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Internet Privacy Policy

Effective Date: July 21, 2025

Accessibility Policy

The Virginia Employment Commission is committed to ensuring web accessibility for individuals with disabilities by referencing the standards outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Our goal is to provide an accessible experience for all users by focusing on inclusive strategies for technology, guidelines, tools, education, outreach, and research. 

We are dedicated to ongoing evaluation of our site against WCAG standards and are actively pursuing Level A and Level AA conformance. If you experience any barriers or difficulties while using our site, please contact us at  customeradvocate@vec.virginia.gov or call the Customer Contact Center at (866)-832-2363.

Document Support: If you encounter difficulties accessing our downloadable files, you can request hard copies by contacting customeradvocate@vec.virginia.gov or by mail at: 

Virginia Employment Commission
P.O. Box 26441
Richmond, VA 23261-6441

Disclaimer

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) makes every effort to provide accurate and up-to-date information on this website. However, neither the VEC nor any employee of VEC makes any warranties, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the content available through this website. Users assume all risks associated with the use of this information, and reliance on any such information is strictly at the user’s own risk.

The VEC website contains links to external websites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses. These links are provided solely for the convenience of our users. The VEC does not control, endorse, or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information on any externally linked website. Once you navigate to another site, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that site, including its privacy policy.

References to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement or recommendation by the VEC or the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, defeat or circumvent security measures, or use this system for purposes other than its intended function are prohibited and may result in criminal prosecution.

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Linking Policy 

All links to sites outside the Virginia Employment Commission website will open in a new browser window. The Virginia Employment Commission and the Commonwealth of Virginia provides links to many websites that are not controlled, maintained, or regulated by the VEC or any organization affiliated with the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as such the VEC is not responsible for the content of those websites. Use of information obtained from those websites is voluntary, and reliance on that information should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy. Reference at those websites to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the VEC or any other State Government Agency. We try and screen all sites we include on our website, but we cannot control the content they possess, thus any inappropriate information or links they have on their site should be reported to the VEC and can be sent to our Webmaster.

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Downloads and Plug-ins

www.vec.virginia.gov provides content in several formats that may require plug-ins, or separate browser components, to properly view.  All required plug-ins are free to use. If your browser or assistive technology cannot view the content using the plug-in, please contact our Webmaster.

The plug-ins used are:

You can also download and install Apache OpenOffice. Compatible with other major office suites, Apache OpenOffice is free to download, use, and distribute.

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Privacy Policies

The following represents practices and procedures of www.vec.virginia.gov which reserves the right to change these practices and procedures at any time without prior notice. The following is not intended and should not be interpreted as a contract of any nature, either stated or implied.

Individuals who visit www.vec.virginia.gov are important to us. Because visitors to our website are important, we do not capture personal information about them without their permission. We endeavor to ensure that we collect only the minimum amount of information needed to meet the purpose for which the network was created.

www.vec.virginia.gov may be required to collect personal information, such as a user's name and address, because of legal requirements or in order to provide customer services. In doing so we are subject to the requirements for administering information systems as established in the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act, Chapter 38 of Title 2.2 of the Code of Virginia. Pages that appear after you click on a link may be controlled by a different agency or entity, whose practices are not under www.vec.virginia.gov's control.

We do collect personal information directly from individuals who volunteer to subscribe to one or more of www.vec.virginia.gov’s premium services. Collecting personal information is necessary for www.vec.virginia.gov to deliver the services requested.

Fostering and maintaining the public's trust is a cornerstone of www.vec.virginia.gov. We appreciate the trust and confidence that you place in us by providing requested personal information.

Data Collection and Use

In accordance with the Code of Virginia § 2.2-3803, we collect personal information only when it is necessary to provide a service or to operate and administer our information systems. We are committed to minimizing the collection of personal information.

We do not collect information of a highly personal nature, such as religious or political beliefs, unless specifically authorized by law or explicitly required for a specific service you have requested.

Data Retention

We may keep your information indefinitely, but we ordinarily delete the transaction routing information regularly after the Web page is transmitted and do not try to obtain any information to link it to the individuals who browse our website. However, on rare occasions when a "hacker" attempts to breach computer security, logs of routing information are retained to permit a security investigation and, in such cases, may be forwarded together with any other relevant information in our possession to law enforcement agencies. We use this transaction routing information primarily in a statistical summary type format to assess site content and server performance. We may share this summary information with our business partners when needed.

Optional information is retained in accordance with the records retention schedules at the Library of Virginia.

Identity Information

By using our websites and services, you authorize your wireless carrier to use or disclose information about your account and your wireless device, if available, to the Virginia Employment Commission or its service provider for the duration of your business relationship, solely to help them identify you or your wireless device and to prevent fraud.

Text Messaging

The Virginia Employment Commission has expanded their ability to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth by using text messaging. At times, we may use this service to inform you of further instructions, claim status, new information, etc. Additionally, some version of this service may be offered to you when calling our Customer Contact Center. Our messages are intended to provide expanded service for those who are contacting the Virginia Employment Commission's Customer Contact Center and for those who have active claims for benefits and are delivered via U.S. short code.

We may use an automatic dialing system to deliver text messages to you. We do not charge you to receive these texts, however, message and data rates may apply depending on the wireless plan that you have with your carrier. Message frequency varies. You are responsible for managing the types of SMS you receive. To stop receiving short code messages, reply STOP. To obtain help, reply HELP. Additional information, support, and help can be obtained by contacting Virginia Employment Commission Customer Service at 866-832-2363 during normal business hours (8:00 AM - 4:30 PM), Monday through Friday.

If you elect to opt-out of receiving messages, please be aware you may receive one (1) final message from us confirming that you have been inactivated in our system. Following such a confirmation message, no additional text messages will be sent unless you provide us with your express consent to receive such messages.

Mobile Carriers

The short code is supported on most U.S. carriers, including but not limited to persons with text capable phones subscribing to AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Please note, however, that the supporting mobile carriers may change without notice, and the mobile carriers (for example, T-Mobile) are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Cookies

"Cookies" are small files either stored on a server or sent back to a visiting computer. In certain applications user information is stored as "cookies," which are then sent back to and stored on the user's computer.

Some sections of the VEC website use cookies to customize the information presented to you. Cookies are also used to aggregate site usage information to help us improve our users' experience.

See also this policy's Privacy section above regarding information gathered by this site and the use of that information.

Restrictions on the Disclosure of Customer Information

We do not sell or rent our subscribers’ information to any outside company or organization. We do not reveal specific information about subscribers or other personally identifiable data to unaffiliated third parties for their independent use, except if required to do so by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act or other law.

Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Information

We maintain security standards and procedures regarding unauthorized access to customer information to prevent unauthorized removal or alteration of data.

Our procedures ensure that information is as accurate and current as is practical to enable us to conduct business with you. Although we strive to do things right the first time, we also respond to requests to correct inaccurate information in a timely manner.

In accordance with the Code of Virginia § 2.2-3803, you have the right to inspect, correct, and amend personal information collected and maintained by our agency.

To Inspect Your Information: If you wish to review the personal information we hold about you, please submit a request in writing to: informationcontrol@vec.virginia.gov or by mail to:

Virginia Employment Commission
FOIA Officer
Suite 212
P. O. Box 26441
Richmond, VA 23261-6441

We will respond to your request within five working days and provide you with access to the information, subject to any legal exemptions.

To correct or amend your information: If you believe that any personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated, please contact us at: informationcontrol@vec.virginia.gov  or by mail at the address above. Please provide specific details of the information you believe needs correction and accurate information. We will promptly investigate and, if warranted, correct or amend the information.

Protection of Information via Established Security Procedures

We maintain security standards and procedures regarding unauthorized access to customer information to prevent unauthorized removal or alteration of data.

The Virginia Employment Commission is committed to protecting the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to prevent unauthorized access, use, modification, or disclosure of data. These measures include, but are not limited to:

  • Access Controls: Restricting access to personal information to authorized personnel only, based on their job responsibilities and legitimate need to know.
  • Data Encryption: Employing encryption for data in transit and at rest to protect it from interception.
  • Network Security: Utilizing firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and other network security measures to protect our systems from unauthorized access.
  • Regular Security Audits: Conducting periodic security assessments and vulnerability scans to identify and address potential weaknesses.
  • Employee Training: Providing regular training to our employees on data privacy and security best practices.

Limiting Employee Access to Information

Our administrators are instructed to limit employee access to personally identifiable information to only those employees who need access to perform their assigned duties. The administrators are instructed to enforce with its staff their responsibilities in protecting the subscriber’s information.

Privacy Issues Relating to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act regulates websites’ collection of personal information on users under 18 years of age. We do not intentionally collect such information on anyone we know to be under 18 years of age. If such information is inadvertently obtained, the minor's parent or legal guardian may contact VEC for a description of the specific types of personal information collected from the child and the options available to them under law to ensure their child's safety.

Changes

The Virginia Employment Commission reserves the right to change this privacy policy as necessary.

Contact Us

We welcome your comments and invite you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns by contacting us.

VEC Web Addresses directly relating to the Business of the VEC:

  • *.vec.virginia.gov
  • www.vec.virginia.gov
  • vaworkforceconnection.com, .net and .org
  • www.tax.virginia.gov/ireg
  • www.tax.virginia.gov/ifile
  • www.business.tax.virginia.gov
  • uidirect.vec.virginia.gov

** NOTE ** http://www.virginiaemploymentcommission.com and http://www.vaemployee.com ARE NOT VEC-Related Websites!

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