Terms of Use

Effective Date: These Terms of Use are effective as of October 19, 2020.

This Site (defined below) is offered by THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA (the “City”) for use by individuals who are invited by the City to use the Site. Bang the Table Canada Ltd (“B.T.T.,” or “we”), operates and hosts the Site for the benefit of the City.

THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA (the "City") and B.T.T. welcome you to the City’s community engagement portal at http://connectoshawa.ca (the “Site”). While all of the questions, surveys, forums, discussions, and other Content (defined below) on the Site is provided and controlled by the City or other individuals invited by the City to use the Site, B.T.T. owns and operates the technology and intellectual property rights that power the Site. On the Site, you will be able to engage and communicate with the City and other interested parties.

These Terms of Use (“T.O.U.”) contain important terms and conditions that describe your rights and obligations and describe how you can use the Site. Please read these terms of use carefully. You are offered access and use of the Site only on the terms and conditions set forth in this T.O.U. By accessing and using the Site, and regardless of whether you register on the Site, you agree to these T.O.U.

General Terms

Content

  • When we use the term “Content,” we mean any information, data, music, sound files, photographs, graphics, images, videos, articles, or other content accessible on the Site. Content is provided by the City and other users of the Site. B.T.T. does not create, upload or provide any Content you see on the Site. Any Content that you provide or upload to the Site is “Your Content.” The City has the right to use Your Content. B.T.T. (a) makes no, and hereby disclaims all, representations or warranties about the Content, and (b) is not responsible for the substance, accuracy, completeness, appropriateness, or legality of Content.
  • You have no expectation that Your Content will be published on the Site. 
  • You also acknowledge and agree that we and our designated agents have the right (but not the obligation), in our sole discretion, to review and monitor Your Content on the Site. We may remove or refuse to post, in our sole discretion, any Content including if it violates our Moderation Rules (see below). The City also has the right to review and approve any Content before it is included on the Site, and to remove any Content from the Site in their sole discretion. Note that neither we, nor the City edit Content unless written request is received from the user (e.g. an error was made in a submission).
  • “Linked Content” is any content, materials, or website other than the Site that you may directly visit through a link found on the Site. The Site may contain links to Linked Content. B.T.T. does not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such Linked Content, or any information, materials, products, or services found or offered on or through Linked Content. If you access Linked Content from the Site, you do so at your own risk, and you understand that these Terms of Use and B.T.T.s Privacy Policy do not apply to your use of such Linked Content. You expressly release B.T.T. from any and all liability arising from your use of any Linked Content, the Site, or Content.
  • When you access and use this Site, information submitted by you will belong to the data controller (THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA (the City)). This information may include personal data (e.g. your name, age, contact details, etc.). B.T.T.'s role is to process this data on behalf of the data controller. Processing means (among other things): ensuring this website runs properly, that your data is securely stored and is available to the data controller so that they can effectively manage the Site and your input."

Registration

  • You may be required to register before accessing or contributing content to the Site, or before accessing certain features or functions on the Site. In the event you need to register, this section  applies to you. To register for an account on the Site, you must be the older of: (a) 14 years of age and (b) the age required by law where you live to form a binding contract with B.T.T. When you register, you will: (i) submit only true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Site's registration procedure (the “Registration Data”); and (ii) maintain and regularly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete.
  • If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or if the City suspects that you have provided such information, your account may be suspended or terminated.
  • After you complete the user registration process at the Site, you will receive an email to activate your account and get access the Site with the username and password you created. You: (i) are fully responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account; (ii) are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account; (iii) must immediately notify B.T.T. if you are aware or suspect any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security; and (iv) must create no more than one user account at the Site.
  • We, or our agents, may require access to your user account to respond to service or technical issues.
  • The City may communicate with you through your user account by sending messages, newsletters, and other information.

Termination

  • B.T.T. may, in its sole discretion or at the direction of THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA (the City), and with or without notice to you, for any reason, terminate your password, account or use of the Site (or any part), and remove and delete any Content within the Site, including Your Content, for any reason. For example, if you repeatedly post content that violates the Site moderation rules your account may be suspended or terminated.
  • You agree that B.T.T. may in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Site, or any part, to you with or without notice, and without liability to you or any third-parties.

Privacy Policy

Use of the Site by you, including our collection of Registration Data and other personal information about you, is subject to this Terms of Use, as well as the B.T.T. Privacy Policy, which governs how B.T.T. and the City use your personal information. 

The City may collect, use, retain and/or disclose personal information when necessary for the proper administration of a lawfully authorized activity in accordance with provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Municipal Act.

Whenever you are required to submit personal information, you will be provided with written notice that shall contain:

  • the legal authority for the collection;
  • the principle purpose(s) for which the information is intended to be used; and,
  • the title, business address and business telephone number of an officer or employee of the City who can answer any questions you may have about the collection.

Questions regarding any collection of personal information by the City may be directed to the City’s Information Access and Privacy Officer, City of Oshawa, 50 Centre Street South, Oshawa, Ontario, L1H 3Z7, 905-436-3311.

User Conduct

You understand and agree that:

  • all Content is the sole responsibility of the person who made the Content available, and you are solely liable and responsible for Your Content;
  • you are prohibited from advertising or offering to sell or buy any goods or services on the Site;
  • you shall not:
    • post Content that: (a) infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party; (b) violates applicable law or is illegal; or (c) violates any third-party’s right, including right to privacy;
    • transmit Content that is or includes unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," surveys, contests or any other form of solicitation;
    • transmit Content that contains software viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or any other computer code, files or programs designed to or that may interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
    • transmit Content that harms minors in any way;
    • impersonate any person or entity, including without limitation a Bang the Table representative or another user of the Site, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
    • create a false identity for the purpose of misleading others as to your identity or the originator of a message;
    • interfere with or disrupt the Site or servers or networks connected to the Site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site;
  • you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, appropriateness, or usefulness of such Content.
  • Your Content will be seen by the City and may be made publicly available on the Site or elsewhere. Additionally, even if Your Content is not made public or available to third-parties on the Site, Your Content may be subject to applicable freedom of information requests and released in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.  
  • You agree to and shall comply with our moderation rules for the Site, which can be found at Site URL (“Moderation Rules”)(External link)
  • The Site gives you the opportunity to engage and communicate with the City and third-parties. You acknowledge and agree that your communications with the City and any third-parties via the Site are solely between you and the City and the relevant third-parties.

Modifications & Discontinuance

Both B.T.T. and the City reserve the right to modify or discontinue access to the Site (or any part), at any time, with or without notice, temporarily or permanently without liability to you or to any third-party.

Issues

If you encounter issues with the Site, or if you see content which you believe violates these T.O.U., or have questions about the Site, please contact B.T.T. at support@engagementhq.com or the City’s Corporate Communications at communications@oshawa.ca.

Terms Specific to B.T.T.

Disclaimers

B.T.T. offers the Site and Content to you on an “as-is” and “as available” basis without warranty of any kind. B.T.T. makes no representation or warranty that the Site will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free. To the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, B.T.T. expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind arising from or related to the Site or content, whether express or implied, including without limitation all implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and noninfringement.

Indemnity & Release

You shall indemnify and hold B.T.T., and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, and other partners, and employees harmless from, and at B.T.T.’s request, defend any or all of the foregoing against, any claim, cause of action, proceeding or demand and all related costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities, including reasonable legal fees, related to or arising out of: (a) Your Content; (b) your interactions or relationship with THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA (the City); and (c) your violation of any other's rights or applicable law.

B.T.T.’s Proprietary Rights

B.T.T. hosts this Site for the City and will not use any data you post to the Site for anything other than benchmarking, using de-identified data, and reporting to the client unless that data is publicly available. We do not sell lists of user details to third-parties. However, we do need the rights to share the data with the City and occasionally to assist in its analysis. The City needs the rights to use the data as it needs to in order to properly listen to the community and to carry out its business. The clause below facilitates this.

  • You acknowledge and agree that:
    • the Site and any necessary software and technology used in connection with the Site, including but not limited to the software known as Engagement HQ™, contain proprietary and confidential information protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws, and all of the foregoing is owed by B.T.T.; and
    • the Content presented to you via the Site or via third-parties may be protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws.
  • You hereby grant B.T.T. a nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, paid-up right and license to: (a) use your name or user/screen name and Your Content for B.T.T.’s business purposes, including to provide the Site to the THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA (the City); and (b) sublicense your Content to the City for its business purposes. B.T.T. only uses content for the purpose of benchmarking, use of de-identified data and providing reports to the City. We do not sell lists of user details to third-parties.
  • The BANG THE TABLE trademark, and other logos and product and service names used by B.T.T., are trademarks of B.T.T. You will not display or use the Bang the Table Marks in any manner without our prior permission.

Copyright & D.M.C.A.

  • When using the Site you may provide Content to the Site. You retain your rights to Your Content.
  • The City complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“D.M.C.A.”). We will terminate copyright infringers when legally required or appropriate.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAWS B.T.T., ON BEHALF OF OUR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS (“RELEASED PARTIES”), EXCLUDE AND DISCLAIM LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSSES AND EXPENSES OF WHATEVER NATURE AND HOWSOEVER ARISING INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY INDIRECT, GENERAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES; LOSS OF USE; LOSS OF DATA; LOSS CAUSED BY A VIRUS; LOSS OF INCOME OR PROFIT; LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THIS SITE. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ESTABLISHING SUCH PROCEDURES FOR DATA BACK UP AND VIRUS CHECKING AS YOU CONSIDER NECESSARY. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY APPLIES WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER BASIS. THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE RELEASED PARTIES FOR LIABILITIES THAT OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE BEEN LIMITED SHALL NOT EXCEED TEN DOLLARS ($10.00). Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages.

Changes

B.T.T. may change the T.O.U. from time to time without prior notice to you, (though we will alert the City to the change) and we will indicate there is an updated T.O.U. by posting it to the Site. Your sole and exclusive remedy if you do not agree to the modified T.O.U. will be to cease all access and use of the Site.

General Information

  • The T.O.U. and B.T.T.’s Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and B.T.T., and governs your use of the Site, superseding any prior agreements between you and B.T.T.
  • The T.O.U. and the relationship between you and B.T.T. is governed by the laws of Canada without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of the Site will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that you may assert claims in small claims court if your claims qualify. All Canadian and Provincial laws apply to this T.O.U. You each agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration we each waive any right to a jury trial. We also both agree that you or we may bring suit in court to enjoin infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights.
  • Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the T.O.U. must not be treated as a waiver of the right or provision.
  • If any provision of the T.O.U. is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, then such provision is deemed deleted, but the court should try to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the T.O.U. shall remain in full force and effect.
  • Your rights and obligations under the T.O.U. are personal and may not be assigned or dealt with in any way without our permission, and which may be withheld in our absolute discretion.
  • Headings in the T.O.U. are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.