The purpose of this statement is to define the City of San
Jose’s policy with regards to the collection and use
of personally identifiable information (PII). PII is any information
relating to an identified or identifiable individual who is
the subject of the information.
The City of San Jose collects two kinds of customer information:
(1) anonymous; (2) personally identifiable information (PII).
Anonymous information: This type of information does not identify
specific individuals and is automatically transmitted by your
browser. This information consists of:
- The URL (Uniform Resource Locator or address) of the
web page you previously visited;
- The domain names and/or IP addresses which are numbers
that are automatically assigned to your computer whenever
you are connected to the Internet or World Wide Web.
- The browser version you are using to access the site.
This information is used to help improve the City’s Web
Site. None of the information can be linked to an individual.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
This type of information could include name, address, email
address, telephone number, credit/debit card information.
The City will make every reasonable effort to protect your
privacy. It restricts access to your personal identifiable
information to those employees who will respond to your request.
The City does not intentionally disclose any personal information
about our customers to any third parties or outside the City
except as required by law or by the consent of the person
providing the information.
The City only collects personally identifiable information that
is required to provide service. You can decline to provide
us with any personal information. However, if you should choose
to withhold requested information, the City may not be able
to provide you with the online services dependent upon the
collection of that information.
Access to Personally Identifiable Information
Access to personally identifiable information in public records
at local levels of government in San Jose is controlled primarily
by the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section
6250, et. seq.). Information that is generally available under
the Public Records Act may be posted for electronic access
through the City’s web site. While the Public Records
Act sets the general policies for access to City records,
other sections of the California code as well as federal laws
also deal with confidentiality issues.
Email addresses
Email addresses obtained through the City’s Web Site
will not be sold or given to other private companies for marketing
purposes. The information collected is subject to the access
and confidentiality provisions of the Public Records Act,
other applicable sections of the California code as well as
Federal laws. Email or other information requests sent to
the City Web Site may be maintained in order to respond to
the request, forward that request to the appropriate agency
within the City, communicate updates to the City page that
may be of interest to citizens, or to provide the City web
designer with valuable customer feedback to assist in improving
the site. Individuals can cancel any communications regarding
new service updates at any time.
Use of “Cookies”
Some City applications use “cookies”. A cookie
is a small data file that certain web sites write to your
hard drive when you visit them. A cookie file can contain
information such as a user id that the site uses to track
the pages you have visited. But the only personal information
a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A
cookie is only a test file and cannot read data off your hard
disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Cookies
can track user traffic patterns, recognize your computer’s
browser when you return, and could provide personalized content
without requiring sign-in.
You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser.
However, they may be required to use some of the web applications
on the City’s site.
Electronic Signatures and Payments
The City of San Jose is committed to data security and the
data quality of personally identifiable information that is
either available from or collected by our web site and has
taken reasonable precautions to protect such information from
loss, misuse, or alteration. When a City application accepts
credit cards or any other particularly sensitive information
for any of its services, it encrypts all ordering information,
such as your name and credit card number, in order to protect
its confidentiality.
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