Website Policies

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The following policies address the use of the City of Sunnyvale’s (City) website.

Website Mission

Provide easy, intuitive access to timely, relevant City-related information and services, and provide avenues for community members to participate in City government.

General and Acceptable Use

The purpose of the City’s official website (Sunnyvale.ca.gov) is to provide information pertinent to the public to conduct the City’s business and promote the City's goals as guided by the City Council. The City’s website is intended to serve the City’s need to make useful and practical information available to residents, businesses and visitors.

General Website Disclaimer

The City has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its website. However, the City does not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided on its website and is not liable for reliance on this information, due to the possibility of unauthorized modification of the data, transmission errors, HTML browser incompatibilities, human error, changes made since the last update to the website or other aspects of electronic communication that are beyond the City's control.

GIS Map Disclaimer

External Linking

The City website contains links to local, state and federal government agencies and to other, non-government websites. Links to external content on the City’s website will be permitted at the City’s sole discretion and placed appropriately as determined by the City.

The City may provide links to sites that meet the following criteria: the specific and limited purpose of the permitted external links is to help the public obtain timely information about City-related programs, services, activities, policies or committees, and is intended to be directly in context to specific site content to address a defined user need.

Examples of acceptable sites are:

Maintained by a state, local or federal government agency, local shop or library board, or City-partner agencies (e.g., Silicon Valley Clean Energy)
Maintained by an organization that receives direct financial support from the City
Maintained by companies that are contracted by the City to provide services to community members (including partner-services such as City Library-card-specific benefits)
Maintained by established business associations or neighborhood associations within the City
Organizations that sponsor or support a City-sponsored event or association (if necessary for completing the user journey, e.g., registration)
Provides a unique online tool to assist residents in accessing information on the site or in communicating with the City, e.g., Adobe Reader, Nextdoor, Open City Hall
Maintained by a non-profit charitable, educational, hospital, social, scientific or cultural organization serving Sunnyvale community members

These are meant to be examples and not to be an inclusive list. The City does not intend to include links of resource compilations or links to for-profit businesses, blogs, public forums not managed by the City, or other generalized links that are well-served through use of commercial search engines.

City policy prohibits departments or divisions to negotiate for the use of the City website(s) for the purposes of soliciting customers, selling products or services, or linking to websites that do not directly further City goals and support public policy.

It is not part of the City’s business to direct free traffic to external websites, or to compete with popular search engines, therefore the City does not accept outside link solicitations or mutual linking requests.

The City shall maintain sole discretion over the determination of which links may be included on its website and reserves the right to remove any link at any time without cause. If there is a question about the interpretation of this policy, it will go to the Webmaster first for resolution. Escalation will go to the Communications Officer, with further escalation to the City Attorney’s office.

Links Disclaimer

The City is not responsible for the content, quality, accuracy or completeness of any off-site materials referenced or linked to through the City’s website. By using the City’s website, the user acknowledges and accepts that the City is not responsible for any materials stored on other websites, nor is it liable for any inaccurate, defamatory, offensive or illegal materials found on other websites, and that the risk of injury or damage from viewing, hearing, downloading or storing such materials rests entirely with the user. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by the City or any association between the City and the operators of the site. Links going outside the City’s website will open in a new browser window.

Copyright Notice

Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the City’s website is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used with the City’s permission. We request only that the City of Sunnyvale be cited as the source of the information and that any photo credits, graphics or byline be similarly credited to the photographer, author or City of Sunnyvale, as appropriate.

If a copyright is indicated on a photo, graphic, or any other material, permission to copy these materials must be obtained from the original source. See Use of Third-Party Materials below.

Using or modifying this site's materials and information for commercial or profit-making purposes is prohibited and may violate the copyrights and/or other proprietary rights of the City of Sunnyvale or third parties.

This copyright notice only pertains to the City’s website.

Use of Third-Party Materials

Materials and information on the City’s website are sometimes 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, without permission by owner, is prohibited. Persons seeking to use or modify third-party materials for any purpose should contact the owner of such materials directly. These materials may include photos, icons and graphics (e.g., used in links to other organizations’ sites), as well as items of general content.

Use of the City’s Logo

The City reserves the right to regulate the use of the City’s logo as deemed appropriate. Outside organizations may request the use of the logo in association with activities in which the City is an official partner or sponsor. Use of the City’s logo shall not be permitted to imply endorsement of any service, entity, program or claim not directly run by the City or in partnership with the City. Requests by outside organizations for use of the City logo as a graphic element will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Communications Officer, who may grant permission for use of the City logo at his or her discretion. Any use of the City’s logo must adhere to the City’s logo use policy and brand guidelines.

Language Translations

Translations on the City’s website are automated through the use of Google™ Translate, a computerized translation tool. It is possible that the automated translations of the City’s Web pages may have errors and that not all text will be translated. The City does not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the translated text and shall not be liable for any losses or damages caused by reliance on the translated text. If you are concerned about the accuracy of the translation, please refer to the English edition of the website, which is the official version.

City Calendar

The City provides a listing of events on its Calendar as an information-only service to its community. The calendar is not meant to provide an exhaustive list of all events in Sunnyvale. The City Calendar is not intended to serve as official notice of meetings or events.

Events may be posted to the Calendar which:

Are run or operated by the City
Are directly sponsored by, or held in collaboration with, the City
Directly affect, or are of significant interest to, the Sunnyvale community
Are within, or near, the City’s geographical boundaries

And/or are:

Organized by another governing body (e.g., county, state, federal, water district)
Organized by a nonprofit (including shops) and the event offers free admission

All events are posted solely at the discretion of the Communications Division, and event posting requests may be refused at any time in consideration of resource availability, timing or abundance.

The City will make its best effort to post accurate information as provided, but assumes no liability for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in the final posting. Events posted to this Calendar do not imply endorsement by the City.

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