Data You Give Us Directly
Search Queries
A name or place entered in a search tool is sent directly to the outside company operating that tool. The provider processes the query and supplies its results. San Francisco County Criminal History does not retain or record those search terms on its own systems.
Messages and Contact Submissions
We retain an email or other direct message as needed to answer it. Such correspondence remains internal unless disclosure is required by a lawful obligation.
Data We Gather Automatically
Our systems automatically receive basic technical information when a visitor loads a page:
- Page-view dates and times
- Your device's IP address
- Browser name and version
- Operating system and device category
- Visited pages and time spent on them
- Any referring website
Cookies and Analytics
Cookies are small files placed on a device. We use them with analytics services to understand site traffic, popular pages, and where visits end. Browser controls can reject or remove cookies, although blocking them may change how certain site functions behave.
What We Do With This Data
- Diagnosing faults and other technical problems
- Operating the site and improving load performance
- Routing a submitted query to the selected search partner
- Measuring which content is useful or needs revision
- Displaying advertising that may reflect visitor interests
No Criminal-Record Data on File
San Francisco County Criminal History does not keep, assemble, or sell a database of anyone's criminal-record information. It provides general directions to records maintained by the San Francisco Sheriff's Office, San Francisco Superior Court, California Department of Justice, and California Megan's Law Website. The site is not a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Visitor information is not turned into a consumer report or a file about another person. California criminal-history dissemination is also restricted by Penal Code sections 11105 and 13300; this private reference site is not a substitute for the authorized state or local channels those laws govern.
Third-Party Search Partners
Outside companies operate the search boxes. Information submitted through a box is therefore subject to that provider's privacy policy, retention schedule, and sharing rules rather than this policy. We do not direct those practices. Read the provider's terms before sending a query.
Links to Other Websites
Links may lead to San Francisco agencies, California government services, courts, legal assistance organizations, or commercial search providers. Once a visitor follows an external link, the destination's privacy terms control. Review those terms before providing personal information.
Advertising companies may use their own systems to follow activity across websites and select targeted advertisements. We do not operate that cross-site tracking.
Who Might See Your Data
We do not sell personal information. Data may nevertheless be received by:
- Analytics providers measuring performance and traffic
- Advertising networks serving content on the pages
- Search providers processing a query you choose to submit
- A government or law-enforcement body acting under a valid legal demand
How We Protect Your Data
Reasonable, commonly used security measures help protect collected information. No online service can guarantee perfect protection, however, and we cannot promise that unauthorized access or a breach will never occur.
Users Under 18
The site is intended for adults, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone younger than 18. If we learn that a minor supplied such data, we will remove it.
Your Data Rights
Applicable California privacy and consumer-protection law may provide additional rights based on a visitor's residence and the law's coverage. The California Public Records Act, Government Code sections 7920.000 through 7931.000, governs access to records held by California public agencies, not private-site visitor files. Subject to applicable law, you may:
- Request correction of inaccurate personal data
- Ask what personal information we retain about you
- Seek deletion where the law permits it
- Decline certain processing when an applicable right exists
Updates to This Policy
This policy may be revised. Any replacement will be posted here with an updated effective date, so visitors should review the page periodically.
Effective date: July 16, 2026