Building Communities
Growing Business
Protecting Citizens
Agency Type
This Privacy Policy was updated on or about June 25, 2023.
Accela, Inc. and its affiliated companies and subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “Accela,” “we,” or “us”) respect your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect Information from and about you, what we do with the Information, how we share it, and how we handle the content you place in our products and services. It also explains the choices available to you regarding use of your Personal Information. By providing Content, Information or Personal Information to us, including on our website or purchasing our products or services, or signing an agreement that incorporates this Privacy Policy by reference, you agree to this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy applies to the personal information we obtain through your use of Accela’s products and services, visit to Accela websites, or through an employment relationship. We amend this notice in part to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and other privacy laws. Any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this notice.
Accela is required to comply with multiple laws and regulations that respect the privacy of individuals. Under these laws, individuals may be called different terms, such as data subjects, consumers, customers, users, and other terms. To maintain consistency in this privacy policy and ensure transparency, all individuals with privacy protections are referred to as individual. Rights for individuals can also be exercised on behalf of individual by an authorized agent.
We collect information that identifies, relates to, describes, references, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or device (“personal information”). In particular, we have collected the following categories of personal information from consumers within the last twelve (12) months:
| Category | Examples | Collected |
|---|---|---|
| A. Identifiers. | A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers. | Yes |
| B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)). | A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information. Some personal information included in this category may overlap with other categories. | Yes |
| C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law. | Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information (including familial genetic information). | Yes |
| D. Commercial information. | Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. | Yes |
| E. Biometric information. | Body metrics or calculations related to human characteristics that can be used to digitally identify a person such as fingerprints, facial patterns, voice characteristics, typing cadence, etc. | Yes |
| F. Internet or other similar network activity. | Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. | Yes |
| G. Geolocation data. | Physical location or movements. | Yes |
| H. Sensory data. | Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information. | Yes |
| J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)). | Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. | No |
| K. Inferences drawn from other personal information. | Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes. | Yes |
Personal information does not include:
We obtain the categories of personal information listed above from the following categories of sources:
Accela may use your Personal Information for the following business purposes:
We may share or disclose your personal information to a third party for a business purpose. When we disclose personal information for a business purpose, we enter a contract that describes the purpose and requires the recipient to both keep that personal information confidential and not use it for any purpose except performing the contract.
We may share or disclose your Personal Information with third parties for the following business purposes:
In the preceding twelve (12) months, we have disclosed the following categories of personal information for a business purpose:
Category A: Identifiers.
Category B: California Customer Records Personal Information categories.
Category C: Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law.
Category D: Commercial information
Category F: Internet or other similar network activity
Category H: Sensory Data
Category I: Professional or employment-related information.
Accela will use your personal information only for the purposes for which it is collected. We will not collect additional categories of personal information or use the personal information we collected for materially different, unrelated, or incompatible purposes without providing you notice.
Rights Added by the CPRA for California Residents
Under the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), we want to inform you about the following rights that have been added to our privacy policy if you are a resident of California:
a. Limiting of Processing and Sharing:
You have the right to limit the processing and sharing of your personal information. This means you can request that we restrict how we use and disclose your personal information.
b. Opt-out of Collection or Processing of Sensitive Personal Information:
You have the right to opt-out of the collection or processing of sensitive personal information. Sensitive personal information includes categories such as racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, health information, and biometric data.
Please note that exercising these rights may impact your ability to fully utilize certain features or services provided by Accela.
Because of the nature of our business, our services are not designed to appeal to minors. We do not knowingly attempt to solicit or receive any information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us immediately.
Accela’s customers may electronically submit Information to an Accela product or service for processing and storage purposes (“End Customer Data”). In this instance, we function as a service provider and may access or process End Customer Data only for the purpose of providing the product or service, or preventing or addressing data security, service or technical problems or as may be required by law.
If your Personal Information has been submitted to us by an Accela customer and you wish to exercise any rights you may have to access, correct, amend, or delete such data, please inquire with the relevant customer directly. Since Accela personnel have limited ability to access Information our customers submit to our products or services, if you wish to make your request directly to Accela, please provide the name of the Accela customer who submitted your data to our product or service. We will refer your request to that customer.
Depending on your location, you may have the right to Access, Amend or Delete your Personal Information. We allow you to access, amend, correct or delete your Personal Information with proper identification verification. We will verify your identify using your account, your email, and your full name and/or other identifying information. Accela may not disclose or delete data if an exemption or exception to deletion exists.
Our marketing emails tell you how to “opt-out” of receiving further marketing emails. If you opt out, we may still send you non-marketing emails including emails about your accounts and our business dealings with you.
With your permission, we may send you text messages for business or marketing purposes. Our text messages will tell you how to stop receiving such messages.
Certain types of data subject requests may be denied outright or may fall into a category where Accela is not required to provide a response. Subject to applicable law, a data subject request may be denied or (at a minimum) limited based on the following grounds (not an exhaustive list):
If the request is one where a response to the request is not required (e.g., because the organization is not in possession of the data, or the data falls into one of the exceptions above, or similar as permitted by law) then the organization may deny the request in whole or in part. If a request is denied only in part, then the rest of the information sought must be disclosed (as appropriate). At any point, additional documentation may be requested from the requestor to confirm the data subject’s identity and residency. Documentation of the reasons for the denial and related supporting documents must be retained along with other required response documentation.
If the organization must deny a validated request to know specific pieces of personal data about the subject, in whole or in part, because of a conflict with state or federal law, or an exception to the CCPA, such denial and the basis for the decision must be reported to the requestor.
Reasonable access to personal data will be provided at no cost upon request made to the organization.
To submit a request please email: privacy@accela.com
Personal Information will be retained as long as needed to fulfill legitimate business purposes for which it was collected, including the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, or for a period of time specifically required or allowed by applicable regulations or laws. We will also retain and use your Personal Information for as long as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.
Accela uses Cookies and other technology as part of its services and to create a better user experience. Cookies are used on most major websites. Accela uses cookies for functionality, performance, security, analytics and advertising purposes, such as to track the effectiveness of its marketing, to show you more relevant content, and for custom site functionality.
Cookies, Web Beacons, Pixel Tags, etc. are text or image files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies let you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, retaining your login information, and generally improving your user experience. Some examples of cookies: (i) analytics cookies collect information about how visitors use websites to allow companies to measure site performance and how effective their marketing efforts are; (ii) advertising cookies recognize a user’s device and help to provide the user with more relevant content and measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
Generally cookies can be classified in several categories. Strictly necessary cookies are those that must be present for a website to provide its basic functionality, such as signing in, adding items to a shopping cart or e-billing functions. Performance cookies are not strictly necessary but add functionality to a website to improve performance and the user experience. Advertising and Targeting cookies are used to provide information customized for the user’s preferences for sales or marketing and are used to provide such things as recommending restaurants nearby, or informing you about special sales or discounts available to website visitors. Tracking cookies and other Tracking technology monitor and report on a user’s web browsing behavior across websites, apps or devices. Detailed information about types of Cookies can be found at:
https://www.cookiepro.com/knowledgebase/knowledge_categories/types-of-cookies/
When you use our websites, you can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. Some browsers allow you to whitelist sites from which you accept cookies. For more details on managing cookie preferences, see below:
You can also choose to opt-out of use of cookies by many of our third party advertising partners for delivery of personalized ads by visiting:
Digital Advertising Alliance (https://optout.aboutads.info/) in the USA,
Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (https://youradchoices.ca/) in Canada,
or the European Digital Advertising Alliance (https://www.youronlinechoices.eu/) in Europe.
These (and any other linked) third party sites are not controlled by Accela, and Accela has no control over any third party site’s privacy practices.
While we and others give you certain choices, as further outlined in this Privacy Policy, there are many ways that web browser signals and similar mechanisms can indicate your choice to disable tracking, and we may not be aware of nor honor every mechanism.
In addition to using our own Cookie technology, Accela may use Cookies or other technology generated by the following third parties:
bidr.io
cloudflare.com
cloudfront.net
company-target.com
demandbase.com
google-analytics.com
googleleadservices.com
googletagmanager.com
linkedin.com
licdn.com
marketo.net
mktoresp.com
newrelic.com
nr-data.net
popt.in
There is no comprehensive “do not track” standard for companies to adhere to. As such, Accela does not respond to “do not track” signals at this time.
We have put in place reasonable and appropriate physical, electronic, administrative and managerial procedures in an effort to help safeguard Personal Information we collect. However, Accela cannot fully eliminate security risks associated with Personal Information. To help protect yourself, please use a strong password, do not use the same passwords you use with other accounts or services, and protect your usernames and passwords.
Accela is a global company with affiliates, various business processes, management structures and technical systems that cross borders. Information collected by or on behalf of Accela may be stored on our computers, on our mobile devices, or on our servers, and may be transferred to, accessed from, or stored and processed in the United States and other counties including any other country where Accela or its service providers maintain facilities or support centers.
We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at our discretion and at any time. From time to time, we may collect and use Personal Information in ways not previously disclosed in our Privacy Policy. If our information practices or this policy change, we will post adjustments to this policy and change the “Last Updated” date. Unless additional notice or consent is required by applicable laws, this will serve as your notification of these changes.
The CCPA provides California Consumers (California residents) with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.
Access to Specific Information and Data Portability Rights
You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will disclose to you:
You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies.
We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service providers to:
Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
We do not knowingly or intentionally sell Personal Information as defined under the CCPA.
To exercise the access, data portability, and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by Email at privacy@accela.com
Only you or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your personal information.
You may also make a verifiable consumer request on behalf of your minor child.
You may only make a verifiable consumer request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable consumer request must:
We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you. Making a verifiable consumer request does not require you to create an account with us. We will only use personal information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor’s identity or authority to make the request.
Accela takes the confidentiality of your personal information seriously. To ensure the protection of your privacy, we have implemented a verification process to confirm the authenticity of individuals requesting access to their personal information.
Accela is committed to verifying the identity of individual before disclosing any personal information. Our verification process involves utilizing two methods of verification to validate the identity of the requestor. These methods are designed to safeguard against unauthorized access and maintain the security of your personal data.
Please note that this verification process is a critical safeguard in protecting your privacy and ensuring that only authorized individuals can access and receive personal information.
We endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within 45 days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. If you have an account with us, we will deliver our written response to that account. If you do not have an account with us, we will deliver our written response by mail or electronically, at your option. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding the verifiable consumer request’s receipt. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance.
We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:
California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section 1798.83) permits users of our website that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to privacy@accela.com or write us as set forth below.
If you have any questions or comments about this notice, our Privacy Statement, the ways in which we collect and use your personal information, your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us at: privacy@accela.com or by calling (925) 659-3200 or 1-888-722-2352.
Please send all written communication to:
Accela, Inc.
Attn: Privacy Team
9110 Alcosta Blvd,
Ste.H# 3030,
San Ramon, CA 94583 or
(925) 659-3200 or 1-888-722-2352
Web Form for Requests (an email login may be required): https://accelaeng.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/11
If you are an employee residing in California and you have questions about your privacy rights, you may contact the California Consumer Privacy Act at https://cppa.ca.gov/about_us/contact.html.
