CPUC Privacy Policy

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is committed to promoting and protecting the privacy rights of individuals as enumerated in Article 1 of the California Constitution, the Information Practices Act of 1977, and other state and federal laws.

It is the policy of CPUC to limit the collection of personal information and to safeguard the privacy of personal information collected or maintained by the CPUC. The information management practices of CPUC are governed by the requirements of the Information Practices Act (Civil Code section 1798 et seq.), the Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.), Government Code Sections 11015.5 and 11019.9 and other applicable laws pertaining to information privacy.

CPUC follows these principles in collecting and managing personal information:

CPUC collects personal information on individuals only as allowed by law. CPUC limits the collection of personal information to what is relevant and necessary to accomplish the lawful purpose of the CPUC. Personal information, as defined in the Information Practices Act, 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.

CPUC does not collect home, business or e-mail addresses, or account information from persons who simply browse our Internet website. The information that the CPUC automatically collects includes the domain name or Internet Protocol address that relates to the machine used to access the Department 's website, the type of browser and operating system used, the date and time when the website is visited, web pages displayed, and any forms that are uploaded. Such electronically collected information is exempt from requests made under the Public Records Act.

CPUC 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, 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 certain applications such as online complaint 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.

CPUC strives in each instance to tell people who provide personal information to CPUC the purpose for which the information is collected. At the time of collection, we also strive to tell persons who are asked to provide personal information about the general uses that we will make of that information. At the time of collection, CPUC will provide information on the authority under which the request is made, the principal uses CPUC makes of the information and the possible disclosures CPUC is obligated to make to other government agencies and to the public.

CPUC tells people who provide personal information about their opportunity to review that information. CPUC allows individuals who provide personal information to review the information and contest its accuracy or completeness.

CPUC uses personal information only for the specified purposes, or purposes consistent with those purposes, unless CPUC gets the consent of the subject of the information, or unless authorized by law or regulation. In addition, 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.

CPUC uses information security safeguards. CPUC takes reasonable precautions to protect the personal information on individuals collected or maintained by the CPUC against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification, or disclosure. CPUC has security measures in place to protect against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure of the information under its control. Information that is physically located within the CPUC is protected by various security measures which may include the following: On our Web sites, CPUC uses encryption software to protect the security of individuals’ personal information during transmission of such information throughout CPUC websites. Personal information is stored in secure locations. Our staff is trained on procedures for the management and release of personal information, and access to personal information is limited to those staff whose work requires it. Confidential information is destroyed according to the CPUC records retention schedule. CPUC conducts periodic audits to ensure that proper information management policies and procedures are being followed.

This policy is effective December 24, 2015. Please note that our Privacy Policy reflects CPUC current business practices and changes will be reflected on the website.

CPUC will provide additional information on our privacy policy if requested. If you have further questions, comments, or complaints about the CPUC privacy policy or policy compliance, you may contact us at:

California Public Utilities Commission
ATTN: Privacy Officer
505 Van Ness
San Francisco, CA 94102
 

See also "Conditions of use" for further information on how CPUC adheres to the Privacy Policies set out by the State of California.