Terms of Use

Website Terms of Use

Privacy

The City of St. Charles respects the privacy of our residents. We will only collect personally identifiable information (such as name, title, company name, address, telephone number or email address) that you voluntarily provide through our web site or email correspondence. In order to provide visitors with a pleasant online experience, our web servers collect some technical information automatically upon your visit. This may include your IP address, browser used, date of visit, and length of visit. This information supplies us with statistics on web visits and is only for internal use. No personally identifiable information (name, address, email address, phone, etc.) is collected automatically. The minimal information we do collect is kept confidential and is used solely in summary form to enhance the services offered on the site or to publish site usage statistics.

The City of St. Charles does not endorse or otherwise accept responsibility for the privacy policies of other sites to which this site links.

This policy is not intended and should not be interpreted as a contract of any nature, either stated or implied.

Questions or comments sent to City staff or elected officials that contain personally identifying information may be forwarded to another agency for help in responding to the question or comment. The personally identifying information in the email may be used to contact the sender, but it will not be sold, rented, or voluntarily supplied to any agency, commercial or private, unless required by law. Please note that the content of any correspondence, such as email or letters, sent to City officials or staff becomes public record and is available for public/media review upon request.

Information provided through an online, interactive form may be used in processing the request and may be collected for inclusion in databases or directories, to be used for internal purposes only. This information will not be sold, rented or voluntarily supplied to any agency, commercial or private, unless required by law.

The City of St. Charles will store and protect any and all personally identifying information in the same manner we store and protect other personal customer information. We will only disclose information to third parties where it is necessary for completing transactions; in order to verify the existence and condition of a customer’s account; in order to comply with government agency, applicable law or court orders; or with the written permission of the customer.

Liability

The content of this web site is provided for informational purposes only. Unless otherwise noted, the information on this web site does not represent official statements or views of the City of St. Charles, its elected officials or staff.

While we do make every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information posted on this web site, the information contained herein should not be relied upon as a substitute for formal documents or information from the originating bodies or departments. All critical information should be independently verified.

The City of St. Charles does not endorse or warrant the accuracy, legitimacy, timeliness or content of the links from its web pages to external web sites not published or maintained by the City.

The City of St. Charles, its employees and agents will not be held responsible for any loss or claim arising from the use of, or reliance on the information contained on this web site.

The information and data on this site is subject to change without notice from the City of St. Charles.

All persons accessing this site are responsible for confirming the relevance and accuracy of its content.

The City of St. Charles, its employees and agents do not make or intend an endorsement or recommend any link, reference, information, organization or business either by its inclusion or exclusion from this page or site.

Communications made through email and messaging system links contained on this site shall in no way be deemed to constitute legal notice to the City of St. Charles, Illinois, or any of its agencies, officers, employees, or representatives, with respect to any existing or potential claim or cause of action against the City or any of its agencies, officers, employees, or representatives, where notice is required by any federal, state, or local laws, rules or regulations.

Security

The City of St. Charles only collects information to the extent deemed reasonably necessary to serve its legitimate business purposes. Excellent security technology is used to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of all personal information. Nonetheless, the City of St. Charles is not responsible for any breach of its security or for the actions of any third parties that may obtain any personal information transmitted via the Internet.

Use of the City of St. Charles web site and utility bill payment processing web site is subject to all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations.

Actual or attempted unauthorized use of City web sites may result in criminal and/or civil prosecution.

For the protection of our residents, the City of St. Charles reserves the right to view, monitor and record activity on its web sites without notice or permission. Any information obtained by monitoring, reviewing, or recording is subject to review by law enforcement organizations in connection with investigation or prosecution of possible criminal activity. The City of St. Charles will also comply with all court orders or legal requirements involving requests for such information.

The City of St. Charles does not use “persistent” cookies to collect permanent information. We may use cookies (which would reside on the user’s computer) to increase the ease of use. No personal information will be stored in these cookies.

Copyright

Information presented on this web site is public information and may be distributed or copied. All graphics, photographs, and logos are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced, “mirrored” on another server, or used without the express written consent of the related organization.

Accessibility

For information about City accessibility policy and grievance procedures, please visit our Accessibility Information page.

Social Media Terms of Use

The City of St Charles seeks to build relationships throughout our community, in part by enhancing communication initiatives to adapt to changing demographic, societal, and technological trends.

The City of St. Charles website remains the primary source of information regarding meeting notices and other requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

General Terms and Conditions

Individuals accessing or using this site accept the terms and conditions stated on this page without limitation or qualification. These terms and conditions apply only to the Facebook page managed by the City of St. Charles. The City of St. Charles maintains the right to modify these terms and conditions without notice, and any modification is effective immediately upon posting to this page unless otherwise stated. Continued access or use of this site following the City's posting of any modification signifies acceptance of such modification.

In addition, all users of the City of St. Charles Facebook page are subject to the Facebook statement of rights and responsibilities. The City of St. Charles has no control over Facebook's privacy policy or the company's modifications to it. The City of St. Charles also has no control over content, commercial advertisements, or other postings produced or distributed by Facebook that appear on the City of St. Charles Facebook page as part of the Facebook environment.

The City of St. Charles operates and maintains its Facebook page as a public service to provide information about City programs, services, projects, issues, events and activities. The City of St. Charles assumes no liability for any inaccuracies this site may contain and does not guarantee that this site will be uninterrupted or error-free. Information and comments posted on the City of St. Charles Facebook page in no way constitute a legal or official notice or comment to the City of St. Charles.

Portions of the City of St. Charles website policy may also apply.

Commenting Policy

The City of St. Charles Facebook page is a limited public forum. We expect comments generally to be relevant and courteous. To that end, the City of St. Charles has established the criteria below regarding comments, and reserves the right and discretion to remove comments that are consistent with these criteria.

The City of St. Charles reserves the right to remove comments that:

• Contain obscene, harassing or profane language
• Contain threats, personal attacks, or defamatory statements
• Contain hate speech directed at race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion or disability
• Constitute advertising or promote or endorse specific commercial services or products
• Compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems
• Support or oppose political candidates or ballot propositions
• Violate the Facebook statement of rights and responsibilities

Due to the nature of this page, we cannot assure users that comments or questions made on this page will become part of the official record for any particular issue. People who wish their opinions, compliments and concerns to be officially on record or responded to in a timely manner should use standard means of commenting via mail, email or telephone and direct them to the appropriate department or contact person.

The views expressed in comments reflect those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the City of St. Charles. The City of St. Charles retains no responsibility for comments that are posted and then removed by the author. Even when deleted, by the author or by the City based on the criteria above, comments may be subject to disclosure. See "Public Disclosure" below.

Timely Review

We recognize that the internet is a medium unbound by regular business hours and comments are welcome at any time. Given the need to manage City resources, however, comments will generally be reviewed only during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Questions posted in comment sections may or may not be reviewed quickly or receive a timely answer. Inappropriate comments made by non-City authors may or may not be removed in a timely manner.

Copyright

Copyrighted and other proprietary material should not be posted or submitted in any form unless permission to do so is clearly indicated. In posting his or her own comments or other work, a commenter grants the City and anyone viewing the site irrevocable permission to copy, distribute, make derivatives, display or perform the commenter's work publicly and free-of-charge.

Public Disclosure

Information posted by the City of St. Charles and comments posted to this page by other authors are subject to the disclosure requirements of the Illinois Public Records Act, 5 ILCS 160. Complete a Freedom of Information request here.