Privacy Policy

Introduction

The Department of Human Resources (CalHR) is committed to protecting your privacy rights as individuals. Our commitment to protecting your personal information underscores our respect for your privacy rights and confidentiality. CalHR’s policy limits the collection, utilization, and disclosure of personal information maintained by CalHR, and safeguards to ensure its protection and confidentiality, all while striving to ensure transparency and trust in our practices. CalHR’s information management and privacy practices are governed by state and federal laws such as:

California Constitution, Article 1, Section 1
Government Code Section 11015.5
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 – Privacy Rule
Information Practices Act (Civil Code Section 1798 et seq.)
Public Records Act (Government Code Section 7920.000 et seq.)
State Administrative Manual (SAM) Section Privacy – 5310 et seq.
Statewide Information Management Manual (SIMM) 5310-A and 5310-B
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53

Information We Collect

CalHR only obtains personal information through lawful means. The personal information collected directly from you is voluntary and is only used to accomplish the specified business purpose the data is meant to be used for. This information is necessary for CalHR to carry out its official responsibilities in human resources, such as examinations, certification, payroll, benefits, and statewide training. This data may include health and/or mental health information collected for medical and psychological screenings conducted by CalHR to assess fitness for state employment. Failure to supply the information results in CalHR’s inability to perform its business function.

As defined in the Information Practices Act, personal information is information that identifies or describes an individual, including, not limited to:

Name
Social Security Number
Home Address
Telephone Number
Education
Financial Matter
Medical and Employment History

Cookies – When you visit CalHR’s website, site usage is collected using JavaScript and cookies for the purpose of enhancing user experience. JavaScript will stop running once you leave or close your web browser. In addition you can also remove the cookies using the tools in your browser. Cookies generally contain user preferences (language or layout preference), location (IP address), session information (a system generated session id with the date and time), device information (browser type, operating system), web pages accessed, and forms interacted with (if you download one). Cookies do NOT include any personal identifiable information (PII) and are only active when you login to our site and are immediately discarded from our servers upon logout or when you are automatically logged out due to inactivity.

What We Do with Your Information

When we request personal information, we specify what it will be used for and under what legal authority we’re requesting it. We will specify the purpose for the request at, or prior to, the time of collection in a privacy notice included on or with the form used to collect personal information. Any information we acquire, including information collected on our websites, depends on the limitations described in the Information Practices Act of 1977 (see Civil Code Section 1798 et seq.). Please note that electronically collected personal information is exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act.

We will not disclose, make available, or otherwise use your personal information for purposes other than those specified, except with your consent or as authorized by law or regulation. We will not distribute or sell any of your electronically or non-electronically collected personal information to any third party, unless required by law.

Safeguarding Your Personal Information

We collect and maintain our electronic and paper files in a manner that protects against loss or unauthorized access, use, modification, or disclosure. We use security technologies to protect all forms of your information on our website from unauthorized viewing or corruption, by either internal or external sources. Moreover, we educate our employees on the importance of protecting your privacy and personal information, and by limiting access to only those employees who have a business need to use your information.

Our website conveniently provides links to other websites, primarily other departments within the State of California. However, there are some applications hosted by third-party services, such as the Savings Plus Program, which we utilize to provide certain services.

Website Analytics and Performance Tools

CalHR uses both Google Analytics and Dynatrace to better understand how visitors use our website and to keep the site running smoothly. Google Analytics shows us which webpages are visited most often and how people move through the webpages, which helps us improve content and make the website easier to use. Dynatrace helps us to detect and fix issues such as slow-loading webpages, broken links, or errors behind the scenes that could affect your experience. Neither of these tools collect any personal information. All the data is summarized and used only to improve our website’s performance and user experience. 

If you don’t want Google Analytics to collect any data, you can install their opt-out browser add-on. To opt-out from Dynatrace, go to your browser’s Settings > Preferences > Data Privacy > General.

Retention of Information

We keep your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill our business needs in conjunction with the records retention schedule by the Secretary of State, unless we are required to keep it longer by statute or official policy.

You have the right to request the deletion of any electronically collected personal information. However, please note that CalHR, like many public agencies, is subject to legally mandated retention periods. As such, deletion requests will be honored in accordance with applicable laws and retention schedules. When deletion is granted, the information will not be reused or distributed, unless otherwise required by law.

Access to Your Personal Information

You have the right to review the records you provided to CalHR and to request corrections of any inaccuracies in your records. To request access to your records, report any inaccuracies, provide comments, or file complaints related to your privacy rights, please contact CalHR’s Privacy Officer via:

Mail:
Department of Human Resources (or CalHR)
Attn: Privacy Officer
1515 S St. Suite 500N
Sacramento, CA 95811

Phone: (916) 909-2807
Email: Privacy.Officer@CalHR.ca.gov

The Privacy Officer is responsible for the overall implementation and enforcement of this privacy policy. Our privacy policy reflects CalHR’s ongoing business practices and may undergo revisions without prior notice. Nevertheless, CalHR is committed to making official announcements regarding any changes, ensuring transparency and keeping our stakeholders informed of updates to our policies.

Effective Date: 10/2/2015
Last Updated: 11/26/2025
Last Reviewed: 11/26/2025