SAO Web Site Terms & Policies

The State Auditor’s Office (SAO) values and protects the public's privacy and places controls on the gathering and use of sensitive information and confidential information. Sensitive information and confidential information is not disclosed, made available, or otherwise used for purposes other than those specified at the time of collection, except as authorized by law or regulation.

1. Email and Mailing List Information

   IMPORTANT NOTE: All information collected or maintained by the SAO Web site may be public information subject to the provisions of the Texas Public Information Act(chapter 552, Texas Government Code). In addition, contact information provided in the context of a question or comment may be redirected to another government agency or person who is better able to address it.

   Our site provides users the opportunity to subscribe to and unsubscribe from informational mailing lists at https://www.sao.texas.gov/­contact/mailinglist. We do request information about our visitors when they utilize our mailing list form to determine which email addresses are added to or removed from our lists. Site users are free to unsubscribe at will using this form should they opt not to receive future communications from us. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas may be subject to the Texas Public Information Act.

   Users may verify and modify information previously provided; to do so, call (512) 936-9500.

2. Cookies

   To better serve you, SAO sites may use cookies to enhance your visit to you site.

   Any information that State Auditor's Office Web servers may store in cookies is used for internal purposes only.

3. Logs and Network Monitoring

   The State Auditor's Office maintains log files of all access to its site and also monitors network traffic for the purposes of site management. This information is used to help diagnose problems with the server and to carry out other administrative tasks. Log analysis tools are also used to create summary statistics to determine which information is of most interest to users, to identify system problem areas, or to help determine technical requirements.
   
   Information such as the following is collected in these files:

   1. Hostname: the hostname and/or IP address of the computer requesting access to the site
   2. User-Agent: the type of browser, its version, and the operating system of the computer requesting access (e.g., Firefox 11 for Windows, IE 8 for Macintosh, etc.)
   3. System date: the date and time on the server at the time of access
   4. Status: the status code the server returned, e.g., fulfilled request, file not found
   5. Method: the request method used by the browser (e.g., post, get)
   6. Universal Resource Identifier (URI): the location of the particular resource requested. (More commonly known as a URL.)
   7. Query string of the URI: anything after a question mark in a URI. For example, if a keyword search has been requested, the search word will appear in the query string.
   8. Bytes Sent/Received - The number of bytes sent/received by the user.
   9. Time Taken - The length of time the action took.
   
   The above information is not used in any way that would reveal personally identifying information to outside parties unless State Auditor's Office is required to do so in connection with Public Information Act requests, law enforcement investigations, or other legal proceedings.

4. Links

   This site may contain links to other sites. State Auditor's Office is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites. FOr more information, see the Link Policy section of this page.

5. Security

   SAO managed Web sites have security measures in place to protect against loss, misuse, and alteration of information. Encryption is available and utilized; however, no system can be guaranteed to be completely safe.

6. Contacting the State Auditor's Office

   If you have any questions about this privacy statement or Web site, you may contact:
   
   SAO Webmaster (email)
   Texas State Auditor's Office
   P.O. Box 12067
   Austin, TX 78711
   

The State Auditor's Office (SAO) is committed to making its web sites accessible to all users.

The SAO has developed a plan to ensure that its Web site and electronic and information resources comply with standards and specifications and regularly tests our site with a variety of standards compliant tools.

The SAO Web site includes, among others, the following features designed to improve accessibility for users with disabilities:

The SAO web site includes the following features designed to improve accessibility for users with disabilities:

• Images on the site use "alt tags", to provide descriptions of images to aid users who listen to the content of the site by using a screen reader. Text transcripts accompany video or audio clips of speeches, remarks, and the like.
  
  
• The Web site is fully responsive and allows users to easily increase screen resolution without reducing function or navigation.
  
  
• We test major redesigns with a number of browsers, screen readers, accessibility and HTML validators, and other Web tools. The results of such reviews are incorporated into improvements for the Web site.
  
  

The State Auditor's Office welcomes comments on how to improve our site's accessibility for users with disabilities. If you use assistive technology, and the format of any material on our Web sites interferes with your ability to access the information, please use the following points of contact for assistance. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate the nature of your accessibility problem, the preferred format in which you would like to receive the material, the web address of the requested material, and your contact information.

SAO Webmaster
P.O Box 12067
Austin, TX 78711
512-936-9500 (Voice)
512-936-9400 (FAX)
E-mail Address: webmaster@sao.texas.gov

The Relay Texas service is available to assist people with disabilities in telephone communication.

Additional information about accessibility programs in Texas is available from the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities.

The mission of the State Auditor’s Office (SAO) Web site is to provide information regarding the SAO's government services and functions. Specifically, the SAO provides information about the operations of state agencies and universities to legislators, agency management, and the citizens of the State.

At its discretion, the SAO may link to non-governmental Web sites that contain information and/or services that further the purpose of the SAO.

Links from the SAO Web site will be reviewed regularly and may be removed for the following reasons:

• The link no longer points to the original information or resource.
• The information pointed to by the link is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise violates the criteria set forth.
• Access to the information has become difficult due to non-standard formatting, lengthy download times, or intrusive advertising.
• The link is permanently unreachable or remains unavailable for a lengthy period, especially if we are unable to contact the site manager about the site's status.

The SAO reserves the right to remove links at its discretion.

Any links provided through this server are included merely for the convenience of agency staff and the public as potential sources of information and/or to facilitate research that advances public purposes. The SAO is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other such Web sites.