Privacy Policy

Hosting & Service Level Agreement

Community Access Station Policy

Community Access Station Site Selection Policy

Privacy Policy

citysoup.ca is an eCommunity that delivers single window access to Port Moody and Coquitlam community services and information. We have created this policy to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy.

Our staff is responsible for maintaining our commitment to this policy and to protecting your personal information, and they take this responsibility seriously.

Please read the Privacy Policy to understand how your personal information will be treated as you make full use of the information and services of citysoup.ca.

 
PRIVACY STATEMENT

Types of Information Collected
It is important for you to know that two types of information may be collected each time you use citysoup.ca:

1. Statistical Information: Statistics on an aggregate basis are collected each time you browse, register, or access services or information from our site.

2. Personal information: Personal information collected and provided by you, such as user-name, passwords, and identifying information that may include but is not limited to your name, address, and phone number; where this information is required to access citysoup.ca tools and services.

Personal Information You Choose to Share

Throughout the citysoup.ca Portal you have the opportunity to send e-mails, request information, create web pages, register for programs or events, participate in online surveys or contests and other promotions sponsored by us. If you choose to participate, you may be providing the City of Coquitlam and City of Port Moody (the “Cities”) and/or third parties with some type of personal information.

You can be assured that if you choose to provide any personal information to us, the Cities will use it only for the purposes specified here and at the time of collection. The Cities collects data so that we can improve features of citysoup.ca based upon your preferences and past visits. Additionally, usage information may be aggregated and analyzed so that we can judge our system's performance.. In addition, we will use it to respond to your requests, and to notify you of updated information, changes to the citysoup.ca environment or, with your permission, new products and other .

The Cities will not share information with governmental authorities unless legally required to do so Smart Choices may cooperate with such authorities in investigating claims of illegal activity such as (but not limited to) illegal transfer of copyrighted material, or user web-site postings or email messages that contain threats of violence. We do not sell or rent any data collected about or from you, or provide access to such data to anyone outside of Smart Choices other than you, except as described above.

Communications & Security

citysoup.ca has put security measures in place to ensure the secure transmission and management of all information within the system and to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control.

citysoup.ca will provide resources for you to create your own information and publish it for viewing on the Internet. Such information may include newsletters, bulletins or classified ads. You should exercise caution when creating information, and are encouraged not to include personal or identifying information here. Once published for public viewing – an option that you choose – the information is available to all on the Internet.

In addition, citysoup.ca may provide public forums such as message boards, bulletin boards, discussion groups or chat rooms. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information.

Links to Other Sites & Third Party Content

When you leave the citysoup.ca environment, the privacy statements of the third parties will apply. The Cities are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites. Should you find a link from citysoup.ca or any other website in the www.citysoup.ca portal environment that you feel is inappropriate, do not hesitate to contact us immediately.

You should note that every request for personal information from citysoup.ca will contain a citysoup.ca identification logo. If you do not see such a logo on the form requesting personal information from you, you should know that you have left citysoup.ca. At that point, a third party web site is gathering personal information from you and the privacy policy of the third party web-site will apply.

More About Privacy & Protection of Information

Cookies

Some citysoup.ca applications use "cookies." A cookie is a small data file that certain web sites write to your hard drive when you visit them. A cookie file can contain information such as a user id. that the site uses to track the pages you have visited. Cookies can track user traffic patterns, recognize your computer's browser when you return, and could provide personalized content without requiring sign-in.

You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. However, they may be required to use some of the applications in citysoup.ca.

Access to Your Information

You will have the ability to access and correct any personally identifiable information that you have provided to us.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

By using citysoup.ca, you are consenting to the collection and use of information as described in this policy. The Cities  may amend this policy from time to time. If we make any substantial changes in the way we use your personal information we will notify you by posting an announcement on the citysoup.ca front page. By continuing to use citysoup.ca after any such changes are posted, you are consenting to those changes.

If you have any questions about this privacy statement or the practices of this site, you can contact us at any time by clicking “Contact Us”.

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Agreement

The purpose of this document is to state the terms of a Website Hosting and Service Level agreement between the City and your organization.  The agreement will be reviewed annually and may be amended by the City as required.  Your organization’s continued use of the system will constitute its acceptance of the terms of this agreement, and its agreement to be bound by these terms and any future amendments.  Your organization will be given thirty (30) days notice before any amendments go into effect.

Terms of Use

Your organization’s access and use of the website hosting service of citysoup.ca is subject to its acknowledgement that its authorized representative (the “Authorized Representative”) has read the citysoup.ca Terms of Use, which are found at www.citysoup.ca and that your organization accepts and will be bound by the Terms of Use.

Privacy Policy

It is important that the Authorized Representative reads the Privacy Policy which can be found at www.citysoup.ca to understand how your organization’s information will be treated.

Website Hosting Eligibility

Website Hosting fees are based on your organization category i.e. not-for profit, business or government agency, and can be found under Coquitlam citysoup.ca Website Hosting Fee in Schedule “E” of City of Coquitlam Fees & Charges Bylaw 3684, 2004 (the “Bylaw”).  The Bylaw establishes the following fees in three categories:

Community Organization: A non-profit, non-restricted membership group or organization whose activities are consistent with the goals, objectives and standards of the City.  Where the community group is composed of fewer that 60% Coquitlam residents, they will be considered a private group.

Annual Hosting Fee: $105.50 per year

Commercial: Any business that is located within the City of Coquitlam.

Annual Hosting Fee:  $211.00 per year

Private: Any organization or business that is not located within Coquitlam or does not serve at least 60% Coquitlam residents, but would contribute valuable information that would benefit the residents of Coquitlam.

Annual Hosting Fee: $422.00 per year

It is the Organization’s responsibility to inform the City of the Organization’s appropriate type and any change in type.  Failure to do so will result in the appropriate fees being enforced retroactively.

Fees for Hosting Service

The Organization will be billed annually for the Website Hosting service, beginning on the date that the Organization receives administrative rights to its website. Fees for additional webspace and bandwidth transfer will be charged monthly, if applicable, based on the previous month’s usage.

Payment for Services

Invoices for all services will be issued by the City.  Fees shall be in accordance with the current rate schedule, and the terms of invoice payment shall be net thirty (30) days.

The rate schedule will be amended by the City as required.  New fees will go into effect with the next billing cycle.  Sixty (60) days notice will be given before any fee adjustments are made. 

Past due invoices will be subject to a delinquency charge of 15% annually of the amount in arrears. 

If a cheque is returned NSF, the Organization will pay an NSF charge of $20.

An account is in default if it is past due.  In the event of default, the City may, at its sole option, block the citysoup.ca Member from the use of the account either temporarily or until the past due amount is paid.  Administrative access to modify the website will be suspended for overdue accounts of thirty (30) days.  If the account is not brought up to date within sixty (60) days of being overdue, the website hosting service may be terminated by the City, in which case all outstanding amounts owing under this agreement continue to remain owing by the Organization to the City. Not exercising this option at any particular time does not prevent the City from exercising this option at any other time.

Invoicing Options

Annual Invoice – your website hosting service will be invoiced on an annual basis.

Payment Methods

• By cheque –  in person during regular office hours at the Coquitlam Innovation Centre, 1207 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam.  Phone:  604-927-6950

• Cash, Debit Card, or Credit Card - in person at Leisure and Parks - Poirier Administration building, 640 Poirier Avenue  Phone: 604-933-6010

Cancellation and Refunds

Website Hosting Service Cancellation by the Organization – if the Organization wishes to cancel the website hosting service, a refund will be processed from  the date of receiving a written cancellation.  All refunds will be processed as per original payment type.

Website Hosting Service Cancellation by the City – as per the Terms of Use, Additional Terms for citysoup.ca clients termination clause, “The City may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue provision of any or all of the Services to you and may return to you pro-rata any funds you have paid in advance for future services upon termination.” All refunds will be processed as per original payment type. An opportunity will be made available to transfer the content from the Organization’s website out of the citysoup.ca environment. 

About The Services

The City will maintain and provide access to the citysoup.ca website hosting environment. This environment is based on the Microsoft Content Management Server system.

The monthly website hosting fee is based on a website of 10 megabytes.  Additional 10 megabytes can be purchased for larger websites.  The Organization will be invoiced each month it uses the additional web space.

The monthly bandwidth transfer limit for each website will be 2 gigabytes. Additional bandwidth transfer will be invoiced per gigabyte based on the previous month’s usage.

The website hosting fees includes the technical set up in the citysoup.ca environment as well as a minimum 8 hours of training by volunteers on content development, presentation and template use for your website. 

The City does not claim ownership of the content the Organization presents on its hosted website.  However, by having a citysoup.ca hosted membership, the Organization agrees to share its content with the City, except for specific sections identified by the Organization as being excluded.

Service Availability

Service Availability Schedule
The service is available for customer use 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, however access will be adjusted when necessary for scheduled outages and enhancements.  Service issues that arise outside regular City business hours will be addressed on the next business day.

Support Availability Schedule
Support is available for customers during regular City business hours.  Support needs that arise outside of regular City business hours will be addressed on the next business day.

Scheduled Events That Impact Service Availability
The City will require access to complete both routine/scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance. Communication will be made via email to the contact address supplied by the Organization.

Emergencies  
Changes required on an emergency basis are implemented upon identification. Every care will be taken to give notice and to minimize service interruption.

Agreement to Terms and Conditions

If you have any questions regarding the information contained within this agreement, please contact the City, at 604-927-6963 or by email at citysoup-info@coquitlam.ca

Community Access Station (CAS) Policy (City of Coquitlam)

As a service to the community, citysoup.ca access stations are provided by the City of Coquitlam free of charge for public use.
 
In offering the access stations as an information resource, City of Coquitlam’s goal is to act as a public access agency that provides members of the public with the opportunity to navigate the citysoup.ca portal and the Internet, and use other software, which may be available.

Disclaimer

The Internet is currently an unregulated medium.  As such, while it offers access to a wealth of material that is personally, professionally, and culturally enriching to individuals of all ages, it also enables access to some material that may be offensive, disturbing and/or controversial.  The City of Coquitlam does not monitor, control or provide barriers to information accessed through the Internet and accepts no responsibility for the nature, content or accuracy of any Internet resource.

Individual users access the Internet at their own discretion and are responsible for the sites they visit and any text or images they print out.  Any restriction of a child’s access to the Internet is the responsibility of the parent or guardian.  Parents or guardians who are concerned about their children’s use of the Internet should provide guidance to their own children and should monitor their use of this resource.

It is prohibited to use the citysoup.ca (CAS) access station for illegal, actionable, or criminal purposes or to seek access into unauthorized areas or to infringe copyright.  The City of Coquitlam assumes no responsibility for any direct or indirect damages arising from the use of its connection to Internet services.

CAS Access

Access to workstations is on a first-come, first-served basis.  Users must sign-in; there are time limits on length and number of daily sessions. 

Assistance & Training

• Staff (City of Coquitlam) may assist individuals with basic computer and Internet use as time permits.  

User Responsibility

Users are expected to:

• Respect the rights of others. Refrain from loud, disruptive, rude, or disorderly behaviour which may result in disturbing others and interfering with their use and enjoyment of the citysoup.ca access site
• Respect the privacy of others
• Respect all copyright, licensing agreements and other contracts.
• Refrain from illegal or unethical use of the Internet. 
   

 In addition users:

• Must not intentionally expose others or staff to information or graphics that may be viewed as offensive
• May not install any software on CAS computers
• Must not alter, remove or damage configurations, software, or hardware on CAS computers.
• Must not make any attempt to cause degradation of system performance.
• Must not use the CAS computer to gain unauthorized access to the host site’s networks or computer systems or to any other network or computer system.
   

Policy Enforcement
 
Staff will make every effort to apply these rules in a fair and positive manner for the benefit of all. People whose actions violate these rules will be asked to stop such actions.  Staff reserves the right to require anyone violating these rules of conduct to leave the premises.

Confidentiality 
 
City of Coquitlam will make reasonable efforts to protect the privacy of every user, but this privilege cannot be guaranteed.  The circumstances when usage (or a person’s use of service) may be reviewed or collected or suspended are as follows:
 
• as required by law
• as part of system maintenance
• if improper or illegal use is believed
• with permission of the user

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Community Access Station Site Selection Policy (City of Coquitlam)

The City of Coquitlam wants to promote free public access to the Internet through the deployment of computers and other access devices in selected sites in the community. To this end, Host Sites will be selected and invited to take part in this initiative by providing space for those computers or devices in accordance with the terms of this policy.

Host Sites are required to sign a “Site Host Partnership Agreement” that specifies installation and use of the equipment as outlined in this policy and details technical standards required in order to serve as a host site.

The following points set out the expectations of the users of the community access station equipment:

Users will be expected to:

• refrain from using the Internet access for any illegal or unauthorized act
• report any potential security problems to the staff at the Community Access Station
• refrain from any form of vandalism or harassment on the Internet
• refrain from use of the CAS equipment for email unless it is web-based (e.g.: Yahoo)
• use proper etiquette as determined by the City of Coquitlam in conjunction with the Community Access Site host.

Site Selection Criteria

The selection criteria listed below:

 1.  The CAS targets key audiences or addresses the following needs:

• Potential users are unlikely to have home access
• Potential users are likely to experience financial or technology barriers
• Potential users face cultural barriers to full community participation
• Potential users who have special access needs

  2.   The CAS delivers service to a broad demographic of the community

  3.  The CAS promotes exposure to arts and/or other social or educational opportunities

Site Characteristics

Each site selected as a Community Access Station should be based upon:

• open to the public (or target audience)
• monitored by a staff member to help prevent vandalism and resolve conflict
• located inside a building or structure that protects the computer equipment
• in a location with adequate parking and access to transit
• suitable for provision of adequate electrical power and Internet cabling
• staffed by individuals willing to provide some minor support to users
• physically located within Coquitlam city limits
• wheelchair accessible
• close to residential areas

Definitions

“community access station” means: A PC computer or computers or a kiosk, installed and maintained by the City of Coquitlam, that is connected to the Internet, and is installed for use by the general public, or by a specific target audience.

Procedures

Each host site must execute the Site Host Partnership Agreement, appended to and forming part of this policy.

The following requirements will form part of the “Site Host Partnership Agreement”

City of Coquitlam will:

• prepare the site, install the equipment and perform all maintenance on the equipment
• be responsible for the costs associated with the installation of the site, including Internet cabling and setup costs
• at all times remain the legal owner of the equipment and furniture for all purposes, including insurance, maintenance and repair, upgrades of hardware and software, and that the Host Site will therefore not be financially responsible for damage from theft, fire vandalism or other causes

Host Sites will:

• take all reasonable measures to prevent damage to the furniture and equipment, excepting normal wear and tear
• be responsible for carrying adequate liability insurance for risks other than those of equipment ownership
• make adequate space for the site available to the target audience during the normal operating hours of the Host Site
• be responsible for the cost of electricity, Internet fees, toner for the laser printer and labour to install toner in the printer as required
• accept City of Coquitlam Volunteers at their site, subject to a Volunteer approval process acceptable to both City of Coquitlam and the Host Site
• take part in training for their staff so that they are able support users
• be responsible for providing a minimal level of support, at their cost, defined as:
  
  • how to use a mouse and keyboard
  • how to log into a Public Access Point computer
  • how to navigate through the Internet
  • how to print a document
  • how to load paper in the printer
    
• in no way be responsible for providing training to users in software or other subjects; nor for performing virus checks on public users' disks
• may charge for supplies on a cost recovery basis
• Host Sites will maintain a log of user activity showing time and date of use

Some sites may be required to provide minimum hours per week of availability to their target audience, based on a general value of 25 hours per week. Special target audience sites may be exempt from this requirement. Where a site has agreed to a minimum number of service hours per week, that site agrees to keep adequate records to confirm availability, and further understands that failure to meet the requirement may result in relocation of the Community Access Station.

Sites may wish to make use of the Community Access Station equipment for special purposes.  (eg: special audience training courses.)  This is acceptable providing the minimum hours of public access agreed to have been met by the Host Site, and documented in the user activity logs mentioned above. 

Site Hosts and City of Coquitlam will work together to determine what usage statistics (hours used per week, number of users per week, etc.) are relevant to the individual site. Should site usage consistently fall below the desired levels, that site may be subject to relocation of the Community Access Station equipment.

Statement of Ownership

The City of Coquitlam will at all times remain the legal owner of the Community Access Station equipment and furniture for all purposes, including insurance, maintenance and repair, upgrades of hardware and software, and that the Host Site will therefore not be financially responsible for damage from theft, fire, vandalism or other causes.

Sustainability Policies

• Access to Community Access Station (CAS) equipment is free of charge.
• CAS sites are not required to provide CDs or USB keys to the public.
• Computer supplies are not free, and are not required to be provided.
• Purchases made online are the sole responsibility of the user and the seller; the City of Coquitlam Community Access Station site has no role in the transaction.

Monitoring/Authority
Final approval of sites rests with the City of Coquitlam.

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