Legal Notices

Privacy Policy

If you send us personal information

If you choose to provide us with personal information -- by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it to us through the Web site -- we use that information to respond to your message and to help us get you the information you have requested. We only share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. The City of Clearwater does not collect information for commercial marketing.

Choice

You may decline participation in any activity that asks for information (i.e., surveys or emails). Your choice to not participate will have no effect on your ability to access information on the City's Web sites.

Here is how we handle information about your visit to our Web site:

Information collected and stored automatically

If all you do during your visit is browse through the Web site, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. Only the following information is automatically collected and stored about your visit:

• The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our Web site;
• The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
• The date and time you access our site;
• The pages you visit; and
• If you linked to our Web site from another Web site, the address of that Web site.

We use this information to help us make the site more useful to visitors -- to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits.

Cookies

To better serve you, we occasionally use "cookies" to customize your browsing experience. Cookies are simple text files stored by your web browser and they provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to the web sites. Cookies created on your computer by using our web sites do not contain personally identifiable information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature to store a randomly generated identifying tag on your computer. If you have further questions about cookies, the Computer Incident Advisory Capacity Unit that monitors computer problems for the U.S. Department of Energy issued a study on March 12, 1998, of the risks to users of cookies, titled "Information Bulletin 1-034: Internet Cookies". You can refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer at any time by using any one of a number of widely available methods. Your choice to refuse the cookie will not inhibit your access to any of the information available on the City of Clearwater’s Web site. Your acceptance of the cookie will serve to provide you with additional functionality in choosing the information you wish to view on a regular basis.

Passwords

In certain instances, you will have the opportunity to receive or create a password to access or submit personal information. You should not divulge your password to anyone and the City will never ask you for your password in an unsolicited phone call or e-mail. When you are finished with those applications that are password protected, you should exit the page.

Site security

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs commercial software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with State guidelines for records management and retention.

Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

Links to other Web sites

Please refer to the City of Clearwater Linking Policy, below. Please remember that once you link to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site.

Disclaimers

Accuracy of Information Legal Disclaimer

Visitors to our Web site are advised that the information contained with in the pages and online applications is believed to be accurate. The City of Clearwater makes no warranty, representation or guarantee as to the content, sequence, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of any of the information provided, and the City of Clearwater explicitly disclaims any representations and warranties of any kind, express or implied, including, without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The City of Clearwater assumes no liability for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the information provided regardless of how caused, nor any decision made or action taken or not taken by reader in reliance upon any information contained within our Web site.

Online Utility Account Access Disclaimer

Online utility account access is provided for informational purposes only. It is neither intended as, nor should be viewed as, an official record of billing activity. Services and amounts shown may vary from your actual billing statement. Please consult your actual billing statement for official records of your billing activity.

External Linking Policy

External links will be permitted to sites that fall under any of the following criteria:

• Sites owned or managed by a local, state, county or federal governmental agency or other regional taxing authority.
• Sites owned or managed by a bona fide educational institution or school board as defined by Florida Statutes, Title XLVII, Section 1003.01(1), 1003.01(2) and 1005.02(4) and within the counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco or Manatee.
• Sites of nonprofit or commercial organizations that have a direct contractual relationship with the city for provision of services to the public on the city’s behalf and/or for sponsorship of city events or activities. A contractual relationship shall be considered a signed agreement between the nonprofit/commercial organization and an authorized city representative.
• Sites of public and private utilities that fall under the franchise authority of the City of Clearwater.
• Sites that provide a unique online resource that complements the provision of city services or information, as determined and approved by the Public Communications Director or designee.

External links will not be permitted to sites that fall under any of the following criteria:

• Sites owned, managed by or providing content for commercial, nonprofit, religious, community, civic or other organizations that do not have a direct contractual relationship with the city for provision of services to the public on the city’s behalf and/or for sponsorship of events or activities.
• Sites owned or managed by a political party, candidate or special interest group or are of a political nature that are associated with, sponsored by or serving a candidate for elected office.
• Sites of any political party or organization supporting or opposing any candidate for elective office or ballot proposal.
• Sites containing materials that may reasonably be considered offensive. Offensive materials are defined as sexual content or images and/or slurs against race, religious or political beliefs, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or physical attributes.

Exceptions to this policy:

• Links provided through the Clearwater Public Library System (CPLS) web pages that have been sufficiently reviewed and deemed to meet the CPLS requirements of Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Relevance as outlined by CPLS departmental policy.

The City of Clearwater reserves the right to remove any external link if the nature of the organization or business to which the link relates no longer complies with the city’s external link policy. It may discontinue an external link if at any time the entity’s website provides or promotes false, slanderous, illegal, immoral or incorrect information.

This policy may be revised as appropriate when deemed to be in the best interest of the City of Clearwater and its citizens.