Privacy Policy

The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) is committed to promoting and protecting the privacy rights of individuals, as enumerated in Article 1 of the California Constitution, the Welfare and Institutions Code, Information Practices Act of 1977, other state law and federal laws.

As a covered entity and provider of health care as well as state agency, it is the policy of the DSH to limit the collection and safeguard the privacy of personal information collected or maintained by DSH. DSH’s information management practices conform to the requirements of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, Lanterman Petris Short Act, California Medical Information Act, Information Practices Act at Civil Code section 1798 et seq., Public Records Act at Government Code section 6250 et seq., Government Code sections 11015.5 and 11019.9, and other applicable laws pertaining to information privacy.

DSH follows these principles in collecting and managing personal information:

DSH collects personal information on individuals only as allowed by law. DSH limits the collection of personal information to what is relevant and necessary to accomplish a lawful purpose of DSH. Personal information, as defined in the Information Practices Act, is information that identifies or describes an individual including, but not limited to, name, Social Security number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, education, financial matters, and medical or employment history.

DSH does not collect home, business or e-mail addresses, or account information from persons who simply browse our Internet website. DSH collects personal information about individuals through our website only if an individual provides such information to DSH voluntarily through forms or surveys. The information that DSH automatically collects includes the domain name or Internet Protocol address that relates to the machine used to access DSH's website, the type of browser and operating system used, the date and time when the website is visited, web pages displayed, and any forms that are uploaded.

DSH may use session cookies in some areas of this website to improve the overall usability of the site. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer, often without your knowledge, while visiting certain sites on the Internet used to identify your computer. For example, cookies are used by some sites to greet you personally, to post a list of your favorite books to purchase, or to remember what you had in your shopping basket the last time you visited.

On this website, a temporary cookie may be placed on your computer for applications such as online complaint forms or court-appointed conservator registration forms which can be sent electronically. The session cookies are used to facilitate the interaction between you and the fields in the form. The cookies are not used to collect or store information about you and do not track you if you return to our website. The cookie is temporary and will be deleted when you exit your browser.

You can prevent cookies from being placed on your computer by accessing your browser's preferences menu and deleting existing cookies. There also are commercial programs available to help you manage cookies. Before taking such steps, you should be aware that some websites may not work properly if you choose to block the placement of cookies on your computer. You will need to decide whether enabling cookies outweighs privacy concerns.

DSH will collect personal information relevant to the specific purpose(s) enumerated at or prior to the time of collection in the privacy notice included on or with the form used to collect personal information. At the time of collection, we also strive to tell persons who are asked to provide personal information about the general uses that we will make of that information.

DSH tells people who provide personal information about their opportunity to review that information. DSH allows individuals who provide personal information to review the information and contest its accuracy or completeness.

DSH only uses or discloses personal information for the specified purposes, or purposes consistent with those purposes, unless we get the consent of the subject of the information, or unless required by law or regulation. The Public Records Act exists to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to have access to appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions in both state and federal law to the public's right to access public records. These exceptions serve various needs including maintaining the privacy of individuals. In the event of a conflict between this Policy and the Public Records Act, the Information Practices Act or other law governing the disclosure of records, the controlling law will apply.

DSH uses information security safeguards. DSH takes reasonable precautions to protect the personal information collected or maintained by the Department against loss, unauthorized access, and illegal use or disclosure. DSH uses encryption software to protect the security of individuals' personal information during transmission of such information through DSH's websites. Such personal information is stored by DSH in secure locations. DSH's staff is trained on procedures for the management of personal information, including limitations on the release of information. Access to personal information is limited to those members of the Department’s staff whose work requires such access. Confidential information is destroyed according to DSH's records retention schedule. DSH conducts periodic reviews to ensure that proper information management policies and procedures are understood and followed.

Government Code § 11015.5 prohibits all state agencies from distributing or selling any electronically collected personal information about users to any third party without the permission of the user. The State does not sell any “electronically collected personal information.” Any distribution of “electronically collected personal information” will be solely for the purposes for which it was provided to DSH or as required by law.

You have the right to have any electronically collected personal information collected via DSH’s website through use of browser cookies, hardware or other method, deleted by DSH, without reuse or distribution. Please contact the DSH Information Security Officer at 844-217-4018, or email: security@dsh.ca.gov, for instructions on how to do this, or for further information.

DSH encourages all individuals to use appropriate safeguards to secure their computers and the information on those computers. For more on online privacy and security, please see the California Office of the Attorney General’s Online Privacy page.

Please note that this Privacy Policy reflects DSH's current business practices and is subject to change without notice.

If you have questions or would like additional information regarding DSH's privacy policy, you may contact:

DSH Privacy Officer
1215 O St., MS-5
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 654-2319
Email: privacy@dsh.ca.gov

Effective January 27, 2022