Internet Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of Use

This Policy guides how the Fox Waterway Agency (“FWA”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, stores and uses information about citizens/entities who visit this website. The FWA strives to provide online resources in a safe, secure manner that respects your privacy when you visit our sites. This Privacy Policy addresses the collection, use, disclosure, and security of information that may be obtained by the FWA through the use of the www.foxwaterway.com website. The FWA may, from time to time, modify this Privacy Policy to reflect legal, technological and other developments. In that event, the changes will appear at this location.

INFORMATION COLLECTED AND HOW IT IS USED

Voluntarily Provided Information

We do not collect personal information without your permission. If, during your visit to our website, you voluntarily provide personally identifiable information, we will collect such information. Examples of personally identifiable information may include your name, address, email address and/or phone number or any other information requested and information you voluntarily submit to the FWA for the purposes of completing or submitting an application or form online, including:

  1. Account and Registration Details – When you register on our site, we collect your name, email address, phone number, and other details you provide to create and manage your account.
  2. Purchase Information – If you purchase FWA Stickers  online we collect order details, billing and shipping information, payment information (processed securely by our payment provider), and order history.
  3. Watercraft Information – To issue and manage watercraft stickers, we collect information about your watercraft, such as make, model, year, identification numbers, and other details provided during the purchase or registration process.
  4. Contact and Request Forms – When you submit inquiries, requests, or applications via forms on our website, we collect your name, email address, phone number, and any additional information you provide in the message or form fields.

Information collected and received through the FWA website may become public record and therefore subject to disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. It is therefore the policy of the FWA that no personal information you provide to us, including, but not limited to, your name, address, telephone number, drivers license number, Social Security Number and email address will be sold or rented to any entity or individual or disclose to unauthorized entity or individual. The release of personal information by the FWA shall be limited, according to Illinois law, to State of Illinois government agencies and/or to authorized FWA contractors or grantees, as needed and appropriate.

Information automatically collected

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the website, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. Your web browser software transmits most of this information to us. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:

  • The numeric IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access the website;
  • The type of browser and operating system used to access the IDNR website;
  • The date and time you access the IDNR website;
  • The pages you visit, including graphics loaded from each page and other documents you download, such as PDF (Portable Document Format) files and word processing documents; and
  • If you linked to the website from another website, the address of that website;
  • The name of the country in which your server is located.

Your web browser software transmits this information to us, and we use it to help us make our site more useful to visitors — to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. We do not track or record personal information about individuals and their visits.

Information Use

The information we collect is used for purposes including, but not limited to:

  • Processing account registrations and managing user profiles.
  • Fulfilling orders, issuing FWA Stickers, and maintaining watercraft records.
  • Responding to inquiries, requests, and contact form submissions.
  • Sending transactional emails, notifications, and important updates regarding your account, orders, or requests.
  • Improving our website, services, and user experience.

If you participate in a survey or send us an e-mail during your visit, the following information will be collected:

  • The e-mail address and contents of the e-mail; and
  • Information volunteered in response to a survey.

The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us. The information is retained in accordance with the Local Government Records Act (5ILCS 205).

We use your e-mail to respond appropriately. This may be to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to further improve our website, or to forward the e-mail to another agency for appropriate action. Survey information is used only for the purpose designated.

ACCESS AND CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

You can review any personal information we collect about you. You may recommend changes to your personal information you believe in error by submitting a written request that credibly shows the error. If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact us. In all cases, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. See Contact Information section.

SECURITY

As developer and manager of this website, we have  taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its communications and computing infrastructure, including but not limited to authentication, monitoring, auditing, and encryption. Security measures have been integrated into the design, implementation and day-to-day practices of the entire FWA operating environment as part of its continuing commitment to risk management. Sensitive payment information is processed securely through our supported payment gateway and is never stored on our servers. This information should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail proof, the security of information provided via FWA supported websites.

COOKIES

We do not use permanent cookies to collect information at this time. We do however use transactional cookies to control security to our applications that require login. Transactional cookies expire after a user logs out and closes their Web browser. Note: A cookie is a file containing unique information a website can use to track such things as passwords, the date when you last looked at a specific page, or to identify your session at a particular website. A cookie is often used in commercial sites to identify the items selected for a specific shopping cart application.

LEGAL NOTICES

Access to the FWA websites is provided subject to the following terms and conditions. Please read these terms carefully as use of these sites constitutes acceptance of all of the following Terms and Condition of Use:

Policies for Individuals under 13 Years of Age

The FWA is committed to complying fully with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Accordingly, if you are under the age of 13, you are not authorized to provide us with personally identifying information, and we will not use any such information in our database or other data collection activities. We appreciate your cooperation with this federally mandated requirement. Users are cautioned that the collection of personal information volunteered by children on-line or by e-mail will be treated the same as information given by an adult and may be subject to public access.

Freedom of Information Act

Illinois 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. Information collected at this site may become public record and may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless covered by such an exemption in law. Exemptions are listed in 5ILCS 140/7.

In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Notice and the Freedom of Information Act or other law governing the disclosure of records, the Freedom of Information Act or other applicable law will control.

Disclaimer of Liability

Neither FWA nor any of its employees shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein and assumes no responsibility for anyone’s use of the information. In no event shall the FWA website or its employees be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement or substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this system, even if advised of the possibility of such damage. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury, including but not limited to those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence or under any other cause of action.

Disclaimer of Warranties and Accuracy of Data

Although the data found using the FWA access systems has been produced and processed from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. This disclaimer applies to both isolated and aggregate uses of the information. The FWA provides this information on an “as is” basis. All warranties of any kind express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from contamination by computer viruses and non-infringement of proprietary rights are disclaimed. Changes may be periodically made to the information herein; these changes may or may not be incorporated in any new version of the publication. If you have obtained information from any of the FWA’s web pages from a source other than the FWA pages, be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution. Data can also quickly become out of date. It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data associated with a file, and that the originator of the data or information be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, we encourage you to report them to dnr.webmaster@illinois.gov via email.

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The FWA is a distributor of content sometimes supplied by third parties and users. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information provided by users, or others, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect those of the FWA and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the FWA.

Disclaimer for External Links

The FWA’s websites provide links to other websites. These include links to websites operated by other agencies and officials, other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you transfer to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.

The FWA is not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages referenced. The user specifically acknowledges that the FWA is not liable for the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other users, links, or third parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with the user. Links from the FWA’s web pages on the World Wide Web to other sites do not constitute an endorsement from the FWA. These links are provided as an information service only. It is the responsibility of the web surfer to evaluate the content and usefulness of information obtained from other sites. The FWA’s website contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites and resources. Since the FWA’s website is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources or their contents, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to its site administrator or webmaster.

Disclaimer of Duty to Continue Provision of Data

Due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, resources that are free and publicly available one day may require a fee or restricted access the next, and the location of items may change as menus, homepages, and files are reorganized. The user expressly agrees that use of the FWA’s website is at the user’s sole risk. The FWA does not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted or error free. The documents and related graphics published on this server could contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein. The FWA and/or its respective agencies and programs may make improvements and/or changes in the information and/or programs described herein at any time.

Choice of Law

Construction of the disclaimers above and resolution of disputes thereof are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois. The laws of the State of Illinois, U.S.A., shall apply to all uses of this data and this system. By use of this system and any data contained therein, the user agrees that use shall conform to all applicable laws and regulations and user shall not violate the rights of any third parties.

CONTACT US

Thank you for choosing to be part of the FWA community. We are committed to protecting your personal information. If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Notice, please contact us.

Last Updated: April 17, 2026