Privacy Policy

Website Privacy Policy

The Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. On-Line Privacy Notice for www.melsimslaw.com

The Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. knows that you care how information about you is used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. This notice describes our on-line privacy policy. By visiting www.melsimslaw.com, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Notice.

What Personal Information About Consumers Does Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. Gather?

The information we learn from consumers on the www.melsimslaw.com website helps us continually improve the online experience. Here are the types of information we gather.

Information You Give Us

We receive and store the information you enter on our Web site if you use the website to contact us. The information you are required to provide for us to generate and process the request is your name, address, phone number and email address and any other information that you provide in your email to us. You can choose not to provide your contact information or any specific item, but if you chose to do so, we may be unable to respond to your inquiry.

Automatic Information

We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. For example, like many Web sites, we use “cookies,” and we obtain certain types of information when your Web browser accesses the www.melsimslaw.com website and other content served by or on behalf of Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. on other Web sites. Please see below for a list of examples.

What About Cookies?

Cookies are unique identifiers that we transfer to your device to enable our systems to recognize your device.

The Help feature on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. Additionally, you can disable or delete similar data used by browser add-ons, such as Flash cookies, by changing the add-on’s settings or visiting the Web site of its manufacturer. If you block or otherwise reject our cookies, you will not be able to use the www.paymelsimslaw.com website.

Does Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. Share the Information It Receives?

Information about our customers is an important part of our business, and we are not in the business of selling it to others. We share customer information only as described below.

Our Clients

You may be visiting the www.melsimslaw.com website to initiate an inquiry or make a complaint or initiate a dispute regarding a debt owed to a client of Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. (“Client”). Any information provided to Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. in connection with such a communication will be provided to Client and/or other attorneys retained by Client to collect your account.

Third Parties

We employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include site analytics and analyzing data. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. We ensure that all third parties follow practices at least as protective at those described in this Privacy Notice.

Change of Address

In the event that the address you provide us does not match the address in our records, we may update your address based on the information you have provided to us. In the event that we update our records, the updated address will also be provided to Client and/or other attorneys retained by Client to collect your account.

With Your Consent

Other than as set out above, you will receive notice when information about you might be provided by Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. to third parties, and you will have an opportunity to choose not to share the information.

How Secure Is Information About Me?

We work to protect the security of your information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software, which encrypts information you input.

What About Third-Party Advertisers and Links to Other Websites?

The www.melsimslaw.com website does not include any third party advertising.

Protection of Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. and Others

We release account and other personal information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law or protect the rights, property, or safety of Melendrez & Sims, A P.C., our users, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction. Obviously, however, this does not include selling, renting, sharing, or otherwise disclosing personally identifiable information from customers for commercial purposes in violation of the commitments set forth in this Privacy Notice.

What Choices Do I Have?

As discussed above, you can always choose not to provide information, even though it might be needed to allow us to process or respond to a communication you have sent us.

Conditions of Use, Notices, and Revisions

If you choose to visit www.melsimslaw.com, your visit and any dispute over privacy is subject to this Notice. If you have any concern about privacy at www.melsimslaw.com, please email us with a thorough description at contact@melsimslaw.com and we will try to resolve it. Or you can call us at 877-958-2350. In the event that we change our privacy policy, we will amend it on our website. We will not email or otherwise send you personal notification of such changes, so we recommend that you check our Web site frequently to see recent changes.

Examples of Information Collected

Examples of Information You Give Us

You provide such information when you visit or make a payment via the www.melsimslaw.com.com website. As a result of those actions, you might supply us with such information as your name, address, phone number and email address and any other information that you provide in your email to us

Examples of Automatic Information

Examples of the information we collect and analyze include the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet; e-mail address; computer and connection information such as browser type, version, and time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and platform; the full Uniform Resource Locator (URL) clickstream to, through, and from our Web site, including date and time; cookie number; and previous interactions with the www.melsimslaw.com website. We may also use browser data such as cookies, Flash cookies (also known as Flash Local Shared Objects), or similar data on certain parts of our Web site for fraud prevention and other purposes. During some visits we may use software tools such as JavaScript to measure and collect session information, including page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page. We may also collect technical information to help us identify your device for fraud prevention and diagnostic purposes.

IMPORTANT NOTICE 1

This privacy statement only applies to information obtained as the result of your use of the www.melsimslaw.com website. This privacy statement does not apply to information obtained from any other source, including as the result of interactions with you or any third party.

IMPORTANT NOTICE 2

Notwithstanding anything contained within this Privacy Notice, Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. is a debt collector attempting to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose. This communication is from a debt collector.

– Last Amended October 13, 2021

PRIVACY NOTICE/PRIVACY POLICY PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT

(To obtain a copy of this notice in an alternative format please phone us at 877-958-2350 or email us at contact@MelSimsLaw.com)

The California Consumer Privacy Act gives a consumer the right to request that we disclose the following upon receipt of a verified request:

• The categories of personal information we collect;
• The categories of sources from which the personal information is collected;
• The purpose for collecting the personal information;
• The categories of third parties with whom the business shares personal information; and
• The specific pieces of personal information we have collected, disclosed, or sold.

The California Consumer Privacy Act also requires that we disclose the categories of personal information we typically collect about a consumer. We typically collect the following categories of information from you (and others as noted):

• personal identifying information, including, but not limited to name, address, telephone number, social security number, account number, email address, driver’s license number, as well as other identifying information, which we obtain from a person’s creditor, and/or credit reports and/or third party data providers and/or the consumer;
• health insurance information, if the debt is a medical debt, which we obtain from a person’s creditor and/or the consumer;
• characteristics such as age, gender, etc., which we obtain from credit reports and/or a person’s creditor and/or the consumer;
• retail information, which we obtain from credit reports and/or a person’s creditor;
• internet activity such as IP address from cookies, after visiting our websites or payment portal
• banking information, which we obtain from a person’s creditor and/or credit reports and/or third party data providers and/or the consumer;
• geolocation data and location data, including GPS coordinates, which we obtain from process servers if there is a lawsuit filed;
• call recordings, which are made when the consumer has a telephone conversation with us;
• professional and employment related information, which we obtain from the consumer’s creditor, credit reports, third party data providers, consumer’s employer, and/or the consumer;
• educational information, which we obtain from the consumer’s creditor, credit reports, and/or possibly any applications or other documents gathered from a person’s creditor; and
• biometric information including, but not limited to physical descriptions, photos and voice prints (audio recordings), which we obtained from person’s creditor and/or process servers if there is a lawsuit, and recordings which are made when the consumer has a telephone conversation with us.

If you wish to request the categories of information or the actual information we have collected about you, please call us at 877-958-2350. Any of the information that is collected will be used for debt collection purposes.

Once we receive your request, we will compare information you provided with the information Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. already has. If we can verify that the request came from you, we will provide the required information. We will match 2-3 identifying, personal information data points to verify that the request came from the consumer. If we cannot verify that the request came from the consumer, we will notify the consumer.

The California Consumer Privacy Act also provides for the right to opt out of the sale of personal information. However, Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. does not and will not sell personal information. We do not disclose information to credit reporting agencies.

The California Consumer Privacy Act provides for the right for consumers to request deletion of their information, subject to various exceptions. The information that Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. collects generally falls within an exception and does not have to be deleted upon request. Nonetheless, such a request can be made to Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. at 877-958-2350.

The California Consumer Privacy Act provides that the consumer has a right not to receive discriminatory treatment by us for the exercise of the privacy rights conferred by the California Consumer Privacy Act.

The California Privacy Act provides that a consumer can designate an authorized agent to make a request under the California Consumer Privacy Act. The consumer must provide either a power of attorney or written authorization to authorize an agent to make a request.

This privacy policy was last updated on October 13, 2021.

MELENDREZ & SIMS, A P.C. PRIVACY NOTICE PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA CONSUMER PRIVACY ACT ADDRESSED TO EMPLOYEES AND APPLICANTS

The California Consumer Privacy Act requires that we disclose the categories of personal information we typically collect and use in the context of a person’s role as a job applicant or employee. We typically collect the following categories of information from you and others as noted:

1. Identifiers such as personal identifying information, including, but not limited to name, address, telephone number, social security number, email address, driver’s license number, bank account information, as well as other identifying information from you, your creditor, credit reports and/or third party data providers;

2. Personal information as defined in the California Customer Records Act, Cal. Civ. Code Section 1798.80 such as contact information, health information, insurance information, financial information, results of drug testing and criminal background information.

3. Protected classifications under California or federal law such as age, race, color, citizenship, marital status, gender, etc. from you and providers of background checks;

4. Internet or similar activity information such as IP address from your browsing history, search history, information on an interaction with websites and applications;

5. Geolocation data such as device location if you work remotely;

6. Audio, electronic, visual or similar information such as call and video recordings;

7. Biometric information such as genetic, physiological, behavioral and biological characteristics or activity patters or other identifying information such as fingerprints, voiceprints, photos or other physical patters;

8. Professional and employment related information from you and/or third party data providers;

9. Educational information from you and/or third party data providers;

10. Information such as work history and performance evaluations; and

11. Certain inferences concerning an individual’s preferences, abilities, aptitudes and characteristics

We collect personal information relating to employees and applicants who are California residents in a variety of contexts, including in connection with applications for employment, Human Resource activities and job related activities. The categories of personal information that we collect and use about a California resident will depend on our specific relationship or interaction with that individual, and the examples provided in each category above are for illustrative purposes only.

Purposes for which We Use Personal Information:

We may use personal information relating to employees and applicants who are California residents for one or more of the following business purposes:

• Evaluating employment applications and employee performance
• Providing and maintaining our employee related services
• Conducting background checks
• Protecting against security risks
• Conducting research and data analysis
• Maintaining our facilities, systems, and infrastructure
• Improving our employee related services
• Carrying out our legal and business purposes, such as complying with federal, state, or local laws, responding to civil, criminal, or regulatory lawsuits or investigations, exercising our rights or defending against legal claims, resolving complaints and disputes, performing compliance activities, performing institutional risk control, and otherwise operating, managing, and maintaining our business
• As otherwise disclosed to you at or before the point of collecting your personal information

We may also use personal information relating to California residents for one or more of the specific “business purposes” listed in the CCPA:

• Auditing related to an employee
• Detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity
• Debugging to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality
• Short-term, transient use
• Performing services on behalf of clients or their service providers, including maintaining or servicing employees’ accounts, providing employees service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying employees or applicants information, processing payroll, or providing similar services on behalf of Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. or its service providers
• Undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration
• Undertaking activities to verify or maintain the quality or safety of a service that is owned or controlled by Melendrez & Sims, A P.C. , and to improve, upgrade, or enhance the service that is owned or controlled by Melendrez & Sims, A P.C.

Changes to This CCPA Disclosure

We may change or update this CCPA Disclosure in the future. When we do, we will post the revised CCPA Disclosure To Employees and Applicants on our website and on Controlist. This CCPA Disclosure was last updated and became effective on October 13, 2021.