Privacy

Protecting the Privacy of Kids & Teens Online

VPL cares about children and understands that they have unique privacy concerns. Although children often use computers in many different ways; such as: communication, and research; at times it is difficult to understand the consequences of disclosing personal information online. Parents do not always have the knowledge, ability or opportunity to intervene and prevent their child from giving out personal information. As such, we encourage parents to discuss online safety with their children, to get involved in their online usage, and be aware of the activities in which they are participating.

The Privacy Statement outlines VPL's commitment to protection the privacy and confidentially of personal information.

When your child submits a question online through VPL's Email Librarian reference service, the only personal information collected is:

1. your child's email address (we need this to return an answer to your child's question).
2. your local branch (we need this so that we can direct your child to resources and books located in your local branch).
3. your child's reading level (we need this to ensure that the answer given to your child is age appropriate).

Other things VPL does to ensure that the privacy and security of your child is protected include:

1. We do not ask children or teens to divulge more information than is needed to participate in any activity or service.
2. We provide links to Web sites that, to the best of our knowledge, are suitable for children in the Homework Zone and Fun Zone.
3. We do not identify or post contest information such as the full name of winners without written parental or guardian consent.
4. We encourage parents or guardians to speak to their children about sharing personal information online.