Please
note that this Use Policy is subject to change without
notice, and that it reflects the State Water Board's
current business practices. This policy is dated May
9, 2001.
Also
note that each department within the State may have
additional privacy and use policies specific to the
mission and needs of their work. Be sure to review
those policies as you access additional sites within
the State.
PERSONAL
INFORMATION AND CHOICE
"Personal information" is information about a natural
person that identifies or describes an individual,
including, but not limited to, his or her name, social
security number, physical description, home address,
home telephone number, education, financial matters,
and medical or employment history, readily identifiable
to that specific individual. A domain name or Internet
Protocol address is not considered personal information,
however, it is considered "electronically collected
personal information".
According
to Government Code § 11015.5, "Electronically
collected personal information" means any information
that is maintained by an agency that identifies or
describes an individual user, including, but not limited
to, his or her name, social security number, physical
description, home address, home telephone number,
education, financial matters, medical or employment
history, password, electronic mail address, and information
that reveals any network location or identity, but
excludes any information manually submitted to a state
agency by a user, whether electronically or in written
form, and information on or relating to individuals
who are users, serving in a business capacity, including,
but not limited to, business owners, officers, or
principals of that business.
If
any type of personal information is requested on the
web site or volunteered by the user, state law, including
Information Practices Act of 1977, Government Code
Section 11015.5, and the federal Privacy Act of 1974
may protect it. However, this information may be a
public record once you provide it, and may be subject
to public inspection and copying if not otherwise
protected by federal or state law.
Additionally,
departments and agencies of the State of California
are required to adhere to the Privacy Policy which
is also accessible on this web site. Please see
Department of General Services Management
Memo 00-14, effective January 1, 2001.
A
SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT CHILDREN
Children are not eligible to use services that require
submission of personal information and we require
that minors (under the age of 18) do not submit any
personal information to us. This includes submitting
personal information to the State Water Board as part
of a user profile or personalization profile. If you
are a minor, you can use these services only if used
together with your parents or guardians. If you are
a minor you should seek guidance from your parents.
If
the State Water Board decides to begin collecting
personal information from children, it will notify
parents that it is being requested, disclose the reasons
for collecting it, and disclose our intended use for
it. The State Water Board will seek parental consent
before collecting any personally identifiable information.
If it does collect it, parents may request information
on the type of data being collected, view their child's
information and, if they choose, prohibit the state
from making further use of their child's information.
The state will not provide personal information about
children to third parties.
INFORMATION
COLLECTION POLICY
Government
Code § 11015.5 (6) prohibits all state agencies
from distributing or selling any electronically collected
personal information about users to any third
party without the permission of the user.
WHAT
HAPPENS TO INFORMATION YOU SUBMIT TO US?
If you choose to submit information to us the information
will be transmitted through secure lines to our departmental
database. Any private information will only be used
for the purposes for which it was provided and will
not be shared with another entity except as prescribed
by law. Please see our Privacy Policy for additional
information.
USE OF INTERNET TO REQUEST ASSISTANCE
OR INFORMATION
Any information you provide to us will only be shared
with entities involved in your case as necessary.
Information you provide may be included with other
consumers' information to be used for statistical
reporting, trending data, and/or investigative actions.
For example, we may need to retain information that
becomes part of an enforcement action or consumer
complaint case for a period of time after the closing
date of the case.
If
you provide us with information regarding an issue
that does not fall within our regulatory jurisdiction,
we may refer your information to the appropriate local,
state, or federal agency on your behalf.
SURVEYS
If
during your visit to the State Water Board's web site
you participate in a survey or send an e-mail, the
following additional information will be collected:
- The
e-mail address and contents of the e-mail; and
-
Information volunteered in response to the survey.
The
information collected is not limited to text characters
and may include audio, video, and graphic information
formats you send us.
The
information is retained in accordance with Government
Code § 11015.5.
IF
YOU SEND US E-MAIL
You may choose to provide us with personal information,
as in e-mail with a comment or question. We use the
information to improve our service to you or to respond
to your request. Sometimes we forward your e-mail
to other State employees who may be better able to
help you, and this staff may be employed by a different
agency within the State. Except for authorized law
enforcement investigations or as required by law,
we do not share our e-mail with any other organizations.
We
use your e-mail to respond appropriately. This may
be to respond to you, to address issues you identify,
to further improve our web site, or to forward the
e-mail to another agency for appropriate action.
ORDER FORMS
If you place an order with us, we request information
from the user on our order form. A user must provide
contact information (like name and shipping address)
and financial information (like credit card number,
expiration date]. This information is used for billing
purposes and to fill your order/request. If we have
trouble processing an order, this contact information
is used to get in touch with you.
PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
In the State of California, laws exist to ensure that
government is open and that the public has a right
to access appropriate records and information possessed
by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions
to the public's right to access public records. These
exceptions serve various needs including maintaining
the privacy of individuals. Both state and federal
laws provide exceptions.
All
information collected at this site becomes public
record that may be subject to inspection and copying
by the public, unless an exemption in law exists.
In the event of a conflict between this Use Policy
and the Public Records Act, the Information Practices
Act or other law governing the disclosure of records,
the Public Records Act, the Information Practices
Act or other applicable law will control.
PERSONAL
INFORMATION
Under Government Code § 11015.5, if you choose
you may have any personal information collected about
you discarded without reuse or distribution, provided
we are contacted in a timely fashion.
AUTOMATIC COLLECTION OF INFORMATION/COOKIES
Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer
by your web browser. The State Water Board web site
does not use cookies to maintain personalization,
however some departmental applications may.
The
State Water Board makes every attempt to avoid the
use of cookies. When needed to maintain the functionality
of an application, unlike the common usage of cookies,
the State only uses cookies during the session in
which you access our interactive applications.
Cookies
created on your computer by using this web site do
not contain "personal information" and do not compromise
your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature
only to store a randomly generated identifying temporary
tag on your computer. You can refuse the cookie or
delete the cookie file from your computer by using
any of the widely available methods. However, if you
turn your cookie option off you may not be able to
access some of the features in our interactive applications.
SECURITY
The State Water Board as developer and manager
of this web site, has taken several steps to safeguard
the integrity of its telecommunications and computing
infrastructure, including but not limited to authentication,
monitoring, auditing, and encryption. Security measures
have been integrated into the design, implementation
and day-to-day practices of the entire State operating
environment as part of its continuing commitment to
risk management. This information should not be construed
in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice,
or warranting as fail proof, the security of information
provided via the State Water Board's supported web
site. The technical standards governing security are
enforced by the Department of Information Technology.
LINKS
TO OTHER SITES
Our web site has links to sites we felt might be useful
to you and which may provide services. When you link
to another site, you are no longer on our site and
are subject to the privacy policy of the new site.
This
web site and the information it contains are provided
as a public service by the State of California. This
system is monitored to ensure proper operation, to
verify the functioning of applicable security features,
and for comparable purposes. Anyone using this system
expressly consents to such monitoring. Unauthorized
attempts to modify any information stored on this
system, to defeat or circumvent security features,
or to utilize this system for other than its intended
purposes are prohibited and may result in criminal
prosecution.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
The State attempts to maintain the highest accuracy
of content on its web site. Any errors, or omissions
should be reported for investigation.
The
State Water Board makes no claims, promises or guarantees
about the absolute accuracy, completeness, or adequacy
of the contents of this web site and expressly disclaims
liability for errors and omissions in the contents
of this web site. No warranty of any kind, implied,
expressed or statutory, including but not limited
to the warranties of non-infringement of third party
rights, title, merchantability, fitness for a particular
purpose and freedom from computer virus, is given
with respect to the contents of this web site or its
hyperlinks to other Internet resources. Reference
in this web site to any specific commercial products,
processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm
or corporation name is for the information and convenience
of the public, and does not constitute endorsement,
recommendation, or favoring by the State Water Board,
or its employees or agents.
This
Use Policy is subject to change without notice.
OWNERSHIP
In general, information presented on this web site,
unless otherwise indicated, is considered in the public
domain. It may be distributed or copied as permitted
by law. However, the State Water Board does make use
of copyrighted data (e.g., photographs) which may
require additional permissions prior to your use.
Furthermore, the unique branding of the site and various
official seals and marks may not be used without permission
of the State Water Board. In order to use any information
on this web site not owned or created by the State
Water Board you must seek permission directly from
the owning (or holding) sources. The State Water Board
shall have the unlimited right to use for any purpose,
free of any charge, all information submitted via
this site except those submissions made under separate
legal contract. The State Water Board shall be free
to use, for any purpose, any ideas, concepts, or techniques
contained in information provided through this site.
For
information pertaining to this Use Policy, please
contact the State Water Board webmaster.
