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