The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is committed to promoting and protecting the privacy rights of individuals, as enumerated in Article 1 of the California Constitution, the Information Practices Act of 1977, and other state and federal laws.  

It is the policy of CAL FIRE to limit the collection and safeguard the privacy of personal information collected or maintained by CAL FIRE. CAL FIRE’s information management practices conform to the requirements of the Information Practices Act (Civil Code Section 1798 et seq.), the Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.), Government Code Sections 11015.5 and 11019.9, and other applicable laws pertaining to information privacy.  

CAL FIRE adheres to the following principles in connection with the collection and management of personal information:  

• CAL FIRE collects personal information of individuals only as allowed by law. CAL FIRE limits the collection of personal information to what is relevant and necessary to accomplish a lawful purpose of CAL FIRE, as defined in Government Code Section 11549.5. For example, CAL FIRE may need to know an individual’s home address, email address, or telephone number in order to answer their questions or to provide requested assistance. Personal information, as defined in the Information Practices Act, includes information that identifies or describes an individual, including their name, Social Security Number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, education, financial matters, and medical or employment history.  
• CAL FIRE does not collect home, business, or email addresses, or account information from persons who simply browse CAL FIRE’s websites. The information that CAL FIRE automatically collects includes the domain name or Internet Protocol address that relates to the machine used to access CAL FIRE’s websites, the type of browser and operating system used, the date and time when CAL FIRE’s website is visited, web pages displayed, and any forms that are uploaded. Cookies are simple text files stored on a computer by a web browser. CAL FIRE does not use cookies to collect or store personal information. CAL FIRE collects personal information about individuals through CAL FIRE’s website only if an individual provides such information to CAL FIRE voluntarily through email, registration forms, or surveys.  
• CAL FIRE endeavors in each instance to inform people who provide personal information to CAL FIRE of the purpose for which the information is collected. CAL FIRE strives to tell persons, who are asked to provide personal information, about the general uses that the Office will make of that information. CAL FIRE does this at the time of collection. With each request for personal information, CAL FIRE provides information on the authority under which the request is made, the principal uses CAL FIRE intends to make of the information and the possible disclosures CAL FIRE is obligated to make to other government agencies and to the public. See the notice on Information Collection, Use, and Access on our Contact Form.  
• CAL FIRE provides people who provide personal information with an opportunity to review that information and contest its accuracy or completeness.  
• CAL FIRE uses personal information only for the specified purposes, or purposes consistent with those purposes, unless CAL FIRE obtains the consent of the subject of the information, or unless required or allowed by law or regulation. The Public Records Act exists to ensure that California government is open, and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by many State and local government agencies. At the same time, there are exceptions to the laws that recognize the public’s right to access public records. These exceptions serve various needs, including maintaining the privacy of individuals. In the event of a conflict between this Policy and the Public Records Act, the Information Practices Act or other law governing the disclosure of records, the applicable law will control.  
• Personal data collected through the short code/SMS program won’t be shared, sold or rented to unaffiliated or affiliated third parties for their own marketing purposes.
• CAL FIRE uses information security safeguards. Regarding the personal information of individuals collected or maintained by CAL FIRE, CAL FIRE takes reasonable precautions to protect such information against loss, unauthorized access, and illegal use or disclosure. CAL FIRE uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption software to protect the security of individuals’ personal information during transmission of such information through CAL FIRE’s websites. Such personal information is stored by CAL FIRE in secure locations. CAL FIRE’s staff is trained on procedures for the management of personal information, including limitations on the release of information. Access to personal information is limited to those members of CAL FIRE’s staff whose work requires such access. Confidential information is destroyed according to CAL FIRE’s records retention schedule. CAL FIRE conducts periodic reviews to ensure that proper information management policies and procedures are understood and followed.  

In general, CAL FIRE encourages all individuals to use appropriate safeguards to secure their computers and the information on those computers.  

CAL FIRE will provide additional explanations of this privacy policy, if requested. If any individuals have any further questions about CAL FIRE’s privacy policy, they are encouraged to contact CAL FIRE’s Privacy Protection Office.