Privacy Notice

Thank you for visiting SecureAccess Washington® and reviewing our Privacy Notice. This notice addresses collection, use and security of and access to information that may be obtained through use of SecureAccess Washington. This notice covers the following topics:

1. Information collected and how it is used
2. Personal information and choice
3. Public access to information
4. Nondisclosure of certain personal information
5. Review and correction of personally identifiable information
6. Cookies and applets
7. Security
8. Disclaimer
9. Contact information

If you do nothing during your visit to our web site but browse, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:

1. The Internet Protocol Address and domain name used. The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer. We use the Internet Protocol Address to direct Internet traffic to you. This address can be translated to determine the domain name of your service provider (e.g. xcompany.com or yourschool.edu);
2. The type of browser and operating system you used;
3. The date and time you visited this site;
4. The web pages or services you accessed at this site; and
5. The web site you visited prior to coming to this web site.

The information we automatically collect or store is logged and used by DIS only to improve the content of our web services and to help us understand how people are using our services. DIS analyzes this information/the web site logs to determine how our web site is being used, so that we may continually improve the site's usefulness to the public.

What we collect if you volunteer information.

If during your visit to our web site you participate in a survey, send an email, register for an account or perform some other transaction on-line, the following additional information will be collected:

1. The email address, and contents of email, for those who communicate with us via email.
2. Information volunteered through an on-line form for any other purpose.
3. A User ID, password, name, email address, secret question and secret answer.
4. Historical information about logins which is kept for transactional analysis and system debugging.

Information provided on the online form is used to complete the online transaction and perform the service requested. 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 Chapter 40.14 RCW, Preservation and Destruction of Public Records.

The information you volunteer may be used:

• to operate and improve SecureAccess Washington;
• to fulfill your requests for services; and
• to communicate with you and respond to your inquiries.

We use your email to respond appropriately. This may be to respond to you, to address issues you may identify, to further improve our web site, or to forward the email to another agency for appropriate action.

You may choose whether to provide personal information online.

"Personal information" is information about a natural person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal information includes such things as an individual's name, address, and phone number.

We collect no personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us by sending us email or completing an online form. You may choose not to contact us by email or not to provide any personal information using an online form; however your choice not to provide the registration information will impair your ability to perform certain activities or transactions online.

If personal information is requested on the Website or volunteered by the user, state law and the federal Privacy Act of 1974 may protect it. However, this information is a public record once you provide it, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.

If you believe that your personal/private information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact the agency contact person or position as shown in the Contact Information Section of this statement.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs information gathering online from or about children under the age of 13. SecureAccess Washington is especially concerned about protecting children's privacy. SecureAccess Washington does not require children to reveal any information that could personally identify them. If a child chooses to provide personally identifying information to us then the child must get his/her parents' permission before providing any information on line -- at our site or any other site.

In the State of Washington, 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. All information collected at this site becomes public record that may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exemption in law exists. RCW 42.56.070 states that:

Each agency, in accordance with published rules, shall make available for public inspection and copying all public records, unless the record falls within the specific exemptions of the Public Records Act or other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records.

In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Notice and the Public Records Act or other law governing the agency's disclosure of records, the Public Records Act or other applicable law will control.

To the extent required to prevent an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy interests protected by RCW 42.56.210 and 42.56.320, an agency shall delete identifying details in a manner consistent with RCW 42.56.310 and 42.56.320 when it makes available or publishes any public record; however, in each case, the justification for the deletion shall be explained fully in writing.

DIS may require you to provide certain personal information in order to register and have access to certain on-line services. The information is required in order to grant or deny your request to access an on-line service. You may choose not to provide this information, but if you choose not to provide it we will be unable to process your request, and you will have to conduct the transaction in person or by mail.

The following laws may prevent SecureAccess Washington from disclosing the personal/private information about you except as necessary to process the transaction:

1. The residential address and residential telephone number of employees of a public agency which are held by the agency in personnel records, employment or volunteer rosters, or mailing lists of employees. RCW 42.56.250(3)
2. Personal information in files maintained for employees of any public agency to the extent that disclosure would violate their right to privacy. RCW 42.56.230
3. All applications for public employment, including the names of applicants, resumes, and other related materials submitted with respect to an applicant. 42.56.250(2)

You can review any personally identifiable information we collect about you by using the information in the Contact Information section at the end of this Notice. You may recommend changes to your personally identifiable information you believe to be inaccurate by submitting a written request that credibly shows the inaccuracy. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. Read RCW 43.105.310

Cookies
To better serve our users we use "cookies" to customize your browsing experience with SecureAccess Washington. Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your web browser.

Cookies created on your computer by using this Website do not contain personally identifying information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature only to store a randomly generated identifying tag on your computer.

Applets
Applets, when used, are tools downloaded to your computer to work with the software you have. They are intended to enhance your browsing experience by enabling you to view information in a unique manner and/or to enable access to information that your computer would otherwise be unable to access without the applet.

SecureAccess Washington does not use applets, so you are not required to use applets to browse this site.

DIS, as developer and manager of DIS SecureAccess, has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its data and prevent unauthorized access to information maintained by DIS. For site security purposes and to ensure that this website remains available to all users, DIS employs software to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage to this website. These measures are designed and intended to prevent corruption of data, block unknown or unauthorized access to our systems and information, and to provide reasonable protection of private information in our possession.

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 DIS web sites.

The DIS SecureAccess web site has many links to other web sites. These include links to web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on the DIS SecureAccess web site and this Privacy Notice will not apply. When you link to another web site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.

Reference in this web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the State of Washington, DIS, or its officers, employees or agents.

Neither the State of Washington, nor any agency, officer, or employee of the State of Washington warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at its own risk.

DIS reserves the right to revise and update this Privacy Notice at any time without notice by posting such revised Privacy Notice at the DIS SecureAccess log in page.

You may contact DIS as follows.

For general questions, technical issues about SecureAccess Washington:

DIS Service Desk
Phone: (360) 753-2454 / (888) 241-7597

To access your personally identifiable information we collect, if any, or to request correction of factual errors in your personally identifiable information you can contact us

To review your personal information, or request correction of your personal information:

DIS Public Disclosure Officer
PO Box 42445
Olympia, WA 98504-2445
Phone: (360) 902-2985 Fax: (360) 586-5885 Email: PublicDisclosure@dis.wa.gov

To offer comments about SecureAccess Washington or the information presented in this notice:

DIS Privacy Officer

PO Box 42445
Olympia, WA 98504-2445
Phone: (360) 902-3436 Fax: (360) 586-5885 Email: PrivacyOfficer@dis.wa.gov

Last Modified: February 2009