Disclaimers & Terms of Use

Purpose

Thank you for visiting the City of Lowell's website(s) and service(s). The goal of the City of Lowell website(s) and service(s) is to deliver 24x7 services to the community, encourage user participation in local government, and to help keep you better informed about your City.

Details

This page contains Disclaimers and the Terms of Use for the City's website(s) and service(s). As a user of the City of Lowell's ("City") website(s) and service(s), you are encouraged to review the following material carefully.

Use of the City's website(s) and service(s) constitutes acceptance of these Disclaimers and Terms of Use. If you do not agree to or understand any or all of these terms, or are not of legal age to agree to and be bound by these terms, please do not use the City's website(s) or the service(s) available through them.

Please note that the City may modify or terminate any website(s) or service(s), as well as these Disclaimers and Terms of Use and any accompanying policies, at any time, for any reason, and without notice. By accessing the City's website(s) and service(s), you accept these Disclaimers and Terms of Use, and agree that it is your responsibility to review them for any changes.

Notice to Users of the City of Lowell Website(s) and Service(s)

Communication(s) made by you or your agent(s), servant(s), or any other representative(s), whether authorized or unauthorized to the City, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the owner and/or operator of this website (or service), and/or any other website(s) or service(s) operated by or pursuant to license or agreement by the City via any City website (or service), shall in no event be deemed to constitute legal, official, or other notice to the City or any of its agencies, departments, boards, commissions, advisory bodies, officers, employees, representatives or agents for any purpose.

No privacy guarantees are made regarding any communications submitted or otherwise sent to the City via this or any other system; all communications are subject to public information requests and applicable state laws. Be advised that submissions do not guarantee responses, though a best effort will be made to do so, as appropriate.

The City retains the right to monitor, intercept, retain, and disclose any activity, data, or transmissions made via the City's website(s) or service(s). The City also retains the right to block, suspend, or terminate at any time and for any reason access to any City website(s) or service(s), or any website(s) or service(s) accessed through City website(s) or service(s), as the City deems appropriate, at its own discretion, and without notice or reason. The City may provide user information, or use records, and other related information in response to lawful process, orders, subpoenas or warrants, or to protect the City's rights, users, or property as it deems appropriate.

You are responsible for providing whatever security measures are best suited for your intended use of or access to City website(s) and service(s), and shall take full responsibility for ensuring that you have applied adequate measures for safeguarding your data from loss. Also, other than the technology provided by the City to deliver its website(s) and service(s), you agree that you must provide all equipment, technology, software, and configuration as necessary to utilize the City's website(s) and service(s).

When accessing City website(s) and service(s) through wireless technology, you understand that wireless communications can be intercepted by technology designed and intended for that purpose. By using the City's website(s) and service(s), you agree that THE CITY OF LOWELL SHALL not BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY LACK OF SECURITY THAT MAY RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF CITY WEBSITE(S) OR SERVICE(S).

Notice to Users of the City of Lowell's Online Bill Payment Service(s)

When engaging in online commerce with the City, the completion of a payment transaction is contingent upon several factors, including:

The authorization of payment by all entities involved in the processing of any online transaction including your applicable credit card company or bank,

The acceptance of your payment by the relevant authority or entity you are attempting to pay, and

Payment of any related online transaction/service-related convenience fees.

If, for any reason whatsoever, your payment is not processed, authorized, or accepted by any entity involved in the processing of any online transaction, your payment liability shall remain outstanding and unpaid and you may be subject to late fees, interest charges, penalties, or other actions where applicable. All outstanding payment obligations shall remain your sole responsibility. By engaging in online commerce with the City, you understand, accept, and agree to pay to the City all fees and/or penalties associated with the submission of any payment transaction that is returned by any bank or other depository financial institution for insufficient funds or any other error on your part.

If you have a registered account with the City’s online payment system, and for any reason whatsoever you decide to discontinue the use of the online payment system, you will be responsible to close the online account with the City. The City will not be held liable for any transactions, interest charges, penalties, or other actions where applicable for failure to turn off any automatic payments or scheduled payments that you have setup.

Also, if you decide not to use your registered account with the City’s online payment system, and an unauthorized transaction occurs, the City may, with the proper documentation provided by you of proof of the unauthorized transaction, refund you the amount of only the transaction paid to the city excluding interest charges, penalties, or other actions where applicable charged to you by either the City or any other entity’s charges for the unauthorized transaction.

Unless otherwise indicated via visual encryption technology indicators, (e.g., the gold padlock in the lower right hand corner of your Internet browser screen) all data transmitted via the City's website(s) and service(s) should be considered to be treated as visible and unsecured plain text. Users should take care to ensure visual encryption technology indicators are in use whenever conducting financial transactions.

At no time should you conduct any financial transactions online without a visual encryption technology indicator visible to indicate that the use of encryption technology.

Privacy

While your privacy is regarded by the City as an important matter, it is important to keep in mind that when using the City's website(s) and service(s), THERE ARE no PRIVACY GUARANTEES.

Since some of the information that may be gathered through the City's website(s) and service(s) is subject to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Public Records Law, we can not assure you absolute privacy. Information you provide to us may be made available to members of the public through that law. By using the City's website(s) and service(s), you understand and agree that the City may monitor, access, preserve, and/or disclose your transmissions, data, and/or any personal information gathered. Furthermore, if required to do so by law, or in a good faith belief that material preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a legal process or to protect the rights and property of the City or the public, the material may be turned over to legal enforcement personnel.

Information We May Gather

During the course of interacting with the City's website(s) and service(s), the City may obtain information from you in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to:

Website and Service Usage Summary Statistics - Statistics are gathered for site management and other purposes such as assessing what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance issues. The information that we automatically collect and store about visit(s) may include:
- The Internet domain and IP address from which you access the City's website(s) and service(s) during your visit (e.g., yournetworkprovider.com, etc.)
- The type of browser and operating system used to access the City's website(s) and service(s) during your visit (e.g., Internet Explorer vs. Firefox, or MS Windows vs. LINUX, etc.)
- The date, time, and duration of your visit to the City's website(s) and service(s)
- The pages visited during your visit to the City's website(s) and service(s)
- If you accessed the City's website(s) or service(s) from another site, the address of that website
- Websites visited via the City's website(s) or service(s)
- Cookies - Cookies or other similar technology may transfer information from the City's website(s) and service(s) to your hard disk for record-keeping purposes. These technologies are used to improve your Internet experience by storing information about your preferences on a particular site; the use of these technologies is considered industry standard. Most browsers accept cookies by default, and can be set to refuse them; if you choose to refuse them, you may not be able to take full advantage of the City's website(s) and service(s).
- Online Commerce - In order to engage in certain online transactions and provide electronic commerce capabilities (e.g., online payment of bills), you will be required to register with certain personally identifiable information. Your personally identifiable information (e.g., name, address, etc.) that you submit may be collected, processed, and disclosed in order to complete an online transaction and/or for record-keeping for such activities as billing, permits, licenses, and other business related purposes. All such financial transactions conducted via the City's website(s) and service(s) or authorized third parties will be securely conducted via HTTPS.

Information We May Share

The City does not use its website(s) or service(s) to collect personal information or create individual profiles with the information provided by users of its website(s) or service(s), nor does it give such personal information to third parties or private organizations, except where necessary to enable us to respond to your online form submissions, for the completion of online transactions, or as necessary, relevant, or material to a criminal investigation.

The City does not collect information for commercial marketing from its website(s) or service(s), will not share any user information with commercial marketing organizations, nor will it send you unsolicited email regarding any commercial offer(s) or advertisements at any time.

Notwithstanding the above provisions, information submitted to the City's website(s) and service(s) may be subject to disclosure in response to judicial authorities, regulatory authorities, or law enforcement agencies in compliance with local and federal information discovery laws. All data submitted to the City of Lowell's website(s) and service(s) is discoverable via court order.

Information We May Retain

All data submitted to the City's website(s) and service(s) may be eventually backed up, stored offsite, secured, and subject to retention based policies, requirements, and various laws. The City takes all reasonable precautions to safeguard the confidentiality of data submitted to it, but shall nevertheless not be held liable for any injury caused by the disclosure of that information, whether caused by security breach, accident, inadvertence, or any other act resulting in disclosure.

Social Computing, Public Commentary, and Community Standards and Conduct Guidelines

The City incorporates social computing tools designed to offer the community an opportunity to comment on the City's news, programs, and progress. While the City welcomes all views, before choosing to comment, it is important to understand the Community Standards and Conduct Guidelines (a.k.a., ground rules, dos and don'ts, etc.) in order to keep things friendly and safe.

BE COURTEOUS. BE TOLERANT. Please keep it civil and be respectful and tolerant of others posting or commenting, even if you disagree with their opinions. Don't use language that is threatening, abusive, harassing, crude, hateful, or racially or ethnically objectionable, and don't engage in personal attacks. We ask that everyone agree to disagree without being disagreeable.
KEEP IT CLEAN, PLEASE. Express yourself freely, but get your message across without resorting to foul language.
DON'T ADVERTISE. Please keep your posting/commentary commercial free. Do not post any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising or promotional items, junk mail, or "spam."
DON'T POST WEB ADDRESSES. Please do not post web addresses (also known as "URLs") in your signature or in posts/comments.
WE RESERVE OUR RIGHTS. The City reserves the right to remove any posting/commentary for any reason whatsoever. The City may choose to moderate postings/comments prior to being published. Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in the forwarding of your information to the appropriate authorities, as appropriate, as well as being banned from social computing forums.

Prohibitions

Attempts to upload information or change information on the City's website(s) or service(s) are strictly prohibited unless specifically authorized in writing by the City's Management Information Services (MIS) Department. This prohibition does not apply to a user's submission of information via an online form created by the City for that specific purpose. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, the National Infrastructure Protection Act of 1993, and other applicable laws. All information regarding possible violations of these laws may be provided to law enforcement officials.

You may not use the City of Lowell's website(s) or services(s) for any improper activities, including but not limited to:

Modifying, adapting, translating, or reverser engineering any portion of the website(s) or service(s);
Sharing out any website or service bandwidth;
Connecting, or otherwise interconnecting a non City server to City website(s) or service(s);
Using any City website(s) or service(s) to support a commercial business, product, or service;
Attempting to break security, access, tamper with, or use any unauthorized areas of the City's website(s) or service(s);
Attempting to collect or maintain any information about other users of the City's website(s) or service(s) (including username and/or email addresses), or other third parties for unauthorized purposes;
Creating or transmitting unwanted electronic communications such as "spam," or bulk commercial messages, to other users or otherwise interfering with other users' enjoyment of the City's website(s) or service(s);
Forging or misrepresenting message headers, whether in whole or in part, to mask the originator of any message;
Advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available any product, software product, or service, that is designed to violate these Disclaimers and Terms of Use, which includes the facilitation of the means to distribute Internet viruses, worms, pinging, flooding, mail bombing, denial of service attacks, defects, trojan horses, or other items of a destructive nature;
Engaging in any activity that infringes or misappropriates the intellectual property, publicity, privacy, or other proprietary rights of others, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade secrets, or any other proprietary right of any third party, or that is defamatory, objectionable, unlawful or promotes or encourages illegal activity;
The transfer of technology, software, or other materials in violation of applicable export laws and regulations including, but not limited to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and Executive Orders;
Illegally accessing, or otherwise accessing without appropriate authorization, any computers, accounts, equipment, or networks belonging to another party, or attempting to penetrate security measures of another system - this includes any activity that may be used as a precursor to an attempted system penetration, including but not limited to port scans, stealth scans, or other information gathering activity; or
Using the City's website(s) or services(s) for transmitting obscene or indecent speech or materials, transmitting defamatory or abusive language, or any unlawful, harassing, abusive, criminal, fraudulent or destructive purpose or activity.

The City may disable, block, or otherwise terminate access to any device or user for any reason, and without notice.

Restrictions on Use of Material(s)

This site is operated and maintained by the City through its Management Information Systems (MIS) Department. Except as provided herein, commercial use is prohibited; no material or information from this site may be resold, copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed for commercial use except as expressly authorized within this site, or approved in writing by MIS. When authorized/approved, all material must include a data source credit prominently displayed (e.g., "Credits: Data supplied by the City of Lowell"). Reasonable copying or printing of this site's contents for individual, non-commercial use is permitted.

Copyright Notice(s)

Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the City's website(s) is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published, or otherwise used with the City's permission. However, it is required that the City be cited as the source of the information and that any photo credits, graphics or byline be similarly credited to the photographer, creator, author, or City as appropriate (see Restrictions on Use of Materials, above).

Using or modifying this site's materials and information for commercial or profit making purposes is strictly prohibited and may violate the copyrights and/or other proprietary rights of the City or third parties.

If a copyright is indicated on a photo, graphic, or any other material, permission to copy these materials must be obtained directly from the original source. The City is not an authorized agent for material copyrighted by third parties.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material posted on Internet sites infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. The City respects the intellectual property of others and we ask our users to do the same. If you believe in good faith that your work has been copied and appears on the City's website(s) or service(s) in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact the City's Designated Agent (below) via certified U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and provide the following information for review:

Your address, telephone number and email address.
A description of the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed.
A description of where the material that you believe is infringed is located on the website(s).
A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
A statement by you, made under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, that the above information in your notice to the City of Lowell is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized agent acting on the copyright owner's behalf.
A clear description of the course of action you would like taken (e.g., include a "Credit" line).
If you are an authorized agent acting on the copyright owner's behalf, you must include legal proof of this fact.
An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest.

The City's Designated Agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on the City's website(s) may be contacted via certified United States Postal Service (USPS) mail as follows:

City of Lowell
375 Merrimack Street, MIS Room 2
Attn: Website Designated Agent
Lowell, MA 01852

The City's Designated Agent will review your notice of claims of copyright infringement and respond within 90 days.

Third Party Material(s)

Some materials and information used on the City's website(s) and service(s) were generated by third parties who have consented to the City's use or placement of such materials on this site; these materials are owned by those parties. Use of these third party materials for any purpose is prohibited. Persons seeking to use or modify third party materials for any purpose should contact the owner of such materials directly. These materials include icons and graphics used in links to other organizations' sites, as well as various items of general content.

Disclaimer of Endorsement(s)

Reference in this site to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise, does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the City. The views and opinions of the authors of documents published on the City's website(s) or service(s) do not necessarily state or reflect the opinion of the City, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes of any kind.

Disclaimer of Content

Materials, data, and information contained on the City's website(s) and service(s) have been compiled from a variety of sources, are provided as a public service, and are intended to provide general guidelines on matters of public interest. Accordingly, the information on this site is subject to change without notice, and is not intended to serve as legal, accounting, tax, or other advice. Except for the third party materials described below, the materials and information on this site were generated, compiled, or assembled at public expense and are freely available for non-commercial, non-profit use, provided that the user keeps intact all associated copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices, crediting materials as appropriate. The materials and information on this site may not be mirrored on another server without the written permission of the City's Management Information Systems (MIS) Department, and in some cases, may not function correctly if they are directly linked to.

Disclaimer of Translated Material(s)

The content presented on the City's website(s) and service(s) is currently provided in English. When possible, 3rd party tools and resources may be used to assist visitors with limited English proficiency to access information on the City's website(s) in other translated languages. These translations may be made through a variety of processes including, but not limited to, automated process which may not result in accurate or precise translations of the original material, particularly of technical and legal terminology. Many of these tools may also be unable to translate files including, but not limited to, graphs, photos and portable document formats (PDFs).

The City does not warrant or make any promises, assurances, or guarantees as to the accuracy of any translated material(s). The City shall not be liable for damages or losses or any kind arising out of, or in connection with, the use or performance of such translated material(s), including, but not limited to, damages or losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any such translated material(s), or damages incurred from viewing, distributing, or copying of such translated material(s).

Visitors to the City's website(s) and service(s) who choose to use these translation tools and resources to view translated material(s) do so at their own risk.

Disclaimer of Hypertext Links

The City's website(s) and service(s) may contain hypertext links to other sites on the Internet, including local/state/federal agencies, and public/private entities. These links are for your convenience; the City is not responsible for the content, quality, relevance, timeliness, or accuracy of any off-site materials referenced or linked through the City's website(s) and service(s), or through those links to other websites. By using the City's website(s) and service(s), the user acknowledges and accepts that the City is not responsible for any inaccurate, defamatory, offensive, or illegal materials found on other Internet sites, and that the risk of injury from viewing, hearing, downloading, or storing such materials rests entirely with the user.

Links from the City's website(s) and service(s) to other sites on the Internet do not constitute an endorsement of the City, as these links are provided for informational purposes only. It is the responsibility of the user to evaluate the content, quality, and accuracy of materials or information obtained from the Internet or other websites and services.

Disclaimer for Planimetric and Topographical Information

The Planimetric and Topographical information depicted in the City's Geographical Information System (GIS) is intended to provide a geographical representation of real property based on information from various constantly changing sources. The City cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data, and will not under any circumstances accept it to be construed as a legal description of any real property; City departments will not approve applications or make decisions solely based on the merits of this data. Each user of this data is responsible for determining its suitability for the purpose it is being applied to, and must inquire of the relevant City departments for applicable requirements. The City shall have no liability for the data (or lack thereof), or any decisions made or action taken on the basis and reliance of this data.

Disclaimer of Liability

THE CITY SHALL not BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY IMPROPER OR INCORRECT USE OF THE MATERIALS OR INFORMATION CONTAINED ON ITS WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S) AND ASSUMES no RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY USER'S USE OF THEM. IN no EVENT SHALL THE CITY BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING, BUT not LIMITED TO, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS) REGARDLESS OF CAUSE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S) OF THE MATERIALS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S), EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. THIS DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY APPLIES TO ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY, INCLUDING BUT not LIMITED TO THOSE CAUSED BY ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, DELAY, COMPUTER VIRUS, COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE, THEFT, OR DESTRUCTION OF DATA, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTUOUS BEHAVIOR, NEGLIGENCE, OR UNDER ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION.

Users are encouraged to consult with appropriate and accredited professional advisors for advice concerning specific matters before making any decision, and the City disclaims any responsibility for positions taken by individuals or corporations in their individual cases or for any misunderstanding and losses, directly or indirectly, on the part of the users.

Disclaimer of Warranties, Accuracy, and Use of Information

THE MATERIALS ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S) ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE TO APPLICABLE LAW, THE CITY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT not LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND TITLE TO ANY OF THE MATERIALS PROVIDED ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S). THE CITY DOES not WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE MATERIALS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THIS SITE OR THE SERVER THAT HOST THE WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S) IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THE CITY DOES not WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS FROM THE USE OF THE MATERIALS ON ITS WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S), OR THROUGH LINKS TO OTHER SITES, IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE. THE WEBSITE(S) AND SERVICE(S) USER (NOT THE CITY) ASSUMES THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

Changes are made periodically and without notice to City documents, data, and information, including municipal codes, charter sections, regulations, guidelines, and schedules. These changes may or may not be reflected in the materials or information present on the City's website(s) and service(s). The City's website(s) and service(s) is frequently under development; as a result, materials and information may be deleted, modified, or moved to a different part of the website(s) and service(s) without advance notice.

Exception to Disclaimers, if Applicable

Certain state laws do not allow limitations on implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. If these laws apply to you, some or all of the disclaimers, terms of use, exclusions, or limitations on this page may not apply to you, and you might have additional rights.

Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, by using the City's website(s) and service(s) the user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless, the City, its agencies, officers, employees, representatives, agents, suppliers, and licenses from and against any and all third party claims and expenses, arising from or in any way related to your use of the City's website(s) and service(s) or materials and information contained on the website(s) and service(s), or via link to other websites and services, including any liability or expense arising from all claims, losses, damages (actual and consequential), suits, judgments, litigation costs and attorneys' fees, of every kind and nature.

Jurisdiction

These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without giving effect to any principles of conflict of laws. You agree that any action at law or equity arising out of or relating to these terms shall be filed only in the state or federal court located in Lowell, Massachusetts and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such court for the purposes of litigating any such action. If any of these terms or provisions shall be deemed unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that term or provision shall be deemed severable from the remaining terms and provisions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining terms and provisions. This is the entire agreement relating to the subject matter herein and shall not be modified except in writing with execution by all authorized parties.

Please Read Carefully - Final Notice:

Use of the City's website(s) and service(s) constitutes acceptance of these Disclaimers and Terms of Use. If you do not agree to or understand any or all of these disclaimers or terms, or are not of legal age to agree to and be bound by these terms, please do not use the City's website(s) or the service(s) available through them.