Disclaimer

This website (www.york.gov.uk) is maintained by City of York Council

We take care compiling information for this website, however the content is not guaranteed. We disclaim liability for injury, loss or damage arising from inaccuracies, omissions or interpretation of its content. If you believe any content to be inaccurate please contact us.

We may change these terms at any time, without notice, so you should revisit these pages regularly. We may also change and improve the information and services available on the website at any time.

This website links to other websites managed by City of York Council.  When you navigate to these websites it may be very clear you have gone to a different website or it may be seamless (ie you are not aware that you have been anywhere else).  These websites include:

• The committee management system which holds all the information about council meeting and committee (including agendas and minutes)
• The library catalogue
• Localview online maps
• Planning Public access online
• Online surveys

Some of these websites may have slightly different accessibility standards and may be maintained in a different way to the rest of the council website. However, each of these sites is subject to this disclaimer about the quality of the content available on them.

This website links to external websites (ie ones not managed by City of York Council). We have no control over their reliability or the content included on them. Inclusion of an external link is not an endorsement.

Personal information you supply to us using this website

Emails

When you send us personal information via an email address listed on this website we will only use the information supplied in the email for the purpose that you gave it to us for.  This usually means that we only forward your information within the council to officers who need to see it in order to respond to it. Each council department that deals with enquiries from the website will also be subject to the council's information management charter and data protection policy.  Where we do need to contact a third party there will be a contract ensuring that your personal information is protected. No personal information will be passed on to third parties for commercial purposes. 

Please note that this website also lists some email addresses for external organisations.   These are any email addresses that don't end with 'york.gov.uk'.  If you send personal information using one of these emails we can't guarantee what will happen to your personal information.

Eforms (electronic forms)

When you give us personal information using an electronic form (an eform) available on this website the information you supply will only be used for the purposes stated on the form.

You will only be asked to register with us once - after that, your email address will be sufficient to identify you. Your email address will only be used to acknowledge receipt of your enquiry, and to follow it up if necessary.

When we ask you for personal information, we will:

• ensure you know why we need it
• protect it and make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn't
• ensure you know if you have a choice about giving us information
• make sure we don't keep it longer than necessary

We ask that you:

• give us accurate information
• tell us as soon as possible of any changes
• tell us as soon as possible if you notice mistakes in the information we hold about you.

For more information about how the council manages information see the information management pages on this website.

Online payments

This website includes the facility to make some payments.  See City of York Council online payments for detailed information about how your records are updated with any payment that you make and how secure the technology is.

Unsolicited paper or electronic mail

You will not receive unsolicited paper or electronic mail as a result of sending us any personal information using this website unless you have given us permission to do this.

Management information

Information that you provide to the council via this website may be used for statistical analysis but it will not be used in a way that enables you to be identified.  For example, we may keep emails sent to for a period of time so we are able to monitor the number of emails we receive. None of the personal information in these emails will be used once the initial enquiry has been dealt with.

Cookies

A new European privacy law came into force in the UK on 25 May 2011 which aims to give website users more control over the information the website collects about them.

Expressly the new rules require the website to obtain consent from the user before they capture any information. This particularly affects the use of web "cookies".

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small text file stored on your computer or device in which the website holds information about your visit.

The kind of information stored can include any preferences you have indicated whilst using the website, which pages you have visited (for web visitor statistics or to give you content recommendations) or to enable you to complete online forms without the need to re-enter details on subsequent pages.

How does CYC use cookies?

We currently use cookies for all the above. We only ever use this information to enhance your experience of using our websites and to measure web page usage so we can make informed decisions on where we need to improve our web service.
We do not use the information captured for any other purpose nor do we share it with anyone else.

How will CYC meet the requirements of the new law?

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), who are responsible for enforcement of the new law, have given website owners 12 months to fully comply. This is partly because of the difficulties involved in implementing a sensible and unobtrusive means of obtaining the user's consent.

During the coming months we will therefore:

• Aim to provide a list of everywhere we use cookies and why.
• Monitor the recommendations made by the ICO and other interested parties.
• Produce a plan for the implementation of an appropriate mechanism for obtaining consent around cookie use, based on the above and our own development and testing.

What if I want to opt out now?

You can switch off cookies in most browsers by using the browser preferences. Please refer to your browser help files for more information on how to do this.

However, please be aware that because certain web functions rely on cookies this may affect your use of this website.

Need more information?

If you have any questions or need further guidance please contact us at web.team@york.gov.uk

Copyright

Unless otherwise stated, the design and layout of this website, and all the material published including text, graphics, logos, sounds, images and attached documents are copyright of City of York Council.

Some logos from other organisations are used on our website, such as the freedom of information logo. Where this happens we use the logo according to the guidelines laid down by the organisation that has copyright of the logo.

Website feedback

If you have any feedback about these terms and conditions, or about the website in general, contact the web team.