South Yorkshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre

Doncaster is committed to protecting your privacy online. We will treat any personal information by which you can be identified, your name, address, email etc, in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act of 1998.

We do not collect and store information with the use of Cookies or Web Beacons.

When communicating with Doncaster Council through the website we will not collect any information without your permission. There are a number of forms on the site, which either request feedback about a particular subject or a questionnaire that forms part of a consultation document. In most cases, you are not required to provide us with any personal details. If we do require personal information, then the reasons for this will be stated on the individual form or questionnaire.

However, if you are willing to provide us with at least your email address it will allow us to respond to your returned form. Additional personal details will allow us to measure the activity of our site.

The information gathered will identify those sections of our Community who have access to the site. This will help us to develop the site for everyone, regardless of age, gender, disability or ethnic origin. The information will only be used for the intended purpose unless otherwise stated on the actual feedback form or questionnaire.

Your personal details will not be sold, traded, rented to third parties for marketing purposes or commercial gain, nor will it be transferred to any Council system without your explicit consent.

It is especially important to protect children’s privacy online and we would encourage parents and guardians to spend time online with their children to participate and monitor their children’s activity. 

We encourage schools to monitor their student’s activity on the web site especially where they are submitting forms or questionnaires as part of their studies. 

Any personal information submitted to this site by young people or children will not be used for any purposes other than monitoring activity on the site. 

Third party Internet sites that you can link to through the Doncaster Community Web Site are not covered by our Privacy and Security policy. Any personal information you enter through these sites are subject to the individual sites Privacy and Security policies and the Doncaster Community Web Site Partners cannot accept any responsibility or liability for these sites. 

Please note that all forms and questionnaires are returned to us through e-mail. Currently, e-mail may be intercepted by unauthorised persons (hackers) and is therefore not a fully secure method of communication. If you have concerns regarding completing our forms or questionnaires on-line, please contact us using the appropriate details provided to arrange an alternative method.

Browser
A browser is used to locate and display web pages using computer software such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator. These two are the most common. 

Cookies
This is a message given to a browser by a web server. The message is then stored by the browser in a text file called a cookie.txt. 

Every time you select a web page a message is sent back. One of a cookie’s purpose is to track traffic flows, for example, which pages are browsed and for how long. Initially, the cookie can only identify your computer and not the individual user. 

Cookies can be used to identify, you the user, when you are invited to register your personal details online such as your name, eMail address, address, sex etc… This will allow the site to be customised to your preference, for example, you will be welcomed by name when you first enter the site. 

Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued or not to receive cookies at anytime. Selecting not to receive cookies at any time will mean that certain personalised services cannot be provided to that user. 

Web Beacons (single pixel gif or web pings)
These devices are hidden site instrumentation that helps to determine whether a page has been viewed or not and if so, how many times and by whom. 

IP (Internet Protocol) user addresses
All networks connected to the Internet communicate via IP. This is a standard that allows data to be transmitted between two devices. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is responsible for making sure that messages get from one host to another and that the message is understood. If you are connected to the Internet you will have an IP address and it may look something like this. 123.456.78.9 

Web Server
This delivers (serves up, uploads) web pages to your computer.