GSS Online Tax Payment Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how Government Software Services, Inc. (“GSS,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and shares personal information through the GSS Tax Payment Service available at https://tax.gss-pa.com and its jurisdiction-specific pages (collectively, the “Service”).

The Service is operated for participating counties, municipalities, school districts, tax collectors, tax claim bureaus, and other taxing authorities (each a “Taxing Authority”).

This Policy applies to information collected through the Service, information obtained from the applicable Taxing Authority, and information you provide directly to GSS.

2. Personal Information We Collect

Information you provide

Depending on how you use the Service, we may collect information that you provide, including:

• First and last name
• Mailing or billing address
• City, state, and zip code
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Parcel, map, control, bill, or property number
• Tax-search information
• Payment amount
• Certification, registration, or receipt-request information
• Information provided through email, telephone, or support requests

If you provide information concerning another person, you should only do so when you are authorized to provide that information.

Tax and property information

We may receive information from the applicable Taxing Authority’s records, including:

• Property-owner names and mailing addresses
• Property addresses
• Parcel, map, control, bill, or account identifiers
• Taxing jurisdiction and tax year
• Tax assessments, balances, discounts, penalties, interest, and fees
• Payment and receipt history

Some tax and property information may be available through public government records.

Payment and transaction information

Payments are processed through third-party payment processors selected by the applicable Taxing Authority. The payment processor may collect payment-card or bank-account information directly through its checkout service and under its own privacy policy.

GSS and the Taxing Authority may receive transaction information from the payment processor, including:

• Payment amount and convenience fee
• Payment method type
• Transaction and reference numbers
• Payment status
• Transaction date
• Receipt number or receipt identifier
• Chargeback, reversal, or payment-validation information

Information collected automatically

When you access the Service, we and our service providers may automatically log information about your computer, telephone, tablet, or other device, including:

• Browser type
• Device type
• Pages viewed
• Access dates and times
• Actions performed through the Service
• Application errors and security events
• Cookie, session, and request identifiers

The amount of information collected may depend on your device, browser, and privacy settings.

Cookies and local storage

We may use cookies, browser local storage, web-server logs, and similar technologies to operate and secure the Service.

The Service may use:

• A short-lived cookie used to retry certain receipt requests
• Browser local storage to remember your analytics preference
• Analytics cookies or identifiers after you accept optional analytics

Session cookies generally expire after a specified period or when the session ends. Persistent cookies or local-storage values remain until they expire or are removed through your browser.

Analytics information

We use software to help analyze how users interact with the Service. Optional browser analytics are initialized after you accept analytics through the Service’s privacy controls.

Analytics information may include pages visited, jurisdiction, actions taken, search types or values, property or bill identifiers, transaction-related identifiers, receipt identifiers, browser information, and general usage information.

We may also use limited server-side operational and error-monitoring information to diagnose failures, reconcile payment-processing events, protect the Service, and maintain reliable operations.

3. How We Use Collected Information

We may use collected information to:

• Provide and operate the Service
• Search for and display tax or property records
• Initiate, validate, process, and post payments
• Verify and reconcile transactions
• Investigate payment discrepancies and chargebacks
• Provide customer and technical support
• Send information concerning requested transactions
• Analyze and improve the Service
• Maintain financial, tax, audit, and transaction records
• Detect and prevent fraudulent or unauthorized activity
• Protect the security and reliability of the Service
• Comply with legal and contractual requirements
• Respond to lawful requests from courts or government authorities

4. How We Share Personal Information

We may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients:

Taxing Authorities

We share information with the applicable Taxing Authority, its tax collectors, Tax Claim Bureau, authorized personnel, auditors, and financial institutions to provide the Service and maintain official tax and payment records.

Payment processors

We share information required to initiate, process, validate, post, or reconcile a payment with the payment processor selected by the Taxing Authority. The applicable processor is identified during the payment process.

Service providers

We may provide personal information to service providers that help us host, secure, support, monitor, analyze, and operate the Service. These providers may include hosting providers, infrastructure providers, security vendors, professional support providers, and analytical software.

Professional advisers

We may provide information to attorneys, accountants, auditors, insurers, financial institutions, and other professional advisers when reasonably necessary in connection with the services they provide.

Legal and protective disclosures

We may disclose personal information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with applicable laws or legal process
• Respond to subpoenas, warrants, or government requests
• Protect the rights, privacy, safety, or property of GSS or others
• Investigate fraud, cyberattacks, or other unauthorized activity
• Enforce agreements governing the Service
• Prevent or investigate a violation of law

Public-record obligations

Records maintained for a Taxing Authority may be disclosed when required under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law, a court order, or another applicable records law. Applicable exemptions and confidentiality protections will be considered before disclosure.

Corporate transactions

We may share information in connection with a merger, financing, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, insolvency, bankruptcy, or similar corporate transaction. Any successor would assume the applicable obligations concerning personal information described in this Policy.

No sale of personal information

We do not sell personal information or use personal information for targeted advertising.

Third-party websites and services

The Service may contain links to payment processors, government websites, and other third-party services. When you follow one of these links, the third party may collect information under its own privacy policy.

We do not control and are not responsible for the content, privacy, security, or accessibility practices of third-party websites or services.

5. Your Choices

Analytics

You may decline optional browser analytics when prompted. You may subsequently change your selection through the “Manage Privacy Settings” control where available.

Cookies

You may configure your browser to reject cookies or notify you before a cookie is stored. If you reject essential cookies, portions of the Service may not function correctly.

Tax and property records

To question or correct an official tax, ownership, property, address, or payment record, contact the Taxing Authority identified on the applicable payment page.

Certain information cannot be changed or deleted when it must be retained as an official government, tax, payment, financial, audit, or public record.

6. Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Service and fulfill the purposes described in this Policy.

Tax, payment, transaction, and receipt information may be retained in accordance with the applicable Taxing Authority’s records-retention requirements and as necessary for accounting, auditing, reconciliation, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, security, and legal compliance.

Information may remain in protected backups for a limited period after it is removed from active systems.

7. Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards intended to protect personal information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, loss, or disclosure.

No method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. Although we use reasonable safeguards, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of personal information.

You should access the Service only through its official address and provide payment credentials only through the checkout page of the identified payment processor.

8. Processing in the United States

The Service is provided in the United States and is governed by applicable United States law. Information processed through the Service may be stored and processed in the United States.

9. Children

The Service is intended for taxpayers, property owners, payers, authorized representatives, and government personnel. It is not directed to children under 13 years of age.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information through the Service, contact us so that we can take appropriate action.

10. Do Not Track

The Service does not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals or Global Privacy Control signals as changes to its analytics setting.

Use the Service’s “Manage Privacy Settings” control to decline or disable optional browser analytics.

11. Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the Service, participating Taxing Authorities, service providers, or applicable legal requirements change.

If we make material changes, we will post the revised Policy and update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. Unless otherwise stated, changes become effective when the revised Policy is posted.

12. Contact Us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or GSS’s operation of the Service may be directed to:

For questions about a property record, tax balance, assessment, payment posting, or public-record request, contact the Taxing Authority identified on the applicable payment page.