Web Privacy Policy

The following policy applies only to the use of the Winchester Public Schools’ (WPS) websites. As users navigate the Winchester Public Schools’ websites, the user will see links that, when clicked, will take the user to other websites external to the Winchester Public Schools. The Winchester Public Schools strongly suggest that users read the privacy policies for any external site that the users visit through a link appearing on this site. In addition, users should also review the Winchester Public Schools’ websites disclaimer, to learn about the terms of use of the websites.

Website Privacy: 

At the Winchester Public Schools’ websites, the Winchester Public Schools attempt to protect the privacy of users to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information that is received through these websites are subject to the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws chapter 66, section 10, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ public records law, the Winchester Public Schools cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that users provide to the Winchester Public Schools through these websites may be made available to members of the public under the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ public records law pursuant to a public records request that is made by a member of the public. This website privacy policy informs users of the information that the Winchester Public Schools collects from users at these websites, what is done with the information collected, to whom the information may be disseminated, and how users can access it. Based on this information, users can make an informed decision about their use of this website and whether to share personally identifiable information with Winchester Public Schools through these websites.

Personally Identifiable Information: 

The term "personally identifiable information" means any information that could reasonably be used to identify a user, including his/her name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, his/her child’s name, Social Security number, date of birth or any combination of information that could be used to identify either the user and/or his/her child.

Information Voluntarily Provided by the User: 

The Winchester Public Schools’ website collects voluntary information from the user through surveys posted on the website and/or through e-mails that the user sends directly to the Winchester Public Schools. As a result, the Winchester Public Schools’ website may collect personally identifiable information the user voluntarily submits, such as name, address, e-mail address, or telephone number, so that the Winchester Public Schools may contact the user for follow up to his/her question, concern or recommendation. Any e-mail messages sent by the user to the Winchester Public Schools’ website will contain personally identifiable information such as the user’s email address and any other information the user chooses to give to the Winchester Public Schools to help the Winchester Public Schools answer your inquiry.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored by these Websites: 

The Winchester Public Schools’ websites each use "session cookies" to allow visitors to interact with the websites and to use online applications. "Session cookies" do not allow either the Winchester Public Schools to personally identify a visitor. These cookies are stored only on the user’s computer and may be deleted by the user. Winchester Public Schools’ websites do use Squarespace Analytics and Google Analytics to collect and process data. To learn how Squarespace and Google Analytics collects and processes data shared by your web browser when visiting a website, please click here for Google privacy policy and click here for Squarespace privacy policy.

Please also note that as a website user, you may control information that is shared by your web browser when interacting or visiting sites by checking the “help” feature or “account settings” of your own web browser to learn how to use these features.

The Winchester Public Schools’ websites do collect and store a visitor’s "Internet Protocol ("IP") address," (which does not identify the user as an individual) indefinitely, as well as information about the date and time of a user’s visit, whether a file a user has requested exists, and how many "bytes" of information were transmitted to the user over the Web from the Winchester Public Schools’ website. The Winchester Public Schools’ websites use a user’s IP address to assess the frequency of visits to the websites and the popularity of its various pages and functions. The Winchester Public Schools will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that a user provides to the Winchester Public Schools with a user’s IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation.

Dissemination of a User’s Personally Identifiable Information: 

The Winchester Public Schools do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through these websites or submitted to the Winchester Public Schools in conjunction with using functions on these websites, and there is no direct or online public access to the information. However, once a user voluntarily submits personally identifiable information to the Winchester Public Schools related to the user’s use of the portal, its dissemination is governed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ public records law, Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Fair Information Practices Act, Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ student records law and other applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to, the federal Family Educational Rights Privacy Act. For this reason, part or all of the information a user sends to either the Winchester Public Schools may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request pursuant to a public records request that is made by a member of the public.

Additionally, the information that a user voluntarily submits to the Winchester Public Schools will be disclosed only to employees of the Winchester Public Schools, or those under contract with the Winchester Public Schools with a "need to know" for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. The information will be used for such purposes as; answering the user’s questions, responding to any requests for assistance, generating summary statistics about usage, auditing applications and detecting fraud, aiding in the planning, design, and development of the Winchester Public Schools’ website, and fulfilling the Winchester Public Schools’ legal obligations. Where appropriate, the Winchester Public Schools may provide the information submitted by the user through an email to an employee of the Winchester Public Schools to the person or company that is the subject of the user’s inquiry, or a federal, state or local government agency responsible for the matters referred to in the user’s communication.

The Winchester Public Schools also will collect and aggregate the information the user provides through surveys for purposes of market research to improve these websites and/or to improve the operations of the Winchester Public Schools.

A User’s Access and Opportunity to Correct: 

The "Public Records Law" and the "Fair Information Practices Act" provide users certain rights to get information about him or her that is in the records of the Winchester Public Schools. To learn more about the circumstances under which a user can get and correct this information, please read these laws.

Security: 

Because emails sent to the Winchester Public Schools are not encrypted, users should not send messages containing information that a user considers highly sensitive to this website. The Winchester Public Schools uses standard security measures to ensure that information provided by a user, including a user’s personally identifiable information, is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. The Winchester Public Schools also uses software to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Policy Changes: 

The Winchester Public Schools will post substantive changes to this policy at least thirty (30) days before such changes take effect. Any information the Winchester Public Schools collects under the current website privacy policy will remain subject to the terms of this website privacy policy. After any changes take effect, all new information the Winchester Public Schools collects, if any, will be subject to the new policy.

Contact Information: 

For questions about privacy while using the Winchester Public Schools’ websites, please contact the Web Administrator at webmaster@winchesterps.org.

Definitions: 

Cookies are files that a website can place on a user’s computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a website can use to track such things as a user’s password, lists of web pages a user has visited, and the date when a user last looked at a specific web page, or to identify a user at a particular website. A cookie file allows the website to recognize a user as the user clicks through pages on the website and when a user later revisits the website. A website can use cookies to "remember" a user’s preferences, and to record a user’s browsing behavior on the web. Although a user can prevent websites from placing cookies on his/her computer by using the browser's preference menu, disabling cookies may affect a user’s ability to view or interact with some websites.

An "Internet Protocol Address" or "IP Address" is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send a user the file that he/she has requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to the Braintree Public Schools may identify the computer from which the user is accessing the Internet, or a server owned by the user’s Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information.