Privacy Statement

Thank you for visiting the California Courts website ("Website"), which is operated by the Judicial Council of California.

Information Collected and How It Is Used

For each visitor to this Website, nonpersonal information is automatically collected to make the site more useful to visitors, as well as to diagnose problems with this Website or servers, to learn about the number of visitors to the site and the types of technology they use, and to improve the site's content. None of this information contains personal identifiers (such as name, address, telephone number, etc.). Information that is automatically collected includes:

  • If you linked to this Website from another site, the address of the site you linked from;
  • Your IP address (an IP address is a numerical identifier automatically assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer when you are surfing the Internet);
  • Environmental variables including, among other things, the:
    • Internet domain from which you access the Internet;
    • Date and time you accessed this Website;
    • Type of browser, operating system or platform, screen resolution, JavaScript status, and media player versions used;
    • The pages you accessed at this Website; and
    • Internet address of the site you visit after leaving this Website.
  • Invisible tags placed on this Website's pages, not on your computer, to compile aggregate statistics about site usage. When you visit a page with a tag, a generic notice of your visit to that page is generated.


If you send comments or questions to this Website, the information you provide will normally be used to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to improve our services, or in some cases, to refer you to another public entity that may be better able to assist you. In order to access certain areas or services of this Website, you may be asked to provide additional information, including personal information. Once you provide personal information, you are no longer an anonymous user of this Website. Information collected on this Website will not be used by the Judicial Council of California for commercial marketing purposes, but may be used or shared in response to a legal process (such as a court order or subpoena); to take action regarding illegal or unauthorized activities; in accordance with the law (including but not limited to public records laws); to process a transaction or service requested by you; or if you consent. Statistical, aggregated, and anonymous information collected by this Website may be shared with third parties or the public. This information is not linked to any personal information that can identify any individual person.

This Website has implemented various security measures, including physical, electronic, and procedural measures. As effective as any security measure implemented by this Website may be, no security system is impenetrable.


Cookies

Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your web browser. Cookies created on your computer by using this Website do not contain personally identifiable information. The cookie feature may also be used to store a randomly generated identifying temporary tag on your computer. You may refuse the cookie or delete it through any of the widely available methods. However, if you turn your cookie option off, you may not be able to access some portions of this Website.


Google Analytics

The Judicial Council of California uses Google Analytics to help improve this Website and uses Google Analytics to help understand how visitors use this Website so that we can better understand users' needs and improve the site. The Judicial Council of California allows Google to use only anonymous data. You can read the privacy policy for Google Analytics. You can choose not to have your data collected by Google Analytics by downloading their opt-out browser add-on. Use of this opt-out browser add-on will not change your ability to access any portion of this Website.


Links to Other Sites

When you link to another site from this Website, you are subject to the privacy practices of the new site. Please see our Terms of Use for more information on linked sites.


Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this privacy statement or this Website, you may contact us. We cannot, however, provide legal advice or specific information about a case. If you need legal information, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of this Website. If you need information about a particular case, contact the court that has jurisdiction over it.

Our postal address is: California Courts Website, Judicial Council of California, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-3668. Or you can submit a question using our Website Feedback Form.

Last Updated: January 2012