RMV Web Site Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting mass.gov/rmv, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles' (RMV) web site. We are strong believers in protecting the privacy of visitors to our site and we want you to know how we intend to do that and how we strive to provide security for any information that you may provide. Please note that this privacy policy only applies to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles web site and does not apply to sites which this web site links to. Please refer to those sites' privacy policies for more information.

Personally Identifiable Information

We use the term "personally identifiable information" to mean any information that could reasonably be used to identify you, including your name, address, email address, Social Security number, birth date, bank account information, credit card information, or any combination of information that could be used to identify you.

Information Voluntarily Provided by You

This site collects information voluntarily provided by you through the emails you send and online transactions you submit. Any information you submit through this site or by email will contain personally identifiable information.

Our site's feedback and online newsletter forms require you to give us contact information (e.g., name, email address, etc.). Because it travels through unencrypted email, we cannot guarantee the security of information you send through our feedback form.

Our Online Transaction forms require you to provide your credit card number, for fee-based transactions, along with certain personally identifiable information. Data you submit through one of our online transaction forms (not including feedback) do not travel through un-encrypted email.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored by this Site

This site does not make use of "cookies" to collect or store information. However, to enhance your experience a "cookie" is placed on your computer to store your user preferences only. In addition, this site does collect and store indefinitely your Internet Protocol ("IP") address, which does not identify you as an individual, as well as information about the date and time of your visit, whether a file you have requested exists, and how many "bytes" of information were transmitted to you over the web from this site. We use your IP address to assess the frequency of visits to this site and the popularity of its various pages and functions. We will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that you provide to us with your IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation.

Dissemination and use of Your Personally Identifiable Information

We do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through this web site. However, once you voluntarily submit personally identifiable information to us through an email, its dissemination is governed by the Public Records Law, the Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66A (Fair Information Practices Act) , Executive Order 412, the law relating to the confidentiality of motor vehicle records (Federal Driver Privacy Protection Act (18 USC §2721))and other applicable laws and regulations. For this reason, part or all of the information you send us may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request.

Note: Your credit card information can never be released in response to a public records request.

The RMV uses the information you provide through our online forms to send an email confirmation once your online transaction request has been processed or to send email responses to your requests for information. We will use the financial information you provide only to bill your credit card when you are performing an Online Transaction. Instead of using cookies, the information you provide during an online transaction is encrypted and passed from page to page as you perform transactions. For more information on the way in which the RMV handles transactions on this web site visit these two pages: Express Lane Transactions and Important Transaction Notice. We will not send you unsolicited information, commercial offers, or advertisements.

In addition, the information that you voluntarily submit will be disclosed only to Registry employees or officials with a "need to know" for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. They will only use the information to answer your questions, respond to any requests for assistance, and fulfill the Registry of Motor Vehicle's legal obligations. Where appropriate, we may provide the information submitted by you to the person or company that is the subject of your inquiry, or to a government agency responsible for the matters referred to in your communication.

Your Access and Opportunity to Correct

The Public Records Law and the Fair Information Practices Act provide you certain rights to get information about you that is in our records. To learn more about the circumstances under which you can get and correct this information, please click on the above references to these laws.

Canceling your "What's New From the RMV" e-mail subscription

To unsubscribe from our "What's New" email list, send a blank email to the address specified at the bottom of the last email sent to you from LIST_SER@rmv.state.ma.us. The address will look something like this: leave-rmvpublic-####D@listserv.state.ma.us

Security

Because this site does not encrypt incoming email, you should not send us information that you consider highly sensitive through email. All information submitted through our online transaction forms, however, is encrypted using the highest available level of encryption. We use standard security measures to ensure that your personally identifiable information is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. We also use software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Special Protections Against Misuse Of Personally Identifiable Information Within Commonwealth Offices

In 1999, then-Acting Governor Swift issued Executive Order 412, which enhanced the privacy protection given to any information about you as a named individual held by the Executive Department of state government. Executive Order 412 limits the collection and dissemination of personally identifiable information within the Executive Department. This site complies with Executive Order 412, so all of the personally identifiable information that you submit to this site is given the privacy protections set forth in Executive Order 412.

Policy changes

We will post changes to this policy at least 30 days before they take effect. Any information we collect under the current privacy policy will remain subject to the terms of this policy. After any changes take effect, all new information we collect, if any, will be subject to the new policy.

Contact Information

For questions about your privacy while using this web site, please contact our Manager of Internet Services, Molly Cole at Molly.Cole@state.ma.us.

Cookies

Cookies are files that a web site can place on your computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a web site can use to track such things as your password, lists of web pages you have visited, and the date when you last looked at a specific web page, or to identify your session at a particular web site. A cookie file allows the web site to recognize you as you click through pages on the site and when you later revisit the site. A web site can use cookies to "remember" your preferences, and to record your browsing behavior on the web. Although you can prevent web sites from placing cookies on your computer by using your browser's preference menu, disabling cookies may affect your ability to view or interact with some web sites.

"Internet Protocol Address" or "IP Address"

An IP Address is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send you the file that you have requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to us may identify the computer from which you are accessing the Internet, or a server owned by your Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information.

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