Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Liability Disclaimer and User Agreement:
PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE makes no representations or warranties expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or timeliness of the information contained on this Website.
Because access to this information is provided by PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE for the convenience of all users, any use or access by a user which adversely impacts the performance of the system, or the ability of other users to access information, such as, but not limited to, electronic data harvesting, may result in the termination of that user’s access to the information over the internet.

General

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office web site is offered to you, the user ("User"), conditioned on acceptance of the terms, conditions, and notices contained herein, without modification. User access and use of this site constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions.

The website is a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office system, and is provided as a public service. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to offer this website directly to you or through its authorized agents and contractors.

User agrees to use this web site as permitted by applicable local, state, and federal laws. User agrees, therefore, not to: 1) knowingly and without authorization, alter, damage, or destroy Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, its contractors’ or another user's computer system, network, software, program, documentation or data contained therein; 2) use this service to conduct or attempt to conduct any business or activity or solicit the performance of any activity that is prohibited by law. In addition, taking action, which results in blocking access to this website by other users, will be deemed an unauthorized use.

Anyone using this system expressly consents to administrative monitoring at all times by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors. You (User) are further advised that system administrators may provide evidence of possible criminal activity identified during such monitoring to appropriate law enforcement officials. If you (User) do not wish to consent to monitoring, exit this system now.

Disclaimer of Liability and Reliability:

In preparation of these pages, every effort has been made to offer the most current, correct, and clearly expressed information possible. Nevertheless, inadvertent errors in information may occur. In particular but without limiting anything here, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors disclaim any responsibility for typographical errors and accuracy of the information that may be contained on Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office web pages. The information and data included in this website have been compiled by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office staff from a variety of sources, and are subject to change without notice to the User. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors make no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding the quality, content, completeness, suitability, adequacy, sequence, accuracy, or timeliness of such information and data.

THE SERVICES, INFORMATION, AND DATA MADE AVAILABLE AT THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF ’S OFFICE AND ITS AUTHORIZED AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE CONDITION OR FUNCTIONALITY OF THIS WEB SITE, IT’S SUITABILITY FOR USE, OR THAT THIS WEB SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

Links to Third Parties' Web Sites

There are links and pointers to third party Internet websites contained in Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office website. These sites linked from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office website are not under the Sheriff's control. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors do not assume any responsibility or liability for any information, communications or materials available at such linked sites, or at any link contained in a linked site. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors do not intend these third party links to be referrals or endorsements of the linked entities by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, and are provided for convenience only. Each individual site has its own set of policies. User assumes sole responsibility for use of third party links and pointers.

Disclaimer of Damages:

By using the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office web pages, the User assumes all risks associated with the use of this site, including any risk to User's computer, software or data being damaged by any virus, software, or any other file, which might be transmitted or activated via a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office web page, this site or User's access to it. PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE AND ITS AUTHORIZED AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS SHALL NOT IN ANY EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST REVENUES, OR LOST PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR MISUSE OF THE INFORMATION OR LACK OF INFORMATION ON THE PINELLAS COUNTY WEB SITE OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THIS WEB SITE, OR FROM ANY INFORMATION, DOCUMENTS, SERVICES, SOFTWARE, OR OTHER MATERIAL OBTAINED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS WEB SITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE AND/OR ANY OF ITS AUTHORIZED AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors shall not be liable for any loss or injury caused in whole, or in part, by their actions, omissions, or contingencies beyond their control, including in procuring, compiling, or delivering the information, or arising out of any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the information regardless of how caused, or arising out of any user's decision, or action taken or not taken in reliance upon information furnished.

Disclaimer of Association With User

User acknowledges that no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship exists between the User and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office or its authorized agents or contractors as a result of this Agreement or use of this web site. User agrees not to hold himself or herself out as a representative, agent, or employee of Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors shall not be liable for any representation, act or omission of the User.

Use of Photos and Images

All photos and images created with the Sheriff’s Office equipment become public record however; the recognizable person(s) used in county photography retain their individual rights concerning the use and control of their image.

Use of Bulletin Board, or any Other Communication or Interactive Forums

To the extent that this web site contains or may in the future contain bulletin boards, discussion webs, chat rooms, or other message, interactive or communication facilities involving the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and other users ("Forums"), the User agrees to use such forums only to send and receive messages and material that are proper and related to the particular forum. By way of example, and not as a limitation, the User agrees that when using a Forum, the User shall not violate the law by: 

• Defaming, abusing, harassing, stalking, threatening or otherwise violating the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
• Publishing, posting, distributing, or disseminating any defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful material or information.
• Uploading or downloading files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or by rights of privacy or publicity) unless the User owns or controls the rights thereto or has received all necessary consents.
• Deleting any author attributions, legal notices or proprietary designations or labels in any file that is uploaded.
• Falsifying the origin or source of any material contained in a file that is uploaded.
• Knowingly introducing viruses, corrupted files or any other similar software or programs that may damage, alter or destroy this website or the operation of another's computer system, network, software, program, documentation or data contained therein.
• Knowingly accessing or attempting to access or use Pinellas County's Sheriff's Office computer system, computer network, or any part thereof, including this website, for the purpose of devising or executing any scheme or artifice to defraud; obtaining money property or services by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises; or committing theft, including but not limited to theft of proprietary information.

User agrees to (as available) send and receive electronic mail, engage in conferences and chats, download and upload files, and otherwise use this web site only as permitted by these terms and conditions, any additional policies or procedures published in this web site from time to time by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and applicable law.

Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and its authorized agents and contractors reserve the right to remove any contents of this website received from users for violations of Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office forum use policies and other applicable regulations and law, including violations of others' constitutional rights. Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to edit any notices or postings for length if and when such length interferes with other users' access to and use of this forum.

The User acknowledges that chats, conferences, bulletin boards, discussion webs and any other such interactive or communications' forums hosted by this web site are public and not private communications. Further, the User acknowledges that chats, posting conferences, discussion webs and other communications by other Users are not endorsed by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office or its agents or contractors, and such communications shall not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Indemnity

As a condition of use of the Pinellas County's Sheriff’s Office web site, the User agrees to indemnify Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, it's officers, employees and agents and contractors against any and all liability, expenses (including attorney's fees) and damages arising out of claims resulting from User's use of this web site, including without limitation any claims alleging facts that if true would constitute a breach by User of these terms and conditions.

Jurisdiction

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Florida , USA . User consents to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in Pinellas County, Florida, USA in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of this web site. Use of this web site is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these terms and conditions, including without limitation this paragraph.

Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office performance of this Agreement is subject to existing laws and legal process and nothing contained in this Agreement is in derogation of Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office right to comply with law enforcement requests or requirements relating to the User's use of this web site or information provided to or gathered by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office with respect to such use.

Severability

If any part of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitation set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in effect.

Closing of Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the User and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (and its contractors and agents) with respect to this web site and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between the User and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office with respect to this web site. This Agreement shall be deemed to include all other notices, policies, disclaimers and other terms contained in this web site; provided, however, that in the event of a conflict between such other terms and the terms of this Agreement, the terms of this Agreement shall control. A printed version of this Agreement and of any notice given in electronic form will be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.

Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.

Pinellas County Privacy & Security Notice

SB 80- effective July 1, 2006

E-mail addresses are public records under Florida law and are not exempt from public-records requirements. If you do not want your e-mail address to be subject to being released pursuant to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by telephone or in writing, via the United States Postal Service.

Thank you for visiting the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office website and reviewing our privacy policy. We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information to us.

Here is how we handle information about your visit to our website:

Information collected and stored automatically

If all you do during your visit is browse through the website, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. Only the following information is automatically collected and stored about your visit:

• The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our website;
• The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
• The date and time you access our site;
• The pages you visit; and
• If you linked to our website from another website, the address of that website.

We use this information to help us make the site more useful to visitors -- to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits.

If you send us personal information

If you choose to provide us with personal information -- by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it to us through the website -- we use that information to respond to your message and to help us get you the information you have requested. We only share the information you give us as required by law. Pinellas County Sheriff's Office does not collect information for commercial marketing.

Public Disclosure

As a general rule, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office does not disclose any personally identifiable information collected online except where you have given us permission, or where the information is requested to be disclosed and is public information under the State of Florida statutes or other applicable laws. Visitors to the site should be aware that Florida Statute 119 declares that it is the policy of this state that all state, county, and municipal records shall be open for personal inspection by any person, and thus information collected by the Sheriff's Office resulting from the use of its websites may be subject to examination and inspection upon request, if such information is a public record and not otherwise protected from disclosure by statute.

Choice

You may decline participation in any activity that asks for information (i.e., surveys or emails). Your choice to not participate will have no effect on your ability to access information on the Pinellas County 's Sheriff's Office web sites.

Cookies

To better serve you, we occasionally use "cookies" to customize your browsing experience. Cookies are simple text files stored by your web browser and they provide a method of distinguishing among visitors to the web sites. Cookies created on your computer by using our web sites do not contain personally identifiable information and do not compromise your privacy or security. We use the cookie feature to store a randomly generated identifying tag on your computer. If you have further questions about cookies, the Computer Incident Advisory Capacity Unit that monitors computer problems for the U.S. Department of Energy issued a study on March 12, 1998, of the risks to users of cookies, titled "Information Bulletin 1-034: Internet Cookies". You can refuse the cookie or delete the cookie file from your computer at any time by using any one of a number of widely available methods. Your choice to refuse the cookie will not inhibit your access to any of the information available on the Sheriff's Office web site . Your acceptance of the cookie will serve to provide you with additional functionality in choosing the information you wish to view on a regular basis.

Site security

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs commercial software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with State guidelines for records management and retention.

Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

Links to other web sites

The website has links to many other governmental agencies. In some cases we link to private organizations. Once you link to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site.