Web Site Policies

 

Privacy Statement

The protection of individual privacy is a concern to the City of Lake Benton, and is governed by Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13, (Government Data Practices Act.) The City of Lake Benton has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate its firm commitment to privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this site.

 

Index

 Web Site Links

The primary purpose of the City of Lake Benton’s web site is to provide information about the City’s government, services, and attractions. The City’s web site may provide links to web sites outside the City’s web site. The City is not responsible for and does not endorse the information on any linked web site unless the City’s web site states otherwise.

The following criteria will be used to decide whether to grant requests for City web site links. If a particular request does not fit any of the following criteria, the City Council will decide whether to approve the request. The City Council will approve the requested web site link if it serves the general purpose of the City’s web site. The City reserves the right to limit the number linked web sites that it will allow.

The City’s web site will provide links to web sites for:

•Governmental and educational institutions

•Organizations with some relationship to the City (including but not limited to: organizations contracting with the City, organizations sponsoring City activities or programs, and organizations participating in City activities or programs)

•Generally recognized community organizations

•Organizations providing information about wind energy, art, cultural, or sporting activities which are of interest in the City’s area

•Organizations providing information about employment opportunities in the City’s area

•Organizations providing information about tourist attractions in the City’s area

The City’s web site will not provide links to web sites for:

•Candidates for local, state, or federal offices

•Political organizations or other organizations advocating a position on a local, state, or federal issue

•Corporate or other for-profit organizations and/or businesses unless they fit any of the criteria stated above

•Individual or personal home pages.

 Information Disclaimer

The City of Lake Benton has made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in this web site. However, to due to the possibility of unauthorized access to this site, data transmission errors, changes to source material made since the last update to the site, or other human or mechanical errors, the information contained on this web site should not be deemed reliable for legal purposes. Please contact the city clerk-treasurer at 507.368.4641 to verify the accuracy of the information.

 Copyright Statement

Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the City of Lake Benton web site is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used with the City of Lake Benton’s permission. We request only that the City of Lake Benton 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 Lake Benton, as appropriate.

 Information You Provide to Us

The City of Lake Benton does not keep any personal information about you or your visit to our Internet site unless you have specifically supplied it to us. For instance, if you may have supplied us with information as part of a request for information or for purposes of registering or obtaining a license or permit online. Similarly you may have sent us an email or left us a message in some other electronic format. In cases where you have supplied us with information, including financial data, we will treat such information in accordance with the requirements of the Government Data Practices Act. This means that it will be treated in the same way as written forms of communication, and in many instances it will be considered public information available to the public upon request. To the extent allowed by law, the city will make reasonable attempts to protect personal financial information from disclosure.

 Other Information About Your Visit to this Site

Like most Internet sites, our web site reads some information from your computer that helps us analyze traffic patterns, perform routine maintenance, maintain site security, and to help you navigate through our site. Generally the information we collect is temporary and when you leave the site this information is deleted from our system. The only information the City automatically collects and maintains is the following:

• total number of visitors to our site
• types of computer systems used to access our site
• web browser type and version
• date and time of access
• the web site you visited prior to coming to this web site
• information about possible system security threats.

Occasionally the city may have a survey on the web site that only allows a visitor to vote only once. In order to keep track of whether you have voted, a cookie (a simple text file) will be created and stored on your computer. This cookie is created on your computer by voting on the survey. It will not contain personally identifying information and will not compromise your privacy or security. The only information that is contained is the name of the survey and how you voted. This cookie will remain on your computer for the duration of the survey. The cookie has an expiration date. When that date occurs it will be deleted from your computer.

This privacy policy does not apply to web sites operated by third parties that you may access through a link from our web Site.