Disclaimers & Privacy Statement

Disclaimers

The information on the City of Ames’s website is provided on an 'as is' basis without any warranties of any kind, express or implied. With respect to information available from this website, neither the City of Ames nor any of its employees, make any warranty, express or implied, including the warranty of merchantability, title, non-infringement of third parties’ rights, and fitness for a particular purpose, or assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such information.

The City of Ames reserves the right to make changes and improvements at any time and without notice, and assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions or discrepancies. The City makes no warranties about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the sites.

Without limitation on the foregoing:

1. The City of Ames does not warrant that its website will operate error-free or that the site and their servers are free of computer viruses or other harmful mechanisms. If your use of the site results directly or indirectly in the need for servicing or replacing equipment or data, the City of Ames is not responsible for those costs.
2. The City of Ames makes no representations or guarantees regarding the content of its website, including, but not limited to, broken links, inaccuracies or typographical errors.

Website Privacy Statement

The City of Ames operates this website in order to provide information and services to the residents of Ames. In providing these services, information about visitors to a website may be collected automatically or may be submitted by the website user.

The City of Ames recognizes the public's concern about privacy on the Internet. This privacy statement establishes how information gathered about you from your visit to our website will be used by this website's operators. As a visitor, however, you should be aware that much of the information submitted to the City is public information under the laws of the State of Iowa. Under some circumstances, we may be required to disclose such information in accordance with the Iowa Open Records Law or other legal requirements.

Ames On the Go Mobile Reporting App:

The City of Ames is using Ames On the Go, an online and mobile service request system provided by SeeClickFix (a division of CivicPlus), to power its mobile app and reporting forms. Ames On the Go is an application that allows Ames citizens to report non-emergency related issues. Ames On the Go can be used via the Web on a desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, or tablet. Ames On the Go is a public application. The description entered will be visible to the public. Your display name will also be visible unless you choose to submit as Anonymous. Your email address will never be displayed publicly. Users registering on the mobile application also agree to CivicPlus’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Collection of Information

No personally identifiable information is collected about visitors who simply browse this site or who download information from it. If you participate in a survey or send an e-mail, your e-mail address and the contents of the e-mail and information volunteered in response to the survey will be collected. Visitors who request services available through this site may be required to furnish additional information which may be required by law or which is necessary to provide the service requested. The additional information collected will be no more specific than if the visitor were requesting the service by any other means, including by telephone or in-person visit to a City facility. In all cases, the City strives to collect the minimum information necessary to comply with applicable law and/or provide the service requested.

Visitors may be requested to furnish information to assist the City in improving the facilities available on this site, or to be used in analysis and improvement of the City's service delivery systems. Such information is collected on an "opt-in" basis, which requires that the visitor provide specific approval for the collection of such data. A visitor who subscribes to a service available on this site may "opt out" of that service at any time.

Any information furnished by a visitor to this site, for any reason, may be filed and maintained by the City for its own use in performing statistical analysis, improving its service delivery system or responding appropriately to a request for service or information. Visitors should be aware that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by children on-line or by email will be treated in the same manner as information given by an adult and may be subject to public access.

We may collect specific and non-personal information about each visitor to this site. This information is collected automatically during site operations and includes Internet Protocol (IP) address of the visitor's ISP (Internet Service Provider) or computer, type browser used, the date and time of the visit, the Web pages or services you accessed at this site and the IP addresses of the locations to which the visitor linked during their visit to our Web site. This information is strictly used for statistical reporting, site maintenance, and/or trouble-shooting purposes. It is not connected to personally identifiable information that may be collected as described above.

We utilize third-party vendors for some aspects of our website. Each vendor has a privacy policy and the City of Ames is not responsible for how data given to the third-party vendors are used. These third-party vendors include: Paymentus, RecTracks, EnerGov, Ames on the Go, Granicus and City of Ames pages on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)

Information Subject to Disclosure under the Iowa Open Records Law or Other Legal Requirements

Certain information that you provide to us is subject to disclosure under the Iowa Open Records Law (Iowa Code Chapter 22) or other legal requirements. This means that if it is specifically requested by a member of the public, we are required to provide the information to the person requesting it.

Website Links to Other Sites Not Covered by Our Privacy Policy

Our website also contains links to information located on websites maintained by other public agencies and private organizations. This privacy statement describes the information gathering practices and procedures of the City of Ames. Once you access a link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of the other website.

Protection of Information

The City of Ames does not sell, rent or otherwise distribute visitor's information, including electronic mail addresses, to any outside company or organization. We do not reveal specific information about subscribers or other personally identifiable data to unaffiliated third parties for their independent use, except if required to do so by the Iowa Open Records Act or other law.

Use of "Cookies"

Generally, this website does not use cookies. Cookies created on your computer by using this website do not contain personally identifying information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature only to store a randomly generated identifying tag on your computer. Visitors may refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file by using any of the widely available methods. However, rejecting cookies will cause you to lose some functionality on those pages requiring them.