Privacy Policy

Southern California 511, owned and operated by The Los Angeles County Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (LA SAFE), respects your privacy. The following describes our Privacy Policy in relation to the information you submit via Go511.com and the 511 phone system, and how it is used.

Information Gathered

Personal Information means individually identifiable information, such as a first and last name, a home or other physical address, phone number, an e-mail address or other contact information, whether at work or at home.

The personal information you voluntarily provide is used to fulfill a request. 511 may use this information to inform you of service information, promotions or other news of value to you. 511 or its contracted vendors do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to anyone, or disclose personal information except:

  1. When the purpose and manner of the disclosure has been disclosed to you prior to your providing the information; or
  2. When disclosure is required by law.

511 does:

  1. Use voluntarily provided Personal Information for the benefit of the 511 program and the user experience, as described in this Privacy Policy;
  2. Forward e-mails and phone messages that ask questions or provide comments on services provided by rideshare programs, transit agencies, Caltrans, and other public agencies for their response;
  3. Use standard web and phone technologies to generate aggregate usage statistics in order to improve the user experience and system performance; and
  4. Use third-party contractors to operate our 511 services, who will have access to Personal Information solely for the benefit of the program and will be required to comply with privacy policies as provided in this Notice.

511 Programs

The 511 phone and web system collect and use Personal Information. The treatment of Personal Information entered in the phone and web system is described in the two sections that follow.

511 Phone Services
The 511 phone system records your phone number, the date, time, location and duration of your call, and what you asked the system. The call information is used to compile anonymous data to improve 511 services. In addition, when you provide comments or voluntarily participate in phone surveys, troubleshooting, contests or special promotions, you may be asked to provide additional Personal Information. Calls asking about agency-specific services may be transferred to those agencies, at which point the privacy policy of the receiving agency applies to the call and any Personal Information provided or collected.

If you ask to be transferred to the 511 Call Center, your call may be monitored and recorded for quality assurance purposes. If you wish to leave feedback with a Call Center agent, we may ask that you leave Personal Information so that we may follow-up with your request or concern.

Go511.com Web Services
511 may request Personal Information when you submit comments about 511 on Go511.com or when you participate in a 511 survey, poll or blog. You may also be asked to provide information when subscribing to an email newsletter or email alerts. You do not need to provide the Personal Information requested as part of these Go511.com web-based programs or services, though you may not be able to use some or all of the features of certain programs or services without providing the information.

We may collect the following information when you visit our website:

  • Date and time
  • Your internet location (IP address) and Service Provider
  • Bytes sent and bytes received
  • Time lapsed on website
  • Pages visited
  • Protocol
  • Cookies
  • Website Referrer
  • Type and configuration of software you used to visit our site

Go511.com Cookies

Cookies are small files which can be placed on your computer by Web servers when you visit certain sites. These files may contain information such as ID's and passwords, personal information, or preferences. During your visit, the server can access these files to help personalize pages or allow you to navigate more easily.

511 does not set cookies from any page in the Go511.com domain. 511 sets cookies with information about customer's county preferences, only for the convenience of customers who use these areas repeatedly. If you are concerned about privacy, you may set up your browser not to accept cookies, or you can delete them from your hard drive once you leave the section.

Cross Linking

511 provides links to other government traffic, public transit and travel related websites as a service to our customers. Note that 511 does not endorse or take responsibility for information contained on those sites. When you link to another site, you are no longer on 511.com and this Privacy Notice will not apply.

511 Security

Personal Information collected online is stored on the Go511.com web server and is not publicly accessible. Personal Information is accessible by 511 employees, our authorized contractors on a need-to-know basis, and our public or rideshare partners, including Southern California transit operators and Caltrans. Please note, however, that phone or e-mail inquiries about other public agencies will be forwarded directly to those agencies, where any Personal Information will be handled in compliance with that agency's privacy policy. All 511 employees and contractors with access to this information are required to adhere to the terms of this Privacy Notice.

Your Consent

By using Go511.com, users agree that they will not use the site for any unlawful activity, or use it in any way that would violate these standards. Moreover, users of this website consent to the terms of this Privacy Notice regarding management of Personal Information for the purposes explained here.

The effective date of this Privacy Notice is November 23rd, 2009. By using the Go511.com website or phone system on or after this date, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Notice and to 511’s collection, use, or dissemination of Personal Information as described in this Privacy Notice.

Changes

511 reserves the right to change, modify, add or remove provisions of this Privacy Notice. Any changes will be posted here, and we encourage you to check back from time to time.