Website Disclaimer and Privacy Policy

DISCLAIMER

 

This Site is the property of and maintained by the Town.  Although every effort is made to maintain an accurate and up to date web site, due to the fluid nature of the content, the Town does not guarantee absolute accuracy and disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the Site’s contents.  In addition, the Town is not responsible for the content of any site linked to the Town’s web site.

The material included on or available through the Site may include inaccuracies or typographical errors.  Changes are periodically added to the material on the Site.  The Town may make improvements and/or changes to the Site at any time.  The Town does not represent or warrant that use of the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Site or the server that makes it available, are free of viruses or other harmful components.

WWW.STANDISH.ORG

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

AND

PRIVACY STATEMENT

Welcome to www.standish.org (the “Site”).  The Town of Standish, Maine (the “Town”) provides this Site and its services to you subject to the following conditions.  If you visit the Site, you accept these Terms and Conditions, including the terms of our Privacy Statement.  Please read them carefully and often, since they may be changed at any time.

 

DEFINITIONS: The following terms shall have the following meanings when used in this Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Statement:

 

            a.         “We”, “us”, “our” and “ours” means and refers to the Town.

 

b.         “You”, “your” and “yours” means and refers to each Person visiting or using the Site.

 

c.         “Person” means and includes an individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity of any.

 

d.         When initially capitalized, the phrase “Terms and Conditions” shall mean the Terms and Conditions of Use portion of this document as it may be changed from time to time.

 

e.         When initially capitalized, the word “Record” means information that is inscribed in a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form.

 

f.          When initially capitalized, the word “Authenticate” means to sign, or to execute or otherwise adopt a symbol or encrypt or similarly process a record in whole or in part with the present intent of the authenticating person to identify that person and adopt or accept a record.

 

g.         When initially capitalized, the word “Statement” means the Privacy Statement portion of this document as it may be changed from time to time.

 

h.         “Contact Information” shall mean information about you that would aid us in contacting you.  Such information may include, for example, your name, street or mailing address, telephone and telefax numbers, and e-mail address.

 

i.          “Unique Identifiers” shall mean information unique to you that permits us to identify you, such as, for example, your social security or employer identification number.

 

j.          “Financial Information” shall mean information about you necessary to obtain or ensure receipt of payment from you (such as, for example, your credit card and/or bank account number), as well as information about you that permits us to keep track of your payments to us (such as, for example, your account number and payment history with us). 

 

NOTICE: AS DESCRIBED IN THE STATEMENT, INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE TO US BY E-MAIL OR OTHERWISE, OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THIS SITE, MAY HAVE TO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC UPON REQUEST.  Do not assume that any such communications or information will be private.

 

MODIFICATION AND WAIVER: No modification or waiver of any of all or any part of the Terms and Conditions, the Statement, any other part of this document, or of any of our other rights, and no imposition of any obligations upon us, will be effective against us unless set forth in these Terms and Conditions, the Statement, or in a Record that we have Authenticated or that is otherwise posted to this Site by us.  We reserve the right to make changes to our Site, policies, and this document (including the Terms and Conditions and the Statement) at any time and from time to time.  Any such changes shall become effective on the earlier of the date that we communicate such changes to you (whether electronically or otherwise), and the date on which they are posted to this Site.  You should review this document (including the Terms and Conditions and the Statement) each time you visit this Site to ensure that you are aware of their terms since they may change at any time.  If any portion of this document (including the Terms and Conditions and the Statement) be deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any other part of this document.

 

APPLICABLE LAW: By visiting the Site, you agree that the laws of the State of Maine, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern this document (including the Terms and Conditions and the Statement), and any dispute of any sort that might arise between you and us concerning the Site.  By visiting this Site, you also agree that any litigation concerning this document (including the Terms and Conditions and the Statement), as any of the same may be changed from time to time, and your use of the Site, must be brought in a court located in Cumberland County, Maine, or in a Federal Court located in Cumberland County, Maine, and you agree that you are subject to the personal jurisdiction of any such court.

 

TO CONTACT US: If you have any questions about this document (including the Terms and Conditions and the Statement), or this Site, you can contact us at:

William Giroux, Town Manager175 Northeast Road           Standish, Maine 04084             

 

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: THIS SITE IS PROVIDED BY US ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.  WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THIS SITE OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, OR PRODUCTS INCLUDED ON THIS SITE.  YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THIS SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.  Among other things, we do not guarantee that any information on the Site is accurate.

 

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

 

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS: The following constitutes a legally binding agreement between you and us.  By using the Site, you are acknowledging that you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by these Terms and Conditions and all applicable laws and regulations.  If you do not agree to these Terms and Conditions, do not use the Site. 

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS: When you visit the Site, or send e-mails to us, you are communicating with us electronically.  By sending us e-mails, you agree that we may communicate with you electronically by e-mail concerning the items discussed in your e-mail.  You agree that we may change the terms of these Terms and Conditions by sending you an e-mail to an e-mail address that you provide to us or by posting notices on this Site.  However, no e-mail to us, or communication to us through the Site, shall in any way be considered to constitute legal notice to us. 

COPYRIGHT, PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS, ETC.: Content included on this Site, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and software, may be our property or the property of our content suppliers and may be protected by United States and international laws, including, but not limited to, copyright laws.  All software used on this site is our property or the property of our software suppliers and protected by United States and international laws, including, but not limited to, copyright laws.  All trademarks, service marks, and/or trade dress not owned by us that appear on this Site are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by us.  Use of any of these trademarks, service marks, and/or trade dress (whether or not registered with any governmental or other authority) on the Site does not constitute permission for the use of those items by any other party.  One or more United States and international patents may apply to this Site.  We do not grant you or any other Person any license or right to use these patents except as may be necessary to allow you to access and use the Site.

LICENSE AND SITE ACCESS: We grant you a limited and non-exclusive license to access and make use of the Site and not to download (other than page caching) or modify it, or any portion of it, except with our express prior written consent.  This license does not include any right to sell or make commercial use of the Site or its contents; any derivative use of the Site or its contents; or any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools.  You may not frame or use framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or any other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) belonging to us or to any third party without our express prior written consent, or the express prior written consent of the owner of the same.  You may not use any meta tags or any other “hidden text” utilizing any trademarks without the express prior written consent of the owner of the same. 

REVIEWS, COMMENTS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND OTHER CONTENT: To the extent that the Site may explicitly invite the same, visitors to the Site may post reviews, comments, and other content; send e-cards and other communications; and submit suggestions, ideas, comments, questions, or other information, so long as the content is not illegal or is otherwise injurious to third parties, their rights or their property in a manner not permitted by applicable law, and does not consist of or contain software viruses, chain letters, mass mailings, any form of “spam”, or matter that is harmful to the functionality of the Site.  You may not use a false e-mail address, impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise mislead as to the origin of any content.  We reserve the right (but do not have any obligation) to remove or edit such content, but we do not regularly review posted content.

If you do post content or submit material, then, unless we indicate otherwise, you grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media.  You represent and warrant that you have the right to post all content and submit all materials that you post or submit to us; that use of the content and materials you supply will not cause injury to any Person, or any property or rights of any Person, except as may be permitted by applicable law; and that you will indemnify us and our agencies, officers, employees, contractors, agents, and representatives for all claims resulting from content and material you supply.  We have the right but not the obligation to monitor and edit or remove any activity or content.  We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any content posted by you or any third party.

Subject only to the provisions of the Statement, any material, information or idea that you transmit to or post on the Site will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary, and may be used or disseminated by us for any purpose whatsoever.  You may not post or transmit to or from this Site any material except as may be permitted by applicable law.

INDEMNIFICATION: You agree to indemnify us, our officers, employees, agents, agencies, contractors, affiliates, licensers, other users, and their respective employees, against, and hold us and them harmless from and against, any and all liability, loss, claim, judgment, damage and expense, including, without limitation, attorney’s fees and costs of litigation that arise from or are otherwise caused by, your actual or alleged action or inaction, in connection with your use of the Site or any electronic communications you make to us.  Upon receiving actual notice of any such claim, you shall promptly notify us of the same.

COPYRIGHT COMPLAINTS: We respect the intellectual property of others.  If you believe that your work or that of another has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact us immediately.

OTHER SITES: This Site may contain links to other sites owned and/or operated by third parties.  We are not responsible for examining or evaluating, and we do not warrant, and are not responsible for, the goods or services, or other offerings, of any of these third parties, the content of their Web sites, or any action or inaction of any of these, or any other, third parties.  You should carefully review their privacy statements and conditions of use.

PRIVACY STATEMENT

Information that you give us:  We may receive and store any information that you enter on our Web site or give us in any other way.  Your Contact Information may be used to get in touch with you when we feel that this is necessary.

Financial Information provided by you may be used to bill you.  It is also used to keep track of your payment history with us.  Unique Identifiers may be collected from Web site visitors to verify the user’s identity and for use as account numbers in our record system.

Cookies:  Cookies are alpha-numeric identifiers that we may transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser.  We may also use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests and to save your password so you don’t have to re-enter it each time you visit our Site.  The “help” portion of the toolbar on most Web browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookies, or how to disable cookies altogether.

Information That We Gather Automatically:  In addition to information gathered through the use of cookies, we may collect and analyze many types of information that we gather automatically as you visit the Site.  For example, we will obtain your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address and will use it to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our Web site.  Your IP addresses will be used to help us identify you and could be used to gather broad demographic information concerning persons using the Site.

Other examples of information that we may collect and analyze include computer and connection information (such as browser type and version, operating system and platform), and the full Uniform Resource Locators (“URL”) clickstream to, through and from our Web site (including date and time, cookie number, and products that you viewed or searched or).

Other Uses of Information:  In addition to the above, we may aggregate information that we receive about you and other visitors to the Site, in a manner that does not identify you or the particular visitors or customers involved.  We may then use this information for purposes of improving the way in which we provide services and information.  Any information that we gather from or about you may be shared with our employees in order to permit us to perform our functions as a municipality.

E-Mail and Other Communications:  We may use your e-mail address(es) to maintain contact with you and to enable us to contact you for other reasons related to our municipal activities.  We may request and receive a confirmation when you open e-mails from us if your computer and e-mail systems support those capabilities. 

Sharing of Information:  At this time, we share information that we gather about you as follows:

  • Agents and Others Working On Our Behalf: We employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf.  Examples may include provisions of services connected with analyzing data, providing customer service, collection of accounts, and providing legal assistance.  We may share any information that we have about you with these parties as necessary to permit them to perform the functions for which we retain them. This may include Contact Information, Financial Information, Unique Identifiers, as well as any other information that we obtain from or about you.
  • Others:  We may release information gathered from or about you when we believe that this is required: (a) by applicable law; (b) by a court order or the order of a governmental agency or body which has the power to issue such orders (including, but not limited to, subpoenas); (c) to protect our rights, property, safety or security, or that of others; or (d) to prevent the commission of a crime or other illegal act.  This may include the release of Contact Information, Unique Identifiers, as well as any other information that we obtain from or about you.  Maine law, including, but not necessarily limited to, 1 M.R.S.A. §§ 401-414, as may be amended from time to time, may provide that some or all of the information provided by, or gathered from, you is a public record that must be disclosed to third parties upon request or otherwise.  It is impossible for us to know what information will be considered public and, therefore, you should assume that all information you provide, or which is obtained from you, in connection with your use of the Site or electronic communications (including e-mails) to or from us, may be a public record.  Your credit card and/or bank account number would, however, not constitute a public record under this Maine law.

Third Party Links:  This Site may contain links to other sites owned and/or operated by third parties.  We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites, including any policies concerning cookies or other information gathering techniques used at such sites, or concerning the use of any information that is gathered at those sites.  It is possible that information gathered at those third party sites will be shared with us or with others.

Limitations on Our Liability:  We are not liable for any failure to follow the policies set forth in this Statement (as this may be modified from time to time), even if that failure results from our negligence or error, unless that failure is intentional.

 

LINKING POLICY

Town of Standish Web Links to Other Sites

In terms of web sites that we link to that are external to the Town’s web site, we do not endorse any particular web sites.  We link to outside sites solely for the purpose of guiding our users toward possible sources of information.  We make every effort to ensure that we are linking to appropriate, accurate and timely information sources.  However, that we link to one site versus another does not imply that we endorse one site or another.  In many cases there are many sites that exist that we may not be aware of.

The Town does not actively review all of the content of the web sites linked to from the Town site and is not responsible for the content of any off-site pages or any other web sites linked to this site.  Please understand that these web sites are independent from the Town, and the Town has no control over the content on that web site.  In addition, a link to a web site does not mean that the Town endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or the use, of such site.  It is the user’s responsibility to take precautions to ensure that whatever is selected is free of such items as viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other items of a destructive nature.

The links to other web sites that the Town provides are generally limited to governmental sites and other organizations actively supported by the Town.

The Town may provide links to the following types of organizations:

  • Links to Other Governmental Units & Educational Institutions - The Town provides links to other federal, state, and local governmental units that provide additional services and information that our users may find of interest.  Links may also be provided to educational institutions including K-12 school districts, community colleges, and universities.
  • Links to Non-Profit Organizations - The Town provides links to non-profit organizations that users of the Town’s site may find of interest because of their relevance to Stamford.  The determination of whether to establish links to non-profit organizations is made on a case-by-case basis.
  • Links to Private Organizations - The Town will rarely present a link to a private organization.  If the Town does provide a link to a private organization it would only do so in the event that the organization in question offered a service that complemented the information or services offered by the Town.  The determination of whether to establish links to a private organization’s web site is made on a case-by-case basis.

To Request a Link

To request a link on the Town web site, please send information about your organization to Kris Tucker.  This information must include the following:

  • The name, address and contact information for your organization
  • The name and either an email address or phone number of a contact person
  • A description of the goods or services your organization provides
  • Any special demographic selection that your organization serves specifically

Once we receive the request we will evaluate the site for inclusion in the Town web site.  Please read the information below, prior to sending your request.  If your site does not meet the criteria, please do not send in a request.  The final decision for inclusion is based on whether the Town determines that your site has met all of the criteria.

Placement of Links

In order to optimize the load time for the Town home page, we will no longer place links on the home page.  Any entity that is approved by the Town will be placed in a section of the web site that is appropriate to the main theme of the site.

Link Priority

Government agency web site
Non-profit organization web site
Commercial web sites as supplementary information to government or non-profit web sites

Evaluation Criteria for Sites

The following criteria are used to evaluate the appropriateness and validity for sites that could be potentially linked from the Town web site.

  • The primary intent of the web site is to educate and inform, rather than persuade, convert, or sell.  The site may include advertising but must be free from heavy marketing or promotion of products.
  • The site’s owner or sponsor is easily identifiable, and information on how to contact the owner or sponsor is provided.
  • The site clearly states if any charges or registration process is required for use of the site.
  • The site does not promote specific religious or other social agendas.

Other Sites Linking to the Town of Standish

Linking to the Town website is permitted under limited conditions.  If you link to this site, you may not portray any person or subject in a false or misleading light.  You must also refrain from creating frames, or using other visual altering tools, around the Town pages.  Lastly, you may not imply that the Town is endorsing your product or services.

You may link to individual departmental web pages by creating a text link to a specific department.  You may not use their logo for linking purposes.  Once you have created a link to the Town, test the link to confirm it works and then notify the Town Webmaster.