Privacy Policy

HR&A Advisors, Inc. (referred to as “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. The purpose of this document (the “Privacy Policy”) is to explain how we use information we have collected from and about you. If, after reviewing the Privacy Policy, you have questions about the types of information we collect, how we use it, or similar issues, please contact us at [email protected].

This Privacy Policy applies to the services (the “Services”) provided through HR&A Advisors’ State of Maine Housing Data Portal located at https://mainestatehousingdata.org (the “Dashboard”). It does not apply to the practices of other companies that the Company does not own or control, nor does it apply to information of any kind provided to the Company by advertisers or other business partners. Other websites are governed by their own policies.

If this Privacy Policy is unacceptable to you, you should discontinue using the Services.

The Privacy Policy will let you know:

• what information we collect from or about you;
• what we use your information for;
• how we may disclose your information to other parties;
• the kinds of security measures in place to protect against loss or misuse of your personal information;
• for how long we retain your information;
• what cookies are, and other forms of tracking that may be in use on the Dashboard;
• other privacy policies to which you may become subject when you use the Services;
• how you can access, update, or delete your Personally Identifiable Information; and
• what happens if we make changes to the Privacy Policy.

1. What information do we collect from or about you?

This Privacy Policy refers to two types of user information: Personally Identifiable Information (sometimes called “PII”) and non-Personally Identifiable Information.

Personally Identifiable Information refers to any information that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate you. Examples of Personally Identifiable Information include a name or email address.

The Company collects only the PII that you voluntarily provide to us, such as when you register to use the Services, set up an account, or complete a survey.

You might also be asked for, or choose to provide, additional information about yourself that does not, itself, specifically identify you. This is non-Personally Identifiable Information. However, some information of this kind, such as your geographic location, may be required (or merely requested) when you register for the Services and may be associated with your PII.

The Company may also automatically collect other types of non-Personally Identifiable Information as you use the Services, including technical information (such as your internet protocol (“IP”) address, mobile device ID, or browser type) and usage information (such as location data, preferred language, the parts of the Services you have visited, which links you have clicked and other information about how you interact with the Services). This information is anonymous and is not associated with your PII, although it may be associated with other pieces of anonymous information about you.

2. What do we use your information for?

Your Personally Identifiable Information may be used in one of the following ways:

• To contact you regarding your account. These communications may include notices regarding changes to our policies, service updates, account management procedures, and customer service transactional messages; or
• To email you newsletters or tips about how to use the Dashboard, and inform you of updates.
• With your consent, we may send you promotional materials and updates about our services. You can opt-out of these communications at any time.
• We may use your information to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information may be used in one of the following ways:

• To enable us to generate aggregate data about site traffic, site interaction, user characteristics, preferences, and purchases, in each case, as long as such data is sufficiently extracted, modified, or transformed so that it cannot be reverse-engineered or otherwise identified at the individual user-level from inspecting, analyzing, or further processing data;
• To customize your experience (your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs);
• To make improvements to the Services; and
• To inform potential partners and advertisers about the size and characteristics of our audience.

3. Do we sell or trade any information to other parties?

The Company does not sell or trade your Personally Identifiable Information to outside parties.

4. Sharing Your Information

• We may share your information with third-party service providers who assist us in operating our platform, conducting our business, or servicing you, provided that these parties agree to keep your information confidential.

• We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.

• In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.

5. How secure is your personal information?

We store your information securely using industry-standard encryption technology. When you enter sensitive information on our web forms, we encrypt the transmission of that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). However, no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure.

6. How long do we retain your information?

The retention period of collected information depends on the type of information and the reasons why we collect it.

Your account information is retained while your account is active unless you request us to delete the information or close your account, in which case some information may still be retained for a reasonable time in case you decide to re-activate your account. We may also retain some information we believe in good faith is necessary for legal and regulatory compliance, research and development, business matters, and improvement of our Services, in which case we would anonymize and encrypt such information until complete deletion. Further, some information may be retained if it is contained in deleted emails or electronic documents that are archived by our Company in compliance with our standard archival processes but which, in the ordinary course of operations, are not accessible by the individuals who created or received such emails or documents.

If you request us to delete your information or close your account, some of the information you shared through the Services may still be accessible by those with whom it was shared.

7. Do we use cookies or other forms of tracking?

Cookies are small files that a website or one of its service providers transfers to your computer’s storage device via your Web browser (if your browser is configured to permit this) that enable its systems to recognize your browser and store certain information. We use “cookies” to collect information and improve our Services. We may use “persistent cookies” to save your user ID and password for future logins to the Dashboard. We may use “session ID cookies” to enable certain features of the Service, to better understand how you interact with the Dashboard, and to monitor aggregate usage and web traffic routing on the Dashboard.

Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to your computer and can only be read by the web server of the website that issued the cookie to you.

Depending on your web browser, you may have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers default to accept cookies but enable you to configure settings to decline them. For further information about turning off cookies, you can visit allaboutcookies.org. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to sign in or use other features of the Services that depend on cookies.