California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Privacy Policy

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is committed to promoting and protecting the privacy rights of individuals under state and federal law.

• Cal OES may collect personal information on individuals only as allowed by law. We limit the collection of personal information to what is relevant and necessary to accomplish the lawful purpose of the organization. Personal information, as defined in the Information Practices Act (Civil Code section 1798 et seq.), is information that identifies or describes an individual including, but not limited to, name, Social Security number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, education, financial matters, and medical or employment history. 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.
• Cal OES strives to inform those who provide personal information the purpose for which the information is collected. At the time of collection, we endeavor to inform persons who are asked to provide personal information about the general uses that we will make of that information.
• Cal OES informs individuals who provide personal information about their opportunity to review that information. Cal OES allows individuals who provide personal information to review the information and contest its accuracy or completeness.Any information you provide to us will only be shared with entities as necessary. Information you provide may be included with other consumers' information to be used for statistical reporting, trending data, and/or investigative actions. If you provide Cal OES with information regarding an issue that does not fall within our regulatory jurisdiction, Cal OES may refer your information to the appropriate local, state, or federal agency on your behalf.
• Cal OES does not collect home, business or e-mail addresses, or account information from persons who simply browse our Internet Website. The information that Cal OES automatically collects includes the domain name or Internet Protocol address that relates to the machine used to access the Cal OES Website, the type of browser and operating system used, the date and time when the Website is visited, and Web pages displayed. This data is referred to as electronically collected personal information.The information that Cal OES collects or stores is used to improve the content of the Cal OES Website and to help Cal OES understand how individuals are using Cal OES services. This information does not identify you personally and is used for gathering Website statistics. The information that Cal OES collects and stores in its logs about your visit helps to analyze the Cal OES Website to continually improve the value of the materials available. The Cal OES Website logs do not identify a visitor by personal information, and Cal OES makes no attempt to link other Websites with individuals that browse the Cal OES Website. Electronically-collected personal information is exempt from requests made under the California Public Records Act.
• Cal OES may use session cookies in some areas of this Website to improve the overall usability of the site. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer, often without your knowledge, while visiting certain sites on the Internet used to identify your computer. For example, cookies are used by some sites to greet you personally, to post a list of your favorite books to purchase, or to remember what you had in your shopping basket the last time you visited.On this Website, a temporary cookie may be placed on your computer for applications such as online complaint forms or court-appointed conservator registration forms which can be sent electronically. The session cookies are used to facilitate the interaction between you and the fields in the form. The cookies are not used to collect or store information about you and do not track you if you return to our Website. The cookie is temporary and will be deleted when you exit your browser.You can prevent cookies from being placed on your computer by accessing your browser's preferences menu and deleting existing cookies. There also are commercial programs available to help you manage cookies. Before taking such steps, you should be aware that some Websites may not work properly if you choose to block the placement of cookies on your computer. You will need to decide whether enabling cookies outweigh privacy concerns.
• Cal OES will not distribute or sell any electronically collected personal information, as defined above, about users to any third party without the permission of the user. Cal OES does not sell any "electronically-collected personal information." Any distribution of "electronically-collected personal information" will be solely for the purposes for which it was provided to us.
• Cal OES only uses or discloses personal information for the specified purposes, or purposes consistent with those purposes, unless we get the consent of the subject of the information, or unless required by law or regulation. The Public Records Act exists to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to have access to appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions in both state and federal law to the public's right to access public records. These exceptions serve various needs including maintaining the privacy of individuals. In the event of a conflict between this Policy and the Public Records Act, the Information Practices Act, or other law governing the disclosure of records, the applicable law will control.
• Cal OES uses information security safeguards. We take reasonable precautions to protect the personal information collected or maintained by our organization against loss, unauthorized access, and illegal use or disclosure. Cal OES uses encryption software to protect the security of individuals' personal information during transmission of such information through our Website. Such personal information is stored by our organization in secure locations. Cal OES personnel are trained on procedures for the management of personal information, including limitations on the release of information. Access to personal information is limited to those members whose work requires such access. Confidential information is destroyed according to Cal OES’ records retention schedule. Cal OES conducts periodic reviews to ensure that proper information management policies and procedures are understood and followed.Cal OES encourages all individuals to use appropriate safeguards to secure their computers and the information on those computers.

Please note that our Privacy Policy reflects Cal OES’ current business practices and may be subject to change without notice. If you have questions or would like additional information regarding the Cal OES privacy policy, you may contact our Privacy Program Coordinator.

Postal Mail

California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
Attention: Privacy Program Coordinator
2650 Schriever Avenue
Mather, CA 95655