1. Department of Industrial Relations

Privacy Policy Statement – California Department of Industrial Relations

The privacy and security of your personal information is of the utmost importance to the Department of Industrial Relations (Department).

“Personal information” is information about a natural person that identifies or describes an individual, including, but not limited to, the individual’s 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.

The Department collects relevant personal information through lawful means to carry out the statutory mandates of the Department and its various divisions, including for law enforcement purposes.

The Department and its various divisions strive to communicate the purpose for which the information will be used, at or prior to the time of collection. Any subsequent use will be consistent with the purpose for which the information was initially collected.

The Department will not disclose your personal information without your consent, unless authorized by law to do so.

The Department employs security technology to protect any collected information from unauthorized access within the Department as well as from external sources.

Your Rights Relating to the Department’s Collection of Information

Our policies regarding the personal information the Department collects and manages are consistent with federal and state law, including the Information Practices Act (IPA). (Civil Code, §§ 1798 – 1798.78.)

An individual may request to inspect records containing the individual’s personal information, if the records are maintained by reference to the individual’s name or to another identifier assigned to the individual. If the individual believes that the records are inaccurate or incomplete, the individual may request correction of the records.

We do not sell your information or distribute it to anyone outside of the Department, unless required or authorized by law. The Department may be required to comply with subpoenas and government orders, and may be required to provide information to the extent authorized by law.

Protecting Your Privacy

The Department uses security technology to protect all of the information we gather on all of our internet-based platforms from unauthorized viewing or corruption, by either internal or external sources. The Department uses the information gathered to determine who is accessing our public-facing platforms in order to help us improve our accessibility and to process public requests. Any “non-secure” forms utilized by the Department are so designated and contain warnings to users instructing them not to provide any confidential information. 

Members of the public should take steps to protect their privacy, including updating internet browsers and operating systems regularly. For more information on how you can protect your privacy, visit the Privacy and Data Security webpage on the Office of the Attorney General’s website.

The Department’s Use of E-mail Communications

Members of the public may communicate with the Department via e-mail. We use these communications to improve the Department’s services and to respond to specific requests. The Department may forward e-mail communications to other State employees, including employees who may be employed by a different agency within the State. The Department does not sell e-mail addresses to third parties. Submission of an e-mail to the Department, to Department staff, or communication through the Department’s websites does not create any attorney-client or other privileged or confidential relationship.

Online Services

To use our interactive online services, such as access to databases, online registration for events, electronic payment of fees, or subscriptions to distribution lists, members of the public will at times need to provide personal information for authentication and business purposes. This information may include, but is not limited to individualized contact information, such as name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address.  The Department may require other forms of personal information to access databases maintained by the Department. Members of the public making electronic payment may also need to input their credit card or other payment information through the external websites of third-party payment processors. The external privacy policies of those third-party payment processors will govern any personal information they collect from you. The Department may use your name, address, and e-mail address to contact you about services on our website, such as registration for events and workshops.

E-mail Subscriptions

The Department maintains individuals’ names and e-mail addresses in order to provide subscription materials, such as the Department’s various listserv recipient lists. A member of the public may unsubscribe by clicking the link at the bottom of each message or e-mail they receive as part of their subscription.

Links to Other Websites

Our website includes links to other websites. We provide these links as a convenience.

Carefully read the privacy policy of any external website that collects your personal information, including the websites of third-party payment processors. External privacy policies are not provided by the Department and do not implicate in any way our policies relating to privacy or the collection of personal information by the Department.

Automatic Collection of User Information

The Department does not collect home, business, account, or other personal information from users who simply browse our website. The Department only collects personal information about individuals through our website if an individual provides such information voluntarily, for example, if an individual submits such information in a form.

The Department does automatically collect “electronically collected personal information” (ECPI) from users who visit the Department’s various websites. ECPI is defined by the Government Code as “any information that is maintained by an agency that identifies or describes an individual user, including, but not limited to, 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.” (Government Code, § 11015.5.) 

The Department automatically collects the following ECPI from website users: Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (the unique address of the computer or other device you use to visit the Department’s website), domain names, browser and operating system information, the date and time that a specific website has been visited, and a record of the specific webpage(s) visited by each user. This information is maintained on a server log and is collected in order to identify security risks, to better understand how services are used on the Department’s internet platforms, to improve the Department’s web-based content, and to determine how the Department can improve its web content.

Webpages located on dir.ca.gov employ “session cookies” (also referred to “transient cookies” and/or “non-persistent” cookies) which remain on a user’s web browser until the browser is closed.  The cookies create a randomly generated identifying temporary tag on the user's computer, which are intended to facilitate the user’s access to the website.

The Department uses Google Analytics to capture information about the number of users to its website for purposes of understanding how people use the website, determining how often the Department’s webpages are visited, and identifying technical problems with the website. The Department does not sell or share Google Analytics’ data about its website. Please refer to Google’s website, www.google.com, for information about Google Analytics and Google’s practice of collecting IP addresses. You can prevent Google Analytics from capturing information about your use of the web, including your use of the Department’s website, by following the instructions provided on Google’s website.

Some webpages maintained by the Department utilize services provided by two third-party vendors FormAssembly and Salesforce, which employ their own electronic personal information collection practices.

The Department will not distribute or sell ECPI collected by the Department to any third party without your written consent.  Website users are able to have their ECPI that is collected by the Department deleted, without reuse or distribution, and may do so by contacting the Department’s Privacy Office. ECPI is exempt from disclosure when requested under the Public Records Act. 

Changes to our Policy

Our privacy policy reflects the Department’s current policy and practices and is subject to change without notice.

Contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, contact our Privacy Office:

Mail
Department of Industrial Relations
Privacy Office
P.O. Box 420603
San Francisco, CA 94142-0603

E-mail
Privacy@dir.ca.gov

Effective date: May 22, 2024