PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: November 8, 2023

Privacy Policy Overview

The City of Dana Point (“Dana Point,” “us” or “we”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy Policy (“Policy”).

This Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website http://www.danapoint.org/ (the “Website”) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.

In this Policy, “personal information” means any information by which you can be identified or contacted, such as your name (first and last), home, billing or other physical address, email address, telephone number, billing information, etc., as well as any information associated with the foregoing.

Please read this Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it.  If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy or other Terms of Use posted on the Website, which are expressly incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this Policy, your choice is not to use the Website.  By accessing or using the Website, you agree to this Policy.  This Policy may change from time to time.  Your continued use of the Website after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Policy periodically for updates.

U.S. Governing Law

The Website is designed for and targets U.S. audiences, and is governed by and operated in accordance with the laws of the United States.  We make no representation that the Website is operated in accordance with the laws or regulations of, or governed by, other nations, and we do not warrant or imply that the Website or content/materials on the Website are appropriate for use outside of the United States.  By using the Website or participating in the Website activities, you certify that you meet the age and other eligibility requirements for the Website as set forth in our Terms of Use.  If you do not meet such age and other eligibility requirements, please discontinue using the Website immediately, as your continued use of the Website indicates that you are agreeing to the collection, use, disclosure, management and storage of your information as described in this Policy.

If you are located outside of the United States, you use the Website at your own risk and initiative, and you are solely responsible for compliance with any applicable local and national laws.  By using the Website, participating in any Website activities and/or providing us with any information, you: (a) consent to the transfer and processing of any information to and in the U.S., (b) acknowledge that U.S. law may provide a lower standard of protection for personal data than the laws of your location, and (c) understand that we will collect, transfer, store, process and/or handle your information in accordance with this Policy and U.S. law.  Consequently, to the fullest extent permitted by law, you hereby waive any claims relating to the processing of your information in accordance with this Policy that may arise under the laws and regulations of any other country or jurisdiction.

Children Under the Age of 13

The Website is not intended for children under 13 years of age.  If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on the Website or on or through any of its features or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number or email address.  If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information.  If you are a parent or legal guardian, please note that to create an account for your child, you must create an account for an adult first; additional family members can be added to your account during registration.  If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 13 without parental consent, please contact us.

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

User-Provided Information: You may be required to provide personal information to access or use certain parts of the Website, or features of the Website or services including, without limitation, when you create an account online or log into your user account; register for a recreational class; apply for, renew or pay for any permits or licenses; submit an employment application; subscribe to a newsletter, email list or use our eNotification Signup; fill out a form; vote or otherwise participate in an online poll; file a public records request or claim; participate in any of our programs, special events or promotions such as contests, sweepstakes or surveys; contact us with a comment, testimonial, report, concern, question or complaint, etc.  If you do not provide the requested personal information, you may not be able to access or use the features of the Website or service where such information is requested.

Depending upon the nature of the transaction, the personal information collected may include your first and last name, billing, mailing, physical or shipping address, telephone number, email address, fax number, date of birth, age, gender, occupation, birthday, marital status, interests, application or enrollment history or other demographic information.

Emails, Social Media and Third Party Sites: If you correspond with us by email, mail or via social media or another third party site, we may retain the content of your communication or social media posting, the email or social media account address from which it is sent, and our response.  Content and other information in or related to emails sent by you to Dana Point or postings on any of Dana Point’s social media pages or accounts or other third party sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Nextdoor, Skype, Instagram, LinkedIn, Flickr, and Google Plus, may be used as testimonials or for other marketing purposes in accordance with our Terms of Use.  Please be aware that when you receive a receipt acknowledging your email, upload to one of our social media accounts, or submission of an order or application form, it means that the message, uploaded item, or form has been routed into the Internet, and not that it has been received by us.  We collect information automatically using technology when you visit the Website or social media pages or when you open one of our emails as described in this Policy.

Third Parties: We may also collect personal information about you from other third parties, such as demographic firms, to make our future services and marketing efforts more efficient and personalized for you.  We may combine all information that you provide to us or we collect over time with information obtained from other sources and may disclose this information with other companies or service providers as described in this Policy.

Cookies Information: When you visit the Website, we may send one or more cookies – a small text file containing a string of alphanumeric characters – to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser and lets us help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the Website. A cookie does not collect personal information about you.  We use both session cookies and persistent cookies.  A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive after you close your browser. Persistent cookies may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the Website.  Persistent cookies can be removed by following your web browser’s directions.  A session cookie is temporary and disappears after you close your browser.  You can reset your web browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.  However, some features of the Website or services may not function properly if the ability to accept cookies is disabled.

Google Analytics: We use a tool called “Google Analytics,” a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”) to collect information about use of the Website.  Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit the Website, what pages are visited, and what other sites were visited prior to coming to the Website.  Google Analytics collects only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit the Website, rather than your name or other identifying information.  We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information.  Although Google Analytics plants a permanent cookie on your web browser to identify you as a unique user the next time you visit the Website, the cookie cannot be used by anyone but Google.  Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to the Website is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy.  You can prevent Google Analytics from recognizing you on return visits to the Website by disabling cookies on your browser, however, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of the Website.  You can opt out from being tracked by Google Analytics in the future by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on for your current web browser at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

Log File Information: Log file information is automatically reported by your browser each time you access a web page.  When you register with or view the Website, our servers automatically record certain information that your web browser sends whenever you visit any website.  These server logs may include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses or other device identifiers, browser information, Internet Service Provider (“ISP”), operating system, location, date/time stamp, clickstream data, referring/exit pages and URLs, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information.

Clear Gifs Information: When you use the Website or services, we may employ clear gifs (a.k.a. Web Beacons) which are used to track the online usage patterns of our users anonymously.  No personal information from your account is collected using these clear gifs.  In addition, we may also use clear gifs in HTML-based emails sent to our users to track which emails are opened by recipients.  The information is used to enable more accurate reporting, improve the effectiveness of our marketing, and make the Website better for our users.

How We Use Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

• To facilitate your applications and provide the services you request.
• To contact you (via email, postal mail, or telephone) regarding programs and services that we believe may be of interest to you.
• To operate, maintain, and provide to you the best possible features, services, programs, functionality of the Website and its contents and overall customer experience.
• To provide you with information, programs, or services that you request from us.
• To analyze visits to the Website and learn about the interests, preferences, demographics and behaviors of our visitors in aggregate and also on a personal level, so we can improve our programs and services and deliver to you the type of content, features, services, programs and promotions that you are most interested in.
• To process registration requests when you register for our programs or services, or otherwise administer your participation in our programs or services.
• To respond to your questions, requests, comments or complaints and determine your satisfaction with our programs, special events and services.
• To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection.
• To notify you about changes to the Website or any programs or services we offer or provide through it.
• To compare and review your personal information for errors, omissions and accuracy.
• To prevent, detect or investigate any fraudulent, abusive or illegal act.
• To administer a promotion, contest, sweepstakes, survey or other Website feature.
• To send you marketing communications and other information and materials you have chosen to receive regarding our programs, services, marketing or special events.
• In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
• For any other purpose with your consent.

We also use your personal information for our everyday business purposes such as security, payment processing, analytics, operations, fraud detection and prevention, reporting, making back-ups and legal compliance.

Dana Point may develop special sites or administer promotions in cooperation with other companies.  If you register at these “co-branded” sites or consent to receive email communications from our promotional partners, we may share your registration information (such as name and email address) with those companies.

We use cookies, clear gifs, and log file information to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the Website; (b) provide custom, personalized content and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of the Website and services; (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as the total number of visitors, time spent on each page, and traffic; (e) diagnose or fix technology problems reported by our users or engineers that are associated with the IP addresses controlled by a specific web company or ISP; and (f) help you efficiently access information.

User Content: Any personal information or content you voluntarily disclose for posting to the Website (for instance, any content you post) (referred to herein as “User Content”) becomes available to the public via the Website.  User Content includes, but is not limited to, testimonials, reviews, comments, photos, videos, etc.  If you remove User Content, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other users have copied or stored your User Content.

Dana Point reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor the User Content you post on the Website.  Dana Point has the right to remove any such information or material for any reason or no reason including, without limitation, if in its sole opinion, such information or material violates, or may violate, any applicable law or our Terms of Use, or to protect or defend Dana Point’s rights or property or those of any third party.  Dana Point also reserves the right to remove information upon the request of any third party.

Dana Point may use certain information about you and/or your User Content without identifying you as an individual to third parties.  We do this for purposes such as analyzing how the Website is used, diagnosing service or technical problems, maintaining security, and personalizing advertisements and promotions.

How We Share Your Information

Personally Identifiable Information: In certain circumstances, we may share your personal information with our trusted partners.

• Third Party Service Providers: We may disclose potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information to our employees, contractors (including website operators), affiliated organizations, service providers, promotional partners and other third parties that provide support services to us such as webhosting, web analytics (including analysis of online activity over time and across websites), mailing, emailing, marketing our programs and services, administering our programs and operations, fulfilling your requests and orders, or processing any other information on our behalf to provide services available at the Website.  We may store personal information in locations outside the direct control of Dana Point (for instance, on servers or databases co-located with hosting providers).  These service providers only receive personal information if such information is needed to perform their function(s) and are not authorized to use any personal information for any purpose(s) other than the purpose(s) set forth by Dana Point.
• Special Events, Promotions and Partnerships with Third Parties: From time to time, we may join with third parties to provide specific services or products, special events or promotions (such as surveys, contests or sweepstakes).  If you choose to sign up for such services, order these products, or participate in a special event or promotion, Dana Point may share your personal information with third party partners.  We will share only the information that is necessary for the third parties to provide these services or products or otherwise participate in or administer the applicable event.
• Compliance with Law and Fraud Protection: We may, and you authorize us to, use and disclose any information: (1) we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, governmental request or legal process served on us or our affiliates; (2) to investigate, prevent or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities; (3) to enforce our Terms of Use, take precautions against liability, investigate and defend ourselves against any third party claims or allegations, assist government enforcement agencies, or protect the security or integrity of the Website; (4) to exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of Dana Point, our users or others; (5) to other companies and organizations for credit fraud protection and risk reduction; and (6) to enforce any agreement we have with you.
• Business Transfer: As we develop our business, we may buy or sell assets or business offerings.  User, email, and visitor information is generally one of the transferred business assets in these types of transactions.  We may also transfer such information in the course of corporate divestitures, mergers, or dissolution.

We fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies in identifying those who use the Website or services for illegal activities.  We reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we in good faith believe to be unlawful, as determined in our sole discretion.  Release of your personal information for security purposes, as described in this Policy to any person or entity under any circumstances, including, without limitation, in connection with any government investigation or litigation, shall be based on a determination made solely by us, exercising our own discretion, permission for which is expressly granted by you to us in accordance with this Policy.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information: We may share non-personally identifiable information (such as anonymous usage data, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, number of clicks, etc.) with interested third parties to help them understand the usage patterns for certain services.

Dana Point may allow other companies, called third party ad servers or ad networks, to serve advertisements on the Website.  These third party ad servers or ad networks use technology to directly send to your browser the advertisements and links that appear on the Website.  They automatically receive your IP address when this happens.  They may also use other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content.

Dana Point does not provide any personally identifiable information to these third party ad servers or ad networks without your consent.  However, please note that if an advertiser asks Dana Point to show an advertisement to a certain audience and you respond to that advertisement, the advertiser or ad-server may conclude that you fit the description of the audience they are trying to reach.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third party ad servers or ad networks. This Policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such advertisers.

How We Protect Your Information

Dana Point uses commercially reasonable physical, managerial, and technical safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of your personal information consistent with industry standards. For example, we use encryption, passwords, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information against unauthorized access and disclosure.  The security of your personal information is important to us, but please remember that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure.  While we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the absolute security of any information you transmit to Dana Point or the Website, and you do so at your own risk.  Once we receive your transmission of information, Dana Point makes commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the security of our systems.  However, please note that this is not a guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.  While we strive to protect your personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online.

Compromise of Personal Information

In the event that personal information is compromised as a result of a breach of security, Dana Point will promptly notify those persons whose personal information has been compromised, in accordance with the notification procedures set forth in this Policy, or as otherwise required by applicable law.

Links to Other Websites and Social Media

We are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from the Website nor the information or content contained therein, and we make no warranty, either express or implied, concerning the content of any such site, including the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability thereof for any particular purpose, nor do we warrant that any such site or content is free from any claims of copyright, trademark, or other infringement of the rights of third parties, or that any such site or content is devoid of viruses or other contamination.  Dana Point may provide links to other websites to you solely as a convenience, and the inclusion of linked sites does not imply endorsement by Dana Point of any of the linked sites.  Please remember that when you use a link to go from the Website to another website, our Policy is no longer in effect.  Your browsing and interaction on any other website, including those that have a link on the Website, is subject to that website’s own rules and policies.  Please read over those rules and policies before proceeding.  We do not ensure the security of your personal information if you visit websites not belonging to Dana Point.  We further reserve the right to terminate a link to a third party site at any time.

We sometimes use content on the Website that we obtain from third party sites and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Nextdoor, Skype, Instagram, LinkedIn, Flickr, and Google Plus.  The privacy protections provided on these third party social media platforms and sites are not part of our Policy and may differ from the privacy protections described in this Policy.  If you upload content related to Dana Point or our programs on third party sites that share information with the general public, user community, and/or other third party sites, it may be used or shared by us on the Website or our social media platforms to promote our Dana Point programs and services. Consequently, you should review the privacy policies of these third party sites before using them and ensure that you understand how your content may be used.

Notification Procedures

It is our policy to provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business related purposes, to you via email notice, written or hard copy notice, or through conspicuous posting of such notice on the Website page, as determined by Dana Point in its sole discretion.  We reserve the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to you, provided that you may opt out of certain means of notification as described in this Policy.

Your Choices, Opting Out and Reviewing or Making Changes to Your Information

By providing Dana Point your email address, you consent to our use of your email address to send you Website and service-related notices, including any notices required by law, in lieu of communication by postal mail.  We may also use your email address to send you other messages, including, but not limited to, newsletters, payment information, account status, legal updates, changes to features of the Website or services, special offers or promotions, or other account information.

If you do not want to receive such email messages, you may opt out by: (1) following the unsubscribe instructions in any of our promotional emails; or (2) sending a written request to the postal or email address set out below.  Opting out may prevent you from receiving email messages regarding updates, improvements, promotions or offers.  You may not opt out of service-related emails.  Opting out does not affect our use of your non-personally identifiable information as described in this Policy. At any time you can send an email to City of Dana Point at info@danapoint.org asking that your personal information be deleted, this will be done within 48 business hours of notification.

NOTE:  Please allow up to ten (10) business days for us to process your request.  We may continue to send you transactional or operational communications.

You can ask to review, update or make changes to the personal information we maintain about you at any time by sending a written request to the postal or email address set out below, or by following the instructions in any promotional email you receive from us.  We may take a reasonable period of time to respond.  If you request the deactivation or change of information on our system, such information may be retained in our backup systems for a period of time subject to technology restrictions, or as a precaution against systems failures.  Some information may be retained for longer periods as required by law, contract or auditing requirements or as otherwise described in this Policy.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our Policy on this page.  The date the Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page.  You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting the Website and this Policy to check for any changes.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS

Your California Privacy Rights

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits users of the Website that are California residents to request and obtain from us a list of what personal information (if any) we shared with third parties or corporate affiliates for those entities’ direct marketing purposes in the preceding calendar year, and the names and addresses of those third parties.  Requests may be made only once a year and are free of charge.

If you are a California resident and would like a copy of this notice, please submit a written request to the following address: City of Dana Point, 33282 Golden Lantern, Suite 203, Dana Point, California 92629.  For all requests, you must put the statement “California Privacy Rights Notice” in the body of your request, as well as your name, street address, city, state, and zip code.  You also need to attest to the fact that you are a California resident and provide a current California address for our response. Please note that we will not accept requests via telephone, email, or by facsimile, and we are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, or that do not have complete information.

California Do Not Track Disclosures

California Business & Professions Code Section 22575(b) (as amended effective January 1, 2014) provides that California residents are entitled to know how a website operator responds to “Do Not Track” (DNT) browser settings.  DNT is a feature offered by some browsers which, when enabled, sends a signal to websites to request that your browsing is not tracked, such as by third party ad networks, social networks and analytic companies.  We do not currently take actions to respond to DNT signals because a uniform technological standard has not yet been developed.  We continue to review new technologies and may adopt a DNT standard once one is created.  For information about DNT, please visit: www.allaboutdnt.org.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Policy, the practices of the Website, your dealings with the Website, or wish to update us with your preferences, you may contact us using one of the following methods:

• Call: (949) 248-3500
• Email: ssharke@danapoint.org
• Send mail to: City of Dana Point, Attn: City Clerk’s Department, 33282 Golden Lantern, Suite 203, Dana Point, California 92629