Other LanguagesThank you for visiting the State of Washington Office of the Attorney General's website and reviewing our Internet Privacy Notice. This statement notice addresses information that may be obtained by us through your use of our website. The following topics are covered:
- Information Collected and How It is Used
- Personal Information and Choice
- Public Access to Information
- Cookies and Applets
- Security
- Disclaimer
Information Collected and How It is Used
Information collected if you only browse this site
During your visit to our website, if you do nothing more than browse, read pages, or download information, we collect or store no information from you or about you.
We do have access to site usage statistics provided by our Internet Service Provider that we use to measure which site pages are visited the most often and when. The Attorney General's Office analyzes these website statistics to determine how our website is being used, so that we may continually improve the site's usefulness to the public. The Attorney General's office Office does not collect or store any information that can be used to identify or profile an individual, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, cookies, referring sites, etc.
What we collect if you volunteer information
If you send us email:
If you send us an email, we will collect the email address and the contents of the email. The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include any audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us.
We use your email to respond appropriately. This may be to respond to you, to address issues you may identify, to further improve our website, or to forward the email to another agency for appropriate action.
If you fill out one of our complaint forms on this site:
This site contains forms for filing consumer complaints with our office. Information provided on these forms is used to process your complaint, notify the business about whom the complaint is issued, and may be sent to other government agencies. Any information that you give to us will not be sold, rented, or leased to third parties and will only be used to respond to you or investigate your complaint. We strongly urge you to not submit sensitive personal information on these forms online. If you feel that sensitive information such as credit card numbers or social security numbers are required to process your complaint, we urge you to print out our complaint form and submit it to us by mail.
All of the information collected at this site becomes a public record that may be subject to inspection and copying by members of the public, unless an exemption or other protection in the law exists. (Please see "Public Access to Information" section below).
Personal Information and Choice
You may choose whether to provide personal information on-line
"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, social security number, address, and phone number. A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information.
We collect no personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us by sending us an email or you provide it on a complaint form.
If you volunteer personal information, state law and the federal Privacy Act of 1974 may protect it. However, this information is a public record once you provide it, and if it is not protected by an exemption from the Public Disclosure Law, RCW 42.17 or other state law it is may be subject to public inspection and copying. if not protected by federal or state law.
You are always welcome to browse our site and you are not required to contact us by email or submit complaint forms online. However we will not be able to process your complaints or log your comments if you choose to not contact us either online, by phone, or through the mail.
If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact the Attorney General's Office as shown in the Contact Information Section of this statement notice.
Users You are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from, or volunteered by, children on-line or by email will be treated the same as information given by an adult, and may be subject to public access.
In the State of Washington, laws exist to ensure that government is open and accessible to citizens. This means that the public has a right to access records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions in both state and federal laws that may limit the public's right to access certain information in public records.
All of the information collected at this site becomes a public record that may be subject to inspection and copying by members of the public, unless an exemption or other protection in the law exists. RCW 42.56.070(1) 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 subsection (8) of this section, this chapter, or other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records. To the extent required to prevent an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy interests protected by this chapter, an agency shall delete identifying details in a manner consistent with this chapter when it makes available or publishes any public record; however, in each case, the justification for the deletion shall be explained fully in writing.
In the event of a conflict between this Internet 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.
This website makes limited use of "cookies" to better serve visitors to the site. Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your Web browser. They provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to the Attorney General's website.
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. You can refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer by using any of the widely available methods.
This site does not currently require any special applets to enhance the browsing experience.
The Attorney General's Office, as developer and manager of this website, has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its data and prevent unauthorized access to information maintained by our Office. 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 the Attorney General's website.
The Attorney General's Office website has many links to other websites. These include links to websites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on the Attorney General's Office website and this Internet Privacy Notice will not apply. When you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.
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 their own risk.