City of Richmond Web Site Policies Page

TopBanner1.gif (14003 bytes)

WEB SITE POLICIES

Disclaimers/Limitations of Liability Proprietary Rights General Policies Linking Policies

DISCLAIMERS/LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

The information and services included in or available through the City of Richmond's web pages may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are completed periodically to the online information. The City of Richmond may make improvements and/or changes to the web site and its content at any time.

The City of Richmond does not represent or warrant that the web site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the web pages or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or other harmful components.

The City of Richmond makes no representations about the suitability, reliability, availability, timeliness, or accuracy of the content of this web site for any purpose. The web pages and online information and content are provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind. The City of Richmond disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to the web site service, including all implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

PROPRIETARY RIGHTS TO CONTENT

By using this web site, you acknowledge content including, but not limited to, text, software, music, sounds, photographs, video, graphics, or other material, may be protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, or other proprietary rights and laws. You may make a copy of this content for your personal, non-commercial use only, provided that you keep all copyright and other proprietary notices intact. You may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, or distribute in any way content available throught he web site, including code and software, with the exception of public documents such as agendas or meeting minutes.

GENERAL

The laws of the State of Michigan and the United States of America govern this agreement. If any part of this agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of the agreement shall continue in full force and effect.

WEB SITE LINKING POLICY

The City of Richmond views the provision of links from this web site to external web sites as a public service that can benefit its citizens and other web site visitors. Overall, the city's web site should provide useful information and reflect a positive and inspiring image of Richmond to citizens, businesses, and visitors. The city's web site should reflect the city's concern for its citizens, its technical progressiveness, and its support for economic and business development. The city will select and provide links from its web site to external web sites to the extent that such links help support these goals.

Links on the city's web site should also satisfy a governmental purpose. In particular, the city will consider providing links to sites that promote and protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

The city reserves the right to determine the location of external links on its web site (i.e., specific pages and locations on those pages).

The following list, while not exhaustive, provides examples of the types of web sites that the city will consider when selecting external links to be displayed on the city's web site:

Other official government web sites
Non-partisan web sites that encourage the informed and active participation of Richmond residents in government
Web sites of nonprofit institutions, organizations, or associations whose purpose is to provide a valuable service to the general public, such as access to information, arts, humanities, culture, education, genealogical data and information, recreation, employment, health, human services, housing and home ownership, and other valuable services and information
Web sites of nonprofit neighborhood organizations
Web sites of organizations officially affiliated with, or funded by, the City of Richmond
The web sites of the Richmond Area Chamber of Commerce, Richmond-based business associations, and other web guides that provide an index of Richmond hotels, restaurants, retail stores, and other businesses
The official web site of the Richmond Good Old Days Festival
Internet mapping services
Non-partisan web sites that provide information about public and private schools and post-secondary institutions in Richmond
Web sites of local and regional broadcast and print media
Web sites of public or private organizations that have established partnerships with the City of Richmond government to help the city meet its strategic and other goals

This listing includes examples of web sites that would be consistent with, and supportive of, the goals of the City of Richmond. However, the provision of a link to any site is not an endorsement of any organization or of the web site content of any organization. The city is not responsible for the content of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site.

The City of Richmond's web site will not provide links to:

Sites promoting illegal activities
Sexually explicit sites
Sites containing information or content that violates any of the city's equal opportunity or other policies

The city manager for the City of Richmond will make the final determination on links provided within the city's web site.

PRIVACY POLICY

The City of Richmond commits itself to taking all reasonable actions to protect the privacy of its web site visitors and users. Safeguarding the privacy of visitors to the City of Richmond's web site will help to preserve public trust in the city's web site and increase users' confidence and participation in online activities.

What we learn about you will depend upon what you do while visiting the city's web site. If you visit our web site solely to browse, read, or download information, our services -- like most web servers on the Internet -- will collect and store only that information that your web browser sends when it requests a web page. This information will likely include:

The name, domain, and numerical Internet address of the host computer (typically a computer belonging to your Internet service provider and not your personal computer) from which you access the Internet. For example, your host compupter will tell us that you have accessed our site from "yourcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain. It will also provide us with an IP address (a number that gets automatically assigned to your computer each time you access the Internet). The information we receive may appear as: IP Address 156.115.48.35 at f26.rb33.lmn10.wi.comcast.net.
The date and time of your visit.
The Internet address of the web page from which you came.
The pages you visit on our web site.
The information your web browser software sends as its so-called "user agent", which typically identifies the browser software and may also indicate the operating system and type of CPU used in your personal computer.

The City of Richmond collects this information solely for the purpose of improving the quality of online services that we provide to users. We will periodically summarize and analyze this information in order to study site usage over time and to perform other studies that will help us improve the site's organization, performance, and usefulness.

Otherwise, when you visit our site simply to browse, read, or download information, we will not collect any individual identifying or personal information. Nor will we use "cookies" without your express permission or any other means (such as Adware or Spyware) to track your visit in any way. Based upon the data we do collect during such "information-gathering" visits, the city cannot ascertain any personal information regarding an individual user (such as name, street address, or telephone number).

If you use our site to request a service, make a payment, or apply for a job or permit, we will ask that you submit certain pieces of relevant personal information based upon the request or action. For example, when you request a service, we may ask for a name, street address, and telephone number. To complete a payment transaction, we may require name, street address, telephone number, and credit card or bank account number. You may need to provide certain personal information and property or other related data for permit applications. Online job applications will require complete and detailed personal information. As allowed by law, we will not share any of your personal or financial information with any third party at any time without your explicit permission.

However, please be aware that the City of Richmond, as a governmental agency, must comply with various state and federal regulations concerning open records and freedom of information. Thus, any information that we receive through use of our site will be subject to the same requirements for public disclosure as information provided to us through other media (such as printed material or voice records). Property and permit information, in particular, are commonly deemed to be "public records" by relevant state and federal laws. As such, we often must, by law, make this information available upon request.

If you use our web site to conduct interactive transactions, such as service requests, job applications, and online payments, we may use "non-persistent" cookies to facilitate information processing. Certain application forms and other transaction-related features on our site may require use of cookies to work properly. The "non-persistent" cookies that our site uses for such transactions will disappear as soon as you finish filling out the form or application that requires them.

Your participation in any feature, option, or service provided on our web site is and will remain entirely at your discretion. We will never assume that you wish to "opt in" to anything nor will we require you to "opt out" of any feature, option, or service that our site provides. Users visiting our web site may, at any time, decline to participate or discontinue their participation in any activity that asks for personal information (service requests, payment transactions, job applications, surveys, and the like). Choosing not to provide this information will in no way affect your ability to continue to use our site or any other feature on our site. However, electing not to provide certain important information may prevent the city from responding to your request for service or completing your transaction.

If you send us an electronic mail message with a question or comment that contains personally identifying information, or if you fill out a form that e-mails us this information, we will use on the personally identifiable information to respond to your request. We may, if appropriate, redirect your message to another government agency or person who can better respond to your question or request.

Our web site may offer links to web sites of other organizations. Our privacy policy does not apply to these other web sites. For your protection, please review carefully the appropriate privacy policies of any independent site you may access through links provided on the City of Richmond's web site.

Our web site contains an area that provides for "Community Bulletin Board" postings by the general public, and specific additional policies, rules, and regulations apply when using the bulletin board service. You will be asked to give your consent to those policies, rules, and regulations when you register as a user of the bulletin board service. You will be required to specify that you are at least 13 years of age to be eligible to use the bulletin board service. Account information provided by you, including personal identifying information, is stored in our databases when you register as a user of the bulletin board service. Violations of the terms of service, policies, rules, and regulations for use of the bulletin board service may subject you to being barred from using the service.

The city manager for the City of Richmond has the responsibility for making changes to, and interpreting, these web site policies. To comment or inquire about the content of these policies, please contact the city manager through e-mail at citymanager@comcast.net or by writing to:

City Manager
City of Richmond
68225 Main Street
Richmond, MI 48062-0457
(586) 727-7571

Top of Page Back to Home Page