Effective Date: February 15, 2021
Welcome to the Link21 Program website (link21program.org) brought to you by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (“BART”). Your privacy is important to us, so please read this Privacy Policy as we want you to understand how we collect, use, and protect your information.
This Privacy Policy applies to our website located at link21program.org (our “Program Website”), to public surveys (“Surveys”), and to the Subscription Form and the Comment Form (“Forms”) on the Program Website. It does not apply to any other BART or third-party site, application, or service linked from our Program Website or recommended or referred by our Program Website, through Forms or Surveys, or by our staff.
Information We Collect
Usage Information
We may automatically collect information about your use of the Program Website. This information may include (but is not limited to) your IP address, device address or ID, operating system, content you view or interact with, and dates and times you visited the Program Website and/or accessed Forms or Surveys. If you have created a stakeholder profile through Forms or Surveys, we may link this information to your account in order to prevent fraudulent activity and to provide you with a better user experience.
We may use third-party web analytics services, such as those provided by Google Analytics and Hotjar, to help us analyze how users use the Program Website. The information collected by the technology will be disclosed to or collected directly by these service providers.
For more information on how Google Analytics uses data from our website and how you can control the information sent to Google click here. To prevent Google Analytics from using information for analytics, a user may install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on by clicking here.
For more information on how Hotjar uses data from our website and how you can control the information sent to Hotjar click here. To prevent Hotjar from using information for analytics, a user can make a "Do Not Track" or "Block" request to Hotjar's servers by clicking here.
Because these opt outs are cookie based, please note that if you get a new computer or device, install or start using a new browser, or erase or alter your browser's cookie file, you may need to opt out again.
Personal Information
Personally Identifiable Information ("Personal Information") is any information that can be used to identify an individual. Personal Information includes, but is not limited to: name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number.
This is information you voluntarily provide us. Examples of Personal Information are listed above. Personal Information is provided by a user when creating a stakeholder profile through Forms or Surveys or when contacting BART regarding any issues or concerns. We request this information to respond to your project feedback, provide you with project updates, and to measure and respond to public input about the Program.
Cookies and Webserver Logs
Similar to many commercial websites and software applications, BART utilizes cookies and webserver logs to collect information from our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys. Cookies are a feature of web browsers that allow web servers to recognize the particular device that is accessing a website. Cookies remember the information your device accessed on a web page and make it easier to access the same page, or related page, the next time you visit, which helps to personalize the experience for you, the user.
Cookies and webserver logs gather usage information (described above) such as length of time spent on the Program Website, Forms, or Surveys; links you clicked; date and time of visits; IP address; and pages viewed. We may gather this information to help improve your user experience. We also use cookies and webserver logs to monitor traffic on our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys, and usage activity (which parts of the Program Website, Forms, or Surveys are being used most); this information help us to improve the functionality of our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys.
If you create a stakeholder profile with BART through Forms, cookies allow our servers to remember your account information for future visits and provide you with the information you are most likely to need. For example, when you return to Forms, cookies identify your previous login information so that you can more easily complete your last name, zip code, or e-mail address and sign into your account. We may associate the information stored in cookies to Personal Information that you voluntarily submitted to us while using our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys.
Your browser should have a setting to disable cookies. Please consult your browser’s help section to learn how to disable cookies. Disabling cookies may limit some of the functionality of our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys.
We do not recognize or respond to browser-initiated Do Not Track signals, as the Internet industry is currently still working on Do Not Track standards, implementations, and solutions.
Third-party Information
We may obtain information, including Personal Information, from third-parties and sources other than our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys. If we combine Personal Information obtained from third-parties with Personal Information we collected from our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys, we will treat that Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
How We Share Information
BART does not sell your Personal Information to third-parties. We may share or disclose your Personal Information as follows.
Disclosure of Personal Information as Required by Law
As a governmental agency, BART is governed by the California Public Records Act. (California Government Code section 6250 et seq.) As such, most business conducted and communications exchanged with BART may become a public record and subject to public inspection. BART will, to the extent permitted by law, protect information exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act, including private, confidential, and proprietary information (confidential information). You agree to hold BART harmless and, at BART’s option, provide legal defense for BART from all claims and demands including attorneys’ fees asserted against BART that may result from BART refusing to make public documents that You have designated as confidential information. You also agree that, if any action is filed in court seeking disclosure of such confidential information, BART may deposit the documents with the court and You will defend its designation of the information as confidential.
Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement
Your Personal Information may be shared if we believe, in good faith, that it is reasonably necessary to:
- Investigate and defend BART against any allegations or claims made by a user or a third-party.
- Respond to claims and other legal processes such as subpoenas, court orders, or government requests.
- Take precautions against liability and protect the property, rights, and safety of BART as required (or permitted) by law.
- Prevent and/or stop activity that we believe is illegal, abusive, unethical, fraudulent, legally actionable, or that may cause imminent harm to persons or property.
- Prevent and detect fraud, and to ensure the security of our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys.
Service Providers and Third-parties
BART may share your Personal Information with third-parties who provide services to BART. Such services may include information technology services that BART has contracted out to a third-party. Service providers are required by contract to maintain the confidentiality and security of the Personal Information, and to only use or disclose the Personal Information they process on our behalf as necessary to perform the services contracted. Service providers must also comply with all legal requirements.
Consent
In addition to the sharing described in this Policy, BART may share information about you with third-parties whenever you consent to or direct such sharing.
Aggregate and Non-Identifying Information
Aggregate and non-identifying information may be shared with third-parties in order to improve the overall experience of the user. We may publicly share aggregate data about how users interact with the Program Website, Forms, or Surveys.
Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information
If you have provided Personal Information to BART through the link21program.org Program Website, it can be accessed or corrected by contacting webcustomerservices@bart.gov.
Updates
If BART updates this Privacy Policy, BART will update this page so that you are always aware of what information is collected, how it is used and under what circumstances it is disclosed. BART reserves the right to update this privacy policy at any time. This page was last updated on April 20, 2021.
Children's Privacy
BART does not knowingly collect information from children under 13 years of age. Any Personal Information from a child under the age of 13 that has been unknowingly collected and stored by BART will be deleted upon written request from the child’s parent or legal guardian. Deletion requests should be sent to webcustomerservices@bart.gov.
Data Retention
We generally retain personal data for so long as it may be relevant to the purposes above. To dispose of personal data, we may anonymize it, delete it, or take other appropriate steps. Data may persist in copies made for backup and business continuity purposes for additional time.
Data Security
BART and its service providers maintain technical, physical, and administrative safeguards to protect the Personal Information that we have collected against accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, alteration, loss, access, disclosure, or use. However, no method of transmission over the internet or via mobile device or method of electronic storage is absolutely secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
Third-party Websites
Our Program Website, Forms, or Surveys may provide links to third-party websites. These links are provided for your convenience and ease of navigation. The third-party websites operate independently of BART and are not bound by this Privacy Policy or any other BART policies. These third-party websites may have their own policies which we recommend you review should you choose to visit the third-party websites. BART is not responsible for the third-party websites’ content, their privacy practices, or their use of data collected.
Amendment and Updates to the Privacy Policy
We reserve the right, in our sole and absolute discretion, to amend this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting a new version on this page or on a successor page. The new version will become effective on the date it is posted, which will be listed at the top of the page as the new effective date. Please review the Privacy Policy periodically to check for updates.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at webcustomerservices@bart.gov.
