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Website Usage Policy

Terms of Use

The Kern County public website at: www.KernPatriot.org (the "Site") is owned and operated by the County of Kern (“County,” "we" or "us"). It is available as a public service. The County may discontinue the Site or change the content or layout of the Site at any time.

By using this Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and to use the Site in accordance with these Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and any additional terms and conditions that may apply to specific sections of the Site. You are responsible for all statements you make and any acts or omissions by you while you are using the Site. You agree that you will not use the Site for any unlawful or improper purpose or activity. You agree that you will not violate any applicable State or federal law or regulation while using the Site.

This agreement is personal to you, and you may not assign your rights or obligations to anyone. If any provision of this agreement is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect. The laws of the United States of America and the State of California shall govern this agreement, your rights and obligations, and all actions contemplated by this Agreement, as if the agreement was a contract wholly entered into and wholly performed within the State of California. If you are unwilling to agree to the terms of use, you should not use the Site.

Website Disclaimer

The County is providing the information on this Site as a public service. The County reserves the right to make additions, changes or corrections at any time and without notice. The County attempts to ensure that the information contained on this Site is valid at the time of publication. Nonetheless, due to human error, computer error, delays, and omissions, the County does not guarantee the information on the Site is always complete and accurate.

Therefore, use this Site for informational purposes only. Do not use it as a substitute for legal or professional advice on any subject. Seek the advice of a qualified professional on any personal decision. If you rely upon the accuracy of information contained on the Site in making a decision, you do so at your own risk.

The County and its officials, employees, affiliates, agents, and licensors cannot and do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose of the information available through this Site. The County, its officials, employees, affiliates, agents and licensors, shall not be liable to you or anyone else for any loss, injury, or personal injury resulting directly or indirectly from use of the Site, caused in whole or in part by contingencies beyond its control in procuring, compiling, interpreting, reporting or delivering any information through the Site. In no event will the County and its officials, employees, affiliates, agents, and licensors, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken by you in reliance on such information.

Website Links to Other Sites

The Site provides links to other sites (also known as hyperlinks). These links may include links to websites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and/or private businesses. The Privacy Policy set forth herein applies only to the Site. When you follow a link to any other website, you are subject to the website usage policy of that website and we encourage you to examine that policy. You must also be aware of any potential copyright violations from printing or transferring information contained in linked sites. It is your sole responsibility to ensure no copyright violations occur. The County does not review any linked site to determine what information may be subject to copyright protection. Also, please be advised that the links available are subject to future removal or change at any time.

The County in no way endorses the opinions, statements, or accuracy of information contained in linked sites. Information from linked sites may be misleading, inaccurate, or incomplete. Rely upon the information at your own risk. Neither the County, nor any of its officials, employees, affiliates, agents and licensors warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published on other websites. The County does not endorse any content, viewpoints, products, or services on other websites. The County and its officials, employees, affiliates, agents and licensors shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of information on other websites. In addition, the County in no way guarantees the security of any linked site. You assume the risk of any damage the linked site may cause to your system, as well as the risk of disclosing personal information to third parties.

Privacy Policy

In the State of California, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by government agencies. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records provided by both state and federal laws. These exceptions include the need to protect the privacy of individuals.

Information collected at the Site becomes public record and may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exception in law exists. During your visit to the Site, information that does not personally identify you is automatically collected and stored. This information is used solely to improve our web services. Additional details on our privacy policy are listed below.

Information Collected and How it is Used
Personal Information and Choice
Public Disclosure
Access to and Correction of Personal Information
Security Statement

Information Collected and How it is Used

When you browse through the Site, read pages or download information, the system will automatically collect and store certain information about your visit. This information does not personally identify you. We use it only to help us improve our website. The information collected is limited to the following:

The IP address (a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the web).
The type of browser and operating system you used to access our Site.
The date and time during which you access our Site.
The pages you visit.
If you came to our website via a link on another website, the address of that website.

The information we automatically collect or store may be used to improve the content of our Site and to help us understand how people are using our services. We may analyze the log files that contain this information to continually improve the value of the materials available on the Site. The information in these logs does not personally identify you, and we make no attempt to link the information in these logs with the individuals that browse the Site.

To better serve you, we occasionally use "cookies" to customize your browsing experience. Cookies are simple text files stored by your web browser when you first visit a website. They provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to the website. Web browsers normally accept cookies, unless the user has specifically turned the capability off.

If during your visit to the Site you participate in a survey, send an email or fill out a feedback form, the following additional information will be collected:

Email correspondence: The email address, contents of the email and any personal identification/contact information you provide.
Surveys: Any information you volunteer in response to a survey including any personal identification/contact information.
Feedback Forms: All comments and any personal identification/contact information you provide.

All information collected is retained in accordance with California Government Code Section 26200 et. seq.

We use your email address to respond appropriately. This may be to respond to you, to address issues you identify, to further improve the Site, or to forward the email to another agency for appropriate action. Survey information is used for the purpose designated.

Please be aware that other websites that may be accessed through our Site may collect personally-identifiable information about you. The information practices of those third parties' websites linked to our Site are not covered by our Site Usage Policy. You are responsible for learning the web usage policies of those sites.

Personal Information and Choice

"Personal information" is information about an individual that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal information includes personal identifiers such as an individual's name, address, and phone number. A domain name or Internet Protocol address is not considered personal information.

At the Site we collect no personal information about you unless you voluntarily participate in an activity that asks for information (i.e. sending an email or participating in a survey). If you choose not to participate in these activities, your choice will in no way affect your ability to use any other feature of the Site.

Users are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by children online or by email will be treated the same as information given by an adult and may be subject to public access.

Public Disclosure

In the State of California, the California Public Records Act (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.) exists to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state or local government entities. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records that serve various needs; the privacy of individuals is included among these exceptions. Exceptions are provided by both state and federal laws.

The Site strives to protect personally- identifiable information by collecting only information necessary to deliver our services. All information collected at the Site becomes public record and may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exemption in law exists.

In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Notice and Government Code Section 6250 et seq., or any other law governing the disclosure of records, Government Code Section 6250 or such other applicable law will control.

Access to and Correction of Personal Information

You can review any personal information the Site collects about you. If you find an error in this information, you may request changes by submitting a written request that credibly shows the error. If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what was intended when submitted, you may contact us. In all cases, we will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. See Contact Information section.

Security Statement

Security of the information that you provide is very important to us. For Site security purposes, and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, the County employs tools to monitor network traffic to identify and block malicious content. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on the Site are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. Note: the Site does not encrypt incoming email or comments.

Usernames and Passwords

To use certain features of the Site, you will need a user name and password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of this user name and password and are responsible for all activities (whether by you or by others) that occur under your user account. You agree to exit from your user account at the end of each session and to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or of any other breach of security. We cannot and will not be held liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your user account.

Use of Information / Copyright

You may not duplicate the design or layout of the Site.

Certain elements of the Site are protected by copyright and trademark law as identified.

Unless permission is expressly granted in writing by the owner of the material, no video, logo, graphic, or image from any Web page on the Site may be reproduced, imitated, altered, and/or redistributed.

Users may freely print any information that they obtain from the Site. Permission to use documents such as reports and data sheets on the Site is granted with these restrictions:

Any copyright notices (for the County or a third party) must be retained on all copies
You may not reproduce any trademark or service mark displayed on this Site without the express written permission of the mark’s owner
Use of documents from this Site is for informational or personal use only
No modifications of any documents are permitted

All such documents and related graphics are provided as is.

Accessibility

The County makes all reasonable efforts to ensure the Site is accessible to all users. We strive to meet the accessibility standards required of Federal Government websites.

If you should experience an accessibility problem with the Site or if you should need information in alternate formats, please email the Webmaster

Policy Changes

The County reserves the right to change this policy or to impose new Site usage conditions at any time. It is the responsibility of individual visitors to keep themselves informed of the current terms of this policy.

Contact Information

To offer comments about the Site, or to comment about the information presented, please email the Webmaster . Please do not include any information on the email that you feel is confidential as it may become a public record subject to release under the provisions of the California Public Records Act.