Thank you for visiting the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s ("South Coast AQMD") website. We recognize your concern about privacy & security on the Internet and the confidentiality of your personal information. This Privacy and Security Policy describes the kind of information gathered about you from your visit to this website and how we will use such information.
PLEASE READ THESE STATEMENTS!
Information Subject to Public Records Laws and Other Legal Requirements
As a visitor, you should be aware that most information submitted to South Coast AQMD is public information under the laws of the State of California (such as, the "California Public Records Act"). 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 Personal Information Collected
We will collect no personal information about you, (e.g., your name, address, e-mail address, credit/debit card number or other information which can be associated with you without additional information) when you visit this website, unless you commence making a payment using a credit/debit card or otherwise choose to provide that information to us. The personal information collected through our website and the personal 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 Automatically about the Computer Which Browses or Downloads Information from the South Coast AQMD’s website
The information we collect and store depends on what you do when you visit our website. Non-personal Session ID information is logged automatically when a visitor accesses our site. The information gathered includes the Internet protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using, the time and date of your visit and does not identify you personally.
We may use this information to measure the number of visitors to different sections of our site, to monitor users’ compliance with the Terms of Use, for any investigative purposes or to help us make our site more useful. We may retain this information for at least five (5) years.
Cookies
A "cookie" is a small text file that a website can place on your computer for the duration of your visit to the website. It is used only for Session integrity during your visit to the site and not for any marketing or information gathering purposes.
Our website uses only non-persistent temporary "cookies" and neither places any permanent information on nor retrieves it from the visitor’s computer. If you want to browse this site without any interruptions, including being able to make online payments through our site, please make sure that your browser is not set to disable placement of "cookies" on your computer.
This Privacy & Security Policy covers the use of "cookies" by South Coast AQMD only and does not cover the use of "cookies" by any third party sites to which we provide links or third party sites which may link to our website.
Personal Information Collected from E-mails
By sending us an e-mail (by selecting the Contact Us option), you are sending us personal information (i.e., your name, address, e-mail 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 e-mail. You should know that e-mail is generally not secure and may be subject to the disclosure requirements of the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements.
Personal Information Collected from Credit/Debit Card Transactions
We request information from the user in order to make a payment using our site. A user must provide contact information, such as their Facility Identification Number, e-mail address, and financial information, such as a credit/debit card number and the expiration date. Contact information is used to advise the user about the processing of a payment. Financial information is used for payment processing purposes only.
We use a credit/debit card processing company to process the users credit/debit card charges for products, retrieval requests and chargebacks. We do not retain, share, store or use personal information for any secondary purposes (subject to the California Public Records Act and other legal requirements) and will exercise reasonable care to prevent disclosure or use of credit/debit card information, other than as permitted by the Credit Card Association Rules. We will retain or require this information to be retained for at least five (5) years in accordance with banking and accounting principles.
Personal Information Transmitted by User Across Internet for Credit/Debit Card Transactions is Made Secure
Here’s what you should know about the security of personal information you provide to us in connection with making a payment using our site:
We require the use of Secured Socket Layer ("SSL") standard transmission encryption to protect transmission of users’ personal information submitted while making a payment using our site. We require that all such information you provide to us in this manner is stored securely subject to the California Public Records Act and other legal requirements.
Sharing Personal Information with Third Parties
We do not share personal information with third parties, except that we will provide the necessary personal information, including credit/debit card numbers, to the companies assisting us with processing credit/debit card transactions. In some circumstances, we may also be required by law to disclose certain personal information in accordance with the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements. We may also disclose such information to law enforcement and/or fraud investigatory agencies, or to other third parties when we, at our sole discretion, reasonably believe it to be necessary to protect our property or other rights or the property or other rights of third parties or the public at large.
Consequences of Failing to Provide Personal Information
If you choose not to provide us with your Facility Identification Number or other personal information, it will be impossible for you to make a payment using our site. If you have concerns about privacy and security on the Internet, you also have the option of making payments by mail by sending checks to South Coast AQMD, 21865 Copley Dr, attention: Finance, Diamond Bar, CA 91765 or by personally visiting our office at the same address.
Getting Access to Information; Changing Information
For information on reviewing and/or making changes to information about you that may be in our records, please send us an e-mail by selecting the Contact Us option or call Billing Services at (909) 396-2900. For questions relating to permit application fees, call Permit Services at 909-396-3385 or send an email to PermitServicesOnline@aqmd.gov.
Website Links to Other Sites Not Covered by South Coast AQMD Privacy & Security Policy Statement
Our website may contain links to documents located on websites maintained by other public agencies or private organizations. Once you access an individual document that links you to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of the website containing the document. NOTE: When using this site to make a payment using a credit/debit card, you will be transferred to a portion of the site hosted by our contracted payment processing vendor ("Payment Processor"). Our Payment Processor will prompt you to enter all information necessary to make a purchase or payment using a credit/debit card and will thereafter take all steps necessary to process such payment on our behalf. Our Payment Processor has agreed to abide by the terms of this Privacy & Security Policy while collecting such information and processing such payments on our behalf.
Contact Information
Should you have any further questions regarding this Privacy & Security Policy or your interaction with our website, please contact us at:
South Coast AQMD, Information Management
21865 Copley Drive
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Telephone: (909) 396-2983
Please also visit our Terms of Use governing the use of our website.
By using our website, you consent to this Privacy & Security Policy.