Thank you for visiting the website (“Site”) of the San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller/Treasurer/Tax Collector (“we,” “us,” or “our”). We recognize your concern about privacy and security on the Internet. This Privacy & Security Policy describes the types of information gathered about you from your visit to this Site and establishes how we will use such information. You may not use the Site if you do not agree with this Privacy & Security Policy.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS:
Information Subject to Public Records Laws and Other Legal Requirements
Please be advised that we are subject to the public records laws of the State of California (“California Public Records Act”) and that much of the information you submit to us is public information under these laws. All information you submit to us through this Site (by e-mail, surveys, or otherwise, as described below), including personally identifiable information, may be subject to the disclosure and access provisions of the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements. Consequently, under certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose such information in accordance with the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements.
No Unnecessary Personally Identifiable Information Collected
We do not collect personally identifiable information (e.g., your name, address, email address, credit/debit card number, checking account number or other information which can be associated with you without additional information) when you visit this Site, unless you use our Site to make a payment or purchase or otherwise choose to provide that information to us. The personally identifiable information collected through our Site and the personally identifiable information you otherwise choose to provide to us will be used and retained as described in the remainder of this Privacy & Security Policy.
Information Collected and Stored Automatically
We may collect and store information automatically when you visit our Site for statistical purposes. For example, we may count the number of visitors to the different sections of our Site to help us make our Site more useful to its users. We may also use this information to monitor your compliance with the Terms of Use and the applicable Terms of Payment. The information collected may include such items as the name and domain of the host from which you access the Internet, the Internet Protocol (“IP”) address of the computer you are using, your browser software and operating system, and the time and date of your visit. This information does not identify you personally.
Personally Identifiable Information Collected from Emails, Surveys, Etc.
By sending us an email (e.g., by selecting the Contact Us option or emailing), you are sending us personally identifiable information (i.e., your name, address, email address, or other information which can be associated with you without additional information). We store this information in order to respond to your request or otherwise address the subject matter of your email.
From time to time, we may ask you for specific personally identifiable information, such as name and address, the properties on which tax is owed, and other pertinent information, in the form of an inquiry, survey, feedback form, questionnaire, or other means, all with the goal of providing better service. We will only retain the information that you provide in response to the inquiry, survey, etc.
You should know that email and these other means generally are not secure, and may also be subject to the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements.
Personally Identifiable Information Transmitted and Stored for Online Financial Transactions
A user must provide certain contact information, including an account holder’s name, email address, and billing address, along with certain financial information, such as a checking account number or a credit/debit card number, card expiration date, and card security code, in order to make a payment or purchase over the Internet. When you use this Site to make a payment or purchase using a checking account or a credit/debit card, you will be transferred to a portion of the Site hosted by our contracted payment processing vendor, PaymentExpress - Grant Street Group. This payment processor will prompt you to enter all information necessary to make such payment or purchase, and will thereafter take all steps necessary to process the payment on our behalf. The payment processor will abide by our privacy and security requirements while collecting such information and processing such payments on our behalf. Please note the following regarding the security of personally identifiable information you provide to us in order for us to process these transactions:
• We are committed to data security and the data quality of personally identifiable information that is either available from or collected by our Site. We have taken reasonable precautions to protect such information from disclosure, loss, misuse, or alteration. We require “secure data networks” be operated, which are protected by industry standard firewalls and password protection systems. We require that only authorized individuals be permitted to have access to the information provided by our users.
• We require the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) standard transmission encryption to protect transmission of users’ personally identifiable information submitted in connection with making a payment or purchase. TLS is a security technology designed to enable your browser to send and receive information with another server in an encrypted format. Your browser’s security icon, usually located in the top or bottom status bar of your browser’s window, reflects the security condition of the browser. The lock icon indicates that your browser is communicating over a secure link.
• We require that all the information you provide to us in this manner is stored securely.
Use of Personally Identifiable Information
As described above, a user must provide certain contact information and financial information in order for the user to make a payment or purchase through our Site. We require that this information be used only for the limited purpose of processing these transactions and as otherwise permitted by the rules and regulations of the applicable credit card associations, debit card networks, credit/debit card issuers, credit/debit card processors, and/or financial institutions. We do not permit this information to be used for marketing purposes and we require that it be retained in accordance with banking and accounting requirements.
Sharing Personally Identifiable Information with Third Parties
We do not share personally identifiable information with third parties, except that we will provide the necessary personally identifiable information listed above to the companies assisting us with processing credit/debit card and eCheck transactions through our Site. In some circumstances, we may also be required by law to disclose certain personally identifiable information in accordance with the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements or we may disclose such information to law enforcement and/or fraud investigatory agencies.
Use of Cookies
A “cookies” is a small text file that a website can place on your computer for the duration of your visit to the Site. It is used only for session integrity during your visit to the Site and not for any marketing or information-gathering purposes.
Our Site uses only non-persistent temporary “cookies” and neither places any permanent information on nor retrieves it from the user’s computer. If you want to browse this Site without any interruptions, please make sure that your browser is not set to disable placement of “cookies” on your computer.
Website Links to Other Sites Not Covered by Privacy & Security Policy
This Privacy & Security Policy describes the information we gather through our Site and how we use such information. Our Site may contain links to websites maintained by other County departments, public agencies, or private organizations. Once you link to another website, you are no longer subject to this Privacy & Security Policy, but rather are subject to the privacy and security policy of the website containing the document. You use that website and anything contained on that website at your own risk.
Use of Google’s reCAPTCHA
In order to enhance the security of our Site, we have implemented Google’s reCAPTCHA. We utilize Google’s reCAPTCHA to detect malicious software and provide an additional layer of protection to our Site from spam and abuse. Please be advised that its use is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Contact Information
Should you have any further questions regarding this Privacy & Security Policy or your interaction with our Site, please contact us at atcwebinfo@sbcountyatc.gov.
Changes to the Privacy & Security Policy
We may add to, delete, or change the terms of this Privacy & Security Policy from time to time. This document will be updated to reflect such changes. By using our Site, you consent to this Privacy & Security Policy, as it is changed from time to time.