Source: http://www.dmhc.ca.gov/AbouttheDMHC/PrivacyPolicy.aspx
Timestamp: 2019-08-26 00:13:29
Document Index: 485979906

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 11015', '§1798', '§6250', '§ 11015', '§502', '§ 11015', '§ 11015']

Thank you for visiting the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) website and reviewing our Privacy Policy & Conditions of Use. The Department wants you to know about the collection, use, security, and access to information that may be obtained through use of the Department's website. By visiting this website, you are accepting the policies and practices described in this Privacy Policy. This notice covers the following topics:
Information Automatically Collected and How it is Used
What Happens to Information You Submit to the Department
Prohibition Against Distribution or Selling Personal Information
Please note that this Privacy Policy is subject to change without notice, and that it reflects the Department's current business practices. This policy is dated April 11, 2016.
For purposes of this Privacy Policy "Personal Information" includes "Electronically collected personal information" defined by Government Code § 11015.5 as "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 and information that reveals any network location or identity, but excludes any information manually submitted to a state agency 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." Additionally, "Electronically collected personal information" the Department automatically collects may include 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 (e.g. completing a request for assistance, personalizing the content of the website, sending an e-mail or participating in a survey) more detailed data may 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 website.
If a third party, organization or a different state agency provides the personal information on your behalf, the Department will maintain a record of who provided that information.
For purposes of this Privacy Policy, your "Personal Information" will refer to both "electronically collected personal information" defined above and the information you voluntarily provide in requests for assistance, completing surveys, etc.
The collection, retention, and use of Personal Information collected on the website or volunteered by a user as well as management policies, practices and procedures implemented by the Department are governed by federal and state law; including the California Information Practices Act of 1977 (Civil Code §1798 et seq.), the Public Records Act (Government Code §§6250 et seq.), Government Code Section 11015.5 and 11019.9, and the federal Privacy Act of 1974. See Public Disclosure below for more information.
Electronically collected personal information is stored for one year from completion of use.
The Department collects Personal Information directly from individuals who voluntarily use our services. Collection of this information is required to deliver specific services, but use of these services is voluntary.
If you do nothing during your visit to the Department's website, 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 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 website statistics. The information we automatically collect and store in our logs about your visit helps us to analyze our website to continually improve the value of the materials available. Our website logs do not identify a visitor by Personal Information, and we make no attempt to link other websites with the individuals that browse the Department's website.
If during your visit to the Department's website you participate in a survey or send an e-mail, the following additional information will be collected:
This information is retained for five years from the date the matter is closed.
You may choose to provide the Department with Personal Information. The Department uses the information to improve our service to you and/or to respond to your request. Sometimes the Department forwards your e-mail to other State employees who may be better able to help you, and this staff may be employed by a different agency within the State. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations or as required by law, we do not share your e-mail with any organizations outside of the State.
What Happens to Information You Submit to the Department?
If you choose to submit information to the Department the information will be transmitted through secure lines to our departmental database. Personal Information will only be used for the purposes for which it was provided and will not be disclosed, made available, or otherwise used for purposes other than those specified at the time of collection or as prescribed by law. The Department collects Personal Information relevant and necessary to specific purposes which are identified in a privacy notice at or before the information is collected from you. A privacy notice will be included on or with any initial form used to collect Personal Information.
Electronically collected personal information provided in the form of consumer complaints and electronic inquiries will be retained for 5 years from when the matter is closed.
Personally identifying information you provide to us for the purpose of obtaining department assistance with a complaint will be shared only with entities involved in your complaint, except as otherwise required by law or allowed under this Privacy Policy. 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 an enforcement action or consumer complaint case for a period of time after the closing date of the case. Information that is used for statistical, trending, and/or investigative actions will not be personally identifiable.
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, except as required to investigate possible violations of Penal Code §502 or as authorized under the Information Practices Act of 1977.The State 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.
The Department may provide or distribute certain lists and statistical reports of regulatory information as provided by law, but no personally identifiable information is sold or distributed and all relevant legal protections still apply to the Department's website.
Nothing in this Policy shall be construed to prohibit the Department from distributing electronically collected Personal Information to another state agency or to a public law enforcement organization in any case where the security of a network operated by a state agency and exposed directly to the Internet has been, or is suspected of having been, breached.
Personal Information will not be disclosed, made available, or otherwise used for purposes other than those specified at the time of collection, except with your consent, or as authorized by law.
In California, laws exist to ensure that government is open and the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records. These exceptions serve various needs including maintaining the privacy of individuals. Both state and federal laws provide exceptions.
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. Pursuant to Government Code § 11015.5 (a)(7), Electronically Collected Personal Information (defined above) is exempt from requests made pursuant to the California Public Records Act. Information you manually submit, such as a public comment to a regulatory proposal, is a public record and may be subject to disclosure unless it qualifies for an exemption under state and/or federal law.
In the event of a conflict between this Privacy 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.
You have the right to access your Personal Information maintained by the Department. If there are any inaccuracies in your information, you may request that your records be corrected. To request access to your Personal Information or request an inaccuracy be corrected contact the DMHC Privacy Coordinator.
Under Government Code § 11015.5, if you choose, you may have any Personal Information collected about you deleted without reuse or distribution, provided that the DMHC Privacy Coordinator is contacted in a timely fashion after notice is given to the user.
Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your web browser. The main Department portal does not use cookies to maintain personalization, however some Departmental applications may.
The Department makes every attempt to avoid the use of cookies. When needed to maintain the functionality of an application, unlike the common usage of cookies, the Department only uses cookies during the session in which you access our interactive applications.
Cookies created on your computer by using this website do not contain "Personal Information" and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature only to store a randomly generated identifying temporary tag on your computer. When cookies are created, they are deleted automatically when you close your browser.
You have the right to have any Electronically Collected Personal Information deleted by us, without reuse or distribution. Contact the DMHC Privacy Coordinator for more information about submitting a request to have your information deleted. You can also refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer by using any of the widely available methods. If you turn your cookie option off you may not be able to access some of the features in our interactive applications.
The Department, as developer and manager of this website, has taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of its telecommunications and computing infrastructure to protect your Personal Information against loss, unauthorized access, use modification or disclosure; 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 Department 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 the Department's supported website. The technical standards governing security are enforced by the State's Department of Information Technology.
Unauthorized access of the department’s computer network is strictly prohibited and is punishable under California Penal Code Section 502. All network activity is the property of the State, and users shall have no reasonable expectation of privacy when using these resources. The Department reserves the right to monitor and log network activity including e-mail and internet use in accordance with departmental policies. By accessing this system, you are consenting to such monitoring and information retrieval for law enforcement and other purposes.
The Department website has links to sites that might be useful to you and which may provide services. When you link to another site, you are no longer on the Department site and are subject to the privacy policy of the new site.
These links are provided for your convenience only. The Department and the State of California are not responsible for the availability of external websites, do not endorse or accept responsibility for the content of external websites, and have no responsibility for or control over the privacy policy of the operators of external websites.
This website and the information it contains are provided as a public service by the Department. 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.
The Department attempts to maintain the highest accuracy of content on its website. Any errors or omissions should be reported to the Privacy Coordinator for investigation.
The Department makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the absolute accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this website and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this website. 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 website or its hyperlinks to other Internet resources. Reference in this website 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 the Department, the State of California, or their employees or agents.
In general, information presented on this website, unless otherwise indicated, is considered in the public domain. It may be distributed or copied as permitted by law. However, the Department does make use of copyrighted data (e.g., photographs) that may require additional permissions prior to your use. Furthermore, the unique branding of the site and various official seals and marks may not be used without permission of the Department. In order to use any information on this website not owned or created by the Department you must seek permission directly from the owning (or holding) sources. The Department shall have the unlimited right to use for any purpose, free of any charge, all information submitted via this site except those submissions made under separate legal contract. The Department shall be free to use, for any purpose, any ideas, concepts, or techniques contained in information provided through this site.
Questions, comments or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy or requests for Personal Information access and corrections should be directed to:
DMHC Privacy Coordinator
Mail: Office of Legal Services
Phone: (916) 322-6727
Email: Privacy Coordinator