Privacy Policy and Disclaimer

If you do not agree to or do not understand any or all of these terms, please do not use these web pages.

Materials and information on the City of Novato's website (which includes any and all documents, forms, questionnaires, guidelines, procedures, and other content found on a City webpage through accessing the City’s website) are provided as a public service and intended to afford general guidelines on matters of public interest. Accordingly, the information in this site is not intended to serve as legal, accounting or tax advice. In addition, the City cannot guarantee, warrant, or assure the accuracy, safety, or security of any information accessed on the website or provided by you or others through the City’s website.  Use of this website is at all times at the sole risk of the visitor who chooses to access this website and thereby has indicated his/her acceptance of each and every disclaimer or other provision set forth below.  Nothing in this Privacy Policy and Disclaimer statement (“Policy or “Privacy Statement”) is intended to create a mandatory duty upon the City to comply with any of its provisions or to create a cause of action, claim, or legal right of redress on behalf of any person, firm, or entity against the City in connection with any act or omission committed by the City in violation of any of the terms of this Policy.

Restrictions on Use of Materials
Except as provided herein, no material or information from this site may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed except as authorized in this Policy, expressly authorized within this site, or approved in writing by the City of Novato.

Copyright Notice
Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the City of Novato website is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used with the City of Novato's permission. We request only that the City of Novato be cited as the source of the information and that any photo credits, graphics or byline be similarly credited to the photographer, author or City of Novato, as appropriate.

If a copyright is indicated on a photo, graphic, or any other material, permission to copy these materials must be obtained from the original source.

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

The City of Novato respects the intellectual property of others and we ask our users to do the same. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide the City of Novato's Designated Agent the following information:

• An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; 
• A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
• A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the site; 
• Your address, telephone number and email address;
• 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; and
• A statement by you, made under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, that the above information in your Notice to the City of Novato is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

The City of Novato's Designated Agent for Notice of Claims of Copyright Infringement on its website can be reached as follows:

By mail:
City of Novato
ATTN: Public Information
922 Machin Avenue
Novato, CA 94945
By email: publicinfo@novato.org

This copyright notice does not pertain to information on websites other than the City of Novato website.

Third Party Materials
Some materials and information used on the City of Novato's website 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
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 of Novato. The views and opinions of the authors of documents published on the City of Novato's website do not necessarily state or reflect the opinion of the City of Novato, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Disclaimer for Hypertext Links
The City of Novato's website may contain hypertext links to other sites on the Internet. The City of Novato is not responsible for the content, quality, or accuracy of any off-site materials referenced or linked through the City of Novato's website. By using the City of Novato's website, the user acknowledges and accepts that the City of Novato is not responsible for any materials stored on other internet sites, nor it is liable 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 of Novato's website to other sites on the internet do not constitute an endorsement of any other site by the City of Novato. The City does not represent, warrant, or assure the accuracy of any information that may be contained on any website that is referenced or linked to the City’s website.  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 other sites.

Disclaimer of Liability
The City of Novato, including its officers, employees, agents, and volunteers (“City of  Novato”), shall not be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the materials or information contained on this site and assumes no responsibility for any user's use of them. In no event shall the City of Novato 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 site or the materials and information contained on this site, even when 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.

The user of this website acts at its own risk at all times that it visits, accesses, provides or retrieves information from, or otherwise utilizes, this website.  Users are encouraged to consult with appropriate and accredited professional advisors for advice concerning specific matters before making any decision, and the City of Novato 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 in this site are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind express or implied. To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, the City of Novato 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 this site. The City of Novato 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 hosts it are free of viruses or other harmful components. The City of Novato does not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the materials in this site, or through links to other sites, in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability or otherwise. The user (and not the City of Novato) assumes the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction.

Changes are made periodically to many City documents, including the Municipal Code, ordinances, resolutions,  regulations, guidelines, and schedules. These changes may or may not be reflected in the materials or information present on the City of Novato's website. Additionally, because the site is frequently under development, materials and information may be deleted, modified or moved to a different part of the site 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 above disclaimers, exclusions, or limitations may not apply to you, and you might have additional rights.  However, your acceptance of this Privacy Policy and Disclaimer indicates your agreement to be bound by the laws of the State of California and those laws applicable to municipalities organized under its general laws.

Indemnification
To the extent permitted by applicable law, by using the City of Novato's website, the user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless, the City of Novato, its departments, officers, employees, representatives, agents, and volunteers from and against all claims and expenses, including but not limited to attorneys' fees, expert witness fees, and other litigation-related costs, arising out of, connected with, or related to the user's use of this site or materials and information contained on this site.

Our Philosophy
We are committed to providing you with a convenient and secure online e-government experience. We understand that you have entrusted us with your personal information, and we take very seriously the need to protect that information.

In order to protect your privacy, we will not share any of your personal information with any third party, except for any of the following reasons: (1) in an aggregated, summary form; (2) to fulfill governmental, legal (specifically including compliance with the California Public Records Act [Chapter 3.5 [[commencing with Section 6250]] of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code]) and regulatory obligations; (3) to process your transactions on this website; (4) pursuant to your explicit authorization; or (5) as otherwise authorized by law .

What is personally identifiable information?
"Personally identifiable information" or "personal information" in general means any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual who is the subject of the information.  A more specific definition of “personal information” is contained in California Civil Code Section 1798.3. “Personally identifiable information” includes substantially the same categories of information as the definition of “personal identifying information” in Civil Code Section 1798.92.

You do not have to provide personally identifiable information.
Users do not have to provide personally identifiable information to visit the City of Novato website or to download information. We may in the future request personally identifiable information from you in order to provide requested specialized services, but such information would be handled as it would be on an in-person visit to a government office.

Access to Personal Information
The City of Novato has information about individuals, or information which can be identified or associated with a particular individual retained in the public records. Access to this personally identifiable information in public records at state and local levels of government in California is controlled by California law. Information that is generally available under California law and not made confidential elsewhere under California or City of Novato or federal law may be posted for electronic access through the City of Novato website. California law recognizes many concerns people have with regard to public records that include information about them, including the right to correct inaccurate information. Consequently, persons concerned with regard to information about them should contact the custodian of the record, which typically is the state agency or other governmental entity that collects and maintains the information.

Public Disclosure
All information collected on our website will be treated the same as any written communication and is subject to the confidentiality and public disclosure provisions of applicable State of California (specifically including the California Public Records Act [Chapter 3.5 [[commencing with Section 6250]] of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code])and City of Novato laws and federal law.

Email Senders
Email messages sent to any City of Novato address will be treated the same as any other written communication. Email addresses obtained as a result of a request to our website will not be sold or given to private companies for marketing purposes. The information collected from your email message is subject to the disclosure, access and confidentiality provisions of State and City of Novato laws and federal law. Email or other information requests sent to our website may be maintained in order to respond to the request, forward that request to the appropriate agency, communicate updates to the page that may be of interest to citizens, provide our Web designers with valuable customer feedback to assist in improving the site, otherwise assist the City in serving the public’s needs, or as may be required by state law.

Electronic Form Filers
Any information provided by you at the request of the City of Novato or a department thereof, such as the completion and electronic filing of a form, will be considered to be voluntarily provided by the visitor and will be treated in accordance with this Policy and any other policies and procedures applicable to such forms submitted in writing.

Personal Information That We Collect For Payment
In order to use any web based payment service on the City’s website, you will have to provide only the personal information necessary for us to complete the transaction. We will notify you when you have to provide your personal information. If you choose not to provide your personal information, we will be unable to complete your transaction and you will not be able to use the payment service. The amount and type of personal information that we will collect from you will depend on how you decide to make your payment (e.g., credit card). We may archive your personal information for auditing, diagnostic and user support purposes.

Disclosures to Our Credit and Bank Card Processing Providers
We are required to provide select personal information (such as your credit card number and account expiration date) to our money transmission vendors to the extent necessary to process your payment for services on our site.

Security
We are committed to data security and the data quality of personally identifiable information that is either available from or collected by our website. Unfortunately, no information transmitted via the Internet is guaranteed to be completely secure due to the nature of the Internet. But we attempt to safeguard your information from loss, misuse or alteration.

However, nothing we may do can guarantee, warrant, or ensure the security, secrecy, or confidentiality of any information that you transmit through the City’s website.

Links to other websites
Various external websites may be linked to on our website. Visitors to those sites may wish to check their privacy statements and be cautious about providing personally identifiable information. A link does not constitute an endorsement of content, viewpoint, policies, products or services of that website. (See section entitled “Disclaimer for Hypertext Links” above.) Once you follow a link to another website not maintained by the City of Novato, you are subject to the terms and conditions of that website, including but not limited to its privacy policy.

Information Disclaimer
Information provided on the City of Novato website is intended to allow the public immediate access to public information. While all attempts are made to provide accurate, current and reliable information we recognize the possibility of human and/or mechanical error. Therefore, the City of Novato, its employees, officers, agents, representatives, and volunteers expressly deny any warranty of the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information contained on this website and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Any person who relies upon such information obtained from the City’s website does so at his or her own risk.

Changes to our Privacy Policy and Disclaimer
We may change our Privacy Policy and Disclaimer from time to time. It is the user's responsibility to periodically check back for amendments to this statement.

Questions and Concerns
We understand that you expect privacy in your use of the Internet and make every effort to address your privacy concerns by instituting and maintaining stringent standards in protecting the information with which you have entrusted us. We hope that this Policy clarifies our policies and procedures, but if you have any questions or concerns regarding our privacy policy or our website practices, we encourage you to e-mail us at publicinfo@novato.org

Your use of the City of Novato website constitutes acceptance of this Privacy Statement, meaning you expressly consent to our use and disclosure of your personally identifiable information in accordance with the terms of this Policy.