Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how BK Attorney Services, LLC, a Washington limited liability company doing business as Certificate of Service (“COS,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information when you use our Website, tools, and services (the “Service”).

1. INTERPRETATION AND DEFINITIONS

Terms capitalized but not defined here have the meanings given in our Terms of Service.

“Account” means a unique account created for You to access our Service.

“Business” has the meaning set forth in the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”).

“CM/ECF” refers to Case Management/Electronic Case Files system.

“Consumer” means a California resident, as defined under the CPRA.

“Cookies” are small files stored by your browser.

“Device” means any device capable of accessing the Service.

“Do Not Track (DNT)” refers to browser settings that request online tracking to be disabled.

“PACER” refers to Public Access to Court Electronic Records.

“Pass-Through Fees” refers to third-party costs recovered from users.

“Personal Data / Personal Information” means information relating to an identified or identifiable individual, including the expanded categories under CPRA.

“Sale / Sharing” refers to disclosures for monetary or other valuable consideration as defined under CPRA, including cross-contextual behavioral advertising.

“Service Provider” means a third party that processes data on behalf of COS.

“Usage Data” means automatically collected information related to your use of the Service.

“Website” refers to www.certificateofservice.com.

“You” means the individual or entity using the Service.

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect the following categories of information:

Personal Information You Provide:

• Name, email address, phone number, mailing or billing address, company name, website and organization 
• Case information, debtor names (case documents may contain sensitive information such as social security numbers)
• Payment information (generally processed by third-party payment processors except in the case of direct ACH transfers authorized by You)
• User documents uploaded for printing and mailing
• Verification information for payment and account-related purposes

PACER and CM/ECF Integration: 

Where authorized by You, COS may retrieve mailing matrices, case metadata, and other court filing information directly from PACER and CM/ECF systems on Your behalf. You are responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of any data retrieved through such integrations and for compliance with all applicable court rules and PACER terms of service.

User-Uploaded Documents and Sensitive Information: 

Documents you upload for processing and mailing may contain sensitive personal information including but not limited to Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, financial account numbers, dates of birth, and other confidential information of debtors, creditors, or other parties. COS processes and handles these documents solely to fulfill your mailing instructions.

Users are solely responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all data submitted through the Service, including case information, mailing addresses, recipient data, and certificate signatures. Users are responsible for redacting sensitive information from uploaded documents as required by applicable law and court rules. COS does not review, edit, or evaluate the content of User documents and does not provide legal advice regarding redaction requirements or compliance with privacy laws, court rules, or sealing orders.

Automatically Collected Usage Data includes:

• Browser type, device type, pages viewed, time spent, referring URLs
• Diagnostic and error logs
• Order tracking and chain of custody data, including submission timestamps, processing status updates, completion records, and historical progress logs

Tracking Technologies and Cookies:

We may use cookies, beacons, pixel tags, and similar technologies to operate and improve the Service. You may adjust cookie settings in your browser, but disabling them may limit functionality.

By continuing to use the Website, you consent to our use of cookies and similar tracking technologies as described in this Privacy Policy. You may withdraw your consent at any time by adjusting your browser settings to block or delete cookies; however, doing so may affect the functionality of the Service. We do not use cookies or tracking technologies for purposes beyond those described in this Privacy Policy.

COS collects and processes only the Personal Information reasonably necessary to provide the Service or to comply with legal obligations, limits internal access to authorized personnel, uses appropriate security safeguards, does not sell Personal Information, and discloses Personal Information only as described in this Privacy Policy or as required by law. COS does not collect government identification numbers (such as Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers), except where a User voluntarily includes such information in documents they upload for mailing.

3. HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION

COS uses Personal Data to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve the Service 
• Process and mail User documents
• Create and manage Accounts
• Communicate about updates, service notices, and support
• Process payments and detect fraud
• Recover pass-through costs including PACER access fees and payment processing convenience fees
• Comply with legal obligations, including court orders
• Protect COS, users, and the public from misuse or unlawful activity
• Conduct analytics to improve the Service, including through the use of third-party product analytics tools operating within the logged-in application
• Provide marketing communications (opt-out available)
• Evaluate corporate transactions involving COS
• Comply with fraud-prevention, sanctions-screening, and risk-management requirements.

The Service includes real-time features that allow You to track job status, manage submissions, cancel jobs, and interact with our systems. Usage data related to these interactions may be collected to improve Service functionality, prevent fraud, and provide customer support.

COS may review User-uploaded documents for quality control purposes to verify correct processing and printing, or when instructed by customers to substitute or modify documents in an order. COS does not evaluate the legal sufficiency of User documents and does not provide legal advice. Users retain ownership of all documents, mailing lists, matrices, and other content they submit through the Service.

4. HOW WE SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may disclose information to:

• Service Providers, including mailing vendors, financial institutions, ACH operators, and third-party payment processors who support billing, settlement, fraud prevention, and account management; product analytics providers who collect usage data within the logged-in application to help us improve the Service; and marketing automation providers who receive account and contact information to support customer communications and marketing.
• Affiliates under common ownership
• Courts, agencies, or law enforcement where required by law
• PACER/court systems (when accessing on behalf of users)
• Payment processor or other business partners
• Third parties in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale
• Other users only where you intentionally publish or share content

COS does not disclose User-uploaded documents except as necessary to process mailings (including to printing and mail fulfillment vendors) or when legally compelled (such as by subpoena, court order, or legal process).

If COS is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

The Service Providers we use may have access to Your Personal Data. These third-party vendors collect, store, use, process, and transfer information about Your activity on our Service in accordance with their own privacy policies.

We may use Your Personal Data to contact You with newsletters, marketing, or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to You, including by the use of Email Marketing Service Providers. You may opt-out of receiving any, or all, of these communications from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email we send or by contacting us.

5. DATA RETENTION

COS retains Personal Data only as long as necessary to provide the Service, meet legal requirements, enforce agreements, and resolve disputes. User-uploaded documents, generated certificates, and address lists are available for self-service download through the Service for ninety (90) days after processing. After 90 days, these documents remain stored in COS's cloud environment and are retrievable upon request to COS's internal team for up to six (6) years from the date of upload or creation, unless COS is required by law to retain them for a longer period. Usage Data and chain of custody records may be kept for analytics, security, fraud prevention, and operational purposes.

COS may retain ACH payment-authorization records for the period required under the NACHA Rules, typically two (2) years after revocation, to comply with banking-partner obligations and legal requirements. COS may retain transaction metadata (such as proof of mailing, mailing logs, and payment records) even if the underlying uploaded document is deleted, to comply with legal and operational requirements.

6. PAYMENTS

We use a third-party payment processor for credit card, debit card, and ACH transactions. In such cases, we do not store or collect Your payment card details or bank account numbers. Payment information is provided directly to the payment processor, whose use of Your personal information is governed by their Privacy Policy.

For certain enterprise customers, we may process ACH payments through separate billing arrangements. In such cases, ACH authorization records may be retained as described in Section 5.

COS may pass through to You certain fees including PACER access fees and payment processing convenience fees. These fees will be disclosed at the time of transaction.

7. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

Your Personal Data may be transferred to—and maintained on—servers located outside your state or country. COS uses reasonable safeguards for international transfers.

8. SECURITY

COS uses commercially reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect Personal Data, including encryption of data in transit and at rest where appropriate. However, no system is perfectly secure and COS cannot guarantee absolute security. Users are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable privacy laws, court rules, and redaction requirements before uploading documents to the Service. COS is not liable for disclosure of sensitive information that users voluntarily include in uploaded documents or for users’ failure to comply with applicable redaction requirements.

COS implements measures to detect security incidents and protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, including, when necessary, to prosecute those responsible for such activities.

9. CCPA / CPRA AND OTHER STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS

This section applies to California residents and supplements the information in this Privacy Policy.

Categories of Personal Information Collected:

In the preceding twelve (12) months, COS has collected the following categories of Personal Information as defined by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

Identifiers (e.g., name, email, phone)

• Collected: Yes
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: Yes
• Sold or Shared: No

Customer Records (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)) (e.g., name, address)

• Collected: Yes
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: Yes
• Sold or Shared: No

Protected Classification Characteristics (e.g., age, race, gender)

• Collected: No
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Commercial Information (e.g., purchase history, transaction records)

• Collected: Yes
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: Yes
• Sold or Shared: No

Biometric Information

• Collected: No
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Internet or Network Activity (e.g., browsing history, interactions with website)

• Collected: Yes
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Geolocation Data

• Collected: No
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Sensory Data

• Collected: No
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Professional or Employment Information

• Collected: No
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Non-Public Education Information (per FERPA)

• Collected: No
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Inferences (e.g., profiles reflecting preferences or behavior)

• Collected: No
• Disclosed for Business Purposes: No
• Sold or Shared: No

Note: Sensitive Personal Information: Documents uploaded by users may contain sensitive personal information as defined under CPRA, including Social Security numbers (of debtors and creditors), drivers’ license numbers, and financial account information of third parties. COS uses such information solely to provide the mailing services requested by users and does not use or disclose sensitive personal information for any other purpose. Users may exercise their rights regarding their own sensitive personal information by contacting COS as described in Section 14.

Use of Personal Information for Business Purposes or Commercial Purposes:

We may use or disclose Personal Information we collect for “business purposes” or “commercial purposes” (as defined under the CPRA), which may include the following:

• To operate our Service and provide You with our Service
• To provide You with support and to respond to Your inquiries, including to investigate and address Your concerns and monitor and improve our Service
• To fulfill or meet the reason You provided the information (e.g., to process orders, respond to inquiries, process payments) 
• To respond to law enforcement requests and as required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulations 
• As described to You when collecting Your Personal Information or as otherwise set forth in the CPRA 
• For internal administrative and auditing purposes 
• To detect security incidents and protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, including, when necessary, to prosecute those responsible for such activities
• To communicate with third party business partners

These examples are illustrative and not exhaustive. For more details, see Section 3 “How We Use Personal Information.”

Sale of Personal Information of Minors Under 16 Years of Age:

We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from minors under the age of 16 through our Service, although certain third-party websites that we link to may do so. These third-party websites have their own terms of service and privacy policies, and we encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and instruct their children to never provide information on other websites without their permission.

We do not sell the Personal Information of Consumers we actually know are less than 16 years of age, unless we receive affirmative authorization (the “right to opt-in”) from either the Consumer who is between 13 and 16 years of age, or the parent or guardian of a Consumer less than 13 years of age. Consumers who opt-in to the sale of Personal Information may opt-out of future sales at any time. To exercise the right to opt-out, You (or Your authorized representative) may submit a request to us by contacting us.

If You have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 (or 16) has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us with sufficient detail to enable us to delete that information.

California Residents’ Rights Under CPRA:

California residents have the right to:

• Know the categories and specific pieces of Personal Data collected
• Request deletion of Personal Data (subject to certain exceptions) 
• Request correction of inaccurate Personal Data 
• Request information about sales or sharing of Personal Data 
• Opt-out of sale or sharing (COS does not sell or share Personal Data) 
• Limit use of sensitive Personal Information (not applicable; COS does not process sensitive categories subject to limitation rights) 
• Not be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights

To exercise these rights, contact us using the information in Section 14. We will verify your identity before responding to your request and will respond within 45 days (extendable by an additional 45 days if reasonably necessary).

Your California Privacy Rights (California’s Shine the Light Law):

Under California Civil Code Section 1798 (California’s Shine the Light law), California residents with an established business relationship with us can request information once a year about sharing their Personal Data with third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes.

If you’d like to request more information under the California Shine the Light law, and if You are a California resident, You can contact us using the contact information provided in Section 14.

California Privacy Rights for Minor Users (California Business and Professions Code Section 22581):

California Business and Professions Code Section 22581 allows California residents under the age of 18 who are registered users of online sites, services, or applications to request and obtain removal of content or information they have publicly posted. To request removal of such data, and if You are a California resident, You can contact us using the contact information provided in Section 14, and include the email address associated with Your account.

Be aware that Your request does not guarantee complete or comprehensive removal of content or information posted online and that the law may not permit or require removal in certain circumstances.

Other State Privacy Rights:

Residents of Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws may have similar rights. COS will honor applicable state privacy rights requests. Contact us using the information in Section 14.

10. DO NOT TRACK POLICY AS REQUIRED BY CALIFORNIA ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT

COS does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals due to the lack of an industry standard. However, some third-party sites do keep track of Your browsing activities. If You are visiting such sites, You can set Your browser preferences to inform websites that You do not want to be tracked. You can enable or disable DNT by visiting the preferences or settings page of Your browser.

11. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

COS does not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under 13. If we learn that a child under 13 has submitted Personal Data, we will delete it.

12. LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

Our Website may contain links to external sites. COS is not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties.

13. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

COS may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes take effect when posted unless otherwise required by law.

14. CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to make a privacy request, contact us at:

Email: support@certificateofservice.com 

Phone: (509) 348-2615

Mail: PO Box 4590, Pasco, WA 99302

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