Privacy Policy

CBLC Records Request Platform Privacy Policy

Last Modified September 8, 2016

Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, Inc. (“CBLC”) provides this notice (“Privacy Policy”) explaining its online information practices for its Records Request Platform (the “Service”), a platform for the drafting, submission and tracking of records requests under Hawaii’s Uniform Information Practices Act (the “Purpose”), and the way personal information is collected and used in connection with the Service. If you do not agree with the practices explained in this Privacy Policy, you should not use our Service. By using our Service, you agree to accept the practices and terms set forth in this Privacy Policy.

Information we collect

Generally

We collect information when you use or communicate with us through the Service, register with our Service, use the Service to draft, submit and track Submissions (records requests and ancillary materials, as defined in the Terms of Service, and when you request that we communicate with you in connection with the Service. We also collect general information concerning the usage of the service.

From everyone who accesses uipa.org

It is not necessary to provide CBLC with your personally identifiable information to access the uipa.org website (the “Website”), and CBLC does not collect personally identifiable information from you if you merely browse the Website. If you contact CBLC by email through the Website or otherwise, CBLC may keep a record of your contact information and correspondence, and may use your email address, and any information that you provide to CBLC in your message, to respond to you. CBLC treats this information as it would treat any other unsolicited business correspondence, and has no obligation to keep this information confidential, nor to take any security measures to protect this information.

When you visit the Website, CBLC’s servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website ("Log Data"). This Log Data may include information such as your IP address, browser type or the domain from which you are visiting. For most users accessing the Internet from an Internet service provider, the IP address may change from time to time, but please be aware that your Internet service provider determines your IP address, including whether and how often it changes. CBLC uses Log Data to monitor use of the Website and the Service and for the technical administration of the Website and the Service.

From Service Users

CBLC collects the same information from Service Users that CBLC collects from individuals who merely browse the Website.

You must create an Account in order to use the Service for the Purpose. We collect the contact information you have submitted in the creation of your Account, and use it to provide the Service to you. Submissions may also be searchable by your user information, if you have enabled that function in your Account settings.

If you submit a Submission using the Service, you may request that we not publish the Submission for a period of time. If we agree to an embargo period, during the embargo period for which we agree not to publish the Submission, as indicated in the Service, the Submission will not be publicly searchable, nor will we publish the Submission. Unless you request that we not publish the Submission immediately, and in all cases at the expiration of the embargo period, we will publish the Submission through the Service.

How we use your information

While most of the information we collect (independent of the information you may make visible to us and others within the Service or in Submissions you draft and submit using the Service, or voluntarily communicate to us by email or otherwise) is used internally for site analysis and improvement, we may use some of the demographic information in registration data and Service usage data in compiling reports that we may disclose to our partners or the public. We also collect and utilize general usage information regarding your use of the Service. However, it is important to note that, except as stated in this Privacy Policy, CBLC will never disclose or associate with your site usage any of your personally identifiable information.

More specifically, the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:

1. To deliver the Service and send notices and requests related to the Service and your account. This includes submitting your Submissions, providing status update notifications regarding your Submission, providing administrative notices, providing technical and user support, and soliciting your feedback.
2. To inform you about the Service, such as letting you know about upcoming Service outages, changes or improvements or additional services we provide.
3. To improve the Service and your experience within the Service (we continually strive to improve our offerings based on the information and feedback we receive).
4. We may collect usage information regarding your use of the Service, both on an individual basis and in the aggregate, and otherwise to collect, create and analyze metadata about the use of the Service in order to improve the Service and determine possible features to be offered, but we will not disclose to any third party any usage information when associated with your personally identifiable information except as set forth in this Privacy Policy.

How we protect your information

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of personally identifiable information when a user enters, submits, or accesses their personal information.

We offer the use of a secure server for the Service. All personally identifiable information supplied by you to us via the Service is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or similarly secure technology. We allow non-public personally identifiable information to be accessed only by persons with specified rights to do so.

Due to the open nature of communication through the Internet, we cannot guarantee that communications between you and the Service, or between you and us directly, will be free from unauthorized access by third parties, nor that third parties will not be able to circumvent the safeguards we have put in place. Users of the Service do so at their own risk. We cannot absolutely guarantee the security of any information that is disclosed or transmitted online.

Cookies

CBLC does use cookies. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to a computer hard drive through a Web browser (if the user allows the browser to do so) that enables the sites or service provider’s systems to recognize the browser and capture and remember certain information.

We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers who use cookies to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business.

If you prefer, you can choose to have your computer provide a warning each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via their browser settings. If you turn cookies off, some elements of the Service, like most websites, may not function properly.

We may also use tracking pixels in our emails to collect and use information that helps us provide our Services to you. Tracking pixels are small graphic images in email messages to determine whether the messages were opened and the links were clicked. If you choose not to receive tracking pixels, you will need to disable HTML images in your email program, but that may affect images in other emails you receive.

CBLC may also use analytics technologies such as Google Analytics. (For Google’s privacy practices see www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html and to opt out of data recording and analysis by Google Analytics on the Service, see https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.)

Disclosure of information to outside parties

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer personally identifiable information to outside parties except as expressly stated in this Privacy Policy.

We may disclose personally identifiable information (including as associated with usage information) to trusted third party vendors working for us in connection with the operation of our Service and our business, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. Due to our contractual obligations with these third parties and the need to share personally identifiable information to deliver and support the Service, we cannot provide you with the opportunity to opt-out of sharing personally identifiable information with these third parties. CBLC does not store credit card or other payment information.

As stated above, Users who submit Submissions must be aware that contact information is required to be included in those Submissions, and that contact information will be published.

We may also release personally identifiable information and associated usage information when we believe release is appropriate in order to respond to a law enforcement agency request, subpoena, court order or other such request by a legal authority, or to otherwise establish or exercise our rights, or defend against legal claims, to investigate, prevent and take action regarding fraud or misuse of the Service, to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect our own or others’ rights, property, or safety.

Personally identifiable information, including associated usage information, may be provided to a third party if there is a transfer of the assets or ownership of CBLC or if CBLC files for bankruptcy.

Finally, we emphasize again that any information that you may reveal in Submissions or in communication with other users is intentionally visible to other persons and is not in any way private. You should think carefully before using the Service for the Purpose or otherwise publicly disclosing any personally identifiable information. Anything you make public may be seen and/or collected by third parties and may be used by others in ways we are unable to control or predict.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Compliance

We are in compliance with the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act). We do not knowingly collect any information from anyone under 13 years of age. Our Service is directed to people who are at least 13 years old or older.

CBLC Open Records Request Platform Privacy Policy Only

This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected through the Service and not to information collected offline or through other services or avenues, or to information we do not deliberately collect or need for the provision of our Service, but which you may independently volunteer to send us, whether online or offline.

Third Party Websites

The Service may contain links to web sites operated by third parties. CBLC is not responsible for the privacy policies of any of these sites. Different rules regarding the collection and use of your personal information may apply. We strongly suggest you review any third party's privacy policies, before providing any data to those third parties.

Reasonable Efforts

We will use reasonable efforts to comply with this Privacy Policy and to take prompt corrective action when we learn of any failure to comply with our Privacy Policy. We sometimes release beta versions of our products and services, which are further refined before the release of the final version. Because these products and services are still in a test phase, we may not always catch an unintended privacy issue, despite our efforts to do so. As such, we welcome feedback on any privacy concerns. In light of the above and because of the complex and constantly changing nature of our technology and business, and the security risks associated with using the Internet, we do not guarantee error-free performance under this Privacy Policy. TO THE EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER LAW, CBLC SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES RELATING TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY.

Updating or Removing Your Information

You may choose to correct, update, or delete the information you have submitted to us in your Account settings or by sending an email requesting changes to info@civilbeatlawcenter.org. However, please understand that deleted or obsolete information may continue to persist on backup media, and your Submissions (including any personal information in such record requests and/or your name if associated with such record requests) will not be deleted once you have submitted them through the Service.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If you have established an account for the Service, we will attempt to inform you of any modifications to this Privacy Policy that affect your obligations to us or our obligations to you: (a) by a message displayed at the time you log into the Service, and / or (b) by such other means as we deem reasonably likely to reach you. If you do not agree with any such modifications, the sole remedy is the termination of your Account, which in each case may be requested through your Account settings, or if that option fails to accomplish the termination of your account, by sending an email to info@civilbeatlawcenter.org. Your continued use of the Service after receiving notice of any modifications indicates your acceptance of the modified Privacy Policy.

If you have not established an account for the Service, any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting of the new terms and/or upon implementation of the new changes on the Service, and your continued use of the Service after any modifications indicates acceptance of the modified Privacy Policy. You agree to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you are aware of any modifications.

Contacting Us

If there are any questions regarding this privacy policy we may be contacted using the information below.

Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest, Inc.
700 Bishop Street, Suite 1701
Honolulu, HI 96813
United States of America
Email: info@civilbeatlawcenter.org