PRIVACY POLICY STATEMENT

The California Department of General Services (“DGS”) recognizes the importance of safeguarding the personal information it collects and maintains from users of the DGS website and services. This Privacy Policy Statement (“Statement”) describes DGS’s personal information collection and management practices. DGS’s information management practices are governed by law, including the Information Practices Act (CA Civil Code § 1798 et seq.), Government Code §§ 11015.5 and 11019.9, and other applicable laws pertaining to information privacy.

DGS’s information management policies are as follows:

  • DGS collects personal information on individuals only as allowed by law. Personal information, as defined in the California 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, medical (including protected health information) or employment history.

  • DGS limits the collection of personal information to what is relevant and necessary to accomplish a lawful purpose of the department.

    • DGS does not collect home, business or email addresses, or account information from individuals who simply browse our internet website. DGS collects personal information about individuals through our website if an individual provides such information to DGS voluntarily through our online services.
    • DGS will not knowingly collect, use, or distribute personal information from children under the age of 13 without prior verifiable consent from a parent or guardian.

  • DGS informs individuals who provide personal information to DGS the purpose(s) for which the information is collected. At the time of collection, we tell individuals who provide personal information about the specific uses for which we will use that information. A privacy notice is also provided on or with the form used to collect personal information.

  • Personal information is not disclosed, made available, or otherwise used for purposes other than those specified, except with the user’s consent, or as authorized by law or regulation.

    • DGS may share your personal information and other data with contracted service providers and other state and/or local agencies who support or oversee DGS programs, or where the transfer is necessary for the transferee-agency to perform its Constitutional or statutory duties and the use is compatible with a purpose for which the information was collected, and the use or transfer is accounted for in accordance with CA Civil Code § 1798.25. DGS may also share personal information about individuals with other government agencies for general law enforcement purposes.

  • Automatically Collected Electronic Information. The information that DGS may automatically collect includes the internet protocol (IP) address of the user’s machine used to access our website, browser type, date, time, and duration of site visit. This information is collected for customer service and audit purposes, which include improvement of our website.

  • DGS may use session cookies in some areas of our website to improve the site’s overall usability. Cookies are small text files placed on your web browser to provide a way of distinguishing among users of our website. To better serve you, we use “session cookies” to enhance or customize your visit to DGS websites.

    • DGS may place a temporary cookie on your computer for applications such as online forms that can be sent electronically 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 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. 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 outweighs your privacy concerns.

    • DGS does not distribute or sell any electronically collected personal information about users to any third party without the user’s written consent.

    • Electronically collected personal information is exempt from requests made under the Public Records Act.

    • You have the right to have any electronically collected personal information deleted by DGS without reuse or distribution. Please see “Contact Us” below to request deletion of your electronically collected personal information.

    • DGS uses Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors engage with our website. Google Analytics mainly uses first-party cookies to report on these visitor interactions. To learn how Google Analytics collects and processes data, please visit the site "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use their services” located at www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/

    • DGS uses Sitecore Experience Analytics to gather information about how visitors engage with our website, allowing us to improve your experience. This data may include page views, clicks, and navigation patterns. Users can choose not to be tracked by Sitecore Analytics by controlling cookies and other technologies in your browser settings.

  • DGS uses information security safeguards. DGS has implemented and maintains administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect personal information against loss, unauthorized access, illegal use, modification, or disclosure. Personal information is encrypted during transmission through DGS's information systems and websites. DGS staff are trained on procedures for the management of personal information, including limitations on the release of information. Access to personal information is limited to those whose work requires such access. Confidential information is maintained and destroyed according to DGS's records retention schedule.

    DGS encourages all individuals to use appropriate safeguards to secure their computers and the information on those computers.

  • Your access rights. You have the right to review records containing the information that you provided to DGS and to request corrections of any inaccuracies in your records.

  • Third-Party Sites. DGS’s privacy and security policies do not apply to third-party websites that may be accessible through links on our website. Please review the privacy policies and terms of use of these third-party sites. DGS does not control and is not responsible for the operation, content, privacy policies or the security of such linked sites.

  • Contact us. To request access to or request corrections to any inaccuracies in your personal information please contact the DGS office or program that you transacted with. To provide comments, request deletions, or file complaints related to privacy or personal information access requests, please contact the DGS Privacy Office at 707 Third Street, West Sacramento, CA 95605, or email us at DGSPrivacyOffice@dgs.ca.gov.

Effective: March 1, 2025

Last reviewed/revised: February 1, 2025