Data broker notice
THE ENTITY MAINTAINING THIS WEBSITE IS A DATA BROKER UNDER TEXAS LAW. TO CONDUCT BUSINESS IN TEXAS, A DATA BROKER MUST REGISTER WITH THE TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE (TEXAS SOS). INFORMATION ABOUT DATA BROKER REGISTRANTS IS AVAILABLE ON THE TEXAS SOS WEBSITE.
DCS Information Systems is registered with the Texas Secretary of State as a data broker. How to exercise any rights you may have under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act is explained under Your privacy rights.
Who we are and whom we serve
DCS Information Systems (Dallas Computer Services, Inc.) has provided computer services since 1966 and online data retrieval to qualified businesses since 1988. Our products help identify and locate individuals for lawful purposes such as law enforcement, fraud prevention, insurance underwriting and claims, and legal proceedings.
Our customers are licensed insurance companies and agents, government agencies, and other licensed professionals and businesses with a permissible purpose, each vetted before access. We do not offer our services to the general public.
Information we maintain and where it comes from
The information in our databases comes from three kinds of sources:
- Government agencies, including driver license and motor vehicle records and criminal histories.
- Equifax, which provides non-public credit header information on adults: identifying information only, never credit reports or credit histories. Only a few customers can obtain it.
- Third-party businesses that compile publicly available records, such as real property records from county appraisal districts.
These records contain identifying information such as name, address, date of birth, driver license number, the last four digits of a Social Security number (in credit header results only), vehicle and title details, criminal history entries, and property ownership and appraisal details.
We do not alter the information we receive. If a record is wrong, it has to be corrected at its source; see Correcting records.
How the information is used and disclosed
We disclose information only to our vetted customers, and only for purposes the law permits. Access to each kind of record is governed by the law that applies to it, including:
- the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. §2721 et seq.) and its Texas counterpart (Texas Transportation Code chapter 730), for driver and motor vehicle records;
- the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, for credit header information; and
- the Fair Credit Reporting Act, where it applies.
Customers must have, and certify, a purpose those laws permit before they can obtain information.
What we do not do
- We do not compile or distribute mailing lists or consumer marketing data.
- We do not sell personal data for marketing or advertising, and we do not engage in targeted advertising.
- We do not make decisions about consumers. Our customers make their own decisions, under the laws that apply to them.
Your privacy rights
The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (Texas Business and Commerce Code chapter 541) gives Texas residents the right to confirm whether a business processes their personal data and to access it, to correct it, to delete it, to obtain a portable copy of it, and to opt out of its sale, targeted advertising and certain profiling. Several other states have similar laws.
What these rights mean for the information DCS maintains
The records in DCS's information products are exempt from those rights:
- Driver and motor vehicle records are disclosed only in compliance with the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, and are exempt under §541.003(12).
- Credit header information is subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and is exempt under §541.002(b)(2).
- Information lawfully made available through government records is publicly available information (§541.001(27)), which is not “personal data” under §541.001(19).
Similar exemptions for driver, credit header and public records generally apply under other states' privacy laws. As a result, DCS is generally unable to delete, suppress, correct or provide copies of these records in response to a request. We still answer every request, and you may appeal our answer.
The opt-out rights in chapter 541 cover the sale of personal data, targeted advertising and certain profiling. The records in our products are exempt from chapter 541 or are not “personal data” under it, so these opt-out rights do not apply to them. Separately, DCS does not sell personal data for marketing or advertising, does not engage in targeted advertising and does not profile consumers.
How to make a request
You can make a request in either of two ways. You do not need an account, and making a request is free.
- Use our online request form. We will email you a link to confirm the request.
- Email privacy@dcsinfosys.com.
We do not need, and you should not send, your date of birth, driver license number, Social Security number or address. We do not search our data for you in order to answer a request.
What happens next
- We answer by email, normally within minutes and in every case within 45 days.
- If we cannot act on your request, our answer explains why and tells you how to appeal.
- If you tell us your request concerns a safety risk, such as domestic violence or stalking, a person reviews it.
Requests for someone else
A parent or legal guardian may make a request for their child under 13. Every other adult, including members of the same household, makes their own request, except that an authorized agent may email us an opt-out request on an adult's behalf. We answer those requests too.
If you live outside Texas
We answer requests from every state. Similar exemptions for driver, credit header and public records generally apply under other states' privacy laws.
Appeals
If you disagree with our answer, you can appeal by using our appeal form or by replying to our answer with APPEAL in the subject line. A person reviews every appeal, and we will tell you our decision in writing within 60 days of receiving it.
If we deny your appeal, you may contact the Texas Attorney General to submit a complaint using the Attorney General's online complaint form.
Correcting records
DCS does not change the records it receives. To correct a record, contact the organization it comes from:
- Driver license and criminal history records: Texas Department of Public Safety, 5805 North Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78752-4431
- Vehicle records: Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, 4000 Jackson Avenue, Austin, TX 78731
- Credit header information: Equifax Information Services, 888-378-4329
- Property records: the appraisal district for the county where the property is
Information collected on this website
- When you use the request or appeal form, we collect what you enter, along with the IP address and browser details your submission and confirmation came from. We use this information only to answer and keep a record of your request or appeal and to detect abuse of the forms. We keep a log of each request or appeal for three years, and the emails we exchange with you are kept in our privacy mailbox as the record of how we handled your request. Requests about this information are handled through the same request process.
- To protect this site and block automated form submissions, we and our security service providers may process technical information such as your IP address and details about your browser and device.
- We use no analytics or advertising cookies. The site sets only security cookies: one that protects the forms from cross-site request forgery, and one our security service provider may set to tell people from automated traffic.
Changes to this policy
We will post any change to this policy on this page and update the date at the top.
Contact us
Privacy requests and questions: privacy@dcsinfosys.com, or
the request form.
DCS Information Systems customers: www.dcsinfosys.com.