CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT WORLD-WIDE-WEB SITES, INCLUDING THIS SITE, WERE DEVELOPED TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION. DATA CONTAINED AT THIS LOCATION, ANY CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT SITE, OR AT ANY SITE LINKED FROM THIS OR ANY DISTRICT LOCATION, HAS NOT BEEN REVIEWED FOR ACCURACY OR LEGAL SUFFICIENCY. THE DOCUMENTS DISPLAYED ARE FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY. THE CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT MAKES NO WARRANTEE OR GUARANTEE CONCERNING THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF THE MATERIALS AT THIS SITE OR AT OTHER SITES TO WHICH THIS WEB SITE LINKS. LINKS OR REFERENCES TO OTHER INFORMATION OR ORGANIZATIONS DO NOT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT.
The CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT ("District") takes your privacy seriously. The District's Terms of Use & Privacy Policy ("Policy") addresses collection, use and security of and access to information that may be obtained through use of the District website. The information in this Policy may change at any time, without prior notice to any visitor.** This Policy does not describe information collection policies on other sites, including those linked to or from the District website.
This Policy covers the following topics:
** This Policy includes and incorporates by reference the Supplemental Terms & Conditions found at the end of the Policy.
Information collected if you only browse this site.
If you do nothing during your visit to our web site but browse, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit. In order to improve the content and usability of this website, information is collected for statistical purposes. The District's web site uses software programs to create summary statistics, which are used for such purposes as assessing what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas. For site security purposes and to ensure that this site remains available to all users, the District's site employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations and the security purposes mentioned elsewhere in this notice, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with California public records retention schedules. The information automatically gathered does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:
Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this site are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the state and federal statutes including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.
What we collect if you volunteer information.
If during your visit to our web site you subscribe to notifications, participate in a survey, send an email, perform some other transaction online or by electing to personalize centralbasin.org and use it as a customized portal, the following additional information may include but is not limited to:
The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us.
We use your email address to respond to you. Survey information is used for the purpose identified by the survey. Information from other online forms is used for conducting District business related to the online form.
Information provided for a transaction is used only for the purpose of completing and recording the transaction. Information requested will be no more specific than if a visitor were engaging in the transaction by other means, including by telephone or in-person while visiting a District facility. In all cases, the District strives to collect the minimum information necessary to comply with applicable law or provide the service requested.
The District does not sell, rent or otherwise distribute visitor's information, including electronic mail addresses, to any outside company or organization, unless legally required to do so under California Public Records Law. The District does not disclose credit card or other personally identifiable financial information other than as necessary to complete a credit card or other financial transaction, upon explicit permission from the applicable user, or compelled by law.
If a centralbasin.org user has emailed the District advising it has elected not to receive further information from the District, centralbasin.org will not send such information. If a centralbasin.org user has elected to receive further communication from the District, centralbasin.org will only send information in categories that have been authorized.
You may choose whether to provide personal information online.
"Personal information" is information about a natural person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal information includes such things as an individual's name, address, and phone number. A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information.
We collect no personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us by sending us email, subscribing to notifications, participating in a survey, completing an online form, or engaging in an online transaction. You may choose not to contact us by email, participate in a survey, provide personal information using an online form, or engage in an electronic transaction.
However, some information and services available through this site require us to be able to identify visitors. Visitors interested in viewing and participating in these online services are requested to sign up for a password-protected account. Your choice to not participate in these activities will not impair your ability to browse, read, or download general information provided on the site.
If personal information is requested on the web site or volunteered by the user, state law and the federal Privacy Act of 1974 may protect it. However, this information is treated like any other information provided to the District, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.
If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact the person identified in the Contact Information Section of this statement.
Users are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by children online or by email will be treated the same as information given by an adult, and may be subject to public access.
In the State Of California, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by District government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records that serve various needs including the privacy of individuals. Both state and federal laws provide exceptions.
In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Notice and the Public Records Act or other law governing the disclosure of records, the Public Records Act or other applicable law will control.
The District seeks to ensure that your information and preferences are accurate and complete. If you have registered at www.centralbasin.org, you may access and change your information at any time by visiting the area of the site where it was submitted. The site is designed to minimize or eliminate the need to submit personal or personalized information more than once using single sign on technology.
The District's site generally, does not use "persistent cookies." Cookies are text files, or entries in larger files, utilized to distinguish between visitors to a website, and to track information during multiple visits to a website. The District uses "temporary cookies" on some parts of www.centralbasin.org, and such temporary cookies expire upon the end of the browsing session. The only time persistent cookies are used is to remember the user login, if the user selects the "Save" option from the login page.
The use of cookies is a standard practice among Internet websites. Most Internet web browsers may be customized to reject cookies, to only accept or reject cookies by user intervention, or to delete cookies. Rejecting and/or removing cookies, however, may lead to loss of functionality on those www.centralbasin.org pages requiring cookies to function fully. If a user elected the "Save" option for signing in to www.centralbasin.org, the cookie will contain the user's password in an encrypted form. Deleting such a cookie will require the user to login next time they visit the site (the cookie is also removed if the "Log-Off" link is selected.)
In certain instances, a user may have the opportunity to receive or create a password to access or submit personally identifiable information. One should not divulge a password to anyone, and the District will never ask a user for a password in a telephone call, fax, e-mail or other form of unsolicited communication. When a user is finished with an application or applications that are password protected, such user should exit the relevant page(s). If the browser used to access said password protected pages is a publicly-accessible browser, users should close down the entire session and, if applicable or possible, flush any temporary caches or other areas where such a password might be stored.
The District has integrated security measures and systems into the design, implementation and day to day operation of centralbasin.org and its underlying servers and networks. Furthermore, the District maintains ongoing efforts to identify and/or block unauthorized intrusions into or onto centralbasin.org, and to upload to or change information on or otherwise cause damage centralbasin.org or the information resident hereon or submitted hereto.
Increasingly, you will have the option to do business with the District over the Internet including making electronic payments for goods and services. Such transactions are allowed only under tightly controlled circumstances, where there are appropriate technological and other safeguards in place to protect financial and other sensitive data.
The District is responsible for properly securing communications that are exempt from public disclosure; importantly, that includes financial information.
The design of the electronic commerce system on the District's site is such that financial data remains primarily with financial institutions. Wherever possible, financial information is not seen or collected by the District itself. Instead, designated banks route the data, transfer the funds and confirm payment to both you and the District. In addition, measures including but not limited to encryption are used to protect the integrity and security of your financial information.
The provision of this information shall not be construed in any way as giving business, legal, or other advice, or warranting as fail-proof, the security of your private information.
The District's web site has many links to other web sites. These include links to web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on the District's web site and this Privacy Notice will not apply. When you link to another web site, you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site. Visitors linking to another site are encouraged to examine the privacy policy of that site.
Neither the District, nor any department, officer, or employee of the District warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his/her own risk.
The District believes that protecting children's privacy online is extremely important. The District respects national and international laws, including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"), which applies in the United States. The District's site is not directed to children under 13, and does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Any agency providing personally identifiable health care information via www.centralbasin.org will be required to certify that its health care data handling and security procedures are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). If such data and security services are provided to such agency(ies) by a third-party provider, the agency(ies) shall be responsible for such third party's compliance with HIPAA.
The content of centralbasin.org's web pages is copyrighted, and may contain some third party images/graphics that are used with permission. Users are notified, therefore, that one should presume the need to obtain permission from the copyright holder before reproducing or otherwise using images/graphics from this website.
The site's interactive features (forums, comment boards and blogs, etc.) are not public forums and users are not anonymous. Prohibited uses include politics, advertising, and other such uses as determined from time to time. Use of language inappropriate to minors and threatening or malicious comments are prohibited. Forums, bulletin boards and blogs are monitored regularly and objectionable content deleted.
If you have any questions or concerns about the CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT's use of your information or about this Privacy Statement, please send an email to valerieh@centralbasin.org and note "Privacy" in the subject line.
Guest users of centralbasin.org interactive features such as forums, comment boards, blogs, online forms, etc., should be respectful in their communications according to this Code of Conduct. Interactive features are accessible to all visitors of the site.
By using its interactive features, community members, site visitors, and the DISTRICT employees agree to comply with centralbasin.org terms and conditions of use as stated as herein. Use of language inappropriate to minors, threatening/malicious comments, or offensive comments based on protected status or class under applicable law are prohibited.
District employees using www.centralbasin.org interactive features shall comply with all CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT policies related to workplace harassment and discrimination, use of Internet technologies, and use of District resources.
Interactive features are monitored by the CENTRAL BASIN MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT and inappropriate/objectionable postings are deleted. Complaints and alerts from users about posts or comments will be reviewed for content violations. If reported posts are found to be objectionable or inappropriate, they will be deleted by District administrators.
This Policy is effective as of December 19, 2007.
The Central Basin Municipal Water District's ("District") Terms of Use & Privacy Policy ("Policy") also includes the following Supplemental Terms & Conditions ("Supplement"):
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 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.
"Electronically collected 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., participating in a survey) 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.
PRIVACY
Pursuant to Government Code Section 11019.9, all departments and agencies of the State of California shall enact and maintain a permanent privacy policy, in adherence with the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Civil Code Section 1798 et seq.), that includes, but not necessarily limited to, the following principles:
Each department shall implement this privacy policy by:
BULLETIN BOARDS AND BLOGS
RESPONSIBILITIES
Use of the District's bulletin boards and blog services (collectively the "Blog") requires you to be responsible for all activities occurring under your username and for keeping your password secure. You understand and agree that the Blog is provided to you on an AS IS and AS AVAILABLE basis. The District disclaims all responsibility and liability for the availability, timeliness, security or reliability of the Blog. The District also reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue the Blog with or without notice at any time and without any liability to you.
You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use the Blog. The District reserves the right to refuse service to anyone at any time without notice for any reason.
PROPER USE
You agree that you are responsible for your own use of the Blog, for any posts you make, and for any consequences thereof. You agree that you will use the Blog in compliance with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations, including any laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from your country of residence and all United States export control laws.
You agree to abide by our Content rules and restrictions therein. The District may, in its sole discretion, modify or revise the Content rules at any time, and you agree to be bound by such modifications or revisions.
Violation of any of the foregoing, including the Content rules, may subject you to state and federal penalties and other legal consequences. The District reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to investigate your use of the Blog in order to (a) determine whether a violation has occurred or (b) comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request.
Much of the content the Blog -- including the contents of specific postings -- is provided by and is the responsibility of the person or people who made such postings. The District takes no responsibility for Blog content. Instead, the District merely provides access to such content as a service to you.
By their very nature, the user driven Blog may carry offensive, harmful, inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate material, or in some cases, postings that have been mislabeled or are otherwise deceptive. We expect that you will use caution and common sense and exercise proper judgment when viewing the Blog.
The District does not endorse, support, represent or guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any communications posted via the Blog or endorse any opinions expressed via the Blog. You acknowledge that any reliance on material posted via the Blog will be at your own risk.
PRIVACY
As a condition of using the Blog, you agree to the terms of the District's Policy, which may be updated from time to time, as expressed in the most recent version that exists at the time of your use. You agree that the District may access or disclose your personal information, including the content of your communications, if the District is required to do so in order to comply with any valid legal process or governmental request (such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order), or as otherwise provided in this Supplement.
GENERAL PRACTICES REGARDING USE AND STORAGE
You agree that the District has no responsibility or liability for the deletion of, or the failure to store or to transmit, any postings, content and other communications maintained by the Blog. The District retains the right to create limits on use and storage at our sole discretion at any time with or without notice.
CONTENT OF THE BLOG
The District takes no responsibility for third-party content (including, without limitation, any viruses or other disabling features), nor does the District have any obligation to monitor such third-party content. The District reserves the right at all times to remove or refuse to distribute any content on the Blog, such as content which violates the terms of this Supplement. The District also reserves the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information as it reasonably believes is necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, (b) enforce this Supplement, including investigation of potential violations hereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, (d) respond to user support requests, or (e) protect the rights, property or safety of the District, its users and the public. The District will not be responsible or liable for the exercise or non-exercise of its rights under this Supplement.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
The District claims no ownership or control over any content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through the District web services or the Blog. You or a third party licensor, as appropriate, retain all patent, trademark and copyright to any content you submit, post or display on or through the District services and you are responsible for protecting those rights, as appropriate. By submitting, posting or displaying content on or through the District services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant the District a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish and distribute such content on the District websites. The District furthermore reserves the right to refuse to accept, post, display or transmit any content in its sole discretion.
You represent and warrant that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the rights granted herein to any content submitted.
You may choose to submit, post, and display any materials on or through the Blog or other District web service under a public license. For avoidance of doubt, the District is not a party to any such public license between you and any third party. Also, for avoidance of doubt, the District may choose to exercise the rights granted under (a) the public license or licenses, if any, you apply to your materials or (b) this Supplement.
NO RESALE OF THE BLOG
Unless expressly authorized in writing by the District, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes (a) any portion of the Blog, (b) use of the Blog, or (c) access to the Blog.
PUBLICITY
Any use of the District's trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features ("District Features"), must be in compliance with this Supplement and in compliance with the District's then current Policy.
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
You represent and warrant that (a) all of the information provided by you to the District to participate in the Blog is correct and current; and (b) you have all necessary right, power and authority to use the Blog and to perform the acts required of you hereunder.
TERMINATION; SUSPENSION
The District may, in its sole discretion, at any time and for any reason, terminate the Blog, terminate this Supplement, its Policy, or suspend or terminate any user account. In the event of termination, your account (if any) will be disabled and you may not be granted access to such account or any files or other content contained therein although residual copies of information may remain in our system for some time for back-up purposes.
INDEMNIFICATION
You agree to hold harmless and indemnify the District, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and employees from and against any third-party claim arising from or in any way related to your use of the Blog, including any liability or expense arising from all claims, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys' fees, of every kind and nature. In such a case, the District will provide you with written notice of such claim, suit or action.
WAIVER AND SEVERABILITY OF TERMS
The failure of the District to exercise or enforce any right or provision of its Policy or Supplement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Policy or Supplement is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the terms and provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising of or related to use of the District site services or the Blog must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
CHOICE OF LAW; JURISDICTION; FORUM
The terms and provisions of the Policy and the Supplement and use of the Blog will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to its conflict of laws provisions or your actual state or country of residence. Any claims, legal proceeding or litigation arising in connection with the Blog will be brought exclusively in the Los Angeles County, California, and you consent to the jurisdiction of such courts and the exclusive venue for dispute resolution.
CONTENT RULES
The District's bulletin boards, forums and blog features (collectively "the Blog") are free services for communications, debate, and self-expression. We believe the Blog increases the availability of information and encourages healthy debate.
We respect our users' ownership of and responsibility for the content they choose to share. It is our belief that censoring this content is contrary to the purpose of the Blog. Nevertheless, there are boundaries on the type of content that can be posted on the Blog. The boundaries we've defined are those that both comply with legal requirements and that serve to enhance the service as a whole.
BOUNDARIES
Our content rules play an important role in maintaining a positive experience for you, the users. Please respect these rules.
PORNOGRAPHY AND OBSCENITY:
HATEFUL CONTENT:
Users may not publish material that promotes hate toward groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity.
VIOLENT CONTENT:
Users may not publish direct threats of violence against any person or group of people.
COPYRIGHT:
It is our policy to respond to investigate notices of alleged copyright infringement.
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION:
We do not allow the unauthorized publishing of people's private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security Numbers, and driver's and other license numbers.
IMPERSONATION:
We do not allow impersonation of others through the District's website and Blog in a manner that is intended to or does mislead or confuse others.
UNLAWFUL USE OF SERVICES:
The District's website and Blog should not be used for unlawful purposes or for promotion of dangerous and illegal activities. Your access, username and related information may be terminated and you may be reported to the appropriate authorities.
SPAM, MALICIOUS CODES AND VIRUSES:
We do not allow spamming or transmitting malware and viruses.