Terms and conditions

Website Acceptable Use Policy Statement

Welcome to SWISH

The South West Information Sharing hub (SWISH) is tool for local authorities to share information and promote good practice.

The hub aims to support the sustainability of the regional networks by providing:

• A single point of contact for local information and a place to host tools about all aspects relating to Adult and Children’s Services’;
• An on-line information sharing community for those working in the region;
• A repository of web-based material based on best practice (if technically feasible and within the resources allocated);
• A way of sharing information either generically or privately between discrete groups as appropriate;
• A sustainable approach to supporting best practice and the peer support and challenge process in the South West.

This Acceptable Use Policy Statement sets out the terms between the users of this site (you) and the South West Information Sharing Hub (SWISH) under which you access the website. This Acceptable Use Policy applies to all users of, and visitors to, SWISH and should be read in conjunction with your council’s own website use policy.

A summary of the terms and conditions that you are accepting and agreeing to can be found in Appendix A below.

From time to time we may restrict access to some parts of the site, or our entire site, to users who have registered with us. The content of the pages of this website is for your general information and use, it is subject to change without notice.

Cookies and Javascript:

This site uses session cookies and Javascript to record usage statistics, to personalise user experience and to control access. Cookies are pieces of data created when you visit a site, and contain a unique, anonymous number. They are stored in the cookie directory of your hard drive and expire at the end of your session - that is when you close your browser. You must enable cookies and javascript in order to use this site.

If you choose, or are provided with, a password as part of the site security procedures, you must not disclose this to any third party.

Appendix A

Summary of Terms and Conditions

In compliance with the South West Local Authorities policy, this procedure will be monitored by the Steering Group as appointed by the sixteen South West Local Authorities.

If you discover anything that you believe poses a risk to your computer or other IT equipment or infringes upon any copyright that you own or control, please contact Jackie Potter via ipcitsupport@brookes.ac.uk.

Prohibited Uses:

You may use SWISH only for lawful purposes.

You may not use SWISH:

• In any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.
• In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect.
• For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
• To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with the standards set by local government.
• To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam).
• Hold any advertising or promote any services or web links to other sites.
• To knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

You agree not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:

• any part of SWISH;
• any equipment or network on which SWISH is stored;
• any software used in the provision of SWISH;
• any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.

Interactive Services:

We may from time to time provide interactive services on SWISH, including, without limitation:

• Polls and Feedback Forms
• Surveys
• Chat Rooms
• Discussion Forums
• Bulletin Boards

Where we do provide any Interactive Services, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used (including whether it is human or technical).

We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users when they use any interactive service provided on SWISH, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on SWISH, and we expressly exclude liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our Content Standards, whether the service is moderated or not. Any abuse reported will be reported to and dealt with by the author’s Local Authority.

Content Standards:

These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to SWISH and to any Interactive Services associated with it.

You must comply with the spirit of the following standards. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.

Contributions must:

• Be accurate (where they state facts).
• Be genuinely held (where they state opinions).
• Comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.
• Be relevant to the website topic.
• Be free from personal opinion about third parties (including but not limited to other users).
• Considerate towards and respect others

Contributions must not:

• Contain any swearing or any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory.
• Promote sexually explicit material.
• Promote violence.
• Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
• Infringe any database right or trade mark of any other person.
• Be likely to deceive any person.
• Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
• Promote any illegal activity.
• Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
• Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
• Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person.
• Disclose personal details, name, address, telephone, mobile or fax number, e-mail address or any other person-identifiable information in respect of any individual.
• Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) Intellectual Property Rights infringement or computer misuse.
• Be in contempt of court

Intellectual Property Rights

General terms and conditions of use

All Intellectual Property Rights (including, without limitation, all database rights, rights in designs, rights in know-how, patents and rights in inventions (in all cases whether registered or unregistered and including all rights to apply for registration) and all other intellectual or industrial property rights in any jurisdiction) in any information, content, materials, data or processes contained in or to this website belong to the sixteen South West Local Authorities as listed below or its licensed source. All rights of the sixteen South West Local Authorities in such Intellectual Property Rights are hereby reserved.

Use of Images:

Unless otherwise noted, all images (GIF, JPG, PNG, TIFF or other formats) on the this website are the copyright of SWISH.

Images may only be downloaded, reproduced or retransmitted from this website for the purposes of sharing information and good practice and must be accompanied by the name of the author, the title and date of work.

If you believe that any material on the website infringes upon any copyright that you own or control, please contact Jackie Potter via ipcitsupport@brookes.ac.uk

Suspension and Termination:

We will determine, at our discretion, whether there has been a breach of this Acceptable Use Policy through your use of SWISH. When a breach of this policy has occurred we may take such action as we deem appropriate.

Failure to comply with this Acceptable Use Policy constitutes a material breach of the terms of use upon which you are permitted to use SWISH, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

• Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use SWISH.
• Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to SWISH.
• Issue of a warning to you.
• Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach.
• Further legal action against you.
• Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.

We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this Acceptable Use Policy. The responses described in this policy are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

Changes to the Acceptable Use Policy:

We may revise this Acceptable Use Policy at any time and any changes we notify to you are legally binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in this Acceptable Use Policy may also be superseded by provisions or notices published on SWISH.

You should not reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of the SWISH website in contravention of the provisions of our terms of use.

Contact Details

Questions, comments and requests regarding this Acceptable Use Policy are welcomed and should be addressed to Martin Felgate via martin.felgate@deltservices.co.uk

South West Local Authorities

• Bath & North East Somerset
• Borough of Poole Council
• Bournemouth Borough Council
• Bristol City Council
• Cornwall Council
• Council of The Isles of Scilly
• Devon County Council
• Dorset County Council
• Gloucestershire County Council
• North Somerset Council
• Plymouth City Council
• Somerset County Council
• South Gloucestershire Council
• Swindon Borough Council
• Torbay Council
• Wiltshire County Council