Site Policies

Privacy policy

At Texas.gov, your privacy is one of our top priorities. This policy describes the privacy practices regarding information collected from Texas.gov site visitors.

The Texas.gov Privacy Policy applies only to the Texas.gov site. This policy does not apply whenever visitors leave Texas.gov domains by clicking a link to an external site, including the sites of state agencies and local governments. The Texas.gov linking policy includes more information about links from Texas.gov to external sites. 

Collection of Information

For online transactions conducted on Texas.gov, individuals will be requested to enter information about themselves and/or the organization with which they are affiliated. When personally identifiable information (PII) is requested, there will be an indication of whether the disclosure of such information is mandatory or optional to continue the transaction. The type of information requested will vary based upon the specific transaction and the state agency or local government involved in the transaction with the individual. Texas.gov will collect the same information as would be collected if the transaction was performed in person, over the telephone, or through the mail with the state agency or local government. Additional information may be requested if required by law, if such information is necessary to verify an individual's identity and secure the transaction, or if the visitor voluntarily elects to receive information from state agencies, local governments, or Texas.gov.

For general use or browsing of Texas.gov, visitors are not asked for personally identifiable information, and none will be collected. Texas.gov uses server logs and persistent cookies to collect information about the number and types of visitors to Texas.gov and how they use the website. This information includes the type of browser, operating system, and the Internet Protocol ("IP") address used by each visitor and similar information about the computer network used. It also includes information verifying when and how pages of the website were accessed. However, no attempt is made to match this information with the identity of the visitor, except as is required to comply with a law enforcement investigation. For more information regarding cookies, see below.

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act

Children under the age of 13 are not eligible to use services that require submission of personal information and should not submit any personal information to us. This includes submitting personal information to the website as part of a user profile or personalization profile. If you are a child under the age of 13, you can use these services only if used together with your parents or guardians. Seek guidance from your parents or guardians if you are under the age of 13.

Use of Information

Information collected during an online transaction is used for the following purposes:

• To complete online transactions with the appropriate state agency or local government (such as the payment of sales tax or the renewal of a license or permit) and with the payment method selected during the transaction.
• To send an email to or otherwise contact the individual using the online service confirming the transaction or identifying and resolving problems that may have resulted during the transaction, including in connection with the payment methods. 
• To provide information about state agencies, local governments, or Texas.gov to visitors who elect to receive this notification service. 
• To conduct occasional online surveys to improve our service or seek the opinions of our users. These surveys are voluntary, and you may decline to participate. 

Metrics from Texas.gov server logs and persistent cookies are used for the following purposes: 

• Assessing the usability of Texas.gov. 
• Determining what information is of most interest to Texas.gov visitors. 
• Establishing technical design specifications. 
• Measuring Texas.gov system performance. 
• Identifying potential issues associated with the interface or operation of Texas.gov. 

Texas.gov works with contractors to provide various products and services required for the operation of Texas.gov. Personally identifiable information may be shared with these contractors if necessary in connection with the transactions, in connection with maintenance and improvements to the Texas.gov site, and to support the services and applications offered on Texas.gov. Contractors and subcontractors of Texas.gov are prohibited by contract from selling information from or about the users of Texas.gov. Except as otherwise provided in this policy: (1) Texas.gov will not disclose the email addresses of members of the public who have communicated electronically with a governmental body without the affirmative consent of the affected individual; and (2) personally identifiable information contained in a question or comment sent to Texas.gov in an email message or submitted in an online form is only used by Texas.gov to respond to the question or comment. Texas.gov may redirect the message to a specific state agency or local government if Texas.gov staff believes that the state agency or local government may be more qualified to respond. 

The Department of Information Resources may be required by law enforcement or judicial authorities or applicable law to provide personally identifiable information to the appropriate governmental authorities. Additionally, Texas.gov will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who appear to be using our services for illegal activities. Texas.gov reserves the right to report any information to law enforcement agencies, including personally identifiable information, in connection with activities that it, in good faith, believes to be unlawful. 

Texas.gov does not sell and does not generally release (other than as provided in this policy) personally identifiable information to third parties; however, information provided to any governmental body may be subject to disclosure pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act and applicable federal and state legislation. Information about the Texas Public Information Act is available from the Office of the Attorney General and at Texas Government Code, Chapter 552. Additionally, certain state agencies or local governments whose sites are accessible through Texas.gov may have different policies concerning the sale or release of personally identifiable information. Upon leaving Texas.gov and linking to an external site, the policies governing Texas.gov no longer apply and users are subject to the external site's policies. Questions and concerns regarding the information or services provided by a linked site must be directed to the entity or individual responsible for that site, rather than to Texas.gov. In addition, postings from the public on Texas.gov social media sites become public records and may be posted on Texas.gov, and once posted, are available to be viewed and copied by other users. This information may be subject to public information requests. 

For more information about public information requests, please refer to the Texas.gov Public Information Requests policy. 

Policy Changes

We reserve the right to change the terms of this policy at any time. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed of any updates. Any modifications are effective immediately. 

Contact Us 

If you have any questions or concerns about the Texas.gov privacy policy, please contact Texas.gov Help & Support. If you have any questions or concerns about how state agencies and local governments handle personal information, please contact them directly. 

The Texas.gov Security Policy applies only to the Texas.gov site. This policy does not apply whenever visitors leave Texas.gov domains by clicking a link to an external site, including the sites of state agencies and local governments. The Texas.gov linking policy includes more information about links from Texas.gov to external sites. 

To protect the security of its employees, Texas.gov users, and hosted applications and services, Texas.gov complies with the following standards and codes as applicable

Security standards and codes 

• ISO 27002 - International Organization for Standardization 
• COBIT 4.1 - Control Objectives for Information and related Technology 
• PCI DSS - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards 
• FFIEC - Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council 
• GLB - Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 
• HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 
• SOX 404 - Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 404 
• TAC 202 - Texas Administrative Code Title 1, Part 10, Chapter 202 
• FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (34 Code of Federal Regulations Part 99) 
• IRS 1075 - Internal Revenue Service Publication 1075: “TAX INFORMATION SECURITY GUIDELINES FOR FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES AND ENTITIES” 
• OWASP Top 10 - Open Web Application Security Project Top 10 Vulnerabilities 

In addition, Texas.gov uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for secure transmissions, which are identified as such on the site. SSL applies encryption between two computers, in this case the individual’s personal computer and the Texas.gov server.Texas.gov utilizes 128-bit encryption, which is one of the stronger standard encryptions currently in the marketplace. At a minimum, the following information will be encrypted when transmitted to Texas.gov during a secure transmission:

• Name 
• Social Security Number 
• All credit, debit, and charge card numbers 
• Bank account and electronic check information 
• Transaction payment information 
• Driver license number 
• Personal identification numbers (PIN) and passwords 
• Email addresses 

A web browser will automatically activate the appropriate security features when initiating a transaction on Texas.gov. On most browsers, an unbroken key or locked padlock icon at the bottom of the browser screen indicates that a secure connection is in place. 

Cookies 

Some of the services hosted on Texas.gov use cookies. A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on a visitor’s personal computer to track specific information about that visitor’s interaction with the website. The services hosted on Texas.gov use both session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie is temporary and only exists during a single session during which a visitor uses Texas.gov. Texas.gov session cookies are used to keep track of a particular online transaction and are destroyed after successful completion of a transaction, after a few minutes of inactivity, or when the browser is closed. 

Persistent cookies continue to exist after a few minutes of inactivity, after the browser is closed, or after a visitor completes a single session. Texas.gov uses persistent cookies to track visitor activity on the site to structure content and make the Texas.gov websites easy to use. All persistent cookies from Texas.gov will expire within twenty-five months. 

Texas.gov cookies do not contain or collect personal identifiable information about visitors. Moreover, Texas.gov will not match visitor activities with personally identifiable information, unless required by law or by law enforcement agencies, or as necessary to enforce the terms of use of the site. If an individual's web browser does not accept cookies, he or she may not be able to conduct online transactions on Texas.gov. However, this will not hinder normal browsing of the website. Texas.gov does not currently utilize web bugs or any other technology to track user activity other than those stated in this policy. However, as technology evolves, Texas.gov may change the technology in use, and will post changes to this policy on the site from time to time to reflect any such changes. 

Texas.gov security contact information 

If you have any questions or concerns about the Texas.gov security policy, please contact us by filling out the form on our Contact Help Desk page.

Linking policy 

Advance permission to link to Texas.gov is not necessary. Be aware that Texas.gov subpages may change or be deleted at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to Texas.gov are encouraged to verify link accuracy periodically.

General Policy 

Entities and individuals linking to Texas.gov shall not capture Texas.gov pages within frames, present Texas.gov content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent Texas.gov content. They shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of Texas.gov content, or in any way attempt to modify the content and present it as the content of Texas.gov. Some information on Texas.gov may be protected by trademark and copyright laws and otherwise protected as intellectual property. Protected intellectual property must be used in accordance with state and federal laws and must reflect the proper ownership of the intellectual property. 

Any link to the Texas.gov site should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to Texas.gov without barriers. The "back" button should return the visitor to original site if the visitor wishes to back out.

Social media policy

Texas.gov will use the following policies to guide the use of social media sites in accordance with the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Social Media Policy.

Linking 

Texas.gov may make available social media applications, and may publish social media content to third party sites. These sites are not official Texas.gov web sites and therefore, the external sites’ policies apply. Please refer to the Texas.gov Linking Policy for more information. 

Privacy 

Only public information is permitted to be posted by Texas.gov or State employees on Texas.gov social media websites. If communication that takes place on Texas.gov involves or requires private information, communication will be redirected through other appropriate channels. Postings from the public on Texas.gov social media sites become public record and may be posted on Texas.gov. This information may be subject to public information requests. For more information about public information requests, please refer to the Texas.gov Public Information Requests policy. 

No personally identifiable information will be posted on Texas.gov social media sites by Texas.gov personnel. Texas.gov is not responsible for content posted by others to Texas.gov social media sites. Texas.gov users that enter personal information on Texas.gov social media sites do so at their own risk; Texas.gov is not responsible for the public display of such private information. Texas.gov may remove postings to its social media sites that contain personally identifiable information, but neither Texas.gov, nor its licensors or contractors are responsible for any damages caused by delays in such removal. 

Public information and record retention 

Social media sites may contain communications sent to or received by state employees, and such communications are therefore public records subject to State Records Retention requirements. These retention requirements apply regardless of the form of the record (digital text, photos, audio, or video, for example). 

To the extent that the third party records retention policies are inconsistent with the Texas State Record Retention Schedule, Texas.gov will put forth reasonable efforts to archive copies of social media content in order to meet State records retention obligations. 

Terms of Service 

Texas.gov social media sites are third party sites and have terms of service and policies that are not governed by Texas.gov or the State of Texas. These third-party sites are not official Texas.gov web sites and the third party’s website terms of service and policies apply. The terms of service for the social media sites used by Texas.gov can be found below: 

• Twitter 
• Facebook 
• Flickr 
• YouTube 
• Pinterest 
• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Content of social media posts 

All published Texas.gov social media content is subject to monitoring. This content may take the form of digital text for Twitter and Facebook, photography images for Flickr, and videos for YouTube. 

User-generated posts will be rejected or removed if possible when the content of a post: 

• Is off-subject or out of context 
• Contains obscenity or material that appeals to the prurient interest 
• Contains personal identifying information or sensitive personal information, as defined in Tex. Code Bus & Com. Sec. 521.001 et. seq. 
• Contains offensive terms that target protected classes 
• Is threatening, harassing or discriminatory 
• Incites or promotes violence or illegal activities 
• Contains information that reasonably could compromise public safety 
• Advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, or any entity or individual 
• Promotes or endorses political campaigns or candidates 

Twitter 

• Accessibility: To accommodate Texas.gov users with disabilities, www.accessibletwitter.com is the suggested alternative access to the Texas.gov Twitter profile. 
• Record Retention: Texas.gov Twitter content will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule. 

Facebook 

• Accessibility: To accommodate Texas.gov users with disabilities, there are two suggested alternatives to access the Texas.gov Facebook Fan page: 

The Facebook mobile site http://m.facebook.com is a suggested accessible alternative to the original Texas.gov Facebook page. Texas.gov will post the same content to Twitter and Facebook. Therefore, http://www.accessibletwitter.com will serve as an accessible alternative. 

• Record Retention: Texas.gov Facebook updates will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule. 

Flickr 

• Accessibility: To accommodate Texas.gov users with disabilities, the mobile version of Flickr http://m.flickr.com/ is the suggested alternative to access the Texas.gov Flickr pool. 
• Record Retention: The following Texas.gov Flickr photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule: 

Photos posted to Flickr by Texas.gov 

Photos not accepted by Texas.gov due to noncompliance with submission guidelines. 

• Content: By submitting a photo to the Texas.gov Flickr pool, you are giving Texas.gov permission to use your photo on the Texas.gov homepage, website, mobile site, and social media platforms. For more information about photo submission guidelines, visit the Texas.gov Flickr pool at http://www.flickr.com/groups/texasgov/. 

YouTube 

• Accessibility: Texas.gov will make an effort to link to and display videos on its YouTube channel that have closed captioning available for hearing impaired viewers. 

For more information about the closed captioning feature on YouTube, visit: http://www.youtube.com/t/captions_about. 

• Record Retention: The Texas.gov YouTube photos will be archived and retained for the required period of time in accordance with the DIR Records Retention Schedule. 
• Content: Videos displayed on the Texas.gov YouTube site will be related to Texas or Texas government.

Public information policy

Public information requests will be handled in accordance with the Public Information Act.

Access to information 

Unless a governmental body is authorized to withhold the information from an individual under Texas Government Code, Section 552.023, individuals are entitled to receive the information that state agencies and local governments collected through Texas.gov. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Sections 552.021 and 552.023, individuals are entitled to receive and review that information. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Section 559.004, individuals are entitled to have each governmental body correct inaccurate information. Individuals who discover through the use of Texas.gov that information relating to the individual is incorrect must contact each appropriate state agency or local government directly to request the information held about them and to correct any inaccurate information. Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, each governmental body may charge a fee to an individual who requests information about the data collected about him or her. However, the governmental body may not charge a fee to the individual to correct the information. 

Public Information Act 

Public information requests will be handled in accordance with the Public Information Act.

Legal notices

Any trademarks that appear on this site are the property of their respective owners who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by Texas.gov.

Any trademarks that appear on this site are the property of their respective owners who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by Texas.gov. 

If you believe that any material contained on the Texas.gov site (the "Site") infringes your copyright or other intellectual property rights, you may notify Texas.gov of your copyright infringement claim in accordance with the following procedure. Texas.gov will process notices of alleged infringement which it receives, and may take action as authorized by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and/or other applicable intellectual property laws if it has the ability to do so. The DMCA requires that notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to this Site's Designated Agent. 

To be effective, the notification must be in writing and contain the following information (DMCA, 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)): 

• Physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; 
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site; 
• Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or claimed to be the subject of infringing activity and that is sought to be removed or access to which is sought to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the location of the material; 
• Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted; 
• A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and 
• A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. 

Please note: The State of Texas (and its licensors and contractors) disclaims any express or implied warranty in providing its computer system and any materials, information, graphics, products, or processes contained therein for public use. Neither the State of Texas nor any of its licensors or contractors makes any warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any responsibility in the use of any service or content available on or through the site or its accuracy, completeness, currency, its use for any general or particular purpose, nor that such items or use of such items would not violate or infringe rights of others. The services and content are provided on a strictly "as is" basis. 

The State of Texas (and its licensors and contractors) specifically disclaims any and all liability for any claims or damages that may result from providing the Texas.gov web site or the information it contains, including any web sites maintained by third parties that link to the Texas.gov site. Texas.gov may provide links to external web sites if it is determined that they may be of interest to users. Texas.gov neither endorses the content, products, services, or viewpoints expressed by the linked sites, nor assumes any responsibility for the content of these linked web sites. Texas.gov makes no effort to independently verify, and does not exert editorial control over, information on pages outside of the Texas.gov domains. 

Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the State of Texas, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. 

Texas.gov is provided for public use on computer systems located within the State of Texas and for the use and benefit of citizens of Texas. Any person choosing to use this system or seeking access to information or materials on this system is subject to Texas jurisdiction. Any dispute arising therefrom shall be decided under the laws and in the courts in Texas.