PRIVACY & SECURITY POLICY

The Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector (“we”, “us” or “our”) recognizes the public's concern about privacy on the Internet. This Privacy & Security Policy (“Policy”) establishes how information gathered about you from your visit to this website (“Site”) will be used. However, you should be aware that much of the information retained by us is public information under the laws of the State of California. Consequently, under certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose such information in accordance with the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements.

The following describes how information may be collected depending on your activities at this Site:

Personal Information Collected
We will collect NO personal information about you when you visit this Site, unless you use our Site for processing credit/debit card or Vcheck transactions or otherwise choose to provide that information to us. The information collected from your use of the Site will be used for the limited purpose of processing transactions. This information will not be used for marketing purposes and will be retained for at least five (5) years in accordance with banking and accounting principles.

Information Collected and Stored Automatically
We may collect and store information for statistical purposes. For example, we may count the number of visitors to the different sections of our Site to help us make them more useful. The information collected may include such items as the name and domain of the host from which you access the Internet, the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer you are using or your browser software and operating system. This information does not identify you personally.

If You Send Us Personal Information
All electronic requests submitted to us (by email or otherwise, as described below) will be treated the same as any other written communication. Nonpublic personal information will not be sold or given to private companies for marketing purposes. Collected information, however, is subject to the disclosure, access and confidentiality provisions of State of California, County of Los Angeles laws and Federal laws, including the California Public Records Act.
  • E-mail, Questionnaires, Etc.
    By sending us an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, you may be sending us personal information (i.e., your name, address, e-mail address, etc.). We may store your name and address in order to respond to the request or otherwise resolve the subject matter of your e-mail.

    Also, if you use this Site other than for purposes of making purchases or payments, which is addressed below, we may ask you for specific personal information such as name and address, the properties on which tax is owed and other pertinent information through questionnaires, e.g., feedback forms, or other means to enable us to determine a visitor’s interest, with the goal of providing better service. You should know that e-mail messages and these other means generally are not secure and may be subject to the disclosure in accordance with the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements.
  • Changes to Personal Information.
    If the Site where you entered the information does not provide a mechanism for making changes, please feel free to contact us at info@ttc.lacounty.gov.
Security of Personally Identifiable Information
We are committed to data security and the data quality of personally identifiable information that is either available from or collected by our Site and have taken reasonable precautions to protect such information from loss, misuse or alteration. We operate “secure data networks” protected by industry standard firewalls and password protection systems. Only authorized individuals have access to the information provided by our users. Personally identifiable information submitted by users for purposes of making a payment or purchase is transmitted by Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) technology. SSL is a security technology designed to enable your browser to send to, and receive, information from another server in an encrypted format. Your browser's security icon, usually located in the bottom status bar of your browser window, reflects the security condition of browser. The lock icon indicates that your browser is communicating over a secured link. All information you provide to us in this manner is stored securely, subject to legal disclosure requirements.
  • Passwords and Personal Identification Numbers (PIN)
    In certain instances, you may have the opportunity to receive or create a password or PIN to access or submit personal information. You agree to maintain the confidentiality and security of such password or PIN. If you provide the password or PIN to another person (e.g., to access information or make a tax payment), you will be responsible for the other person’s actions at this Site. Note: We will never ask you for the password or PIN in an unsolicited phone call or e-mail. When you are finished with those applications that are password or PIN protected, you should exit the page.

  • Payment Information
    We are required to provide select personal information (such as your checking account number, credit/debit card number and credit/debit account expiration date) to our money transmission vendors to the extent necessary to process your payment for services on our Site or to protect against fraud. When a County application accepts credit/debit cards or other personal information for payment, it encrypts all ordering information, such as your name and credit/debit card number, in order to protect its confidentiality. Checking account information which you submit to us through our Vcheck payment process is deleted as soon as the check is printed. In some circumstances, we may be required by law to disclose certain personal information in accordance with the California Public Records Act or other legal requirements
  • Cookies
    This site may use “cookies”. A cookie is an identifier placed on your computer to ensure that we are not asking you the same questions every time you visit our Site. If you want to browse this Site without any interruptions, you may need to set your browser to accept “cookies”.

Privacy Statements for Other Websites
This Privacy & Security Policy describes our information gathering practices and procedures. We may provide links from our Site to external sites maintained by other County Departments, public agencies or private organizations. We provide these links only as a convenience to our visitors. We make no representations about the accuracy or content of any material available thereon. Links to the third party sites are not intended to, and do not imply affiliation with, sponsorship or endorsement of, these third parties. Once you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy and security policy of that site and assume sole responsibility for the use of that site.

Disclaimer of Liability
With respect to information available from this Site, neither we, nor the County of Los Angeles or any of its employees, make any warranty, express or implied, including the warranty of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such information.

Changes of current policy
We may add to, delete, or change the terms of this Privacy & Security Policy from time to time. This document will be updated to reflect new changes.

If you have concerns about privacy and security on our Site or the Internet in general, you also have the option to receive our services in person at our office at 225 North Hill Street, (1st floor lobby), Los Angeles, California 90012.

Effective Date: October 16, 2006.