Acceptable Use Policy
Please note that this Use Policy is subject to change without
notice, and that it reflects the State's current business practices.
This Use policy is dated August 15, 2001
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 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 non-personal information" that 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, filling out a form) 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 the 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.
All Information submitted or collected by use of this web site is
considered to be publicly accessible information.
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 us 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 this site 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 of it. This
site 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 this site from making further
use of their child's information. This site 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;
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 this web site.
Government Code § 11015.5.(a)(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. This site 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 and as stated in this policy.
This site 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 this web site.
WHAT HAPPENS TO INFORMATION YOU SUBMIT TO US?
If you choose to submit information to us, the
information may or may not be transmitted through secure lines to our
departmental database. Your browser will notify you whether the information
submitted is secure or not. 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 or authorized by the owner of
the 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 a case for a period of time after
the closing date of the case.
SURVEYS
If during your visit to this 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 employees or third party
organizations we work with who may be better able to help you, and this
staff may be employed by a different agency or company. 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 and 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
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.
AUTOMATIC COLLECTION OF INFORMATION/COOKIES
Cookies are simple text files stored on your
computer by your web browser. Some pages on this site may make use of
cookies to provide you with personalized service on your return visits,
or for other reasons as may be necessary to provide a good web site
experience for you.
This site makes every attempt to avoid the use of cookies. When
needed to maintain the functionality of an application.
Cookies created on your computer by using this web site may contain
"personal information" but only if you submit that personal
information to this site through our forms. 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
This Site, 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 sites 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 this web site. However, because of the Public Nature of the
Internet, you should consider ANY AND ALL information submitted through,
or listed at this site to be publicly and freely accessible. This
site or it's owners make no representation or warranty to the contrary.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
Our web site has links to sites we feel 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
This site 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 this site or its 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 copyrighted.
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Family Law in California
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Be sure you
understand your rights. One of the biggest mistakes anyone can
make when going through divorce, or a custody dispute is to make
assumptions.
We were approached by a client a few years ago who
thought she was being represented by her spouses attorney. This caused
this client quite a bit of frustration when she finally contacted us
because she had taken her divorce proceedings into her own hands by not
having legal representation.
The good that came out of her situation was that we
were able to get her out of a messy situation, however it was no easy
chore.
Be sure you have legal representation on your side,
and remember, An attorney hired by a spouse is "NOT A
MEDIATOR" - An attorney cannot represent to opposing parties.
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