Who we are

Suggested text: Our website address is: https://birg.law.

Receipt numbers are personal information

We collect USCIS receipt numbers from our clients and treat them as personally identifiable information (PII). A receipt number identifies a specific person's case with USCIS, so we protect it the same way we protect the rest of your file. We collect it when you give us your receipt notice or when USCIS issues one on a case we filed for you, and we keep it on your client record.

We use your receipt number for one purpose: to query USCIS for the current status of your case. The Case Status Tracker sends the receipt number to the USCIS Case Status API over an encrypted connection, receives the status, and records it on your file. It sends nothing else about you to USCIS, and it does not send your receipt number anywhere other than USCIS.

Receipt numbers and case statuses are stored in our case management system, Zoho CRM, which encrypts data in transit and at rest. Access requires an individual, password-protected login, is limited to the attorneys and staff who work on client files, and is removed when someone leaves the firm. The credentials we use to reach USCIS are held by the firm, never by individuals, and the firm laptops that run the tool are password protected and encrypted. We do not disclose receipt numbers to any third party without your consent, except to USCIS as described here or where the law requires it, and we review access to the system periodically. If we ever learn of unauthorized access to or disclosure of your receipt number, we will notify you as described under Security and breach notification below.

Comments

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An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

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Cookies

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If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select "Remember Me", your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

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These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

Suggested text: If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

How long we retain your data

Suggested text: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

Suggested text: If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where your data is sent

Suggested text: Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.