Purpose of the Web Site
It is the purpose of the official City of Virginia Beach Web site, VBgov.com, to provide accurate, non-editorial content and information about the functions, services, activities, issues, operations and projects of the City of Virginia Beach municipal government. When/where appropriate, the Web site will be used to facilitate the delivery of direct services provided by the Virginia Beach municipal government to its citizens and visitors. All Virginia Beach municipal government offices, departments, agencies, governing bodies, boards, and commissions are eligible to submit content or request the posting or hypertext linking to appropriate information to support their mission or service initiatives. Unless sponsored by an eligible user (as defined above), other individuals or groups are not eligible. All Internet posting requests must come from an eligible user. The City Webmaster, a member of the Multimedia Services Division of the Department of Communications & Information Technology, is the public point of contact for all concerns regarding the City's Web presence. Comments about this site are welcome from any source and are always greatly appreciated.

Privacy & Security of Personal Information
The City of Virginia Beach utilizes information systems to provide its citizens with numerous services. As reliance on the information created with these systems increases, so does the City's responsibility to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of its computing infrastructure and the data associated with it. The safety and privacy of citizens within the City of Virginia Beach and City employees is impacted by the City's ability to maintain information security and privacy. City management recognizes and accepts the importance of information security and privacy as a critical element of the successful operation of the City of Virginia Beach.

The City has established an Information Security and Privacy Office (InfoSec Office), which is staffed by designated members including the Information Security Officer and the Information Privacy Officer. The purpose of the InfoSec Office shall be to (i) protect electronic data and the information technology infrastructure within the City through administrative, technical, and physical controls; (ii) provide advice and guidance to the City Manager and all levels of agency management on information security and privacy related matters; (iii) perform security audits and privacy impact assessments of City information technology programs and activities; and, (iv) working with affected stakeholders, provide alternatives and recommendations which balance cost, business needs, delivery of services, and security and privacy issues.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act
The City of Virginia Beach, and public records held by the City of Virginia Beach, are subject to the disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. See Virginia Code §§ 2.2-3700 et seq.

Virginia Beach does not share any personally identifiable information or data collected through our Web site with unaffiliated third parties for their independent use, except if required to do so by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act or other law.

IP Addresses and Cookies
The City of Virginia Beach uses IP addresses (random numbers assigned to individual computers) to help diagnose problems with our servers, administer our Web site, and anonymously track content preferences and traffic patterns. We also use cookies (small text files transferred from our Web site to your hard drive) to recognize repeat users, track usage behavior, and facilitate your access to and use of our site. Cookies do not damage files or allow anyone to access your personally identifiable information - they simply allow us to tailor information and advertisements to make your visits more enjoyable and meaningful (and enable us to provide you with personalized information, if you choose). They also provide information to us about site usage to help us improve and update our site.

External Links
The security of the information you provide to the City of Virginia Beach is important to us. However, the City of Virginia Beach site includes links to other sites, and when you choose to visit those sites, we are not responsible for the privacy policies or how user information is utilized. In addition, we may permit third parties to offer registration-based services through our site. We are not responsible for the actions and policies of these third parties, and encourage individuals to review the privacy policies of these parties when supplying personally identifiable information to them.

Links To and From the City of Virginia Beach Web site
External links may be made to Web sites that meet the following criteria, as determined by the City Webmaster:

• Sites that are owned and managed by a state, local or federal governmental agency or local school board.
• Sites that are maintained by an organization that receives direct financial support from the City.
• Sites that have a direct contractual relationship with the City for the provision of goods and/or services.
• Sites that provide a unique online resource that will assist in the provision of services and/or information that compliment the purpose of the City's Web presence as outlined above.

External links will not be made to sites that fall within any of the following criteria, as determined by the City Webmaster:

• Sites that are owned or managed by a political party, candidate or special interest group or are of a political nature that are associated with, sponsored by or serving a candidate for elected office, any political party or organization supporting or seeking to defeat any candidate for elective office or ballot proposal.
• Sites that are owned, managed or provide content for commercial, non-profit, religious, community, civic or other organizations that do not have a direct contractual relationship with the City for the provision of goods and/or services.
• Sites containing any materials that may reasonably be considered scurrilous or offensive. Offensive materials are defined as sexual content or images, slurs against race, religious or political beliefs, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or physical attributes.

Links may be made to the City of Virginia Beach Web site with the express written (email) permission of the City Webmaster. Persons wishing to link to the City Web site may contact the City Webmaster for permission and linking procedures. When permission is received to link to the City's Web site, all hypertext links should be pointed to the City's homepage, VBgov.com.

Statistics
The City may collect and store information for statistical purposes. For example, the City may count the number of users to the different sections of the Site to help make those sections more useful to users. Please review the statistics page for more information.

Online Assistance
Online Assistance is the application that the City of Virginia Beach uses to provide real-time customer service to our Web site visitors. The Online Assistance service automatically collects a user's IP address, browser type, date and time of the visit, the referring webpage and transcripts of each session. The City of Virginia Beach uses these items to provide a more thorough and efficient response to customer service inquries and to collect statistical information regarding the usefulness of the application. Additionally, users also have the option to voluntarily provide feedback regarding the application and the service they received in the form of an exit survey. Virginia Beach does not share any personally identifiable information or data collected through this service with unaffiliated third parties for their independent use, except if required to do so by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act or other law.

Google Translation
The official language used for the content of the City of Virginia Beach’s Web site is English. A free translation service provided by Google® is available through the links provided that offer immediate translation of our Web pages using Google's software.

Computerized translations are only an approximation of the Web site's original content. The translation should not be considered exact and in some cases may include incorrect or offensive language. The City of Virginia Beach does not warrant the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information translated by this system. In addition, some applications, files or items cannot be translated including graphs, photos or portable document formats (pdfs).

The City of Virginia Beach does not endorse the use of the Google® translation site; other translation services may be used to view our site. Any person or entities that rely on information obtained from the system does so at his or her own risk.

Acceptance of Terms
The City of Virginia Beach makes available for your use on this Web site information and documents subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this document (the "Terms of Use"). By accessing this Site, you agree to the Terms of Use. The City of Virginia Beach reserves the right to change the Terms of Use at its sole discretion. Your use of the Site will be subject to the most current version of the Terms of Use posted on the Site at the time of such use. In addition, when using particular Services or Materials on this Site, you are subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such Services or Materials that contain terms and conditions in addition to those in the Terms of Use. All such guidelines or rules are hereby incorporated by reference into the Terms of Use. You may use this Web site only if you agree to these terms:

1. You agree that you will not violate (or attempt to violate) the security of this Web site by hacking, sending viruses, or any other similar malicious or careless conduct.
2. You agree that you will not utilize the communication methods found within the Web site for the communication of any material that may reasonably be considered scurrilous or offensive. Offensive materials are defined as sexual content or images, slurs against race, religious or political beliefs, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or physical attributes.
3. You agree not to upload (or attempt to upload) content of any type to this Web site.
4. You acknowledge that you have no right to the intellectual property associated with this Web site and that you have only a limited right to use this Web site.
5. You acknowledge that the City does not warrant the accuracy or availability of this Web site.
6. You acknowledge that the City is not responsible for any loss, damage, or injury that you may have as a result of your use of this Web site.
7. You agree to be bound by the laws applicable in Virginia Beach with respect to your use of the Web site and you agree that any court proceedings relating to your use of the Web site will take place in the Judicial District of Virginia Beach.
8. You agree to grant the City all intellectual property rights in the content of any e-mail that you send to the City.
9. You acknowledge that the City does not warrant the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any web site content translated by thirdparty systems.