Website Policies
Thank you for visiting the Official Site of the City of Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. This computer system, the City of Fort
Lauderdale
Internet site, (also known as www.fortlauderdale.gov and www.ci.fort-lauderdale.us),
is provided as a service to the citizens of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida
and to
the general public. By accessing or using the Site, or information,
materials and data contained within the Site, the user hereby
agrees to accept the following terms and conditions contained
below.
Terms of Use
By visiting the Official Site of the City of Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, 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 this Terms of Use and Legal Information.
Linking to the City of Fort Lauderdale Website
The Official Site of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, provides
links to many websites that are not controlled, maintained, or
regulated by us. These links are provided for your reference and
convenience only. The City of Fort Lauderdale does not control
other websites and is not responsible for their content. Use of
information from those websites by the user is voluntary. Users
should rely on the information from non-City agency sites only
after undertaking an independent review of its accuracy. References
at those websites to any specific commercial product, process,
or service by trade name, trademark, or otherwise, does not constitute
or imply endorsement, association, recommendation, or favoring
by the Official Site of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
When you link to a non-City agency site you are subject to the
privacy policy of the new site and the information collected or
used on those non-City agency sites.
The City of Fort Lauderdale provides links to the following types
of organizations:
- Links to Other Governmental Units and Educational
Institutions -- The City of Fort Lauderdale provides
links to other federal, state, and local governmental units
that provide additional services and information that users
of the City of Fort Lauderdale's Official Site may find
of interest.
Links are also provided to educational institutions that include
Grades K through 12, school districts, intermediate school
districts,
community colleges, and universities.
- Links to Private Organizations and Commercial Sites
-- The City of Fort Lauderdale does not provide links to private
organizations or commercial sites unless the sites offer
services
or educational information that compliments the information
or services offered by the City of Fort Lauderdale. The
City
of Fort Lauderdale will not link to any site that contains
any nudity, profane or obscene language. The determination
of whether
to establish a link to a private organization's website is
made by the City of Fort Lauderdale's Office of Public Information
on a case-by-case basis.
- Links to Non-Profit Organizations -- The
City of Fort Lauderdale provides links to non-profit organizations
that users of the City of Fort Lauderdale's Site may find of
interest. The determination of whether to establish a link to
a private organization's website is made by the City of Fort
Lauderdale's Office of Public Information on a case-by-case
basis.
The City of Fort Lauderdale encourages and permits links to content
of the City of Fort Lauderdale's Official Site. Under no circumstance
should the linking (1) suggest that the City of Fort Lauderdale
promotes or endorses any third party's causes, ideas, websites,
products or services; (2) use the City of Fort Lauderdale's Site
content for inappropriate and/or commercial purposes; (3) contain
any hyperlink to any other sites without the prior written consent
of such site(s); or (4) violate any patent or copyright rights
of any third parties. In addition, links to the City of Fort Lauderdale
Site should be executed in such a way so that the linked page
does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked
page or prevents the acknowledgment of the City of Fort Lauderdale
as the owner of the content. The City of Fort Lauderdale's Office
of Public Information reserves the right to withdraw permission
for any link at anytime with or without prior written notice.
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. In recognition of these policies,
the City has established this Internet Privacy Policy. When
you
use our Site, you are acknowledging that any personal information
you provide is subject to Florida's Public Records Policy as
stated
in Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, and Article I, Section 24,
of the Florida Constitution.
You do not have to give us personal information to visit our
website, download our publications, or use our e-mail communications,
or any other feature. We collect no personal information about
you when you visit our website unless you you
choose to provide this information to us or unless required by
a specific City agency in order to transact business with that
agency. We will use the information that you voluntarily provide
to us to notify you of selected Site changes or new publications.
We may also use it to conduct statistical analyses of user activities
in order to measure user interest in the information we provide
and how we provide it. However, we do collect and store some
non-personal information as stated below.
E-mail Addresses
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
What We Collect and Store Automatically
If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the website,
read pages, or download information, we will gather and store
certain information about your visit automatically. This information
does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and
store only the following information about your visit:
- 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 type of browser and operating system used to access our
site;
- The date and time you access our site;
- The page from which you came and the pages that you access;
and
- Your system's IP (Internet Protocol) address (an IP address
is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer
whenever you are surfing the Web).
We use the information we collect in aggregate to count the number
of, and types of, visitors to the different pages on our Site
and to help us make our Site more useful to visitors like you.
How We Use Cookies
In order to process some updates (or in the future to customize
content specific to your geographic area or interests), we use
cookie technology. A cookie is a tiny piece of text that, with
your permission, is placed on your computer's hard drive or is
stored temporarily by our system. This data allows your browser
to communicate with out Web servers. If your browser is set to
notify you before accepting a cookie, you will receive a request
for a cookie to be stored on your computer. When your transaction
is completed, the cookie is saved on your PC. The only time we
create a cookie is when you conduct a multi-part transaction.
This cookie, by itself, only tells us that a previous visitor
has returned. It does not tell us private information about you,
unless you want to give us the information; it's your choice.
You may choose to reject all cookies by modifying your browser's
preferences. However, if you do not accept cookies, you will not
be able to use some of our functions that require their use.
We want to be sure you understand that accepting a cookie in
no way gives us access to your computer or any personal information
about you. We know that some citizens have concerns about cookies,
but the benefit we both gain from their proper use is worthwhile.
Disclaimer Regarding Accuracy of Information
Visitors to, and users of, the official website of the City
of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are advised that information contained
within the pages of the Site is believed to be accurate. However,
errors can occur even with computer-generated information. The
City of Fort Lauderdale makes no representation regarding the
completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of such information and
the data or that such information and data will be error-free.
In the event that the information on the City's official printed
documents differ from the information contained on this website,
the information on the City's official printed documents will
control and take precedence. Please be aware that in the event
of an error or omission occurs, the City of Fort Lauderdale will
use all of its resources to recover fees and taxes due to it.
Visitors are encouraged to review the official version of all
documents upon which they plan to rely. Any special notices related
to how accurate or how current specific elements of data presented
in our Site will be defined on those specific pages.
Although we try to ensure broken links do not exist; links to
other Internet sites may have changed. If you encounter broken
links, please report it to the website administrator, it will
be assessed and corrected!
Accessibility
For information on accessibility issues and policies, please
go to the City's accessibility page.
Online Payments and Related Transactions
Providing you with a secure online experience is a high priority
of the City of Fort Lauderdale. We recognize that your information
security is of the utmost importance, and we have devoted a great
deal of effort to ensure that your personal information is safeguarded.
Your online payment transactions are supported by industry-standard
data encryption available through your browser called SSL encryption.
These services are designed to ensure the privacy of your credit
card information, name, address, e-mail and other information
you provide to us.
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 this government
computer system or Site. These programs collect no information
that would directly identify individuals, but they do collect
information that could help us identify someone attempting to
tamper with this website.
If you use this system or Site, you should understand that all
activities may be monitored and recorded. Anyone using this system
or Site expressly consents to such monitoring. WARNING - If such
monitoring reveals possible evidence or information of criminal
or suspicious activity, monitoring records may be provided to
law enforcement officials without any prior oral or written notice
to you.
Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, we make
no other attempts to identify individual users or their usage
habits. We only use raw monitoring data for logs for determining
trends in usage patterns and in diagnosing system or Site problems.
Indemnity
As a condition of use of the City of Fort Lauderdale's website,
the user and/or anyone linking to this Site agrees to indemnify
the City of Fort Lauderdale, its Mayor, 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 user's use of this website and/or
anyone linking to this Site, including, without limitation, any
claims alleging facts that if true would constitute a breach of
these terms and conditions stated in this Term of Use and Legal
Information.
Jurisdiction
The Terms of Use and Legal Information 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 the exclusive jurisdiction
and venue of the courts in Broward County, Florida, USA in all
disputes arising out of or relating to the use of this website.
The users of the website and/or anyone linking to this Site in
jurisdictions outside of Broward County, Florida, consent to the
jurisdiction in Broward County, Florida.
Questions, Suggestions or Comments
If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about the
information presented here, or if you have any complaints or
would
like to notify us of any copyrighted or patented materials relating
to this Site and/or anyone linking to this Site, please forward
them to us at: webmaster@fortlauderdale.gov.
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