Your privacy matters. 

Our approach to Digital privacy

San José’s Digital Privacy Policy is built around seven guiding principles. These principles ensure that every department follows best practices for handling data, and that our residents understand how their information is used. The City's Privacy Manual guides implementation of the policy. Both the policy and the manual are rooted in the City's Privacy Principles:

Provide notice when data is collected: The City will strive to provide citizens with detail on what data is being collected, why its being collected, and how it will be used. In some circumstances the City may not provide notice before collection, such as in an emergency (e.g., during a 911 phone call).

Practice defined retention periods: The City will define how long it keeps your data, and will delete or anonymize your information following the retention period. How long we keep your data is defined in our City data retention schedule and state policy, but in general we keep most records for at least 2 years.   

Minimize personal information collected: The City will strive to provide its services and maintain operations while collecting and retaining as little personal information as possible.  We are constantly working to provide better services while storing less personal information for less time.

Maintain accountability for data usage and security: The City will maintain publicly accessible documents detailing how we are following our Digital Privacy Policy. If any information under our control is compromised, the City will take reasonable steps to investigate and notify individuals who may have been impacted.

Promote accuracy in our data and models: The City will make every reasonable effort to 1) ensure we have accurate data; 2) maintain accurate predictive and automated models with limited bias; and 3) provide the public with details on the models we use and how to raise concerns with the City. City departments may use predictive or automated systems to inform decisions, but they must provide some level of human input and oversight before making any decisions.

Ensure responsible data sharing: The City will only share data with trusted partners as needed to provide government services and maintain operations. The City will apply the same expectations of privacy to its vendors as it does itself, including following our Digital Privacy Policy.

Advance equity through data driven decisions: The City will work so that the data collected on our communities will serve to improve those communities. We strive to mitigate, if not eliminate biases in the data and models we use.  

Putting PRIVACY INTO PRACTICE

The Digital Privacy Manual is the City's guide for collecting, sharing, and using data responsibly. City partners should refer to the Privacy and Disclosure Policy for requirements and best practices. 

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SAN JOSÉ'S DIGITAL PRIVACY?

San José maintains a citywide commitment to privacy through three dedicated teams: 

Outreach Schedule

No public outreach scheduled at this time. If your organization or neighborhood association would like to discuss how the City protects resident privacy, contact digitalprivacy@sanjoseca.gov. 

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