The California Technical Forum (Cal TF) is committed to respecting your private information and protecting it from misuse. Our Privacy Policy outlines our current policy on personally identifiable information.

By submitting your personal information to the electronic Technical Reference Manual (eTRM), you are consenting to the collection and processing of your personal information in the United States and to our use of your personal information and any related information in the manner described in this Privacy Policy. If you are submitting personal information of third parties to us, you warrant and represent you have their consent to provide their personal information to us and you will indemnify Cal TF Members, Members of the Cal TF Policy Advisory Committee, and the Cal TF Administrators (collectively Cal TF participants) and hold the Cal TF participants harmless from and against claims by such individuals relating to our processing and use of such personal information within the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Information Collection and Use

We collect several different types of information for various purposes.

Types of Data Collected

While using the eTRM, the eTRM website may ask you to provide certain personally identifiable information (“PII”) that can be used to contact or identify you. PII may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address
  • First name and last name
  • Company or firm represented

We may also collect information how the website is accessed and used ("Usage Data"). This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other usage and diagnostic data.  

PII and Usage Data together are referred to “Personal Data.”

Tracking & Cookies Data

We use cookies to track the activity on our website and hold certain information. A “cookie” is a small bit of record-keeping information websites often store on a user's computer or mobile device. Our cookies do not collect PII and are typically used to quickly identify your computer or mobile device to “remember” you. You may disable cookies or set your Internet browser to alert you when cookies are being sent to your computer’s browser or mobile device; however, disabling cookies will affect your ability to use certain features on our website.

Examples of Cookies we may use:

  • Session Cookies. We use Session Cookies to operate our website.
  • Preference Cookies. We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
  • Security Cookies. We use Security Cookies for security purposes.

Use of Data

eTRM uses the collected data for various purposes:

  • To provide and maintain the website
  • To notify you about changes to our website and the content on the website
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features of our website when you choose to do so
  • To provide customer care and support
  • To provide analysis or valuable information so that we can improve the website
  • To monitor the usage of the website
  • To detect, prevent and address technical issues

Aggregation of Your Personal Data

Periodically, we may aggregate your Personal Data with that of others in various formats so your Personal Data becomes anonymous and cannot personally identify you.  We use the information for various analysis, reporting and website management purposes, including to analyze website usage and areas for enhancements.  This aggregated information is not considered Personal Data and may be shared with third parties we do business with.

Transfer of Data

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of the United States where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction.

If you are located outside United States and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to the United States and process it there.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

The eTRM is designed with reasonable security protections to treat data securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no intentional transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.  However, the Cal TF participants cannot guarantee that a data breach will not occur through intentional activities of hackers or other malicious agents.

Disclosure Of Data

Cal TF may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • To comply with a legal obligation, including requests by the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission or the funding entities
  • To protect and defend the rights or property of eTRM
  • To prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the website
  • To protect the personal safety of users of the website or the public
  • To protect against legal liability

Security of Data

The security of your data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Disclosure of Personal Data to Third Parties

We do not disclose your Personal Data to third parties without your prior explicit written consent, except in the following cases:

Third Parties under Contract to Future Energy Enterprises to provide services related to the administration of the website. 

Third Parties under Contract by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) with whom we must share your Personal Data or when the CPUC issues an order directing us to do so.

Governmental Agencies and Entities: When governmental agencies use, collect, and store Personal Data to perform energy efficiency, energy evaluation, or other specified services, or have obtained a CPUC Order or Resolution directing us to disclose your Personal Data.

Links to Other Sites

Our website may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Children's Privacy

Our website does not address anyone under the age of 18 (“Child” or "Children"). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Notice to California Customers – Your California Privacy Rights

California's "Shine the Light" law, Civil Code Section 1798.83, gives California residents the right to ask companies once a year what personal information they share with third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes. If applicable, this information would include the categories of personal information defined in that law, and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared personal information for the immediately prior calendar year.

If you would like to ask for information under the “Shine the Light” law, please send an email request to eTRM@FutEE.email with "Request for California Privacy Information" in the subject to help us appropriately identify your question. Please include your mailing address and state of residence so we can provide a response.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Effective Date

This Privacy Policy was last modified on October 4, 2019.

Contact Us

If you have questions or comments related to this website or this Privacy Policy, e-mail us at eTRM@FutEE.email.