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Thank you for visiting the Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy web site and reviewing our Use Policy. You should
also be aware that the State has a privacy policy, also available
on this web site. The State wants you know about the collection,
use, security, and access to information that may be obtained
through use of the State's web portal. By visiting this web
site, you are accepting the policies and practices described
in this Notice.
Please note that this Use Policy is subject
to change without notice, and that it reflects the State's
currently business practices. This policy is dated December
7, 2000.
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.
"Electronically collected personal information"
we automatically collect includes your domain name or Internet
Protocol address, and statistical information about which
web pages you visit. If you voluntarily participate in an
activity that asks for specific information (i.e. completing
a request for assistance, personalizing the content of the
web site, sending an e-mail or participating in a survey)
more detailed data will be collected. If you choose not to
participate in these activities, your choice will in no way
affect your ability to use any other feature of the web site.
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.
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
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 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 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 COLLECTED AND HOW IT
IS USED
We do collect personal information directly from individuals
who volunteer to use some of our services. Collection of this
information is required to deliver the specific services,
but use of these services is voluntary.
If you do nothing during your visit to the web site, but
browse or download information, we automatically collect and
store the following information about your visit:
- The Internet Protocol Address and domain
name used but not the e-mail address. The Internet Protocol
address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your
Internet service provider or directly to your computer.
We use the Internet Protocol Address to direct Internet
traffic to you and generate statistics used in the management
of this site;
- The type of browser and operating system
you used;
- The date and time you visited this site;
- The web pages or services you accessed
at this site;
- The web site you visited prior to coming
to this web site;
- The web site you visit as you leave this
web site;
- If you downloaded a form, the form that
was downloaded.
The information we automatically collect or store is used
to improve the content of our web services and to help us
understand how people are using our services. This information
does not identify you personally and is used for gathering
web site statistics. The information we automatically collect
and store in our logs about your visit helps us to analyze
our web site to continually improve the value of the materials
available. Our web site logs do not identify a visitor by
personal information, and we make no attempt to link other
web sites with the individuals that browse the State's web
site.
Government Code § 11015.5 (6) prohibits all state agencies
from distributing or selling any electronically collected
personal information as defined above, about users to any
third party without the permission of the user. The State
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.
The State may provide or distribute certain lists and statistical
reports of regulatory information as provided by law, but
no personal information is sold or distributed and all relevant
legal protections still apply to the State's web sites.
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 REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE
FORM 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'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 main State portal does not use cookies to
maintain personalization, however some departmental applications
may.
The State 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, 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'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 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 of California, or
their 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 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. In order to use any information on this web site not
owned or created by the State you must seek permission directly
from the owning (or holding) sources. The State 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 shall be free
to use, for any purpose, any ideas, concepts, or techniques
contained in information provided through this site.
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