Privacy Policy
The State Collection Service, Inc. Privacy Policy was updated on September 18, 2020.
Your privacy is important to State Collection Service, Inc. Our Privacy Policy covers how State Collection Service, Inc. collects, uses, maintains and discloses your personal information. This Privacy Policy is part of our Terms of Use. When we update this Privacy Policy any changes are effective immediately.
We encourage you to frequently check this page and review for any updates on this Site and this Privacy Policy periodically, and to be aware of any changes made to this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Site after such modifications will constitute Your acknowledgment and acceptance of the modified policy and agreement to abide and be bound by the modified policy.
Personal Information We Collect
Personal identification information is data that can be used to identify or contact you.
In order to provide and improve our services, we collect personal information. Most of the information we have is provided to us by the creditor and/or collected directly through the use of our services, text messages, emails, web applications, and phone calls.
Here are some examples of the types of personal information State Collection Service, Inc. (State) may collect and how we use it:
- When an account is transferred to State the creditor provides a variety of information including, but not limited to: full name, date of birth, social security number, phone number, address, email address, account number, original creditor, current creditor, balance, payment history.
- We may collect any information that you provide to us directly whether you contact us by phone, email, sms, web applications, or other channel. For example, when you access State web applications and fill out a form or sign up for a payment plan and provide information such as your first and last name, email address, mailing address, phone number, credit card information and/or other personal identifying information.
- When you access State emails or our web applications we may collect a variety of information and store it in log files, including, but not limited to Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and language, Internet service provider (ISP), type of computer, operating system, date/time stamp, user interface interaction data (such as, but not limited to, any mouse clicks or navigation on our emails and web applications), uniform resource locator (URL) information (showing where you came from or where you go to next), email open rates, credit card, bank account information.
Using Personal Information
We use personal information to properly identify the specific consumers for whom we provide our services, to provide and improve our services, to analyze trends, administer our web applications, learn about user behavior on our emails and web applications, to comply with state, federal and local laws and to demonstrate compliance with those laws.
Here are some examples of how State uses personal information:
- We use personal information to send you communications about your account.
- We use your personal information to verify your identity. For example, when you contact our office you will be asked to provide your personal information so that we can verify your identity and account. We may ask you to provide your full name, address, email address, or other identifying information. You can always refuse to supply personal information, except that we may not be able to communicate if we are unable to verify your identity and/or account.
- We use personal information to process payments and other account activity you authorize.
- We use personal information to help us create, develop and improve our content and services, including through internal auditing and data analysis.
- By entering your phone number and selecting to opt in, you consent to join a recurring SMS/MMS text messaging program that will provide alerts, updates, and other important account information. By participating, you agree to the terms & privacy policy for auto dialed messages to the phone number you provide. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help or STOP to opt out at any time.
- SMS information is not rented, sold, or shared.
- If you apply for a job at State, we use the information we receive to evaluate your candidacy and contact you.
In most of our email messages, we use a “click-through URL” linked to webpages on the State site and some linked to web pages on third party sites (see Third Party Websites below). We track this click-through data to help us determine interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our customer communications. If you prefer not to be tracked in this way, you should not click text or graphic links in the email messages.
State’s web applications may also use cookies to gather information so that we can improve the effectiveness of our services. You may choose to set your web browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent but some parts of the website may not function properly without accepting cookies.
State web applications do not recognize or act on “do not track” requests from a browser. The information we receive through tracking is treated as non-personal information unless local law requires, we treat it as personal information. Additionally, if this information is combined with personal information, we treat the combined information as personal information for the purposes of this Privacy Policy.
Sources of Personal Information
We received your personal information from the party placing your account with State for services, such as the creditor, current creditor or servicer.
We also receive information from you directly either through a phone call, text message, email correspondence and/or through visits to our web applications.
We also sometimes receive information from third party vendors who help us confirm the validity of our information as it relates to address, phone number, bankruptcy, and deceased information.
If you are a potential candidate for employment with State, we may have received your personal information from a recruiter or external website.
Disclosure to Third Parties
We only share personal information with a limited number of third-party service providers who help us provide our services, including, but not limited to, payment processing, mailing, information verification, managing and enhancing customer data, improving our product and services. When we share information, we require those third parties to handle it in accordance with relevant laws. We also only share the minimum amount of information necessary for the particular third party to assist us in providing our services.
Here are some examples of how State shares personal information:
- For payment processing, we share your credit card or bank information to the card-issuing bank to complete the payment you authorized.
- For content delivery, we share your email address, physical address, or phone number with the delivery service to deliver any communication, message, or requested account documents.
- For collectibility, we share name and address to ensure no bankruptcy, deceased, address or phone number changes have occurred since we received the account.
- For debt collection licensing, we share account information with state regulators conducting an audit pursuant to state or federal licensing statutes.
- We may be occasionally required by law enforcement or judicial authorities to provide information. We will disclose personal information pursuant to a court order, subpoena, or to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation.
We may also be required by law to provide your information to a local, state or federal government authority or court. We will only disclose information in these instances when there is a lawful basis or if disclosure is reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance with the law.
In the event of a reorganization, merger or sale we may transfer any and all personal information we collect to the relevant third party.
We may share generic aggregated demographic information not linked to any personally identifiable information with our clients, potential clients, and federal, state and local regulators regarding visitors and users, and their interaction with our products and services.
No Sale
We do not sell personal information. We do not allow our third-party service providers to sell this information or otherwise use it for marketing purposes.
Integrity and Retention of Personal Information
State will retain your personal information for the period required to fulfill our services, meet our contractual obligations, and as required by law. When assessing these periods, we only retain it for the shortest possible period unless a longer retention period is required by law.
Access to Personal Information
To request that we correct the data if it is inaccurate please email State Compliance Department at Compliancedept@stcol.com or call 1-800-477-7474 (ext. 412). You can also request we delete the data if we are not required to retain it for legitimate business purposes or by law.
How We protect your information
State is serious about data security. We seek to implement the best practices in data collection, storage, processing, and security to protect against unauthorized access and disclosure. State protects your personal information during transit using encryption such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and at rest using encryption such as AES 256. When your personal data is stored by State, we use computer systems with limited access housed in facilities using physical security measures.
Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100 percent secure. While we strive to protect your information, you acknowledge that: there are security and privacy limitations beyond our control; the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information exchanged between State and our customers cannot be fully guaranteed; and any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party.
Third Party Websites
You may find links to third party websites on the State web applications. We do not control the content or links that appear on these sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from our site. In addition, these sites or services, including their content and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies. Browsing and interaction on any other website is subject to that website’s own terms and policies.
How We Delete
We are required to keep your data due to the underlying contractual relationship between you and the creditor. We are also required to keep the personal information for legal reasons for as long as the statute of limitations period lasts for the type of account in collections and for other statutory obligations which sometimes are longer (such as a state licensing statute requiring us to maintain records for a certain period of time or the statute of limitations for a consumer financial law). Once our legal obligation to keep your personal information has expired, we delete the information from our systems in accordance with our data retention policies and procedures.
Contacting Us
If You have any questions about this Privacy Policy please contact State:
Email: Compliancedept@stcol.com
Phone: 1-800-477-7474 (ext. 412)
California Consumer Privacy Act
Requests to Know or Delete
For California consumers email Compliancedept@stcol.com or call 1-800-477-7474 (ext.412) to exercise your rights.