Use & Privacy Policy

TERMS OF USE:

Copyright Notices

The Town of Randolph reserves the absolute right to determine what content may and may not be displayed on digital Town services and to edit or remove any content contained on digital Town services, including this website, at its sole discretion.

General Disclaimers

The Town of Randolph, Massachusetts, provides this site, other digital Town services and official Town of Randolph social media sites as a public service. Unauthorized attempts to modify any information stored in any of those digital locations for other than their intended purposes are prohibited. The Town makes no claims or guarantees about the accuracy or currency of the contents on those digital locations and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in their contents.

No warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or freedom from a computer virus, is given with respect to this site, other digital Town services, official Town of Randolph social media sites, or the links to other websites contained in any of those locations. The links to external sources in those locations are not intended to endorse any views expressed or products or services offered by those sources. While we attempt to provide links to sites that will be of use, the links to sites beyond the Town's site do not constitute an endorsement by the Town of Randolph.

All information and data contained on this site, other digital Town services, and official Town of Randolph social media sites is subject to change without notice. Neither the Town nor its affiliates, officials, employees or agents shall be liable for any loss or injury caused in whole or in part by use of these digital resources or in reliance upon the information contained therein or linked thereto. You understand and agree that any material downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of these digital resources is done at your own risk and discretion and you will be solely responsible for any damages to your computer system or loss of data resulting from the download of such material.

A Quick Summary Of Major Points

By using this site, other digital Town services and/or official Town of Randolph social media sites, you agree to our Terms of Use, including our Privacy Policy.

You agree to not use a digital Town service for any unlawful, malicious or harmful purposes. If you do, your actions shall be considered a violation of these terms of use, and we may limit your access.
The Town is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. If you submit any information to us, through our digital Town services or otherwise, that information will become a public record unless it meets an exemption under the law. Those records will then be subject to disclosure to the public upon request.
The Town is not responsible for user-generated content (any content that was not created by a Town official or employee but may be featured on a digital Town service).
The Town is not responsible for content contained on links to external sources and the links to sites beyond any digital Town services do not constitute an endorsement by the Town of Randolph.

What This Covers

These Terms of Use lay out the purpose and intent of the Town’s websites and the other digital platforms the Town may use to provide digital services. Digital Town services include:

randolph-ma.gov
Townofrandolph.com
Official messages from the Town generated through those sites
other official Town messages that are delivered digitally
the Town’s digital permit applications systems and digital bill pay applications systems, and
any other official Town digital products offered online.

We offer digital Town services in order to promote transparency and accessibility, encourage participation in Town government, deliver effective service to the public, and create a better Randolph for everyone.

Note: Except as explicitly stated otherwise, these Terms of Use do not apply to social media sites, which are governed by their own terms.

Accessibility Statement

The Town of Randolph is committed to providing electronic communication that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website. We seek to conform to level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) WCAG. Our conformance with these guidelines will help make our website more user-friendly for all visitors. Please be patient as we upgrade older pages and documents (including old meeting minutes) of our website as part of this process.

Accessibility Design Guidelines

We have designed our website with the following accessibility guidelines in mind:

We work to comply with Section 508 of the US Access Board as well as 2.0 A and AA of the Web Accessibility Initiative referring to website accessibility standards.
If you have difficulty accessing the site or have any comments or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our contact information is below.

Browser Accessibility Information

Many popular browsers contain built-in accessibility tools:

Additional Plug-ins

Adobe Reader is required to view and print PDF documents that appear on this website:

To download this program for free, visit the Adobe website.
To read PDF documents with a screen reader, please visit the Adobe Reader Accessibility website which provides useful tools and resources.

Adobe Flash may be required to view certain videos that appear on this website:

To download this program for free, visit the Adobe website.
To access flash content using a screen reader, please visit the Adobe Flash Player Accessibility website which provides useful tools and resources.

Accessibility Contact Information

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.

If you have any accessibility issues on our website, please let us know so we can begin the process of correcting it.

Contact Randolph Town Hall at 781-961-0901

Third-Party Services

The Town also contracts with third-parties for certain services, such as:

web traffic monitoring and website optimization,
form submissions and workflow tools,
web portals, and
financial transactions.

Whenever you use a third-party service, you are also agreeing to that service’s Terms of Use. If you have any questions about whether a digital Town service involves a third-party service, please reach out to Randolph Town Hall at 781-961-0901

Appropriate Use Of Services

There are different ways you can access Town services online. Some involve just reading through a page on randolph-ma.gov, while others require that you enter information into an online form. We have certain rules to follow when interacting with any of these digital Town services, as follows:

You may not use digital Town services for any of the following purposes:

To engage in unlawful conduct;
To commit a criminal offense or to encourage others to engage in any conduct that would constitute a criminal offense;
To cause any harm that would result in the payment of damages, or encourage others to cause such harm;
To impersonate a person or entity, or to claim a relationship with or represent any person or entity you are not authorized to represent;
To harass someone, to discriminate against someone, to use hate speech or to engage in hateful or malicious conduct;
To engage in conduct that is illegal, obscene, threatening, or fraudulent;
To upload any malicious content that may impact a digital Town service, the Town’s servers or networks, or the hardware or software of any other person who accesses them; or
To upload, post, or otherwise transmit any materials that you do not have the right to transmit (like uploading a video with copyrighted music).

The Town reserves the right to suspend your access to a digital Town service if we have reason to believe that your access is being used for any of the prohibited purposes listed above (or for any other inappropriate or unlawful use). If we have a way to contact you, we will do our best to let you know about the suspension. If you believe your account has been suspended unfairly, please contact Contact Randolph Town Hall at 781-961-0901

User Generated Content

User-Generated Content Featured Within A Digital Town Service

Some digital Town services may display content that is user-generated. This means the content was created by a member of the public, not someone affiliated with the Town. We do not endorse, support, or join in the viewpoint of any user-generated content on a digital Town service.

If you are creating content you know will be posted publicly on a digital Town service, you agree not to post anything illegal, obscene, threatening, or fraudulent (you have to be who you say you are). If you don’t follow these rules, we can remove the publicly posted content and we have the right to terminate your use of digital Town services. Also remember that any information submitted to the Town is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law and may become a public record upon submission (learn more in our Privacy Policy).

Keep in mind: if you post content on a digital Town service, you are granting the Town permission to use your content (for example, we can use a poem, photo or visual artwork if it is sent in to us or posted through our digital Town Services). If you publicly post content to a digital Town service and that content infringes on a copyright, patent or trademark, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other related provisions of law give us the power to take it down. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act dictates how we will notify you of the infringement claim and what you can do if you think your content was taken down by mistake.

User-Generated Content Created From Town Information

It’s possible that a third-party could take information from a digital Town service and post/host it on a separate platform (for example, taking the Town meeting schedule from randolph-ma.gov and displaying it on a separate website). The Town is not responsible for information posted on third-party websites that we are not affiliated with and the Town cannot ensure the accuracy of that information.

If you are using Town information on a third-party site, please keep in mind:

You must not express or imply any sponsorship or endorsement by the Town of Randolph.
The text and images used on non-Town digital platforms should not be similar to those used by the Town of Randolph, even if those platforms are providing information collected from the Town of Randolph website, and should not violate any Randolph patent, trademark or copyright. They should not imply ownership, endorsement, or approval by the Town of Randolph. No one may use the Randolph Town seal without specific permission from the Town to use the seal for a public purpose.
Town of Randolph services should not be misrepresented. For example, non-town services should not be represented as Town of Randolph services, and vice versa.
If you are using an API (Application Programming Interface) to source information from a digital Town service, we ask that you be mindful of excessive usage (which could slow down service for others). Though there is currently no usage limit, we ask that you let us know if you plan to make heavy use of an API featured on a digital Town service (Contact Randolph Town Hall at 781-961-0901).

If You Are Creating An Account:

In order to access some digital Town services, you may be required to create an account. When creating an account, you must ensure that all the information provided by you is current, accurate, and complete, and that you’ll keep the information as updated as possible. You agree that you are at least 18 years old, unless the account is intended for use by children under the age of 18 and explicitly so states during the account activation process. You agree to never use another’s account without permission. You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account. You agree to keep your account password secure. You must notify us as soon as possible of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your account.

Indemnity Clause

To the fullest extent permitted by law, you acknowledge and agree to indemnify, hold harmless, and assume the defense of the Town, its officers, agents or employees, with counsel acceptable to the Town, which acceptance shall not be unreasonably withheld, from all liabilities, suits, claims, losses, and costs or any other damages against them or any of them arising from any act or omission by you, your agents, officers, employees, or subcontractors in any way connected with your use of digital Town services, your violation of these Terms of Use, or the infringement, or alleged infringement, by you of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.

Disclaimers

Availability

Digital Town services are provided to members of the public as an alternative and augmentation to in-person services, when possible. However, the Town may remove digital services, or access to those services, at any time at the Town’s discretion.

Digital Town services are subject to forces outside of our control (like the speed and availability of the internet), so it’s possible that some services may not be available at certain points in time. In addition, digital Town services may be unavailable at certain times due to routine system maintenance, updates or other technological requirements.

The Town is not liable for issues relating to availability of digital Town services.

The unavailability of digital Town services shall not relieve any duties or obligations of those using those services. If you have outstanding business, duties or obligations with the Town, you are required to fulfill any such duties or obligations in a timely manner, even if a digital Town service is unavailable, regardless of the reason for that unavailability.

Accuracy

Real people are responsible for updating digital Town services, so there are times when information updates may be delayed or inaccurate. The Town is not liable for any delays or inaccuracies. We will always do our best to make sure the information is up to date.

Security

Digital Town services may include your participation in a secured transaction. Your online data security is our priority, but there is always a possibility of a data breach. We have taken a variety of measures to ensure that every transaction is secure. However, we are not liable if a breach does occur. In such a case, we will take immediate steps to remedy the situation and make every effort to protect your data. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information.

External Links and Third-Party Websites

While utilizing digital Town services, you may see external links that link to a website or other location that is not managed by the Town (also known as an “external link” to a “third-party website”). The Town is not involved in creating or managing the content of any third-party website and the Town is not responsible for what happens when you click on an external link or leave the Town’s official digital Town services.

What This Covers

The Town of Randolph is committed to providing users with convenient and secure digital government services while protecting digital privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect and treat information when you visit randolph-ma.gov or use any digital Town service. Every time you use a digital Town service, you are consenting to this privacy policy.

Here’s how the Town will use the information you provide

A Quick Summary of Major Points

By using our website or any digital Town services, you agree to our Terms of Use, including our Privacy Policy.
Whenever a user visits a digital Town service, be aware that some information is automatically collected. None of the information automatically collected is personally identifiable (it wouldn’t identify you as an individual).
Some digital Town services (like the creation of a user account) will require you to provide additional information and will make you individually identifiable when you are using that account or when you provide the information.
The Town is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. If you submit any information to the Town, that information becomes public record. Public records are subject to disclosure upon request from a member of the public, unless the record meets a statutory exemption.

Information We Automatically Collect and Receive

Some information is automatically collected when you visit randolph-ma.gov or any digital Town service. As with many websites, we use server logs, cookies, metadata, and geocodes. The information automatically collected may include, but is not limited to:

the domain name of your Internet Service Provider and/or your computer
the IP address from which you access our website
your browser type (e.g., Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Mozilla Firefox)
your operating system (e.g., Windows or Mac)
the type of device you are using
the date and time you accessed our digital Town services
location data
the pages you visited, as well as any applications or forms used, and
the Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) of the webpage that linked you to our digital Town services.

We do not collect this information to provide targeted advertising. We collect this information in order to help us better analyze and improve our digital Town services. This information allows us to learn how many visitors we have, where they are coming from, and which of our services are of most interest to users. We analyze traffic to our services in various ways, including using third-party services listed below. We reserve the right to change analytic service providers at any time, with or without notice.

Unless you affirmatively provide additional information to us (for instance, as part of an account creation process described below), we do not collect or store personally identifiable information.

Information You Affirmatively Provide To Us

While some information is automatically collected when you visit a digital Town service, there are also times you may provide us with additional information. These could include:

User submissions

Some of our digital Town services allow users to submit suggestions, comments, or requests to the Town. This could be by emailing the Town, filling out an online form, or reporting a problem via See Click Fix. This data may include personally identifiable information such as a name and email address. If you send us a message that contains your contact information, via email, through an online form, or otherwise, we may use that information to respond to the request, comment or suggestion. We may also direct your message to another government agency that can help in responding or in fulfilling your request.

User accounts

Users do not have to register for accounts to browse or read the Town website. However, some of our digital Town services involve the creation of a user account. Creating an account may involve the submission of personally identifiable information. This could include a display name, password, e-mail address, full name, mailing address, telephone number, etc.

We do not use any of this information to send commercial or marketing messages. We may use this information to notify you of major changes to digital Town services or to provide you with customer service.

Some of our user account systems can be linked with third-party websites, such as social media networks. To link your accounts, you must provide us with your display name or user ID on those third-party websites. You may also be required to engage in an authorization process with each of those websites. During the process, we will receive a token or account identifier that allows us to link your account on our system with your account on that particular website. We do not receive or store your passwords from those websites.

Secure transactions

The Town takes security very seriously. We make every reasonable effort to protect confidential and other personally identifiable information provided to us or to our third-party service providers. We have adopted an HTTPS-only policy to protect visitors to our digital Town services. (Some exceptions may apply for legacy websites and digital Town services hosted on randolph-ma.gov.) If you’re making an online payment through a digital Town service, it’s always good to make sure the website address starts with “https”.

Email and text messages

There are multiple ways you can sign up to receive information from the Town or a specific department or program. Usually, these messages will be sent through email or text messages.

These email communications may include web beacons. Web beacons allow us to collect information such as:

the time and date the email is opened
the IP address of the recipient, and
the recipient’s browser or email client.

We use this information to make our communications better.

You can unsubscribe from these email or text notifications at any time. Just follow the instructions included at the bottom of each email or in the text. We generate email alerts using a number of different systems. If you are subscribed to multiple email threads, you may need to unsubscribe from each one individually. Although you may be unsubscribed from alerts, your email address or phone number may still remain in our system. If you have any questions about these alerts, or if you would like to ensure your information is removed from the system, please contact Randolph Town Hall at 781-961-0901

What Happens After You Provide Personal Information

Our only intention in collecting information is to provide users with smooth and efficient digital Town service experiences. However, because we are a government agency, there are a few important things to note.

Information storage

We are required by law to retain records for a certain amount of time, as laid out in our records retention schedule. Retention timelines can vary depending on what kind of information you provide (for example, general correspondence like an email must be held for at least three years).

Sharing information - Third-Parties - Third-Party Service Providers

The Town contracts with third-parties for certain services, like:

web traffic monitoring and website optimization,
form submissions and workflow tools,
web portals, and
financial transactions.

Whenever you use a third-party service, you are also agreeing to that service’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about whether a digital Town service involves a third-party service, please reach out to Randolph Town Hall at 781-961-0901

We may share information or statistics with third-parties or the public in an anonymous form that does not directly identify you. This would typically be done to assess a digital Town service – no personally identifiable information would be released.

Additionally, if a user is having issues with a digital Town service, we may share information with outside parties to the extent necessary to troubleshoot the issues or enhance the performance of the system.

Public records

As a government agency, any information we have in our system is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This means the information you provide to us may be available to members of the public upon request unless there’s an applicable exemption (a reason not to provide it) under Massachusetts law.

Subpoenas

It’s possible that the Town may receive a subpoena, or other lawful order, that legally requires information to be turned over to the court system or to someone else. A subpoena could include a request for personal information entered into a digital Town service and the Town’s response would therefore include that information.

Data security

We have implemented data security measures to protect the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We also maintain ongoing efforts to identify and block unauthorized use of our servers. However, no website or data storage system is completely secure. To the extent permitted by law, the Town is not responsible for any harm that comes as a result of a breach in a digital Town service.

Children’s information

Our digital Town services are intended for use by adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age unless there is a specific indication in a user account set up indicating that it is meant for children. However, we also do not try to determine whether a visitor is underage. If you are a parent or legal guardian of a child under the age of 13 who you believe has submitted personal information by use of digital Town services, please contact us immediately at Randolph Town Hall at 781-961-0901

CHANGES TO THIS TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to change the terms of this policy at any time. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed of any updates. The date that this policy was last modified can be found at the top of this page. Any modifications are effective immediately. Your continued use of our digital Town services signifies your consent to any changes to this policy. This document should be considered the most updated policy and will be considered above any other agreements.

Use & Privacy Policy

TERMS OF USE:

Copyright Notices

Accessibility Statement

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