Privacy Notice
Link to WSDA Home Pagemarker for current page, privacy notice Page
Updated 08/03/2006

Privacy Notice

Introduction

Thank you for visiting the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s web site and reviewing our Internet Privacy notice. This notice addresses information that may be obtained by us through your use of our web site. This privacy policy applies only to information that is collected by the Agency online, and not to information that may be collected by the Agency offline. The following topics are covered:

Notice on Information Collected and How it is Used

Information collected if you only browse this site:

During your visit to our web site, if you do nothing more than browse, read pages, or download information, we actively collect no information about you.

We do have access to site usage statistics provided by our Internet Service Provider (the Washington State Department of Information Services) that we use to perform site usage analysis. We use this information to determine how our web site is being used so that we may continually improve our web site’s efficiency and usefulness to the public. We do not use any technical information that may be logged by the web server, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, cookies, or referring sites for identification or profiling purposes.

What we collect if you volunteer information

If you send us e-mail:

If you send us an e-mail, we will collect the e-mail address and the contents of the e-mail. 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 e-mail to respond appropriately. This may be to address issues you might identify, to further improve our web site, or to forward the e-mail to another agency for appropriate action.

If you fill out a complaint, application, or registration form on this site:

Complaint, registration, or application forms that collect information online are for the convenience of the public and agency customers.

Information provided on these forms will only be used to process your complaint, application, or registration. The Department of Agriculture will make every effort to avoid collection of personal information that is not required by law and/or critical to carry out program functions. Personal information may be forwarded to another state or federal agency as a part of an investigative process or registration (for example, a pesticide exposure complaint may be forwarded to the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries or the United States Environmental Protection Agency; an animal premise registration may be submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Services).

Any information that you provide 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, complete your registration, or process your application for services.

As forms become available, we strongly urge you to not submit sensitive personal information, such as credit card numbers, on our online forms unless it is by a "secure" connection. If you feel that sensitive information such as credit card numbers or social security numbers are required to process your complaint, application or registration, we urge you to print out the form and submit it to us by postal service mail.

You will always be advised by any modern web browser software that a connection is secure, if that is the case, before you are asked to enter personal information.

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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 e-mail or you provide it on a complaint, registration or application 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(.250-348), or other state or federal law, it may be subject to public inspection and copying.

You are always welcome to browse our site and you are not required to contact us by e-mail or submit complaints, applications or registrations online. Depending on the program, you may submit information by a variety of media either online, by mail, by fax or by telephone. You may contact the agency as shown in the Contact Information section of this notice to find out any specific program requirements.

If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact the Department of Agriculture as shown in the Contact Information section of this Notice.

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Public Access to Information

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 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 public policy objectives and needs, including the privacy of individuals. Exceptions are provided by both state and federal laws.

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 42.17.260 (recodified as RCW 42.56.070 pursuant to 2005 c 274 § 103, effective July 1, 2006) says:

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 (6) 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 Disclosure Act or other law governing the agency's disclosure of records, the Public Records Disclosure Act or other applicable law will control.

For other specific exceptions from public disclosure provided for programs or information within the Department of Agriculture, contact the agency’s public disclosure officer:

Public Disclosure Officer
Administrative Regulations Program
Washington State Department of Agriculture
1111 Washington Street S.E.
P.O. Box 42560
Olympia, WA 98504-2560

Phone: 360-902-1809
Fax: 360-902-2092
e-mail: dmcqueen@agr.wa.gov

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Your Right to Review and Correct Personally Identifiable Information

State law requires agencies that collect personally identifiable information to provide "procedures for correcting inaccurate information, including establishing mechanisms for individuals to review information about them and to recommend changes in information they believe to be inaccurate." (RCW 43.105.310) For certain registration systems such as the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), you can set up a secure account that allows you to verify and correct your information.

You can access any personally identifiable information we collect about you by using the Contact Information Section of this Notice. You may correct factual errors in your personally identifiable information by submitting an e-mail or written request that credibly shows the error. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

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Cookies and Applets

This site does not currently use "cookies" nor does this site require any special "applets" or "plug-ins" to enhance the browsing experience.

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Security

The Washington State Department of Agriculture, as developer and manager of this web site, has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its data and prevent unauthorized access to information maintained by our agency. 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.

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External Links

The Department of Agriculture’s web site contains links to other web sites. These include links to web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you click on a link to another site you are no longer on the Department of Agriculture’s web site and this Internet Privacy Notice does not apply. When you click on a link to another web site you are subject to the privacy policy of that site.

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Disclaimer

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 Department of Agriculture’s web 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.

Department of Agriculture reserves the right to revise and update this Privacy Notice at any time without notice by posting such revised Privacy Notice at the Department of Agriculture home page.

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Contact Information

To review or request correction of your personal information, contact the agency’s public disclosure officer:

Public Disclosure Officer
Administrative Regulations Program
Washington State Department of Agriculture
1111 Washington Street S.E.
P.O. Box 42560
Olympia, WA 98504-2560

Phone: 360-902-1809
Fax: 360-902-2092
e-mail: dmcqueen@agr.wa.gov

You may contact the Department of Agriculture to offer comments about this web site or about the information presented in this Internet Privacy Notice. Privacy policy comments should be addressed to the agency’s Webmaster:

Washington State Department of Agriculture
1111 Washington Street S.E.
P.O. Box 42560
Olympia, WA 98504-2560

Phone: 360-902-1800
Fax: 360-902-2092
e-mail: webmaster@agr.wa.gov

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