Privacy Policy

Your privacy with respect to the use of this website results from a partnership between the City and you, the user. At this website, we attempt to protect your privacy to the maximum extent possible. However, because the information is subject to Public Records Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66, Section 10, we cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through this site may be made available to members of the public under that law. This policy informs you of the information that we collect from you at this site, what we do with it, to whom it may be disseminated, and how you can access it. Based on this information, you can make an informed choice about whether to share personally identifiable information through this site.

Personally Identifiable Information. We use the term "personally identifiable information" to mean any information that could reasonably be used to identify you, including your name, address, e-mail address, or any combination of information that could be used to identify you.

Information Voluntarily Provided by You. This site collects voluntary information from you only through the emails that you send through this site. Emails sent by you to this site will contain personally identifiable information. While the Feedback Form allows comments without providing an email address or other personal information, the IP address is logged (see below).

Information Automatically Collected and Stored by this Site. This site does not currently collect "cookies", but does collect and store indefinitely your Internet Protocol ("IP") address, (which does not identify you as an individual), as well as information about the date and time of your visit, whether a file you have requested exists, and how many "bytes" of information were transmitted to you over the web from this site. We use your IP address to assess the frequency of visits to this site and the popularity of its various pages and functions. IP addresses may also be used to help prevent a high number of multiple votes within the user poll system. We will not attempt to match any personally identifiable information that you provide to us with your IP address, unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that doing so would provide information that is relevant and material to a criminal investigation.

Dissemination of Your Personally Identifiable Information. We do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through this website. However, once you voluntarily submit personally identifiable information to us through an e-mail, its dissemination is governed by the Public Records Law and other applicable laws and regulations. For this reason, part or all of the information you send us may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request.

In addition, the information that you voluntarily submit will be disclosed only to Town employees or officials with a "need to know" for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. They will only use the information to answer your questions, respond to any requests for assistance, and fulfill the Town's legal obligations. Where appropriate, we may provide the information submitted by you to the person or company that is the subject of your inquiry, or to a government agency responsible for the matters referred to in your communication.

Security. Because this site does not encrypt incoming email, you should not send information that you consider highly sensitive. We may use 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 attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Contact Information. For questions about your privacy while using this website, please contact contact us.

Watertown Mobile App

The City of Watertown is using SeeClickFix, an online and mobile service request system, to power its mobile app and reporting forms. SeeClickFix is an application that allows Watertown residents to report non-emergency related issues. SeeClickFix can be used via the Web on a desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone, or tablet. SeeClickFix is a public application. The description entered will be visible to the public. Your display name will also be visible unless you choose to submit as Anonymous. Your email address will never be displayed publicly.

Hyperlink Policy

Some pages may provide external website links to various community, regional, and governmental organizations that may be of interest to users of this website. These links are provided as a courtesy for the convenience of the users. The City of Watertown does not necessarily endorse these organizations, nor does it control the content of the linked websites. The City of Watertown reserves the right to deny any and all requests for links and to sever existing links at any time.

Questions and requests for links should be addressed to the webmaster.

Definitions

Cookies are files that a website can place on your computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a website can use to track such things as your password, lists of web pages you have visited, and the date when you last looked at a specific web page, or to identify your session at a particular website. A cookie file allows the website to recognize you as you click through pages on the site and when you later revisit the site. A website can use cookies to "remember" your preferences and to record your browsing behavior on the web. Although you can prevent websites from placing cookies on your computer by using your browser's preference menu, disabling cookies may affect your ability to view or interact with some websites.

An "Internet Protocol Address" or "IP Address" is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send you the file that you have requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to us may identify the computer from which you are accessing the Internet or a server owned by your Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information.