When you visit the Office of the Attorney General website, no personally identifying information about you is gathered, unless you choose to provide such information in an e-mail message or in the submission of an online complaint form or a business registration.
Browsing this Site: If you visit our site to read, print or download information, the only information the office collects about your visit is "navigational information": the name of the domain from which you accessed the website (for example, aol.com), the date and time any page on the site was accessed, and the website address of any website from which you linked to our site. No information identifying you personally is collected. Our office uses these site usage statistics to analyze how our site is used and to improve its usefulness to the public. In addition, this website does not use permanent "cookies," a technology which allows websites to track information about visitors. We do use temporary “session cookies” to allow visitors to interact with online applications. Once you finish the application the cookie is deleted.
Use of Our Content: This website contains material we have created, including but not limited to legal forms, publications, data tables and other site content, in which we hold the copyright and other intellectual property rights. This website, and the information and other materials contained within are intended solely for the personal use of visitors to the website and not for resale or other commercial purposes. When using information or data you found on this web site, cite this web site as the original source. Do not publicly publish or re–publish information, data, forms, publications, site content or entire web pages you find on this website without our permission. If you are publishing a web site, link directly to the pages you are interested in. By using this website, you indicate that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to abide by them.
E-Mail: E-mail sent to the Office of the Attorney General is not encrypted, so you should not send messages containing highly sensitive information by e-mail. If you need to submit such information, contact us by telephone or U.S. mail. If you send us e-mail, we use the information you send us to respond to your inquiry, just as we do with written correspondence. E-mail correspondence to the office, like mailed correspondence, may become a public record. As a public record, your correspondence could be disclosed to other parties upon their request, in accordance with Maryland's public records law.
Complaint Forms: Complaint forms submitted online are protected through encryption. The information you submit will be used by Attorney General staff in investigating your complaint. In the case of a consumer complaint, a copy of your complaint may be forwarded to the business you are complaining about for a response, or may be shared with other government agencies responsible for consumer protection. Complaints submitted to our office become matters of public record; however, all or part of the complaint may remain confidential as required or permitted by Maryland's public records law. For example, in healthcare related complaints filed with our office, medical or psychological information about an individual will not be disclosed to the public.
Online Business Registration: Businesses registering online or completing other online functions may have to provide certain identifying information in order to get a username and password to conduct transactions. This information is protected through encryption.
It is the policy of the Office of the Attorney General to preserve the privacy of personal records and to protect confidential or privileged information. Such information will be disclosed publicly only as required by the Public Information Act or as necessary and permissible to carry out the duties of this Office.
When this Office collects personal information - that is, information that identifies an individual with an address, identification number, telephone number, photograph, or medical information - it is the general policy of this Office, pursuant to State law, to collect that information from the person to whom the information pertains. If we collect such information from you, you generally have a right to know: the purpose for which we are collecting that information; the consequences if you refuse to provide that information; your right to inspect, amend, or correct that information; whether that information is available to the public; and whether that information is shared with other entities. Under State law, these policies do not apply to information gathered for certain specified purposes, such as the investigation of a possible violation of law.
If you have any questions about these privacy policies, please e-mail them to webmaster@oag.state.md.us
1-888-373-7888
233733
