Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Save NJ Vets

DMAVA Privacy Notice

Overview

Effective Date: June 1, 2022

Thank you for reviewing our Privacy Notice. At the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA), we take your privacy seriously. That is why we collect only the personal information that you provide to us, and ask you to provide only the information we need to complete your requests. This Privacy Notice summarizes how information from website visitors to DMAVA is collected, used and protected.

 


 

Changes to Our Privacy Notice

From time to time, we may revise this Privacy Notice and/or use personal information for new, unanticipated uses not previously disclosed to meet changes in laws, rules, policies or procedures, or to satisfy the needs of our users. Unless otherwise required under applicable law, the revised Privacy Notice will take effect immediately upon such posting. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the Effective Date above.

 


 

State of New Jersey

The DMAVA website at nj.gov/military is a State of New Jersey computer system. At a state-level, the DMAVA website is governed by policies and technologies that fall under the New Jersey Office of Information Technology (NJOIT) and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJHOSP). Therefore, users of nj.gov/military are encouraged to read the State of New Jersey Privacy Notice.   

 


 

General Principles / Key Features

This Privacy Notice applies to personal information we collect online or via electronic means.

DMAVA applies leading privacy practices and adheres to data stewardship principles in managing our web user data. The data stewardship principles guiding our efforts include the following goals:

  • Protecting web user privacy
  • Maintaining the confidentiality of web user data
  • Ensuring appropriate levels of security for web user data

Key features of our Privacy Notice include:

  • We will not require you to register, create an account or provide personal information in order to browse and navigate DMAVA websites. 
  • We do not collect personal information from web users unless the personal information is provided voluntarily by the user. 
  • We use personal information only for its intended purpose.
  • We have safeguards in place to protect the information collected.
  • We will not otherwise disclose personal information to outside parties, including other government agencies, unless disclosure is required by law or court order or to protect the website itself.

 


 

DMAVA Websites

This Privacy Notice applies to all nj.gov/military web pages and third-party service provider websites created and maintained by DMAVA. Any mention of nj.gov/military or DMAVA websites in this notice includes all of the websites listed below.

 


 

Information Collected and Stored Automatically

DMAVA collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available. We obtain information about the device you use to access our websites and your use of our websites, including the type of browser you use, hardware model, operating system and app version, mobile network information, IP address, unique device identifiers, access times, pages viewed, links clicked, browsing behavior and the webpage you visited before navigating to our websites.

DMAVA's purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how visitors use its website. From time to time, DMAVA may release non-personally-identifying information in the aggregate, for example, by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.

 


 

Personally Identifiable Information 

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is information that can be used to identify an individual including, but not limited to, a Social Security number, name, address (other than the five-digit ZIP code), driver’s license or identification number, telephone number, email address, financial information, and medical records.

The definition of PII is not anchored to any single category of information or technology. Rather, it requires a case-by-case assessment of the specific risk that an individual can be identified. 

Collection of Your Personal Information

Visitors to DMAVA websites choose to interact with us in ways that may require DMAVA to gather personally-identifying information. The amount and type of information that DMAVA collects depends on the nature of the interaction. For example, we ask visitors who subscribe to a newsletter to provide their email address.

In each case, DMAVA collects such information only insofar as is necessary or appropriate to fulfill the purpose of the visitor’s interaction with DMAVA. DMAVA does not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below. And visitors can always refuse to supply personally-identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related activities.

The information provided to DMAVA is saved indefinitely and may be stored on one or more databases directly or indirectly maintained by DMAVA.

Protection of Your Personal Information

DMAVA discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only to those administrators, employees, contractors and affiliated organizations that (i) need to know that information in order to process it on DMAVA's behalf or to provide services available through DMAVA, and (ii) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. By using DMAVA websites, you consent to the transfer of such information to them.

DMAVA will not rent or sell potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information to anyone. Other than as described above, DMAVA discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only when required to do so by law, if you give permission to have your information shared, or when DMAVA believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of DMAVA, third parties, or the public at large.

While DMAVA uses industry-standard measures to protect your information, no security measures are foolproof, and it is impossible to guarantee complete security of data sent or maintained via electronic means.

Use of Your Personal Information

We use the information we collect about you to deliver the benefits and services you request and customize your experience with us. We also use the information we collect to:

  • Respond to your comments and questions and provide customer service.
  • Carry out any other purpose conveyed to you at the time the information was collected.
  • We will not use the information you provide when you register for an event, receive newsletters or use any other online services in a manner other than for its stated purpose.
  • We will not sell or lease your personal information to third parties unless required by law to do so.
  • Provide marketing targeted toward your interests.
  • If you have agreed to receive email marketing communications you have a right at any time to stop us from contacting you. If you no longer wish to be contacted for marketing purposes, please click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.

 


 

Alternatives to Providing Information Online

It is your decision whether or not to provide personal information online or via electronic means. For example, you may choose not to contact us by email or provide any personal information using an online form. Your choice not to participate in these activities will not impair your ability to browse the DMAVA website and read or download any information provided on the site.

DMAVA provides constituents with alternatives to sending information via online systems. Where appropriate, users are provided a downloadable form that can be mailed, emailed or faxed. In addition, all constitutents may call DMAVA directly to access information and benefits. 

Please note that any information sent to DMAVA via physical means may still be stored in the same manner as information sent to DMAVA electronically.  

Warning: Email is not a secure medium. Personal information sent via electronic means can be intercepted. You may want to reconsider sending messages that contain sensitive or personal information via email.

 


 

Security

In those instances where we secure personal information in transit to us over the Internet, and upon our receipt, DMAVA uses industry-standard encryption, including Secure Socket Layer (SSL). The connection icon area on your browser will change to “HTTPS” instead of “HTTP” when this security feature is invoked. Your browser may also display a lock symbol on the task bar at the bottom of your screen to indicate this secure transmission is in place. You should refer to the instructions for your particular Internet browser software to determine how to examine the security certificate from our website to verify the security of the connection.

For site security purposes and to ensure that DMAVA web pages remain available to all users, the State of New Jersey employs software programs to monitor network traffic. These measures are designed and intended to prevent corruption of data, block unknown or unauthorized access to our systems and information, and to provide reasonable protection of private information in our possession. One such measure the State of New Jersey utilizes is the Imperva Web Application Firewall (WAF).

DMAVA takes the security of all personally identifiable information we receive very seriously. We implement various measures to protect the security and confidentiality of personally identifiable information. Such measures include access controls designed to limit access to personally identifiable information to the extent necessary to accomplish our mission. We also employ various security technologies to protect personally identifiable information stored on our systems. 

 


 

Public Access to Information

In the State of New Jersey, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records that serve various needs including the privacy of individuals. Exceptions are provided by both state and federal laws.

Though we make every effort to preserve your privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law, or if DMAVA believes that disclosure is necessary to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, subpoena or other legal process. 

 


 

Children's Privacy Online

DMAVA is committed to protecting children's privacy online. It is important for parents, guardians and teachers to provide guidance to children when they are asked for their personal information online.

Where applicable, DMAVA specifically asks minors ages 15-17 to obtain their parents' or guardians’ permission before providing any personal information online. If minors do provide their information on a DMAVA website, it is only used to enable us to respond effectively to the minor and the guardian/parent. DMAVA provides alternate methods to the use of online forms. 

DMAVA websites are not intended for pre-teenagers, and we do not encourage its use by young children. We realize children may not understand all the provisions of our policy. We urge all parents to teach their children about protecting their personal information while online.

For more information on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), please visit Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule: A Six-Step Compliance Plan for Your Business | Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov)

 


 

Rights in Relation to Your Information

You may have certain rights under data protection law in relation to the personal information we hold about you. In particular, you may have the right to petition DMAVA to:

  • request a copy of personal information we hold about you.
  • ask that we update the personal information we hold about you, or independently correct such personal information that you think is incorrect or incomplete.
  • ask that we delete personal information that we hold about you from live systems, or restrict the way in which we use such personal information.
  • object to our processing of your personal information.
  • withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information (to the extent such processing is based on consent and consent is the only permissible basis for processing).

The State of New Jersey retains the right to deny such a petition.

If you would like to exercise these rights or understand if these rights apply to you, please follow the contact instructions at the end of this Privacy Notice.

 


 

Use of Cookies / Tracking Technologies

DMAVA websites may use “cookies”, clear GIFs (also known as web beacons, web bugs, or pixel tags), and other tracking technologies to collect information about your interactions with our Services, including information about your browsing behavior and other engagement with our websites.

Cookies are small text files that a website sends to your computer for record-keeping purposes which are stored in a file on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies are also used for statistical purposes, to determine how a website is used and they make web browsing easier for you by saving your preferences. The cookie feature does not compromise your privacy or security.

Our websites and emails may use web beacons in conjunction with cookies to compile statistics about site usage. Web beacons are small pieces of code (also called pixels) that are embedded on the pages of websites or emails. We do not use web beacons to collect personal identifiable information about visitors. We may use these technical methods to analyze website performance and reliability data such as timing (e.g., page load) metrics on our sites. We may also use web beacons in HTML emails that we send subscribers who have opted in to receive email from us, to determine whether our recipients have opened those emails and/or clicked on links in those emails.

If you don't want to accept cookies, you can edit your browser's options to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. USA.gov provides opt-out instructions to help you disable cookies in some of the most popular desktop browsers and mobile browsers.

 


 

Third-Party Service Providers

IONOS, Inc is a web hosting company and State-approved vendor. DMAVA utilizes IONOS to host websites that do not reside directly on state servers at NJ.gov. Users of DMAVA websites are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the IONOS Privacy Policy.  

 


 

Third-Party Links

DMAVA is committed to providing quality information and service to our Veterans and to other patrons of our websites. DMAVA websites contain links to other websites that are deemed appropriate because they serve the mission of DMAVA and are relevant and useful to DMAVA's website visitors. Links do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by DMAVA.

These third party websites are not under our control and jurisdiction. When following a link and providing information to a third-party website, please be aware that we are not responsible for the data provided to that third party. This Privacy Notice only applies to the websites listed at the beginning of this document, so when you visit other websites, even when you click on a link posted on a DMAVA website, you should read their own privacy policies.

DMAVA maintains and displays a variety of social media accounts (e.g., on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube). Interaction with the DMAVA on those platforms is governed by those platforms’ specific privacy policies.

 


 

Governing Laws / Regulations

 


 

Contact Us

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Notice or use of your information as it pertains to DMAVA websites.

Your inquiry will be treated confidentially and will not be shared with third parties, except as necessary to respond to your inquiry and for other purposes as authorized by the Privacy Act and other relevant legal authority.

 


 

Document History

June 1, 2022: Initial Publication 

Last Updated: 10/06/2022
Vet2Vet Vets4Warriors Suicide Prevention Military Health System DoD Safe Helpline Save NJ Vets

Back
to top