Information we collect
We collect information from you in 2 ways: online and in-person at a licensing office. The type of information we collect may vary depending on the type of transaction.
Personally identifiable information
Personally identifiable information (PII) is information that can distinguish or trace someone's identity. Personal information includes such things as your name, address, and phone number. We don’t count some basic information as PII, such as vehicle accidents, driving violations, or whether you have a driver or professional license.
We only collect PII online when you provide it to us voluntarily by:
- Using one of our web-based applications, such as License Express
- Completing an online form
- Sending us email
- Taking a survey
- Including it when you ask our chatbot questions
You may choose not to contact us by email or to provide any PII using an online form or survey.
If you choose to provide PII, we may store this information.
Children under 13
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) (ftc.gov) governs information gathering online from or about children under the age of 13. Our websites are not designed for, or intentionally targeted at, children 13 years of age or younger. We do not intentionally collect or maintain data about anyone under the age of 13 without a parent’s or guardian’s permission.
Online transactions
We collect information you submit through online transactions like:
- Renewing tabs
- Updating ID card information
- Pre-applying for a first driver license
- Reporting a vehicle sale
- Applying for a professional license
Maintaining this information is the main reason our agency exists. Our purpose is “Helping every Washington resident live, work, drive, and thrive.” That starts with ensuring we have accurate and well-protected information.
While you are using one of our online applications, such as License Express, we may record not just what you type, but also where you click on our pages. This helps us to us to understand where our customers have trouble, and enables us to improve our applications.
Survey responses
We use surveys to collect feedback on our services and websites. These include the “Did this page help you?” (yes or no buttons) at the bottom of many of our web pages, and the “Tell us how we’re doing” after you complete a transaction online.
If you volunteer information to us through a survey, we may:
- Use the information you leave to respond to issues and further improve our services.
- Forward your concerns to our customer care center or civil rights coordinator for appropriate action.
We're required to keep this information only as long as it's useful and then destroy it. We follow the records retention schedules published by the State Archives (sos.wa.gov). These schedules change from time to time.
Chatbot conversations
We offer a chatbot on our dol.wa.gov web pages to give you an option for asking questions.
If you volunteer information to us by asking the chatbot questions, we may:
- Use the information you leave to respond to issues and further improve our services.
- Forward your concerns to our customer care center or civil rights coordinator for appropriate action.
We encourage you to keep your questions general and avoid putting PII in the chatbot. When we discover PII while reviewing data, we redact it.
Web browsing data
Our websites
As the Washington State Department of Licensing, we own and manage websites containing dol.wa.gov:
We work with contractors to manage specialty sites like realidwa.com.
We secure online transactions on special servers. When you follow a link from dol.wa.gov to a secured server, you’ll see an address that begins with:
- https://secure.dol.wa.gov/
- https://fortress.wa.gov/
- https://secureaccess.wa.gov/
- https://wadolprft.gentax.com/
- https://professions.dol.wa.gov/
Google Analytics
When you browse our websites, we collect information through Google Analytics. We can’t see browsing data for individual users. Google Analytics anonymizes the data before processing it. This information includes:
- Context information like:
- General locations based on IP addresses. This doesn’t get more precise than an approximate city.
- Languages browsed in.
- Types of devices and browsers.
- Basic demographic information, like approximate age and gender.
- Behavior information like:
- When visits happened, and how long they lasted.
- Pages viewed.
- Links clicked on.
- How visitors got to our site:
- Addresses of websites that link to ours.
- Search terms entered.
- Social network referrals (like Facebook or Twitter links to our site).
We cannot identify you (or an individual user) through analytics information, and we will not combine analytics information with other data sets in a way that would identify who you are.
We do not store your personal information through Google Analytics (like your name or address).
Cookies
When you visit our website, we create a session cookie on your device and destroy it as soon as you close your browser. Our Google Analytics setup creates first-party (persistent) cookies on your device to:
- Distinguish unique users. These last for up to 2 years if you never clear your cookies.
- Throttle the request rate. These last for up to 1 minute.
Using persistent cookies creates a better experience for you while using the site. Our web pages will work without them. But you may have trouble completing online transactions with us if you have cookies disabled.
More about cookies and how to disable them.
Social media
We have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and a Blog. We use these sites to engage with you. We don’t collect PII through these sites. If you submit a question or comment to us via a social media site, we may reply directly to you via that site. We don’t track or record any information about individuals who use or interact with us via those platforms.
Questions? Need help?
Email us: DOLPrivacyOfficer@dol.wa.gov
