Introduction

The City of Cincinnati is dedicated to providing efficient and secure e-government services. The following policy addresses the collection, use and security of all information obtained or processed by the City of Cincinnati from website users. Industry-accepted technologies are used to safeguard all personally identifiable and sensitive information, as protecting the privacy of website users is a priority. The City of Cincinnati reserves the right to make changes to this website (including, without limitation, discontinuing this website or the services offered on this website) and any associated terms and conditions at any time, with or without notice.

Usage Policy

When filling out a form or application, contacting the City of Cincinnati, participating in e-commerce or other use of this site, you agree to provide accurate and complete information, and, in the case of registration or accounts, to keep this information current and complete. By using any function of the City of Cincinnati website, you agree to be bound by these Legal Notices ("Notices") and all other terms and conditions posted on the sites provided by the City of Cincinnati or affiliated financial institutions or businesses. You agree that the laws of the State of Ohio and the City of Cincinnati, without regard to its principles of conflict of laws, will govern these statements, terms and conditions and any dispute of any sort that might arise between you and the City of Cincinnati concerning this website, your use of this website, your obligations to the City of Cincinnati or an affiliated financial institution or business and their obligations to you.

By using this website, you agree to be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information, including any account number and password, and for restricting access to your computer. You further agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. You should notify the City of Cincinnati immediately if you believe there has been an unauthorized use of your account or password or any other breach of this site's security.

All websites operated by the City of Cincinnati reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel purchases in their sole discretion.

Data Collection

By visiting the City of Cincinnati website, you have provided us with certain information. The City of Cincinnati does collect information about visitors, including the type of browser and operating system you use, the date and time you visited the site, the webpages or services you accessed and the website you visited prior to coming to the City of Cincinnati website. This data is collected for analytical and statistical purposes to help better manage the site and better serve you. Software programs allow the City to compile this information and determine the most accessed parts of the website, the most effective e-services and any problem areas.

Cookies

Cookies are pieces of information generated by our web server and stored on your computer to enable certain transactions such as personalizing your account with the City of Cincinnati, participating in e-commerce, signing up for an online newsletter or other e-government service. The cookie randomly generates a unique session identification number so that we can process your request. Cookies are not used to identify individual users or to track online activities. Although it may alter the quality of your service, you may block cookies or remove cookies through your browser settings or simply wait for the cookies to expire.

Sending E-mail

If you choose to send an electronic message to the City of Cincinnati using your own mail program, all information provided in that message will be used only to respond to your request. No personally identifying information will be shared with any third party or other governmental agency not directly handling your request unless otherwise required by law. The City of Cincinnati may use your e-mail address to respond to you.

Please be informed that e-mail sent through your own mail program is not normally secured by encryption nor protected by confidentiality. You should not send personal or sensitive information by e-mail unless you wish to assume the risk that an unauthorized person may learn your e-mail address or information as your e-mail is transmitted.

Filling Out An Online Form Or Application

Online forms and applications may be used for account registration, customer service, or other e-government services. Information submitted through an online form or application is secured by the City of Cincinnati’s encryption technology. However, it is suggested that you not submit further personal or sensitive information in the text box section of such online forms and applications.

If you voluntarily participate in an online survey, your e-mail address, response and other volunteered information may be collected. Survey information may be used for purposes identified by the survey. The City of Cincinnati may use your e-mail address to respond to you.

If you voluntarily subscribe to an online newsletter or other publication by the City of Cincinnati, certain personal information will be collected in the form of a mailing list. Should you wish to “Unsubscribe” at any time, this option will be clearly listed in each newsletter or publication.

E-Commerce

Your opportunity to do business with the City of Cincinnati via the Internet will continue to increase in the future. E-commerce transactions are allowed only under tightly controlled circumstances, where the appropriate technological and other safeguards are in place to protect your personal and payment information, provided that your browser is properly configured and your computer is operating properly. This encrypted information is shared only with designated banks and credit card clearinghouses, all of which also operate secured servers. Each e-commerce web site controlled by the City of Cincinnati includes more specific information about the particular safeguards and terms and conditions you must abide by while using that particular e-commerce site.

External Links

Links to external websites will let you leave the City of Cincinnati's website. The City of Cincinnati is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by the City of Cincinnati of the site. The linked sites are not under the control of the City of Cincinnati, and the City of Cincinnati is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. No reference to another company's copyrighted materials (brand names, trademarks, etc.) is intended as a challenge to that copyright.

Disclosure To Third Parties

The City will not rent, sell, or distribute any personally identifiable information entered into the website (name, address, phone number, etc.) or electronic mail address to any third party for marketing or mailing list purposes. Your credit card information will not be disclosed for any reason except those related to your transaction or as required by law.

City of Cincinnati Accounts On External Websites

The City of Cincinnati maintains official pages or accounts on several external websites (including social media) to better engage with residents and businesses. Your activity on those external websites is governed by their respective security and privacy policies. You should review the privacy policies of external websites before using them to ensure that you understand how your information may be used. You should also adjust privacy settings on your account on any external website to match your preferences.

Standards Of Decorum For Social Media Engagement

The City utilizes social media to engage the public in a proactive manner and to receive feedback on how to better serve Cincinnati's residents and businesses. To facilitate a productive dialogue, comments and posts containing any of the following are subject to deletion:

  • Comments not directly related to the subject being discussed
  • Profane language
  • Sexually suggestive language
  • Personal attacks
  • Comments supporting or opposing a political issue or political candidate
  • Comments that promote discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, HIV status, marital status, sexual orientation, regional Appalachian ancestry or disability
  • Commercial advertising
  • Comments encouraging illegal activity
  • Comments violating a citizen's privacy
  • Comments violating the intellectual property rights of another party

Public Access to Information

In the State of Ohio, the public's right to access public records and government information is balanced by the individuals’ right to privacy. Ohio Revised Code §§1347 and 149.43 protect the use of and public access to personal information. ORC § 149.43 also prohibits the commercial use of public record.

Please be aware that information you voluntarily submit to or publish on a City page or a third-party site may be treated as public information. If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose beyond what was intended when submitted it, you should contact City of Cincinnati Customer Service at 513-591-6000 immediately.

Review & Correction of Personally Identifiable Information

To review or correct factual errors in your personally identifiable information, contact the City of Cincinnati Customer Service line at 513-591-6000. You may also directly contact the Department that requested your information if it is listed on the City's Contacts page.

Security

The City of Cincinnati is committed to safeguarding the integrity of it database and ensuring that this service remains available to all users. The City of Cincinnati monitors network traffic through commercial software designed to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise damage the system. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable by law. Reasonable steps have been taken to protect private information, but this policy should not be construed as warranting a fail-proof security system.

Intellectual Property

All content on this website, including text, graphics, logos, button icons and images, is the property of or licensed by the City of Cincinnati and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. The selection, arrangement, and presentation of all materials on this website (including information in the public domain), and the overall design of this website is the exclusive property of the City of Cincinnati and is protected by United States and international copyright laws.

All City of Cincinnati graphics, logos, page headers, button icons, scripts and service names are trade dress of City of Cincinnati. Such trade dress may not be used in connection with any product or service that in any manner disparages or discredits City of Cincinnati, its products or services, this website or any third parties.

License & Site Access

The City of Cincinnati grants you a non-exclusive limited license to access and use this website only for its intended purpose. This non-exclusive limited license does not authorize any user of this website to download (other than page caching) or modify it, or any portion of it, except with the express written consent of City of Cincinnati. This license does not include any right to resell or make commercial use of this site or its contents; any derivative use of this site or its contents; any downloading or copying of account information for the benefit of another merchant; or any use of data mining, robots or similar data gathering and extraction tools. This website or any portion of this site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without the express written consent of City of Cincinnati. You may not interfere with or disrupt the services of City of Cincinnati or the servers or networks connected to these services. You may not collect or store personal data about other users of this website. Any unauthorized use or attempts to use this website in an unauthorized manner terminates the permission or license granted by City of Cincinnati.  Any use of this website for unauthorized purposes or violation of the terms of this notice may subject you to criminal penalties and/or civil liability for damages, brought by the City of Cincinnati.

Disclaimer

Information on this website is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed. The City of Cincinnati is neither responsible nor liable for any viruses or other contamination of your system nor for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions arising out of your use of this website or with respect to the material contained on the website, including without limitation, any material posted on this website. This website and all materials contained on it are distributed and transmitted "as is" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation, warranties of title or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The City of Cincinnati is not responsible for any special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages that may arise from the use of, or the inability to use, the website and/or the materials contained on the website whether the materials contained on the website are provided by the City of Cincinnati or a third party.