Your Personal Information & How It's Used

According to Government Code Section 11015.5, electronically collected personal information is any information maintained by an agency identifying or describing an individual user, including, but not limited to, their name, Social Security number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, education, financial matters, medical or employment history, password, electronic mail address, and information that reveals any network location or identity. It excludes any information manually submitted to CalPERS by a user, whether electronically or in writing, and information on or relating to individuals who are users or serving in a business capacity, including, but not limited to, business owners, officers, or principals of that business.

Personal Information Collected During Your Visit to CalPERS Websites

The electronically collected personal information CalPERS automatically collects when you use our websites or online services includes:

• Your Internet Protocol (IP) address and domain name. The IP address is the numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer.
• The type of browser and operating system you use.
• The date and time you visited.
• The Web pages or services you accessed.
• The website you visited prior to coming to this site.
• The website you visit as you leave this site.
• If you downloaded a form or publication and what you downloaded.

Personal Information You Submit to Us During Your Visit

When you use our online services, we may require information to provide those services to you. This may include the following:

• Information about you such as your name, address, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, etc.
• The type of service being provided, such as registering for a class.
• Information related to your health care plan. You should review information on how CalPERS uses and protects your health care information.

Protection of Personal Information

We are committed to protecting your personal information and have implemented procedures and technology designed for this purpose including:

• Information you transmit to us and information we send to your browser will always be done so using an appropriate encryption process.
• Emails we send you that contain sensitive information will be encrypted.
• We limit employee access of customer information to those who have a business reason to access the information.
• We maintain policies and procedures covering the proper security of information databases, applications, networks, and physical records.
• We use physical security and technological means to prevent unauthorized access to your information. This includes firewalls, anti-virus protection, real-time monitoring, and other techniques.

Use of Electronic Cookies

The CalPERS websites use electronic "cookies" to collect and temporarily store various types of information. Cookies are simple text files stored on your computer by your Web browser. The information from cookies is used to monitor website traffic patterns, to collect and aggregate anonymous data about website use, and to help us better meet the information needs of our visitors. Cookies created on your computer by using our websites do not contain personal information and do not compromise your privacy or security.

Our online services, such as the Retirement Estimate Calculator, Service Credit Cost Estimator, etc. use cookies to track the information you input into the program. The cookie allows the programs to operate correctly and know where to return the business transaction results. CalPERS does not retain the information you enter into the program. Once you leave the specific program, your information is deleted from our website databases.

You can refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer by using any of the widely available methods. However, if you turn your cookies option off, you may not be able to access some of our online services.

How Your Personal Information Is Used

The information CalPERS automatically collects or stores is used to improve the content of our websites and to help us understand how our online services are being used. This information does not identify you personally and is used for gathering website statistics. We make no attempt to link other websites with the individuals that browse our websites.

Any information you submit through one of our online services will be used only to complete CalPERS-related business. Government Code Section 11015.5 (a)(6) prohibits all State agencies from distributing or selling any electronically collected personal information about a user to any third party without the permission of the user. CalPERS does not sell any electronically collected personal information.

Government Code Section 20230 states that information about CalPERS members is to be treated as confidential and that, unless otherwise provided by law, can only be used to carry out the provisions of the Public Employees’ Retirement Law.

Your Voluntary Use of The Site & Online Services

If you chose to use an online service that asks for specific information (i.e., completing a request for assistance, subscribing to an e-newsletter, personalizing the content of the website, sending an email, participating in an online survey, completing any online transaction, or submitting information within an online service) more detailed data will be collected. It is voluntary for you to engage in these activities.

If you choose to submit information to us, it will be transmitted in a secure fashion to our internal databases. It will only be used for the purpose it was provided, and will not be shared with another entity. If we need to coordinate efforts with other parties, such as the State Controller’s Office, employers, or health plans, it will only be used to conduct the CalPERS-related business for which it was intended.

The use of CalPERS On-Line and my|CalPERS is voluntary, and if you do not wish to conduct electronic business with CalPERS, our staff is available to assist you by phone at 888 CalPERS (or 888-225-7377) or you can visit one of our eight Regional Offices located throughout the State.

Dated: 08-09-2011