Privacy Statement

User Tracking and Data Capture Practices

Information Collected and Stored

For each visitor to our Web site, our Web server automatically gathers and stores certain information. This information does not personally identify you. Your email address is not automatically collected. Only the following information is collected and stored:

• Your Internet domain and IP address.
• The type of browser and operating system you used to access our site.
• The date and time of your access to our site.
• The pages you view on our Web site.
• The address of the Web site from which you reached us, if you come to our
• Web site from a link on another Web site.
• The keywords you may have used to find our site via search engine.
• The bandwidth used while perusing the site.

We use this information to make our site more useful to visitors. We use the IP address and domain name to diagnose problems with our server; to keep our Web site running smoothly; to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology they use; and to improve the content of the site. We do not track or record information about individuals.

If you Email Us

If you choose to send us personal information by e-mailing us, normally we use the information to respond to your message and for no other purpose. We do not create individual profiles with the information you provide or give it to any other public or private organization for commercial purposes or otherwise. There is one exception to this policy: if you send us a threat or a message that describes or promotes unlawful activity, we will share it with law enforcement.

In general, the Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site collects and aggregates user information to generate statistics in such areas as the number of views of each page so as to help us improve our web site. It records domain names and/or IP addresses. This tells us what services are used by distinct users, but does not tell us the individual identities of the users.

In some areas of the Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site, in order for us to provide the specific services, we do require and record personally identifiable information. This is done with users’ active permission and participation. By entering your details in the fields requested, you enable the Santa Barbara Superior Court and its service providers to provide you with the services you select. Whenever you provide such personal information, we will treat that information in accordance with this policy. Our services are designed to give you the information that you want to receive. The Santa Barbara Superior Court will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current Internet best practice.

On the Traffic Online Services pages, users are required to provide Name, Address, e-mail address and other personal and traffic citation information to enable us to complete the specific on-line transactions. To access the Index of Defendants in Criminal Cases, users are required to register with the Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site and create a user account. Users must provide information such as a User ID, Password, Name, Billing Address, Credit Card Type, Credit Card Number and Credit Card Expiration Date. After your account is created, this information will be used for verification when you access these services.

Once you register with the Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site and sign in, you are not anonymous to us. Only the minimal set of required information for processing credit card transactions is requested and stored. This information is necessary for payment processing and enables repeated users to access electronic court records. It will only be used for such purpose. No individually identifiable information will be employed in usage pattern reporting or statistics. We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as you use the service you have requested, and remove it in the event that the purpose has been met or you no longer wish to be registered with the Santa Barbara Superior Court web site.

The Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site also uses "session-specific cookies" on but not limited to the following pages in order to run its interactive online applications: Traffic Online Services, Index of Defendants in Criminal Cases, Calendars, Case Summaries and ADR Neutral Search. A cookie is a small amount of data which often includes an anonymous unique identifier which is sent to your browser from a web site's computers and stored on your computer's hard drive. The data stored in these cookies is read by the Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site for the purposes stated above and is not read by third parties. You can set your web browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. Some services and functionality on the Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site may be impaired if you decline to accept cookies.

Links to Other Websites

This site contains links to other Web sites. The Superior Court is not responsible for the practices or contents of these Web sites.

Confidentiality and Data Security

We want our site visitors to feel confident about using the Santa Barbara County Superior Court web site and, therefore, are committed to protecting the information we collect.

Unless required by law, the Santa Barbara County Superior Court will not transfer, sell, or otherwise make available to third parties information about, related to, or provided by users of its web site, including email and mailing addresses.

We limit access to personal information about our users to Santa Barbara County Superior Court employees who we believe need to have that information to provide services to our users or otherwise to perform their jobs.

We have physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect personal information about you and to keep information that is stored in our systems protected from unauthorized access. Our systems are configured with full 128-bit SSL-based data encryption or scrambling technologies and with industry-standard firewalls, to ensure that confidential information, such as names, addresses, credit card numbers, passwords, etc., remains secure. We reveal only the last four digits of your credit card number when confirming an order. Of course, we transmit the entire credit card number to the appropriate credit card company during order processing.

It is crucial that, as a user, you protect against unauthorized access to your password and to your computer. Be sure to sign off when finished using a shared computer.

Access to Your Personal Information

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information the Santa Barbara Superior Court holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. Please address requests to:

Information Technology Director
1100 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Email: webmaster@sbcourts.org

Changes to This Privacy Policy

The Santa Barbara County Superior Court may update this policy. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by placing a prominent notice on our site.

Contacting the Website

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web Site, you may contact us. Please do not, however, ask for legal advice or specific information on a case. If you need information on a particular case, contact the court that has jurisdiction over it.

Our Postal Address:

Santa Barbara Superior Court
1100 Anacapa Street
P.O. Box 21107
Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1107

We can be reached by e-mail here: webmaster@sbcourts.org

Last Updated: May 3, 2004