Terms of Use &
Privacy Policy

1. Acceptance of Terms

This website is operated by Chappell Investigations, a California-licensed private investigation business (PI License #25789), located at 12400 Ventura Blvd. #673, Studio City, CA 91604 ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"). Use of this website constitutes your acceptance of these Terms of Use ("Terms") and the Privacy Policy set out in Part II below.

These Terms are effective as of July 1, 2025 and supersede all prior versions. We reserve the right to amend these Terms at any time. Continued use of the website following any amendment constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. The current version is always available at surveillanceinvestigator.com/legal.html.

2. No Attorney-Client or PI-Client Relationship

Visiting this website, submitting a contact form, calling our telephone number, or sending an email does not create a private investigator-client relationship, an attorney-client relationship, or any other professional relationship between you and Chappell Investigations.

Information submitted through this website before a written agreement is signed is not protected by any privilege or duty of confidentiality. Do not transmit confidential or legally sensitive information through general inquiry forms or email until a written agreement is in place.

3. Written Agreement Requirement (California SB 1454)

Effective July 1, 2025, California Business and Professions Code Section 7524, enacted pursuant to SB 1454 (signed by Governor Newsom, 2024), requires that all agreements entered into by a California-licensed private investigator must be in writing. Accordingly:

• No investigative services will be performed without a signed, written Client Service Agreement.
• Every Client Service Agreement must include: the names and contact information of all parties; approximate start and completion dates; a description of the scope of investigation or services; all labor, services, and materials to be provided; the fee structure and how fees are assessed; and any other matters agreed upon by the parties.
• Any amendment, addendum, or modification to an initial Client Service Agreement must also be in writing and must describe all changes to scope, dates, delivery method, and fees.
• Email communications may serve as amendments or addenda provided they satisfy the content requirements of BPC Section 7524(b).
• A licensee who performs services without a written agreement is subject to disciplinary action by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS). This requirement exists to protect both clients and the licensee; we enforce it without exception.

If you engage us through an attorney, the attorney must also execute or acknowledge the written agreement. An attorney's refusal to sign does not relieve the obligation; we will decline the engagement rather than proceed without a compliant written agreement.

4. Permitted Use of This Website

This website is provided solely for informational purposes: to describe the services offered by Chappell Investigations, to enable prospective clients to make initial contact, and to provide general information about private investigation services in California.

Prohibited Uses

You agree that you will not use this website to:

• Transmit unlawful, harassing, defamatory, obscene, or fraudulent content;
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any system, server, or database;
• Scrape, harvest, or extract data from this website by automated means;
• Solicit or request investigative services for any purpose that violates federal or California law, including but not limited to stalking, harassment, or violation of a protective order;
• Use information obtained through this site to facilitate conduct that is illegal, tortious, or intended to harm any individual.

We reserve the right to deny service to any person for any lawful reason, including where we have reason to believe that the intended use of our services would be unlawful or harmful.

5. No Guarantees of Outcome

Nothing on this website constitutes a guarantee, warranty, or representation that any particular investigative result, evidentiary finding, or legal outcome will be achieved. Private investigation is inherently fact-specific and subject to circumstances beyond our control. Past results described on this site | including any dollar figures relating to claims defeated | are provided for illustrative purposes only and do not predict or guarantee future outcomes.

References to experience, licensing, or investigative capabilities are statements of fact about the Company's qualifications and general methods, not promises regarding any specific engagement.

6. Intellectual Property

All content on this website | including text, images, graphics, service descriptions, and the compilation and arrangement of such content | is the property of Chappell Investigations or its content suppliers and is protected by United States and California copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

You may view and print pages from this website for your personal, non-commercial use only. No content may be reproduced, distributed, modified, or used for any commercial purpose without the prior written consent of Chappell Investigations.

7. Third-Party Links & Services

This website may contain links to third-party websites or references to external resources. These links are provided for convenience only. Chappell Investigations does not endorse, control, or assume responsibility for the content, privacy practices, or availability of any third-party website. Your use of any third-party website is at your own risk and subject to that website's own terms and privacy policy.

This website uses Google Analytics 4 ("GA4"), a web analytics service provided by Google LLC. Use of GA4 involves the transmission of certain data to Google's servers. See Part II, Section 12 for full disclosure of this practice and your opt-out rights.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Chappell Investigations, its owners, officers, employees, agents, and licensors shall not be liable to you or any third party for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages | including lost profits, loss of data, or loss of goodwill | arising out of or related to your use of, or inability to use, this website or any content or services described herein, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising out of or relating to this website shall not exceed one hundred United States dollars ($100.00).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. In such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by law. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for gross negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be lawfully excluded.

9. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Chappell Investigations and its owners, officers, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from or related to: (a) your use of this website; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any applicable law or regulation; or (d) any content you submit through this website.

10. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to this website or its content shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any legal action or proceeding shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Los Angeles County, California, and you hereby submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.

Before initiating any legal proceeding, you agree to notify Chappell Investigations in writing of any dispute or claim and allow thirty (30) days for the parties to attempt to resolve the matter informally.

11. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to update or modify these Terms at any time without prior individual notice. Changes take effect upon posting to this page. We will update the "Last Revised" date at the top of this document. It is your responsibility to review these Terms periodically. Continued use of the website after any change constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Material changes that affect your rights | particularly with respect to data collection practices | will be flagged with a revised effective date prominently displayed in the hero section of this page.

12. Analytics & Tracking Notice (CIPA / GA4)

What Google Analytics Collects

Google Analytics 4 ("GA4") is a web analytics service operated by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043. When you visit this website, GA4 may collect:

• Your IP address (anonymized by default in GA4);
• Device type, operating system, and browser type;
• Pages viewed, time on page, and navigation path;
• Referring website or search engine;
• Geographic region (derived from anonymized IP);
• Interaction events such as link clicks and form submissions.

GA4 does not collect your name, telephone number, or email address unless you submit that information voluntarily through a contact form. Chappell Investigations does not enable Google Signals or any remarketing feature that would enable Google to use your data for its own advertising purposes.

How We Use Analytics Data

Analytics data is used solely to understand how visitors use this website | which pages are most visited, how users navigate between pages, and where users arrive from | so that we can improve the site's content and usability. We do not sell, license, or share analytics data with any third party for marketing or advertising purposes.

Google's Use of Your Data

Google may use the data collected through GA4 in accordance with its own Privacy Policy, available at policies.google.com/privacy. We have no control over Google's independent data practices. Google is a data processor on our behalf with respect to the analytics services it provides to us.

California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) Notice

California Penal Code Sections 630–638 (the California Invasion of Privacy Act, "CIPA") broadly protect Californians against unauthorized interception or recording of private communications. Courts have applied CIPA to website analytics and tracking technologies. This notice constitutes our disclosure to you that Google Analytics 4 tracking is active on this website. Your continued use of this site after reading this notice constitutes your consent to such tracking for purposes of the CIPA consent exception.

Opting Out of Google Analytics

You may prevent Google Analytics from collecting data about your visit by:

• Installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, available free of charge at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout;
• Enabling "Do Not Track" in your browser settings (note: browser-level DNT signals are not currently binding on GA4);
• Using a privacy-focused browser or extension that blocks analytics scripts by default (e.g., uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger);
• Disabling JavaScript in your browser (note: this may impair website functionality).

13. Information We Collect

Information You Provide Voluntarily

When you contact us via telephone, email, or a web form, we collect the personal information you provide | typically your name, telephone number, email address, and a description of your inquiry. We use this information solely to respond to your inquiry and, if you engage us, to perform contracted investigative services.

Automatically Collected Information

In addition to the analytics data described in Section 12, our web hosting infrastructure may automatically log certain technical data, including server access logs containing IP addresses, request timestamps, and referring URLs. This data is retained for security and diagnostic purposes only and is not used for marketing.

Information We Do Not Collect

We do not use session replay software, heat-mapping tools, advertising pixels (including Meta Pixel), chatbots, or any other tool that captures keystrokes, mouse movements, or real-time chat inputs. We do not collect sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, health data, or government-issued identification through this website.

14. How We Use Your Information

Personal information submitted to Chappell Investigations is used for the following purposes only:

• To respond to your inquiry and assess whether we can assist you;
• To perform investigative services pursuant to a written Client Service Agreement;
• To comply with legal obligations, including record-keeping requirements imposed by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) and BPC Section 7524;
• To improve this website based on aggregate, anonymized analytics data;
• To protect the legal rights of Chappell Investigations, including in connection with disputes or regulatory inquiries.

We do not use your personal information for direct marketing, email campaigns, or any automated profiling or decision-making.

15. Sharing & Disclosure of Your Information

Chappell Investigations does not sell your personal information. We do not share your information with third parties except in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers: We use Google LLC as a data processor for analytics services as described in Section 12. Google operates under its own data processing terms. We do not use other third-party data processors that receive your personal contact information.
• Legal compulsion: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, subpoena, or other valid legal process, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect the safety of any person or to prevent fraud or illegal activity.
• Professional referrals: If, with your explicit consent, we refer your matter to another licensed professional (e.g., an attorney), we may share relevant contact information solely for that purpose.
• Business transfers: In the event of a sale, merger, or transfer of all or part of this business, your information may be transferred to the successor entity subject to this Privacy Policy.

Client confidentiality: Information disclosed to us in connection with an active engagement is treated as confidential and is not shared with any third party without your written consent, except as required by law or as necessary to perform the contracted services. This duty of confidentiality arises under the written Client Service Agreement; it does not apply to information submitted through this website prior to execution of an agreement (see Section 2).

16. California Privacy Rights

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) / CPRA

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (collectively "CCPA/CPRA"), grants certain rights to California residents with respect to their personal information. Chappell Investigations is a small California-based business and, based on our size and revenue, is not a "covered business" subject to the CCPA's mandatory compliance framework. Nevertheless, as a matter of best practice and respect for your privacy, we voluntarily honor the following rights:

• Right to Know: You may request that we disclose what categories of personal information we have collected about you and the purposes for which it was used.
• Right to Delete: You may request deletion of personal information we hold about you, subject to certain legal exceptions (including information we are required to retain under BSIS licensing rules).
• Right to Correct: You may request correction of inaccurate personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Opt Out of Sale: We do not sell personal information. No opt-out is required.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information in Section 18. We will respond within forty-five (45) days of receiving a verifiable request.

California "Shine the Light" Law (Civil Code § 1798.83)

California Civil Code Section 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about disclosures of personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. Chappell Investigations does not disclose personal information to third parties for direct marketing purposes, and no such disclosure has occurred in any prior calendar year.

Do Not Track

California Business and Professions Code Section 22575 requires websites to disclose how they respond to "Do Not Track" signals. At this time, this website does not alter its data collection practices in response to a browser "Do Not Track" signal. The opt-out mechanisms described in Section 12 remain available to you regardless of this limitation.

17. Data Security & Retention

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the personal information in our possession from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. These measures include secure email practices, restricted access to client files, and use of password-protected systems for record storage.

No method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, and any transmission of personal information is at your own risk.

Retention: Personal information submitted in connection with an inquiry is retained for a period of three (3) years from the date of last contact, unless a longer period is required by law or by the terms of a Client Service Agreement. Analytics data processed through Google Analytics is subject to Google's data retention settings, which we have configured to the minimum available retention period (2 months for user-level data and 14 months for event data).

Upon written request, and subject to our legal retention obligations, we will delete or anonymize personal information we hold about you within a reasonable time.

18. Contact, Questions & Privacy Requests

For questions about these Terms, requests to exercise your California privacy rights, opt-out requests, or any other privacy-related matter, please contact us by any of the following means:

• Telephone: (877) 210-2292 | calls may be monitored or recorded; please note that California requires all-party consent for recording (CIPA § 632). We will provide notice at the outset of any recorded call.
• Email: chappellpi@gmail.com | note that email is not a secure transmission method; do not transmit confidential information by email prior to execution of a written agreement.
• Mail: Chappell Investigations, 12400 Ventura Blvd. #673, Studio City, CA 91604

We will acknowledge all written privacy requests within ten (10) business days and will complete substantive responses within forty-five (45) calendar days, with up to a ninety (90) day extension available where necessary.