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Privacy Policy

This policy describes information collected during a visit, the reasons it may be used, and the limited situations in which another party may receive it. By continuing to use New Hanover County Criminal History, you accept these privacy practices.

Data You Give Us Directly

Search Queries

A name or place entered in a search tool is sent directly to the outside company operating that tool. The provider handles the query and supplies its response. We do not retain or log those search terms on our systems.

Messages and Contact Submissions

An email may be kept long enough to read it, respond, and maintain a record of the exchange. It remains within our organization unless disclosure is required by a valid legal duty.

Data We Gather Automatically

Loading a page can cause the server to receive routine technical details about the visit:

  • Page-view times and the pages opened
  • Your device's assigned IP address
  • Browser name and version
  • Device category and operating system
  • Time spent on visited pages
  • A referring website, when one exists

Cookies and Analytics

Cookies are small device files that help measure traffic patterns, popular pages, and points where visits end. Analytics vendors may combine that information into traffic reports. Browser controls can block cookies, although some site functions may then behave differently.

What We Do With This Data

  • Finding and repairing performance or technical faults
  • Routing a submitted query to the selected search provider
  • Operating the site and keeping pages responsive
  • Measuring which resources visitors use
  • Presenting advertising that may reflect visitor interests

No Criminal-Record Data on File

No database of personal criminal-record information is hosted, assembled, or sold here. The published material identifies official channels for New Hanover County records, including the sheriff, Clerk of Superior Court, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry. This site is not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and visitor data is not turned into a consumer report or a file about another person.

Third-Party Search Partners

Outside companies supply the search-box services. Their privacy notices, retention rules, and sharing practices apply to information entered in those tools. We do not set those rules. Review the provider's policy before sending a query.

Links to Other Websites

Links may lead to the New Hanover County sheriff, North Carolina courts, state agencies, legal-aid resources, or outside services. Once a visitor follows such a link, the destination's privacy rules govern. Check those rules before providing personal information.

Advertising companies may use their own systems to follow activity across websites and select ads. We do not operate that cross-site tracking.

Who Might See Your Data

Personal data is not sold. Limited information may still be received by:

  • Analytics providers measuring traffic and performance
  • Search companies processing a visitor's chosen query
  • Advertising networks placing ads on a page
  • A government or law-enforcement office acting under valid legal process

How We Protect Your Data

Reasonable security practices are used to protect collected information. No internet-connected service can guarantee complete safety, so a breach or unauthorized access cannot be ruled out.

Users Under 18

This resource is intended for adults and does not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. Information identified as belonging to a minor can be requested for deletion.

Your Data Rights

Rights may vary with a visitor's location. North Carolina's Public Records Law, Chapter 132, governs government records, while G.S. 132-1.4 sets distinct rules for criminal investigation information. Those laws do not turn this private site into a government custodian. Subject to applicable law, a visitor may:

  • Request deletion of personal data where the law permits
  • Ask what personal information is held
  • Seek correction of inaccurate information
  • Object to some forms of processing when a legal right applies

Updates to This Policy

This policy may be revised as practices or legal duties change. A replacement takes effect when posted here with its new date.

Effective date: August 2, 2026