This Privacy Policy describes how Visit Mississippi (VM) and the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) collects, uses, processes, and shares information obtained through our website and related services. Certain privacy rights and obligations may apply depending on the jurisdiction in which a user is located. Additional disclosures applicable to individuals located in the European Union are described below.

VM-MDA operates the www.visitmississippi.org website (the Service). VM-MDA uses your data to provide and improve the Service and to provide information regarding VM-MDA. It is necessary for VM-MDA to collect, process, use and maintain data for customers, applicants, interested parties, and employees. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Lawful Basis for Collecting and Processing Personal Information

VM-MDA has a lawful basis to collect, process, use, and maintain data of customers, applicants, interested parties, employees, and others involved in its mission and purpose. The lawful basis includes, without limitation:

  • Communications
  • To provide and maintain our Service
  • To notify you about changes to our Service
  • To provide customer support
  • To gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve our Service and provide information about VM-MDA
  • To monitor the usage of our Service
  • To detect, prevent and address technical issues
  • Records retention.

Information Collected

Types of personal information VM-MDA may collect, process and/or maintain include:

  • Personal details such as name, title, address, telephone number, email address, and nationality
  • Information about your engagement with VM-MDA
  • Usage data
  • Location

When you view pages on our site, the web server and related systems automatically collect certain technical information from your computer and about your connection. This information includes:

  • Your IP address
  • Domain name from which you visit our site
  • User-specific information on which pages are visited
  • Aggregate information on pages visited
  • Referring website
  • Date and time of visit
  • Duration of visit
  • Browser type
  • Screen resolution
  • Interactions with the web page
  • Aggregate information collected by Google Analytics

We also collect information using the following methods:

Cookies and Web Beacons

A cookie is a file that is written to your computer containing information about your visit. A web beacon (also known as a pixel tag or clear GIF) is a tiny transparent image embedded in a webpage or an email to measure usage and activity. In some cases, a web beacon triggers the placement of a persistent cookie on your device. If you prefer not to receive cookies, you may configure your browser not to accept them at all, or to notify and require approval before accepting new cookies. Some web pages may not function properly if the cookies are turned off, or you may have to provide the same information each time you visit those pages.

Third Party Services

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. including Demographics and Interest Reporting. Google Analytics uses cookies to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Google. You can use the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on to disable tracking by Google Analytics. For more information, please visit Google’s Privacy Policy.

How We Use Information We Collect

By providing this information you acknowledge that, where permitted by federal or state law, VM-MDA may use this information for the express purposes for which the information was provided, which may include to:

  • Respond to your request for information
  • Process information for administrative purposes
  • Notify you of services or events
  • Improve online content and communications
  • Improve services
  • Marketing  
  • Process information for purposes as may be detailed on VM – MDA’s website.

Sharing Information With Third Parties

VM-MDA works with many vendors and contractors who assist VM-MDA. Personal information that you provide to VM-MDA, or which VM-MDA automatically collects, is used or shared with these organizations for the express purposes for which the information was collected or as otherwise expressed in this privacy statement. VM-MDA’s vendors and contractors are only permitted to use personal information for the express purposes permitted in their agreements with VM-MDA. Otherwise, personal information is not released to third parties unless permitted by applicable law, including in instances where VM-MDA is legally compelled by law or judicial order.

Links to Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other sites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. Note that these external sites are not operated by us. Therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of these websites. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Children’s Privacy

Our Services do not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal identifiable information from children under 13. In the case we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we immediately delete this from our servers. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we will be able to do necessary actions.

Rights of the Data Subject Under the EU GDPR

In some circumstances, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) extends to entities with no physical presence in the European Union (EU) that control and process personal information from persons in the EU. Without waving any defense and when applicable, the GDPR provides when and how VM-MDA can collect, process, store, and use certain personal information received from persons in the EU. Under the GDPR, VM-MDA may be a data “controller” or “processor”.

Information protected under the GDPR includes information that can be used to identify an individual (e.g., name, address, identification number, location data, IP address, and photographs).

If you are an individual data subject under the EU GDPR, you may obtain the following information and exercise the following rights:

  • Identity and the contact details of the controller and, where applicable, the controller’s representative
  • Explanation of the purposes and legal basis/legitimate interests of the data collection/processing
  • Identification of the recipients of the personal data
  • Notice if MDA intends to transfer personal data to another country or international organization
  • Notice of the time period that the personal data will be stored
  • Right to access personal data, rectify incorrect personal data, erase personal data, restrict or object to processing, and the right to data portability
  • Right to withdraw consent at any time, if processing is based on consent
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (established in the EU)
  • Explanation of why the personal data are required, and possible consequences of the failure to provide the data
  • Notice of the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling
  • Notice if the collected data are going to be further processed for a purpose other than that for which the information was collected

Exercising of these rights is a guarantee to be afforded a process and not the guarantee of an outcome.

Any data subject who wishes to exercise any of the above-mentioned rights may do so by submitting such request to tinquiry@mississippi.org.

Our mailing address is as follows:

P.O. Box 849

Jackson, MS 39205

We can be reached via email at tinquiry@mississippi.org, or you can reach us by telephone at 601.359.3449.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, we advise you to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. These changes are effective immediately, after they are posted on this page.