not to send us an E-mail, register on-line for our news updates or submit information for purposes of employment. Your choice not to participate in these activities or provide this information through the MTA OIG Website will not limit your ability to browse the MTA OIG Website, to download information, or to contact the MTA OIG through other means such as our toll-free complaint hotline or our E-mail address.
The MTA OIG does not knowingly collect personal information from children or create profiles of children through this Website. Users are cautioned, however, that the collection of personal information submitted in an E-mail or through an online transaction will be treated as though it was submitted by an adult, and may, unless exempted from access by State or federal law, be subject to public access. The MTA OIG strongly encourages parents and guardians to be involved in children's Internet activities and to provide guidance whenever children are asked to provide personal information online.
Information and Choice
As noted above, MTA OIG does not collect any personal information about you during your visit to this website, unless you provide that information voluntarily by sending an e-mail or initiating an online transaction such as a survey, registration, or order form. You may choose not to send us an e-mail, respond to a survey or complete an order form. While your choice not to participate in these activities may limit your ability to receive specific services or products through this website, it will not prevent you from requesting services or products from MTA OIG by other means, and will not normally have an impact on your ability to take advantage of other features of the website, including browsing or downloading most publicly available information.
Disclosure of Information Collected Through the MTA Website
The collection of information through the MTA OIG Website and the disclosure of that information are subject to the provisions of the Internet Security and Privacy Act. The MTA OIG will only collect personal information through this Website or disclose personal information collected through this Website if the user has consented to the collection or disclosure of such personal information. The voluntary disclosure of personal information to the MTA OIG by the user, whether solicited or unsolicited, constitutes consent to the collection and disclosure of the information by the MTA OIG for the purposes reasonably ascertainable from the nature and terms of the disclosure.
However, the MTA OIG may collect or disclose personal information without user consent if the collection or disclosure is: (1) necessary to perform the statutory duties of the MTA OIG, or necessary for the MTA OIG to operate a program authorized by State or federal law, statute or regulation; (2) made pursuant to a court order or by law; (3) for the purpose of validating the identity of the user; or (4) of information to be used solely for statistical purposes that is in a form that cannot be used to identify any particular person.
Further, the disclosure of information, including personal information, collected through this Website is subject to the provisions of the New York State Freedom of Information Law and Personal Privacy Protection Law.
The MTA OIG may disclose personal information to local, State or federal law enforcement authorities to enforce MTA OIG’s rights against unauthorized access or attempted unauthorized access to MTA OIG’s information technology assets or against other inappropriate use of the MTA OIG Website.
Retention of Information Collected Through the MTA OIG Website
The information collected through this Website is retained by the MTA OIG in accordance with the records retention and disposition requirements of the New York State Arts & Cultural Affairs Law. Information on the requirements of the Arts & Cultural Affairs law may be found at
Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, Section 57.05 | New York State Archives (nysed.gov)
Access to and Correction of Personal Information Collected Through the MTA OIG Website
Any user may submit a request to the MTA OIG Website’s Privacy Compliance Officer to determine whether personal information pertaining to that user has been collected and retained through the MTA OIG Website. Any such request shall be made in writing to the address below and must be accompanied by reasonable proof of the identity of the user. Reasonable proof of identity may include verification of a signature, inclusion of an identifier generally known only to the user, or other appropriate identification. Such a request should be mailed to the MTA OIG Website Privacy Compliance Officer:
MTA OIG Website Privacy Compliance Officer
Office of the MTA Inspector General
One Penn Plaza, 11th Floor, Suite 1110
New York, New York 10119
The MTA OIG Website Privacy Compliance Officer shall, within five (5) business days of the date of the receipt of a proper request: (i) provide access to the personal information, (ii) deny access in writing, explaining the reasons therefore; or (iii) acknowledge the receipt of the request in writing, stating the approximate date when the request will be granted or denies, which date shall not be more than thirty (30) days from the date of the acknowledgement.
In the event that the MTA OIG has collected and retained personal information pertaining to a user through the MTA OIG Website and that information is to be provided to the user pursuant to the user’s request, the MTA OIG shall inform the user of the user’s right to request that the personal information be amended or corrected under the procedures set forth in Section 95 of the New York State Public Officers Law.
Confidentiality and Integrity of Personal Information Collected Through the MTA OIG Website
The MTA OIG is strongly committed to protecting personal information collected through the MTA OIG Website against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Consequently, the MTA OIG limits employee access to personal information collected through the MTA OIG Website to only those employees who need access to the information in the performance of their official duties. Employees who have access to this information are required to maintain it confidentiality and disclose it only as permitted under this Policy.
In addition, the MTA OIG has implemented procedures to safeguard the integrity of its information technology assets, including, but not limited to authenticating, monitoring, auditing and encrypting. Security procedures have been integrated into the design, implementation and day-to-day operations of the MTA OIG Website as part of our continuing commitment to the security of electronic content as well as the electronic transmission of information. For website security purposes and to maintain the availability of this Website for all users, the MTA OIG employs software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise damage the MTA OIG Website.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this Policy should not be construed as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided through this Website. Nothing herein provides any greater protections or warranties beyond what is minimally required by the law in New York State.
Links
In order to provide users with certain information, the MTA OIG provides links to the websites of local, State, and federal government agencies, and to the websites of other organizations. A link does not constitute an endorsement of the content, viewpoint, accuracy, opinions, policies, products, services, or accessibility of that website. Once you link from the MTA OIG Website to another website, including one maintained by the State, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that website, including, but not limited to, its Internet privacy policy.
Contact Information
For questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact the
MTA OIG Website Privacy Compliance Officer at:
MTA OIG Website Privacy Compliance Officer
Office of the MTA Inspector General
One Penn Plaza, 11th Floor, Suite 1110
New York, NY 10119
Main: (212) 878-0000
Fax: (212) 878-0003
