Lake Union Escrow Privacy Policy
Effective as of October 7, 20261. Introduction
Lake Union Escrow Inc. ("Lake Union Escrow," "we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal and financial information entrusted to us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through our website located at www.lakeunionescrow.com (the "Site") and in connection with the escrow services we provide, how we use and share that information, and the choices available to you. By using the Site or engaging our escrow services, you acknowledge the practices described in this Policy.
2. Information We Collect
Information you provide directly:
Contact and Inquiry Information: Submitted through our website forms, such as your name, email address, phone number, and the content of your message.
Escrow & Transaction Information: Provided when you engage us as an escrow agent for a real estate or other transaction. This may include your name, mailing address, Social Security number or tax identification number, date of birth, bank account and wire transfer information, property information, purchase and sale agreements, loan documents, identification documents, and other nonpublic personal information necessary to open, administer, and close an escrow.
Secure Portal Submissions: Submitted through any secure document upload or e-signature portal we make available for a transaction.
Information collected automatically:
Technical & Usage Information: Standard technical information collected when you visit the Site — such as IP address, browser type, operating system, device information, pages viewed, and referring URLs — collected through required website cookies, system logs, and platform functionality (see Section 6, "Website Hosting, Cookies, and Analytics").
3. Nonpublic Personal Information & the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
As a licensed escrow agent, Lake Union Escrow is considered a "financial institution" under the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and its implementing regulation, Regulation P. In that capacity, we provide the following disclosures regarding the nonpublic personal information ("NPI") we collect about our escrow clients:
Categories of NPI We Collect: Information from applications or transaction documents (e.g., name, address, Social Security number, income, and asset information); information about your transactions with us or others (e.g., account balances, payment history, wire instructions); and information from consumer reporting agencies, where applicable.
Categories of NPI We Disclose, and to Whom: In the ordinary course of administering an escrow, we may share NPI with title insurance companies, real estate brokers and agents involved in your transaction, lenders, attorneys, homeowners' or condominium associations, taxing authorities, and other parties reasonably necessary to complete the transaction, as well as with service providers who perform functions on our behalf (e.g., document processing, wire verification, IT support). We may also disclose NPI as required or permitted by law, such as in response to a subpoena, to prevent fraud, or to regulators overseeing escrow agents.
No Marketing Sharing / No Opt-Out Required: We do not sell your NPI, and we do not share it with unaffiliated third parties for their own independent marketing purposes. Because we do not share NPI for third-party marketing purposes, no opt-out is required under GLBA for that type of sharing. If our practices change, we will provide a revised notice describing any applicable opt-out rights.
Confidentiality and Security: We restrict access to NPI to employees and service providers who need it to provide services to you, and we maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards designed to protect your information, consistent with our obligations under Washington's escrow agent regulations and applicable law.
4. How We Use Information
We use the information we collect for the following business and operational purposes:
To respond to inquiries submitted through the Site and to communicate with prospective and current clients.
To open, administer, and close escrow transactions, including preparing settlement statements, disbursing funds, and recording documents.
To comply with recordkeeping, reporting, and other legal obligations under Washington's Escrow Agent Registration Act (RCW 18.44) and related regulations.
To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, including wire fraud, and to protect the security of client funds.
To maintain, secure, and ensure the proper functioning of the Site.
5. How We Share Information
In addition to the transaction-related sharing described in Section 3, we may share information with:
Service Providers: Third parties who perform functions on our behalf (e.g., website hosting, IT maintenance, secure cloud storage, and security providers) under strict confidentiality obligations.
Legal & Regulatory Authorities: Regulators, government agencies, or as required by subpoena, court order, or applicable law.
Business Transfers: A successor entity in the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of some or all of our assets.
With Your Consent: Other parties, with your explicit consent or at your direct instruction.
6. Website Hosting, Cookies, and Analytics
Our Site is hosted on the Squarespace website platform. Squarespace uses functional and required cookies to allow the Site to run securely and function properly. Additionally, our Site uses basic first-party analytics tools provided by Squarespace [or list specific tools in use here, e.g., Google Analytics, if applicable] to gather standard, non-identifiable web traffic information (such as browser type, general geographic location, pages viewed, and referring URLs) to help us understand how visitors interact with the Site.
We do not use third-party advertising cookies, retargeting pixels, or online tracking tools for behavioral marketing purposes. You can manage or block cookies directly through your web browser settings, though disabling functional cookies may impact the performance of certain features on the Site. We do not currently alter our Site's response upon recognizing browser "Do Not Track" signals, except as required by law.
7. Wire Transfer & Funds Disbursement Security Notice
CRITICAL FRAUD PREVENTION & VOICE VERIFICATION PROTOCOL
Wire fraud targeting real estate and escrow transactions is a serious and growing risk. Lake Union Escrow will NEVER change previously provided wire transfer or bank account instructions by email alone.
If you receive an email that appears to be from us requesting that you send funds to a new or different account, DO NOT ACT ON IT. Immediately call our office directly at 206-447-9997 using a phone number you have independently verified (not a number provided in the suspicious email) before transferring any funds.
Lake Union Escrow disclaims liability for wire transactions or funds disbursements executed pursuant to fraudulent instructions that were not verified directly with our office via our established voice-verification protocol prior to sending funds.
8. Data Retention
We retain escrow client and transaction records for the required statutory retention period set forth under Washington's escrow agent regulations (RCW 18.44) and applicable state and federal recordkeeping rules. General website inquiries and contact form submissions are retained for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill your request, resolve inquiries, and maintain our legitimate business and legal records.
9. Your Choices & State Privacy Rights
You may decline to submit personal information through our website forms, though this may limit our ability to respond to your inquiry or provide requested information. Depending on your state of residence, you may have rights regarding nonpublic personal information collected outside GLBA exemptions, such as requesting access to, correction of, or deletion of personal contact information collected via the Site. To submit a verifiable privacy inquiry or exercise applicable choices, please contact us using the information in Section 13.
10. Children's Privacy
The Site is intended for general adult audiences and is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or under 16). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children online.
11. Third-Party Links
The Site may contain links to third-party websites or services (such as client utility pages, municipal tax authorities, or real estate databases). We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of those external sites, and we encourage you to review their respective privacy policies.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business practices, website operations, or legal obligations. The "Effective Date" at the top of this Policy indicates when it was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
13. Contact Us
Questions or inquiries regarding this Privacy Policy or our data privacy practices should be directed to info@lakeunionescrow.com