Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Privacy Policy

Introduction

Thank you for visiting this Commonwealth of Pennsylvania website.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (also referred to as “we,” “us”, or “ours”) understands that the privacy of your information is important to you. This Privacy Policy describes how we may collect, use, and share your information when you visit us online (collectively, the “Sites”). By accessing or using any of our Sites, you agree to the practices regarding your information described in this Privacy Policy. Please also note that we provide other online services not covered by this Privacy Policy. If you visit or access your accounts from one of those sites, please review the policy or notices for those sites to understand how your information may be collected, used, or shared.

Some Commonwealth agencies may publish additional policies as required by law, regulation, or according to agency business needs. Those additional policies can be found here.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is subject to change. Please review it periodically. When we make changes to our Privacy Policy, we will revise the “updated” date at the top of this Policy. Any changes to this Policy will become effective when we post the revised Policy on our Sites.

Definition of Personal Information

Information Collected

When you access or use our Sites, we collect the following information:

Your domain name: for example, “xcompany.com” if you use a private internet access account, or “yourschool.edu” if you are connecting from a university domain;
Your IP address, which is a number automatically assigned to your computer when you are using the internet;
The type of browser (e.g., Edge, Safari, Firefox, Chrome) and operating system (e.g., Windows, Mac OS, Unix) used to access our Sites;
The internet address of the website from which you were linked directly to our Sites;
The date and time you access our Sites;
The pages you visit within our Sites;
Your username if it was used to log into our Sites; and
The links made to other websites through our Sites.

We may collect the Personal Information that you choose to provide us when accessing or using our Sites, such as when applying, registering, or making payment for a benefit or service; contacting us with a question or request; subscribing to a newsletter or other electronic communication; or completing a web form. The Personal Information we receive from you varies based on what you do when visiting our Sites.

Depending on the Site you are accessing or using, the information collected, whether or not it is Personal Information, may include audio, video, and other graphic formats that you send us.

Understanding Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

We may customize your browsing experience by utilizing your browser’s “cookies” to store a randomly generated identifying tag on your computer. A cookie is a small text file that is saved on your computer when you visit a website. Cookies make internet browsing easier for you by saving your preferences to improve your next visit to our Sites. Cookies are also used for statistical purposes, such as to determine how our Sites are used.

You can refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer’s browser at any time.

We may use Google Analytics to help us get a better understanding of how visitors use our Sites and to identify system performance or problem areas. The information generated by the Google Analytics cookie about your use of our Sites is transmitted to and stored by Google. If you do not want your activity on our Sites to be tracked by Google Analytics, you may opt-out by visiting the Google Analytics website.

Retargeting

We use retargeting to provide additional information to users based on their previous visits to our Sites. That information may appear as an advertisement on another website, or within internet search results. When you access or use one of our Sites, a third-party may place a cookie in the browser you used to visit our Site, which is used to display information or advertisements in the browser based on your prior visits to our Sites. More information about the third-party vendors we utilize for retargeting and your ability to opt-out of these advertising tools can be found here.

Use and Disclosure

We use your non-Personal Information in a variety of ways, including to help analyze Site traffic, understand our users’ needs and trends and to improve our services.

We do not collect or use Personal Information for commercial marketing. We will not sell or rent Personal Information collected online, except as otherwise provided for by law.

We may use your Personal Information collected through our Sites as follows:

To respond to your inquiries;
To complete and fulfill any requests for services;
To carry out data analysis, audits, fraud monitoring and prevention, and internal quality assurance;
In accordance with any consent you have provided;
As legally necessary, to include complying with a subpoena, court order or legal process;
To correspond with you in furtherance of official Commonwealth business; and/or
To conduct official Commonwealth business and governmental functions as permitted by law.

We may share or disclose your Personal Information and non-Personal Information as follows:

In order to better provide you with services and a more consistent experience, we may, according to applicable statutes, case law, regulations, policies, memoranda of understanding or other agreements, share your information with Commonwealth executive branch agencies, including certain independent and state-affiliated agencies unless prohibited by state or federal law;
To vendors and service providers we retain in connection with our services such as website hosting, information technology, email delivery, and credit card processing; and/or
If the disclosure is permitted and/or required by law, such as disclosure to law enforcement authorities, other government or public agencies or officials, regulators, and/or to any other person or entity having appropriate legal authority or justification for receipt of your information.

Please also note that Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104, or other applicable laws may give the public the right to obtain certain records and information possessed by us. While there are exceptions to the public’s right to access public records, the information we collect or that you send us may become a public record and be subject to public inspection and copying if not otherwise protected by federal or state law. By accessing or using our Sites, you consent to disclosure of such public record information as may be required, in our sole discretion, to comply with the Right-to-Know Law or other applicable laws.

We will retain your information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required by law.

Access to User Profiles

Keeping your information accurate and up to date is very important. Any Personal Information you enter in a user profile will be open and accessible to you for review and modification.

Choice

You may decline participation in certain online activities, like surveys and newsletter subscriptions. Your choice to not participate will not affect your ability to view information on our Sites or to otherwise interact with us. To unsubscribe directly from any e-newsletter subscriptions, simply click the unsubscribe link located at the bottom of the newsletter.

Disclaimers

The information posted on our Sites may include hypertext links to information created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations (external websites). We provide these links for your information and convenience. When you select a link to an outside website, you are leaving our Site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the external website.

We do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on an external website.
We do not endorse the organizations sponsoring external websites and do not endorse the views they express or guarantee the products/services they offer.
We cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in external websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the external website.
We are not responsible for transmissions users receive from external websites.
We cannot and do not guarantee that external websites comply with accessibility and security requirements.

Information provided on our Sites is intended to allow for access to public information; it is not and should not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice. While we attempt to provide accurate, current, and reliable information, we recognize the possibility of human and/or mechanical error. Therefore, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, its officials, employees, and/or agents expressly disclaim any warranty of the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by our Sites and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Any person who relies upon such information obtained from our Sites does so at their own risk.

Social Media

We engage with Pennsylvanians through many online channels, including PA.gov, governor.pa.gov, agency websites, and social media. We encourage the public to review our Social Media Policy.

Personal Information on Children

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6505, governs information collected online from or about children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect such information without obtaining parental permission. COPPA requires parental permission before collecting personal information about children under the age of 13.

Security

We take our responsibility to protect your Personal Information very seriously and have implemented appropriate security measures. For more information on how we secure your personal information, please see our security policy.

Updated: July 2023