Privacy Policy

(Last updated August 1, 2019)

Thank you for visiting the Utah Courts' website. Our privacy policy describes how the Administrative Office of the Courts ("AOC," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and discloses your personal information and device information when you visit / and any subdomains and internet-accessible applications developed, owned, or controlled by the AOC (collectively "the Site"), as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

 

Definitions

"Personal information" means any information that we collect through the Site that could serve to identify an individual, for example: first and last name, telephone number, physical address, email address, etc.
"Device information" means any automatically collected information about your device, including information about your web browser and type of operating system, IP address, time zone, relevant cookies that are installed on your device, the time and date of your visit, the individual web pages that you view, the time spent on those pages, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and other statistics and information about how you interact with the Site. This information does not recognize the identity of the visitor and is not used to track or record information specific to the individual.

 

We Collect Personal Information and Device Information

When you choose to use the Site, you agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information and device information as stated in this Privacy Policy and any records access rules promulgated by the Utah Judicial Council (described in greater detail below). As part of court case processing, other individuals may provide to the AOC personal information about you in court records.

 

Personal Information and How We Use It

The personal information that we collect is used: to provide court services to you (and other individuals involved in your court case, if any); to communicate with you; to improve and optimize the Site; and to increase our ability to fulfill our public mission to provide the people an open, fair, efficient, and independent system for the advancement of justice under the law. We will not use your personal information or disclose your personal information to anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy.

 

Device Information and How We Use It

We collect Device Information using the following technologies:

  • "Cookies" are data files that are placed on your device and often include an anonymous unique identifier. These are sent to your browser from the Site and are stored on your device. You have the option to either accept or refuse these cookies, and know when a cookie is being sent to your computer. If you choose to refuse our cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our website. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
  • "Log files" track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, device type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
  • "Web beacons," "tags," and "pixels" are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.

The device information we collect serves as part of our statistical analysis about the use of the Site so we can review, design and enhance the user experience.  The AOC may detect user IP addresses for providing location-based user information and services. We do not attempt to associate device information with personal information unless explicitly stated.

 

Court Records

The constitutions of Utah and of the United States protect the people's right to an open and public court. Anyone can attend most court hearings, and anyone can view and obtain a copy of most court records. However, the people who do business with the courts—parties, witnesses, victims, jurors, and others—have rights of privacy also protected by our state and federal constitutions. Neither right is absolute; each is balanced by the other.

Still, to participate in the judicial process, people sacrifice a good deal of their privacy. It is a sacrifice necessary to protect the integrity and accountability of the courts.

The Utah Supreme Court and the Utah Judicial Council have adopted rules that regulate court records. Some records are closed, but most are public (Rule 4-202.02). Even closed records can be viewed by some (Rule 4-202.03). Public records are provided to anyone who asks, and some public records are posted on this website. There may be a fee for access to some records (Rule 4-202.08). Non-public records may be shared with other governmental entities under certain conditions (Rule 4-202.10).

There is a process for requesting access to a record (Rule 4-202.04 and Rule 4-202.05), for requesting that a record be closed (Rule 4-202.04 and Rule 4-202.05), and for appealing an adverse decision of either request (Rule 4-202.07). A person may redact sensitive information from a record if the information is not needed for the case (Rule 4-202.09). There is a process for correcting errors in records (URCP 60 and URCrP 30).

The following rules regulate access to court records:

 

Third-Party Websites and Services

The Site may provide links to (or links from) third-party websites or services, none of which are governed by this Privacy Policy. To the extent that any linked third-party websites or services you visit are not owned or controlled by the AOC, we are not responsible for those websites' or services' content or information practices. We strongly encourage you to review the privacy policies of any site or service before providing any personal information.

The Site uses Google Analytics, but does not use the Google Analytics Advertising Features. For more information, see "How Google uses data when you use our partners' sites or apps," located at www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/.

The AOC uses third-party solutions for processing credit cards transactions. The third-party vendors have their own privacy policies and the AOC does not exercise control over these websites or their privacy practices. Systems offered by the AOC that collect and process payment credit card information are highly secured and fully hosted solutions. This means that the AOC does not retain credit card numbers or security codes. Further, when you enter personal information online, that information is encrypted prior to transmission using a security protocol called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).

The AOC maintains official social media accounts on behalf of the Utah Courts on third-party websites, including YouTube (link is to external site), Twitter (link is to external site), and Facebook (link is to external site), to broadcast information about the Utah Courts to a wider audience. When you visit official Utah Courts social media pages, the AOC does not request, collect, or record personally identifiable information. Information collected by the AOC will be used solely for the purpose of evaluating and maintaining those accounts. Please be aware that privacy policies of third-party websites may not be the same as the privacy policy governing the Site. Retweets, likes, or follows of any person or organization on any social media page are not endorsements. Promoted Tweets on Twitter are not authorized or controlled by the AOC.

The AOC also makes available certain RSS feeds to assist individuals in receiving updated information made available on the Site. The AOC controls the XML data underlying those feeds. Individual users are responsible for any privacy implications associated with the software used by the individual to receive and review the XML data distributed in the RSS feeds.

 

Children's Privacy

The Site is not intended for individuals under the age of 13. The AOC does not knowingly solicit or collect information from such individuals. Any such individual should involve a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult to use the Site on their behalf.

 

Security

We value your trust in providing us with your personal information, thus we striving to use commercially acceptable means of protecting it. The AOC maintains reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the confidentiality of information transmitted online, including but not limited to encryption, firewalls and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Any authorized third parties must be committed to the same principles and are required by contract to follow the same policy and guidelines as the AOC in protecting this information. Users should be aware that even though protections are in place, the AOC cannot guarantee against the occurrence of hardware failure, unauthorized or unlawful intrusion, or other technical problems.

 

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Thus, we advise you to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. These changes are effective immediately, after they are posted on this page.

 

Contact Us

If you have any questions or suggestions about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact the AOC at:

450 South State
P. O. Box 140241
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-0241
Phone: 801-578-3800

 

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