terms of use

Disclaimer

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by the City of Winter Garden and while we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits, arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, the City of Winter Garden takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.

Links to Other Websites

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of the City of Winter Garden. These are solely for the visitor’s convenience.  We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorsement of the views expressed within them.

The City of Winter Garden accepts no liability for any linked sites or their content. Additionally, the privacy, accessibility, and security policies of external websites will differ from those of the City of Winter Garden. Users should review the security and privacy policies of external websites and other terms of use to learn more about what, why, and how they collect and use any personally identifiable information.

Public Information

Any information provided by you to the City of Winter Garden, including, but not limited to, form submissions, questions, comments, suggestions and feedback are a public record subject to public inspection pursuant to federal and/or Florida law. The City of Winter Garden has no obligation with respect to protecting or keeping such information confidential, and is free to reproduce, use, and disclose the information to others without limitation. 

Website Accessibility 

If you use assistive technology (such as a Braille reader, a screen reader, or TTY) and the format of any material on this website interferes with your ability to access information, please contact us.  To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate the nature of your accessibility problem, the preferred format in which to receive the material, the web address of the requested material, and your contact information. Users who need accessibility assistance can also contact us by phone through the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY/Voice communication.

To review our design guidelines, please click here.

Social Media Policy and Terms of Use

All content on social media pages (including but not limited to Facebook and Instagram) are not official communications by the City of Winter Garden. The City of Winter Garden's social media accounts are not monitored 24/7, and as such, posts and responses should not be immediately expected. Accounts are traditionally monitored during normal business hours, designated as weekdays from 8 am to 5 pm, excluding holidays. City staff may or may not respond to comments made on this Social Media Service, and these pages are provided for informational purposes only.  The City reserves the right to allow or disallow posts from the public to City social media accounts, and may at any time disable public posts.  Any City social media account for which the City allows public comment shall constitute a limited public forum, whose purpose is limited to discussion of City matters and events.  Comments containing off-topic or inappropriate content may be taken down or removed by an account administrator. Repeated offenses will result in being blocked from further posting on this and other City managed Social Media Services.  Off-topic and inappropriate comments include but are not limited to comments not topically related to City matters or events; profane language including but not limited to obscenity, pornography, or language containing sexual content; solicitations of commerce; defamation, libel, or slander; harassment or discriminatory speech; incitement of violence; threats; extortion; any speech in violation of state, federal, or local law; and any other off-topic language or language that falls within an unprotected category under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

Following links to external, third party websites found on a social media page is done so at your own risk.  The City of Winter Garden does not endorse or accept any liability for any linked sites or their content.  Additionally, the privacy, accessibility and security policies of external websites will differ from those of the City of Winter Garden.  Any link from our site to an external website does not imply that we endorse or accept any responsibility for its use.  The City uses social media built-in features and technologies to provide the greatest accessibility to citizens and visitors.  Should you have any questions or issues, please click here.

Email Addresses

Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by City of Winter Garden officials and employees will be made available to the public and media upon receiving a properly formatted request unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida law, email addresses are public record. If you do not want your email address released in response to public record requests, do not send electronic mail to this office. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.

No Commercial Use

To the extent allowed by the Public Records Act and other law, commercial use of the website materials is prohibited without the written permission of the City of Winter Garden.

Email Not Legal Notice

Communications made through email, social media accounts, and the messaging system shall in no way be deemed to constitute legal notice to the City of Winter Garden or any of its agencies, officers, employees, agents, or representatives, with respect to any existing or potential claim or cause of action against the city or any of its agencies, officers, employees, agents, or representatives, where notice to the City is required by any federal, state or local laws, rules, or regulations.

Indemnification/Hold Harmless

As part of your submission of any and all Supplied Matters (as defined below) you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the City of Winter Garden from and against any and all fees, costs, fines, penalties, lawsuits, claims, causes, causes of action, damages, attorneys’ fees (at the pre-trial, trial, and appellate levels) and any other adverse matters caused by or related in any way to any content, images, pictures, written materials, messages, videos, ads, invitations, statements, or communications (collectively the “Supplied Matters”) that you supply or provide to the City of Winter Garden, by any means. Without limitation, Supplied Matters includes items and matters that you provide or supply to the City of Winter Garden that have copyright, trademark, patent, or other legal protections.

No Warranty and No Representation of Accuracy, Authority, or Ownership

The City of Winter Garden maintains strict editorial control over all content that it distributes and publishes which is received from or provided to the City of Winter Garden and which is published by the City of Winter Garden. Notwithstanding the preceding, your use of or reliance upon any or all such matters is at your sole risk and you are cautioned to do your own independent investigation, analysis, and evaluation before using or relying on any such matters. The City of Winter Garden is not responsible for and makes no warranties, admissions, or representations of the accuracy, authority, or ownership of materials, photographs, offers, statements, assertions, or any other matter or content.

Copyright and Trademarks

The City of Winter Garden reserves the right to file for copyright, trademark, and other protection regarding the City’s official seal, insignia, logos, and any other intellectual property or matter, and the City expressly claims all protections available under the law related to these matters.  In addition, please note that it is a violation of Section 165.043, Florida Statutes to use the city seal without the City’s permission.  Therefore, to the extent allowable under the law (including but not limited to the public records laws), use of the foregoing marks and other matters by persons and entities other than the City requires written permission from the City.  

In addition, certain material and content on the City’s website and other sites may constitute intellectual property of CivicPlus or other contractors who have provided services to the City in relation to its website or other sites.  The City makes no claims or representations with respect to any intellectual property that the City does not own.  No intellectual property shall be unlawfully taken or used in any matter without obtaining permission from the owner.  The City disclaims and shall have no responsibility for any claims of copyright, trademark, or other violation related to content or matters provided by a City contractor or other third party.

Privacy Policy

Types of Information Collected 
 The information we gather is either information (for example, your name and address) that you voluntarily supply when you register or initiate transactions, or information gathered on usage patterns and preferences as visitors navigate the website, use our services such as e-mail, or read our e-mail newsletters.

Cookies
 In order to make our website more responsive to the needs of our visitors, we use a standard feature of browser software, called a “cookie”, to assign each visitor an unique, random number that resides on your computer. The cookie does not identify the visitor, just the computer that a visitor uses to access our site. Unless you voluntarily identify yourself, we won't know who you are, even if we assign a cookie to your computer as the only personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply. A cookie cannot read unrelated data off your computer. We use cookies to help us deliver a better, more personalized service. For example, we use cookies to track the pages and services on our website visited by our users. We can build a better website if we know which pages and features our users are visiting and how often.

Browser Level Information and IP Addresses 
 Our web server automatically collects limited information about your computer configuration when you visit our website, including the type of browser you use, the operating system you are running, the resolution of your computer monitor, the website that referred you, and your IP address. Your IP address is a number that is used by computers connected to the Internet to identify your computer so that data such as the web pages you want to view can be transmitted to you. We use IP address information for systems administration and trouble-shooting purposes.

Other Disclosures
 We may occasionally release information about our visitors when release is appropriate to comply with law, to protect the rights, property or safety of visitors to our sites, the public, our customers, or our government and its employees, agents, partners and affiliates.

 Please keep in mind that our communities are public spaces, so please do not post anything that you don't want the world to see. Credit card numbers, product keys, and other confidential information, including anything covered under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), should not be posted to any blogs, discussions, or other public areas. 

Contacting us

If there are any questions regarding the City’s website and social media policy, you may contact us using the information below:

Contact us here