Data You Give Us Directly
Search Queries
A name or location entered in a search tool is sent directly to the outside provider operating that tool. The provider processes the query and supplies its results. We do not keep or log those search terms on our systems.
Messages and Contact Submissions
We retain an email message when needed to answer it. The message remains within our organization unless disclosure is required by a valid legal obligation.
Data We Gather Automatically
Our servers receive basic technical information when a visitor loads a page:
- The date and time of each page request
- Your device's IP address
- The referring website, when one is reported
- Your browser type and version
- The pages viewed and the time spent on them
- Your operating system and device category
Cookies and Analytics
Cookies are small files placed on a device. We use them with analytics services to understand traffic in aggregate, such as which pages are used most and where visits end. You can block cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may change how some site features work.
What We Do With This Data
- Routing a query to the search partner selected by the visitor
- Diagnosing technical faults and performance problems
- Operating the website and improving load times
- Measuring which material visitors use
- Displaying advertising that may reflect visitor interests
No Criminal-Record Data on File
Washington County Criminal History does not keep, compile, or sell a database of personal criminal records. Its reference material identifies official custodians, including local police agencies, the Washington County courts, the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and the Pennsylvania State Police Megan's Law Website. We are not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Visitor information is not assembled into consumer reports or third-party criminal-record profiles.
Third-Party Search Partners
Outside companies operate the search boxes placed on this website. Information submitted through one of those boxes falls under that company's privacy policy. We do not control a partner's retention, processing, or disclosure rules, so review the applicable policy before running a query.
Links to Other Websites
Links may lead to Washington County offices, Pennsylvania courts, state agencies, legal-aid resources, or outside search services. Once you leave this website, the destination's privacy terms govern. Review them before providing personal information.
Advertising companies may use their own systems to follow activity across websites and select interest-based ads. We do not operate that cross-site tracking.
Who Might See Your Data
We do not sell personal information. Data may be disclosed to:
- Analytics providers that measure traffic and site performance
- Search partners that process a query you choose to submit
- Government or law-enforcement bodies when disclosure is compelled by a valid legal order
- Advertising networks that serve ads on the website
How We Protect Your Data
We use customary safeguards for the data we hold. No internet-connected system is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee that an unauthorized access or breach will never occur.
Users Under 18
This website is intended for adults, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone younger than 18. If we learn that a minor supplied such information, we will delete it.
Your Data Rights
Applicable privacy or consumer-protection law may provide rights over personal data based on where you live. Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104, governs access to qualifying government records, while the Criminal History Record Information Act, 18 Pa.C.S. Chapter 91, governs criminal-history dissemination and a subject's access and challenge rights. Those public-record laws do not turn this private website into a government custodian. Subject to applicable law, you may:
- Request correction of inaccurate personal data we hold
- Ask for access to personal information we maintain about you
- Opt out of certain processing when the law provides that choice
- Request deletion of your personal data
Updates to This Policy
We may revise this policy. Any revision will be posted here and identified by a new effective date, so this page is the current statement of our privacy practices.
Effective date: August 8, 2026