By using the City's free public Wi-Fi service, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions.

Use Service at Your Own Risk

The City's Wi-Fi service is an open network provided for your convenience, and its use is at your own risk. It is available to the general public and is NOT INHERENTLY SECURE. The City cannot and does not guarantee the privacy of your data and communication while using the service.

There are potentially serious security issues with any computer connected to the internet without the appropriate protection, ranging from viruses, worms, and other programs that can damage the user’s computer, to attacks on the computer by unauthorized or unwanted third parties.

By using the Wi-Fi service, you acknowledge and knowingly accept the potentially serious risks associated with public access to the Internet over an unsecured network. It is recommended that you take steps to protect your own computer system, such as installing current anti-virus software and maintaining appropriate firewall protection. For further information on how to protect yourself on this open network, consult a security professional.

Acceptable Use Policy

Personal Use Only

The City’s Wi-Fi service is intended for personal use only and is offered on a “best efforts” basis. You cannot re-sell the service, use it for commercial purposes, or use it to operate as an ISP. A best effort wireless network is a type of wireless communication network where the network infrastructure does not guarantee any specific level of service or quality of service (QoS) to its users.

Prohibited Uses

You may not use the City's Wi-Fi service to do any of the following:

• Transmitting or engaging in content that is obscene, defamatory, abusive, or fraudulent, or that is intended to threaten, harass, intimidate or terrorize; 
• Engaging in content that is prohibited under federal, state or local law;
• Engaging in content that id deemed Child Sexual Abuse Material ("CSAM"); 
• Forging or misrepresenting email message headers;
• Transmitting uninvited communications, data, or information, or engaging in other similar activities, including without limitation, “spamming”, “flaming”, and denial of service attacks;
• Accessing without permission or right the accounts or computer systems of others, spoofing the URL, DNS, or IP addresses of the City or any other entity, or penetrating the security measures of the City or any other person’s computer system (“hacking”), whether or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss of data;
• Intercepting, interfering with, or redirecting email or other transmissions sent by or to others;
• Introducing viruses, worms, harmful code and/or Trojan horses on the Internet;
• Transferring technology, software, or other materials in violation of applicable export laws and regulations, including but not limited to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and Executive Orders;
• Violating the City’s or any third party’s copyright, trademark, proprietary or other intellectual property rights, including trade secret rights;
• Making false or unverified complaints against any Service user, or otherwise abusing any of the City’s complaint response procedures;
• Distributing, posting, copying, or disseminating copyrighted material including but not limited to movies and/or music;
• Inhibiting any other person’s use of the Service provided by the City; or
• Participating in illegal gambling, lottery, or other similar activities.

Violations; Administrative Discretion

The City may terminate Wi-Fi service availability to users or user devices that the City determines have improperly used the service. Violators may also be subject to any appropriate legal action. The City will cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected illegal activity or civil wrong. The City reserves the right to terminate access for any user without cause or prior notice.

User Privacy

The City's Privacy Policy describes how we treat personal information when you use the City's services. You understand and agree that the City may access, preserve, and disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with legal process or protect the rights and property of the City or the public. Information provided will be added to our database for notification of Service-related issues or updates.

Monitoring, Throttling and Content Filtering

To protect the service and to comply with applicable laws, your use of the City Wi-Fi service will be logged. The City may obtain and share your information, records of use, and other related information under certain circumstances (for example, in response to lawful process, orders, subpoenas, or warrants, or to protect its rights, users or property). The City may intercept, disclose or use service communications if necessary for the rendition of the service or to protect the rights or property of the City.

The City may throttle available bandwidth during times of peak usage, or with respect to a particular device if the device is using a high amount of bandwidth. If a device is using a high amount of bandwidth and is adversely impacting other users, or network performance, the City may block the device from using the service.

The City may block or filter certain content or web sites that do not meet community standards, that are known to be used for illegal activity, that are a known source of malware, or for other reasons.

Copyright

User Obligations; Termination of Service for Repeat Infringers

The City acknowledges and respects the intellectual property rights of others, and the City is committed to complying with U.S. copyright laws.

Users shall not infringe intellectual property rights of others. Users may not store material of any type or in any format on, or disseminate such material over, the City’s systems or servers, including the Service, in any manner that constitutes an infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, including rights granted under the US copyright laws.

It is the policy of the City to terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the service provided to any user who repeatedly infringes third party intellectual property rights.

Notifications of Claimed Infringement

The City accommodates and does not interfere with standard technical measures used by copyright owners to protect their materials. The City has implemented procedures for receiving written notification of claimed infringements and for processing such claims in accordance with the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

All claims of infringement must be submitted to the City in a written notification that complies with the requirements below:

• By email: bde@baltimorecity.gov

Any written notice alleging infringing activity must include the following information:

• A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright holder;
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed;
• Identification of the material that is claimed to have been infringing, and information reasonable sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
• Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as address, telephone number, and email address;
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by copyright or other proprietary right of the owner, its agent, or the law;
• A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is alleged infringed.