Broward County Website Terms of Use

Transcription

1 Broward County Website Terms of Use

2 Table of Contents 1. Terms of Use User Acceptance of Terms of Use Public Participation Forums Privacy Policy What We Collect and Store Automatically How We Use Cookies Disclaimer Regarding Accuracy of Information Accessibility Site Security Intrusion Detection Linkage Intellectual Property Rights Indemnity Jurisdiction... 7

3 1. Terms of Use Thank you for visiting the Official Web Site of Broward County, Florida, broward.org (the "Site"). It is presented to you (as the user) by Broward County. Our Site adheres to preferred Internet standards by complying with the State of Florida's Public Records statutes and laws, observing and championing Internet etiquette, linking externally without endorsements, and striving for accurate factual information throughout the Site. By accessing or using the Site or any information, materials and data contained in the pages within the Site, the user hereby agrees to and accepts the current terms and conditions ("Terms of Use") for use of this Site. Broward County reserves the right to amend and update these Terms of Use from time to time. 1.1 User Acceptance of Terms of Use By visiting the Broward County Site, users agree that they will not use the Site for any unlawful activity or use it in any way that would violate any of the terms and conditions stated in these Terms of Use. Users agree to comply with all applicable laws, rule and regulations in connection with the use of this Site, including, without limitation, all applicable intellectual property law, privacy laws, and the Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law, Florida Statutes Section If at any time you choose not to accept the Terms of Use stated herein, you should not access or use the Site. 1.2 Public Participation Forums The Site may contain threaded discussions, chat rooms, listservs and other communication forums. These limited public forums are provided to allow members of the public to share ideas and information pertaining to certain issues affecting Broward County. While Broward County encourages users to interact with Broward County through these limited public forums on the specific issues presented, Broward County expects members to affirm that they are over the age of 18 and that they will interact in an appropriate manner as set forth in the code of conduct below. Broward County does not agree with or endorse every comment that users may post on any of these communication forums. If you are under the age of 18, you may not access public forums without the consent of a parent or guardian. By participating in any of these forums, users agree to send and receive messages that are both proper and related to the forum topic. The following actions are unacceptable practices, and users engaging in such practices may have their comments deleted and may be blocked from use of the communication forums: Defaming, harassing, threatening, or otherwise violating the legal rights of others, including their privacy (see below); Updated: Board of County Commissioners Office of Public Communications Page 1

4 Misrepresenting one's person, background, or character; Posting any defamatory, infringing, profane, obscene, false, nudity or unlawful material; Selling, advertising, or exchanging any goods or services unless expressly allowed and authorized by prior written approval of the Broward County's Public Communications Office; Posting any copyrighted, patented or other protected material owned by a third party; Posting material that is unrelated to the forum topic. Users agree to use the Site's forums at their own risk. While championing proper use of such forums, Broward County cannot and does not guarantee that violations of the above code for use of the forums will not occur, and Broward County cannot verify or confirm the accuracy of any comments posted by any user. Broward County is not responsible for violations of the above code of conduct or for any inaccurate or misinformation posted on the Site by any user. User of certain communication forums may be for a particular timeframe. Once the particular discussion is deemed closed by Broward County, the forum may be closed and archived by Broward County. Users who are subject to the sunshine laws based on any appointed or elected positions should abide by the restrictions and obligations of such laws; if the user is uncertain of the applicability of such restrictions, the user should refrain from participating in the discussions on this Site. 1.3 Privacy Policy It is the policy of the State of Florida that all records of the state or political subdivisions of the state are open for public inspection and copying, subject to certain exemptions. This policy is embodied in the Florida Constitution, together with the right of an individual to be free from unauthorized governmental intrusion into their private life, as provided in Article 1, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution. Use of the Site acknowledges that any personal information provided is subject to Florida's Public Records Policy as stated in Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, and Article I, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution, subject to any applicable exemptions. You do not have to give us personal information to visit the public portions of the Site, download our publications, use our communications, or access any other public feature of the Site. Under Florida law, addresses are public records. If you do not want your address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Updated: Board of County Commissioners Office of Public Communications Page 2

5 Instead, contact the Broward County agency by phone or in writing. Written correspondences to such agency are also public records unless there are exemptions under the law. Broward County may use any information, comments, or other material on the Site in connection with the operations, policies and practices of Broward County. Broward County may or may not identify or reference any user in connection with any posting, comment, or other material submitted on the Site, as Broward County deems appropriate in its sole discretion. Any information, proposals, concepts, ideas, or other submissions on the Site shall constitute publiclydisclosed information and may be used by Broward County for any purpose and in any context whatsoever without attribution, payment, or other obligation to the user. If and to the extent any protected material is submitted by any user on the Site, such submission shall constitute an unlimited, perpetual, license and grant to Broward County for any and all use of the material by Broward County for any purpose and in any context whatsoever without attribution, payment, or other obligation to the user. 1.4 What We Collect and Store Automatically The Site automatically collects the following information: Name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, xcompany.com, if you use a private Internet access account, or yourschool.edu if you connect from an educational institution's domain); The page from which you came and the pages that you access. Date and time you access our Site; Internet address of the website from which you linked directly to our Site; The system's IP (Internet Protocol) address you use to access the Site; and The type of browser and operating system you used to access our Site. This information may be used in the aggregate to count the number and types of visitors to the different pages on our Site and to help us make our Site more useful to visitors like you. 1.5 How We Use Cookies In order to process some transactions (or in the future to customize content specific to your geographic area or interests), we use cookie technology. A cookie is data that is stored on your computer's hard drive or is stored temporarily by our system. This data allows the user's browser to communicate with the Site's servers. We use the cookie to track your progress during a transaction such as paying your real estate taxes online. The cookie is saved to your computer Updated: Board of County Commissioners Office of Public Communications Page 3

6 and keeps track of the pages you visited on the Site. This tracking allows you to move quickly and easily across the Site without having to be reprocessed each time you move to a new page or area of the Site. Users may choose to reject cookies by modifying their browser preferences. However, if your computer does not accept cookies, that may interfere with your ability to use certain functions that require information from cookies. 1.6 Disclaimer Regarding Accuracy of Information Broward County makes no representation regarding the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of any information and data posted on the Site or that such information and data will be error-free. In the event that the information on Broward County's official printed documents differs from the information contained on this Site, the information on such printed documents shall control and take precedence. Visitors are encouraged to review the official Broward County website (broward.org) and the official hard-copy version of all documents upon which they plan to rely. 1.7 Accessibility Broward County is committed to providing access to all individuals seeking information on the Site. As part of that effort, Broward County has adopted certain standards for the Site developed from the following best practices: Website standards for accessible design set forth by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.) Web content accessibility guidelines as provided by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader, etc.) and have difficulty accessing information on the Site, please contact Broward County's Office of Public Communications at publicinfo@broward.org or and provide the Web address of the material you tried to access, the problem you experienced, and your contact information so that you can receive the necessary assistance. 1.8 Site Security When you use a credit card, debit card, or an online check to do business on the Site, we protect the integrity and privacy of your account information with advanced technology. Broward County's systems use Internet data encryption technology, known as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Updated: Board of County Commissioners Office of Public Communications Page 4

7 protocol, Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (SHTTP), and Secure Electronic Transactions (SET). Broward County makes no representation and assumes no responsibility or liability concerning the accuracy of the information or for any loss which might result to the user through the use of this Site. Please be aware that in the event unauthorized access, unauthorized disclosure, third party intervention, or any loss occurs due to error, omission, or inaccurate information being displayed on this Site, Broward County reserves the right to recover any such damages including any applicable fees, taxes or other funds owed Broward County. Access to the Site is at the risk of the user. The user must take any and all appropriate steps to maintain the security of the data you are transmitting or receiving from the Site, as well as any information stored on your local computer. 1.9 Intrusion Detection For security purposes and to help ensure this service remains available to you, we use special software programs for monitoring network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise to cause damage to a government computer system or this Site. These programs collect no information that directly identifies individuals, but they do collect information that could help us identify someone attempting to tamper with this Site. The user understands and agrees that all activities on this Site may be monitored and recorded. Anyone using this Site expressly consents to such monitoring and recording. WARNING: If such monitoring reveals possible evidence or information of criminal/unlawful suspicious activity, monitoring records may be provided to law enforcement officials without any prior oral or written notice to you Linkage The Site may provide links to websites that are not controlled, maintained, or regulated by Broward County. In addition, users interacting through any of the Site's communication forums may post links to various websites. Broward County is not responsible for the accuracy of the links or the content of those linked websites. Use of information from those websites by the user is voluntary and at the user s sole risk. Broward County reserves the right to delete any link posted by a user. Users should rely on information from non-broward County agency sites only after undertaking an independent review of its accuracy. References in those websites to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Site. When linking to a Updated: Board of County Commissioners Office of Public Communications Page 5

8 non-broward County agency site, you are subject to the privacy policy and other terms of use of the new site and the information collected or used on those non-broward County agency sites. The determination of whether to establish a link to a private organization/commercial's website or non-profit organization website is made by Broward County's Office of Public Communications on a case-by-case basis in the sole discretion of its Site Administrator. Broward County declines to link to any website that contains any nudity or profane or obscene language as determined in the sole discretion of its Site Administrator. Broward County encourages and permits links to content on the Site. Under no circumstances should the linking (a) suggest that Broward County promotes or endorses any third party's causes, ideas, websites, products or services; (b) use Broward County s Site content for inappropriate and/or commercial purposes; (c) contain any hyperlink to any other sites without the prior written consent of such sites(s); or (d) violate any patent, copyright, trademarks, trade names, intellectual, or other property rights of any third-party. In addition, links to the Site shall be executed so that the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents book marking the linked page or prevents the acknowledgment of Broward County as the owner of the content. Broward County's Public Communications Office reserves the right to withdraw permission for any link at any time with or without prior written notice or oral notice Intellectual Property Rights Broward County owns all rights, title and interest in the trademarks, logos, and other protected intellectual property of Broward County. You may not use the Broward County trademarks, logos, or other protected intellectual property without Broward County's prior written permission. You acknowledge and agree that nothing on the Site grants, expressly or implicitly, by estoppel or otherwise, any right or license to use any of the Broward County intellectual property rights or may be construed to mean that Broward County has authority to grant any right or license on behalf of any third-party trademark owner. You may not reproduce, distribute, display, transmit, modify, perform, adapt, generate derivative works of, or otherwise use the content of the Site without the prior written permission of Broward County unless your use qualifies as "Fair Use" under applicable law. Fair Use includes the reproduction, distribution, display, transmission, performance, and use of the content if done in accordance with 17 U.S.C. 107, 17 U.S.C. 110, or other applicable limitations and exemptions set forth in the U.S. Copyright Act and related laws. Unless otherwise noted on a particular page or section of the Site, no express permission is required from Broward County for use that falls within Fair Use, provided that (1) no modifications Updated: Board of County Commissioners Office of Public Communications Page 6

9 may be made as to the integrity or attribution of the content of the Site, and Content and Compilation, and (2) all copies of the content of the Site must bear accurate identifying information, including proprietary collection information, credit lines, copyright and trademark notices, and a citation to the Site Indemnity As a condition of use of the Site, the user and anyone linking to the Site agrees to indemnify Broward County, its Commissioners, officers, employees, and agents against any and all liability, expenses (including attorney's fees and court costs) and damages arising out of claims resulting from the user's use of this Site or anyone linking to the Site, including, without limitation, any claims alleging facts that if true would constitute a breach of the terms and conditions stated in this Terms of Use. Broward County does not waive any rights or remedies by virtue of providing the Site Jurisdiction These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, United States of America (USA). User and/or anyone linking to this Site consents to exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts in Broward County, Florida, USA for any dispute arising out of or relating to use of this Site. The users of the Site or anyone linking to this Site in jurisdictions outside of Broward County, Florida, (including outside the USA boarders) consent and submit to personal jurisdiction in Broward County, Florida. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about the information presented here, please forward them via to publicinfo@broward.org. If you have any complaints or would like to notify us of any copyrights or patented materials relating to this Site and/or anyone linking to this Site, please forward them via to publicinfo@broward.org. Updated: Board of County Commissioners Office of Public Communications Page 7