Online/Digital Policies

The city manager for the City of San Marcos has designated the communications manager as the person responsible for managing and overseeing the City website. Organizations wishing to establish external links on the City website must submit a written request to communications@sanmarcosca.gov. The request must include enough information to verify the facts stated and determine whether the proposed link complies with this policy. The communications manager will review the request, using the criteria and examples below, to determine whether the link supports the overall purpose of the City’s website. A request will not be denied based on viewpoint.

At its discretion, the City may provide links to external sites that fall into one of the following categories:

  • Other governmental agencies providing services within the City’s jurisdiction
  • Utilities that provide service in the City
  • Public and private, bona fide educational institutions as defined in Education Code §210.3 or as described in Education Code §66010(a) and (b)
  • Organizations as defined in the Internal Revenue Code §§501(c)(6) and 501(c)(3) with which the City has a contractual relationship, or organizations whose links provide a public benefit as determined by City Council resolution
  • Associations located in, or managing a location with, a historical site designation by the San Marcos City Council pursuant to California Public Resources Code §§5020 et seq.
  • City of San Marcos–created pages on social media websites (such as YouTube and Facebook)

The City of San Marcos reserves the right to: (1) deny an external link application to any person, business, or organization when it is determined—following review of a complete request—that the entity does not meet the criteria set forth in this policy; and/or (2) deny an external link application to any person, business, or organization that fails to provide all required information, or fails to provide truthful information.

Examples of websites the City will not provide an external link to include sites:

  • Promoting or exhibiting hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, nudity (as defined by San Marcos Municipal Code §11.28.020), alcohol, firearms, tobacco, religion, or libelous or otherwise defamatory content
  • Associated with, sponsored by, or serving a candidate for elected office; any political party; or any organization supporting or seeking to defeat any candidate for elective office or any ballot proposal
  • Associated with political organizations or other organizations advocating a position on a local, state, or federal issue
  • Furthering the agenda of a political organization or candidate running for office
  • Labor unions or employee associations
  • Violating any of the City’s equal opportunity policies or norms and values policies
  • Individual or personal websites

Appeal process

The denial of a request to place an external link on the City website may be appealed in writing to the city manager within five business days of the date the denial was mailed. The city manager, whose decision will be final, will review the appeal and render a decision within 10 business days of receiving the appeal.

Removal of external link from City website

The communications manager reserves the right to immediately and without notice: (1) remove any external link if the nature of the organization or business to which the link relates no longer complies with the City’s external link policy; or (2) revise this policy without prior notice when doing so is deemed to be in the best interests of the City of San Marcos.

Location and appearance of external links

The City reserves the right to determine how and where external links will appear on its website (for example, which page the link appears on and where it is placed on the page).

Copyright/trademark

The City seal and logo are the property of the City of San Marcos. Any use of materials stored on the City’s website is prohibited without the express written permission of the City of San Marcos. The City retains all intellectual property rights, including copyrights on all text, graphic images, and other content on its website, unless duly noted as Third Party Materials. Without prior express written permission, the following are prohibited: (1) modifying and/or reusing text, images, or other website content from a City server; (2) distributing the City’s website content; or (3) “mirroring” the City’s information on a non-City server.

Third party materials

Some materials and information used on the City of San Marcos’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 should contact the owner directly. These materials include text, icons, and graphic images used as standalone items or in links to other organizations’ sites, as well as various items of general content.

Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, by using the City of San Marcos’s website, the user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the City of San Marcos, its agencies, officers, employees, representatives, and agents from and against all claims and expenses, including attorney’s fees, arising out of the user’s use of this website or materials and information contained on this site.

Disclaimer of endorsement

External links made available through the City of San Marcos’s website will redirect users away from the City’s website. Please be aware that the internet sites available through these links, and the materials found at those sites, are not provided by, endorsed by, or under the control of the City of San Marcos. Therefore, the City cannot and does not make any representation about these sites or the appropriateness of the materials available on those sites. The fact that a user may be able to access these additional sites from the City’s website is not an endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the City of any of these sites or any material found there. The City provides these links only as a convenience to users, and access to these additional sites is done at the user’s own risk. If you have concerns, you should not click on the external link.

General disclaimer

The materials and information contained on or obtained from this website 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.

Social media terms of use

The purpose of city social media channels is to communicate information of public interest about the City of San Marcos. We welcome your comments, however, please be aware that this is a moderated site and not a public forum.

By accessing, participating in or using any city social media channels, the user agrees to abide by these Terms of Use.

The city reserves the right to, at any time and without prior notice, restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of the city's Social Media Terms of Use or any applicable law and to deny access to the social media site to any individual who violates these Terms of Use.

Comments or content containing any of the following are subject to potential removal and/or restriction by the city:

Comments not related to the business of the city (or specific department if department­ specific site), or not relevant to the original topic;

Violent, profane, obscene or pornographic content and/or language;

Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, national origin or any other protected status;

Content that threatens physical violence or defames any person or organization;

Solicitation of commerce, including advertising of any non-government related event, or business, service or product for sale;

Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law;

Content that is likely to incite imminent lawless action or encourages illegal activity;

Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; and

Content that violates the privacy or security of an individual or a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party.

Content posted by a member of the public on any city social media site does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the City of San Marcos nor does such content necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the City of San Marcos.

Any content posted to any city social media channel is subject to the terms of use of the operator of that social media channel. If any content violates such terms of use, the city may report the content to the operator of the channel, and request that the operator take appropriate and reasonable responsive action, including removal.

If you need to contact a city representative, please use city email addresses and phone numbers, not messages via social media channels.

The contact person at the City of San Marcos for social media sites is:

Nikki Matosian, communication manager

City of San Marcos

1 Civic Center Drive

San Marcos, CA 92069

Email

Privacy statement

Purpose

The City of San Marcos's website is an essential tool for communicating information about the city, providing services, and encouraging citizen participation in City government.

Privacy statement

The City of San Marcos ("City") is committed to protecting the privacy of the individuals utilizing the City's website; however, personal information submitted to the City's website may be subject to disclosure pursuant to various California laws, including, but not limited to, the California Civil Discovery Act of 1986 and the California Public Records Act. The City may share such information with other agencies if: (1) the information relates to that agency; (2) to protect the interests of others; (3) to protect and defend the rights or property of the City; or (4) as otherwise provided by law.

The City's website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that the City is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by the City's website.

The City of San Marcos does not use its website to:

  • Collect personal information for commercial marketing. The City will not send you unsolicited email regarding any commercial offers or advertisements at any time.
  • Create individual profiles with the information provided by users of this site, nor does it give such personal information to third parties or private organizations. The City does not track personal information about individuals and their visits.

The City of San Marcos does use its website to:

  • Collect personal information for the purpose of responding to a user's request or input, or to complete an online transaction. If a user chooses to provide the City with personal information, such as sending an email to a City employee or by filling out and submitting an online form located on the City's website, the City may use that information to respond to the user's message and to assist in obtaining information the user may have requested. The City treats emails submitted by a user the same way it treats letters to the City.
  • Provide electronic commerce capabilities, should a user provide any personal information and/or payment information while using the City's website. Such information may be collected, processed and disclosed to complete an online transaction and for record-keeping for such activities as billing, permits, licenses and other business-related purposes.
  • Collect usage statistics for site management, such as assessing what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance issues. The information does not identify you personally.

The following information about your visit is collected:

  • The Internet domain and/or IP address from which you access the City's website;
  • The type of browser and operating system used to access the City's website;
  • The date and time of the visit;
  • The pages visited; and
  • If you link to the City's website from another website, the address of that website.

The City's website may transfer information to your computer through cookies or other technology. The use of cookies or similar technology is an industry standard and does not personally identify users, although they do identify a user's computer. Cookies or similar technology can make the Internet more useful by storing information about your preferences on a particular site. If preferred, you can configure your browser to refuse cookies. However, you may not be able to take full advantage of the City's website if you do so.

Security statement

The City website utilizes encryption technology, however, the user should not assume that information submitted to the City Web server would be treated as confidential (See above Privacy Statement). If a user submits information to the City's server through a web page containing visible indicators of active encryption technology, the City will take all reasonable precautions to safeguard the confidentiality of such information.

Indemnification/hold harmless

By using the City's website, user agrees to indemnify or hold harmless the City of San Marcos for any occurrence resulting from an act of user's use of the City's website. The City will take all reasonable precautions to safeguard the confidentiality of user information, but is not 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.

Who to contact

Questions about this Privacy and Security Statement should be directed to communications@sanmarcosca.gov.

Accessibility

The City of San Marcos is committed to providing accessible digital services to all members of the public. We strive to ensure our website is accessible and usable in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA.  If you experience difficulty accessing information on this website, please contact us so we can provide assistance or an alternative format

 

 

 

 



 

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