Privacy Policy
The Iowa Department of Transportation recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of information collected on our website and mobile applications.
The only information collected will be that which is necessary to provide the information or services that you may request when visiting our website or using our mobile applications. For example, if you are requesting a product or service that we offer, or want a reply to your question or comment, we will ask for your email address, or your name and mailing address so we may respond appropriately.
Any personally identifiable information we receive on our website or through our mobile application will not be shared with persons outside our department. No third-party marketing databases will be created nor will any commercial use be made of any data we may collect.
Access to personally identifiable information in public records at state and local levels of government in Iowa is governed primarily by Code of Iowa chapter 22, Examination of Public Records (Open Records).
Various commercial websites may be linked from our site or mobile application. These private-sector sites are not subject to chapter 22. Visitors to those sites may wish to check the privacy statements of the sites and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information.
Cookies
It is not necessary for users to provide personal information to simply visit the Iowa DOT website or download information. However, when you do visit the site, the Iowa DOT may collect information using cookies.
Cookies, by themselves, do not tell us your email address or other personally identifiable information unless you choose to provide this information to us by, for example, registering or subscribing to our sites.
A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. A cookie contains a unique number that allows our sites to recognize your computer.
The Iowa DOT has three tiers of use for cookies.
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Single session technologies track visitor activity during a single session or visit and expire when you close your browser. We use these to provide continuity for your visit as you navigate through the website.
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Multi session technologies used in analytics help the Iowa DOT understand how people are using our site so we can improve it for future visitors, as well as learn about the number of visitors to our website and types of technology they are using.
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Multi session persistent cookies are used to remember data or settings beyond what is needed for Web analytics.Persistent cookies allow us to keep track of your user name and password (if you are a subscriber or have logged into a secure site) so you don't have to re-enter that information each time you visit.
The "Help" function on most Internet browsers contains information on how to set your browser to notify you before accepting cookies or disable cookies entirely. However, if you don't accept cookies, you won't be able to take advantage of various features on our sites that are available to other visitors.
Web beacons
Our websites and emails may use Web beacons (also known as clear gifs) in conjunction with cookies to compile statistics about site usage. Web beacons are small pieces of data that are embedded in images on the pages of websites. On their own, Web beacons do not contain or reveal any personally identifiable information. We may use these technical methods to analyze the traffic patterns on our sites, such as the frequency with which our users visit various parts of our sites and to measure site effectiveness. We may also use Web beacons in HTML emails that we send our visitors who have agreed to receive email from us, to determine whether our recipients have opened those emails and/or clicked on links in those emails.
You may render some Web beacons unusable by rejecting their associated cookies.
Geolocation data for 511 mobile application
Geolocation data is information obtained through an individual's use of a mobile device and is used to identify the user's actual physical location at a point in time.
When a user downloads or accesses the 511 mobile application, the user may enable his or her global positioning system (GPS) location information to be used by the application, which will allow the user's location to be automatically registered when he or she loads the application's map view. This feature can be disabled or enabled on the user's mobile device. Neither the Iowa DOT nor the mobile application contractor collects location information about the user. However, location information may be collected by the mobile device's platform provider and/or the user's data carrier. Before a user downloads or accesses the mobile application, he or she should review the terms of use and privacy policy of the user's platform provider and data carrier to determine how they collect, use, and/or retain location information, or any other personally identifiable information (PII). Iowa DOT is not responsible for the terms of use or privacy policies of the platform providers or data carriers, or the use of PII, including location information by such entities.