Privacy and Security Policy

This Privacy and Security Statement tells you how we handle information we learn about you through your use of the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) website.* Please be assured that your privacy is of utmost importance to us. L&I is required to safeguard users' privacy under Executive Order 00-03 (www.governor.wa.gov) concerning public records privacy protections and through state law (Revised Code of Washington Titles 51 and 7).

* For information on L&I's privacy policy regarding personal information gathered about you in other ways than through this website, go to the L&I publication Your Privacy Is Important to Us (195 KB PDF).

Information collected and stored automatically

When you access non-secure sites, no information that identifies you personally is automatically collected. As with any website, site management and system administrative information can be collected each time you visit, including:

The date and time you visited;
The name of the domain you used to access the Internet (such as companyxxx.com, aol.com, universityxxx.edu, etc.) and the IP address from which you access our Site;
The pages you visited;
The type of browser and operating system used to access our Site;
The address of the website you came from if you linked to our Site from another site.

This information is used for statistical purposes and to help us make our Site more useful — to learn about the number of users to our Site, which information is most useful to them, and the types of technology our users employ.

If you send us personal information through this website

You do not have to give us Personal Information to visit our website.

If you choose to provide us with Personal Information about yourself through an email message, form, survey, etc., we will only maintain the information as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication. Any Personal Information you provide us may be subject to public disclosure (Chapter 42.56 RCW (app.leg.wa.gov)) or protected by state law or the federal Privacy Act of 1974 (www.usdoj.gov).

Any Personal Information provided by or collected from you will not be given to any private organization, or otherwise sold or made available for commercial purposes.

This website is a general audience site, and we do not knowingly collect any personal information from children. Users are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by children online or by email will be treated the same as information given by an adult and may be subject to public access.

User’s choice

Any entity or individual who accesses or uses the Site (the “User” or “You”) may decline participation in any activity that asks for personal (or any) information, such as surveys, email or interactive applications. Your choice to "opt out" (not participate) will not affect Your ability to use any other areas of the Site.

Information considered public information

Because the content on this Site is considered public information (except Secure Services) it may be copied, downloaded, or distributed. We request that you give appropriate byline/photo/image credits.

Using for commercial purposes lists of individuals or directory information (including address, phone or email) provided on this Site is prohibited under RCW 42.56.070 (app.leg.wa.gov) (9), as broadly defined by the Office of the Attorney General of the state of Washington.

Public access to information

In the state of Washington, laws exist to ensure that government is open and 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 of the information collected at this Site is considered public information (except Secure Services) and may be subject to inspection and copying by members of the public. See RCW 42.56.070 (app.leg.wa.gov) (9) for more information about the inspection of public records. Exemptions are allowed under state Public Disclosure law for certain L&I records.

You can access Your Personal Information collected from this Site, if any, by contacting the Department of Labor & Industries' Privacy Officer at:

PO Box 44829
Tumwater, Washington 98504-4829
Phone: 360-902-6961 or 360-902-4203 during regular business hours
Fax: 360-902-4202
Email: PublicAffairs@Lni.wa.gov

Correction of personally identifiable information collected through this website

If You find factual errors in Your personally identifiable information collected through this website, You may correct them by sending us a request that credibly shows the error. We will take reasonable steps to verify Your identity before making corrections.

Links to other websites

This Site contains links to other websites that are operated by other government agencies, non-profit organizations and private businesses. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites or the accuracy of the information on those other websites. When You access those sites through a link from our site, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site. We encourage you to be aware of and read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by L&I through this website.

Security

The Department of Labor & Industries takes every reasonable precaution to protect and secure the site and the privacy of our citizens. Technology is used to secure the site and monitor network traffic in order to identify unauthorized attempts to access or modify it, or otherwise cause damage.

Unauthorized modification is strictly prohibited

Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise modify or cause damage to this site, are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under both state and federal laws, including the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. Intrusion detection and other software security tools may collect data regarding unauthorized activity, and that data may be used or made available in order to conduct investigations.

Cookies

L&I may sometimes employ the use of "Cookies" in order to make the use of our websites easier for our users, and to track site usage and statistics. Cookies are passive files that are delivered to You, stored on Your computer hard drive, and returned in certain situations to the same server that provided the information. Cookies cannot read information from Your hard drive. They can only store data that is provided by the server or generated by Your explicit actions while visiting a site. Personal Information about You is not stored in cookies, and is not used by L&I in order to access Your computer. Furthermore, cookies created on Your computer by using this site do not compromise Your privacy or security.

Several of the most recent versions of browser software can notify You before a website places a cookie on Your computer. You may have the option of allowing cookies or not, based on Your preference. The use of cookies is optional; they may be deleted or rejected by Users, and the site will still be available — but possibly with greater inconvenience. The L&I use of cookie technology does not pose a security or privacy threat to Users.

L&I applications that require a Logon ID and password (or digital certificate) to access

You may access Secure Services to engage in electronic commerce with L&I over the Internet. These services typically require a logon process that includes use of a user name, password, pin number and/or other methods of authentication in order to access the system, such as a digital certificate. Protections are built into these systems to ensure security to the user and to safeguard data, as well as to provide reasonable protection of private information in our possession. Logon information, such as a user name and password, is secure and will not be disclosed to the public. Information provided to L&I via Secure Services is disclosable only to the extent allowed by law.

Nondisclosure of certain information

L&I may request that you provide certain personal or private information in order to process a transaction or to complete the service You are seeking or providing L&I. You may choose not to provide this information, but if You choose not to provide it, we will be unable to complete the transaction or perform the service, and You will have to conduct Your business with us either in person, by telephone or by postal mail.

Children

Users are cautioned that the collection of Personal Information requested or volunteered by children will be treated the same as information given by an adult, and subject to public disclosure. We encourage all children to obtain parental permission before offering any Personal Information to this or any website.

Disclaimer

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published on the site, nor endorses any content, viewpoint, product or service 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 the site does so at their own risk.

Reference in this website 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 visitors to this site, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, or its officers, employees or agents.

Labor & Industries reserves the right to revise and update this Privacy and Security Statement at any time by posting such revised Privacy and Security Statement at the L&I home page.

Questions? Contact us

If You have any questions concerning this Privacy and Security Statement, please contact the L&I Web Operations Manager in the Office of Public Affairs at 360-902-5673 or via email at PublicAffairs@Lni.wa.gov.

This Privacy and Security Statement last updated December 2014.