Effective date: April 27, 2026
The Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency (the “CRA,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates this website at bartowcra.com. This policy explains what information the site collects, why we collect it, and how it is handled. It applies to this website only. It does not apply to other websites we link to, including the City of Bartow and Polk County sites.
Public Records Notice
The CRA is a public agency. Under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, most records made or received by the CRA in connection with official business are public records and are available to any person who requests them, with limited exemptions set by law.
This includes information you send us through this website. If you complete a form, send an email, or write to us, your message and the information in it may become a public record subject to disclosure.
As required by Section 668.6076, Florida Statutes:
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
You can reach the CRA office by phone at (863) 534-0100, extension 2771, or by mail at 680 East Main Street, Bartow, Florida 33830.
Information You Give Us
This website has two forms. Both are optional. You can use the rest of the site without completing either one.
General Program Intake Form. This form asks for your name and title, phone number, email address, preferred method of contact, business name, property address, whether you own or lease, years at the address, property type, a description of your project, answers to three eligibility questions, and an acknowledgment with your printed name and the date. Submissions are stored on the website and emailed to CRA staff so we can send you the right program description and application.
Newsletter sign up. This form asks for your email address so we can send you CRA updates.
Provide only the information you are comfortable having in a public record. Do not send Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, financial statements, or other sensitive personal information through this website. If a program requires that information later, CRA staff will tell you how to submit it.
Information Collected Automatically
This website uses Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use the site. Google Analytics sets cookies in your browser and collects information such as the pages you view, how long you spend on them, the site or search that referred you, your approximate location, and your device and browser type. Your IP address is processed by Google as part of this service.
We use this information in aggregate to see which pages and programs people are looking for and to improve the site. We do not use it to identify individual visitors.
Our web host also keeps standard server logs, which record requests made to the site, including IP addresses, for security and troubleshooting.
This website does not run advertising pixels or social media tracking tags. Links to our social media accounts are ordinary links. We do not sell or rent any information collected through this site.
Managing Cookies and Analytics
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Most browsers let you refuse cookies entirely or alert you before one is set. Blocking cookies will not prevent you from reading this site or submitting a form.
Google offers a browser add on that stops Google Analytics from collecting data, available at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
This website does not currently respond to browser Do Not Track signals.
How Long We Keep Information
Records created or received by the CRA, including form submissions and correspondence, are retained according to the retention schedules issued by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services, for state and local government agencies. Retention periods vary by record type. Records are not destroyed before their scheduled retention period ends.
Who Has Access
Information submitted through this site is available to CRA staff and to the vendors who build and maintain the website and deliver our email, acting on our behalf. It may also be released in response to a public records request, provided to other government agencies when required, or disclosed when required by law or court order.
Security
This website is served over an encrypted connection, and we take reasonable steps to protect the information it holds. No website or method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Children
This website is intended for adults doing business with the CRA. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted information through this site, contact us and we will address it consistent with our obligations under public records law.
Links to Other Websites
This site links to other websites, including the City of Bartow, Polk County, and document repositories hosted by those agencies. We do not control those sites, and this policy does not apply to them. Review the privacy policy of any site you visit.
Google User Data and Email Delivery
The application. The application covered by this section is the Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency website at bartowcra.com. It is a WordPress site operated by the CRA. It uses the WP Mail SMTP plugin together with the Google Gmail API to deliver email that the website generates. The only people who authorize this application are CRA administrators acting on behalf of the agency. It is not distributed to, installed by, or signed into by members of the public.
The Google Account involved. One Google Account, owned by the Bartow CRA, is connected to the website. Visitors to bartowcra.com never sign in with Google, are never prompted to connect a Google Account, and no Google user data belonging to a visitor is requested or received.
The scope we request. The application requests a single OAuth scope:
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.send
What that scope allows and does not allow. The gmail.send scope permits the application to submit outgoing messages from the connected account. It does not permit the application to read, search, list, download, label, modify, archive, or delete any message in the mailbox. It does not provide access to drafts, threads, mail settings, contacts, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Photos, or any other Google service, and it does not provide profile information beyond the connected account’s email address. The application requests no additional scope.
What Google user data we collect. Exactly two items:
- The email address of the connected CRA Google Account, returned by Google when the account is authorized. The website uses it as the From address on outgoing mail.
- An OAuth access token and refresh token issued by Google, which allow the website to send mail without storing an account password.
We collect no other Google user data. We do not retrieve message contents, mailbox contents, contact lists, or any information from Google about the people who receive email from us.
How we use it. The connection is used for one purpose, which is sending outbound email generated by bartowcra.com. That consists of notifications to CRA staff when someone submits the General Program Intake Form or the newsletter sign up form, any confirmation message sent back to the person who submitted it, and routine WordPress administrative mail such as password reset messages. The connection is not used for marketing campaigns, bulk mailing, or any purpose unrelated to operating this website.
How we store it and protect it. The tokens and the connected account address are stored in the website’s WordPress database, on our web host’s server. The site is served over an encrypted TLS connection. Access to the WordPress administration area is limited to authorized CRA personnel and the vendor that maintains the site. The site runs an application firewall and malware scanning. Tokens are never printed into public page output, never written into publicly reachable files, and never transmitted to any party other than Google.
How long we keep it. The tokens and connected address are retained only while the Gmail connection is active. If the connection is removed in the website’s settings, or if access is revoked from the Google Account, the stored tokens are deleted from the website and cease to be valid. Email the website has already sent remains subject to the public records retention schedules described earlier in this policy.
How we share it. We do not sell, rent, or transfer Google user data to any third party. The vendor that maintains the website may access it only as necessary to operate the site on the agency’s behalf. We would disclose it only where required by applicable law, by court order, or by a valid public records request under Chapter 119, Florida Statutes.
What we never do. We do not use Google user data for advertising or to build advertising profiles. We do not use it to develop, improve, or train generalized artificial intelligence or machine learning models. We do not allow humans to read this data, except where we have the account holder’s explicit consent, where it is necessary for security purposes such as investigating abuse, where we are required to do so by applicable law, or where the data has been aggregated and made anonymous.
Revoking access and requesting deletion. An administrator of the connected Google Account can revoke this application’s access at any time from the Google account permissions page at myaccount.google.com/permissions, which immediately invalidates the stored tokens. To have the stored credentials deleted from the website directly, contact the CRA using the details at the end of this policy and the connection will be removed.
Limited Use. The Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy as the website or the law changes. The effective date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.
Contact Us
Questions about this policy, or about a public records request, can be directed to:
Bartow Community Redevelopment Agency
680 East Main Street
Bartow, Florida 33830
Phone: (863) 534-0100, extension 2771
Email: contact@bartowcra.gov
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
