Social Media Use and Privacy Policy
Heartland Fire & Rescue's use of external social media websites is provided as a public service.
The purpose of social media is for the Department to share news and information regarding the activities, policies, and programs of the Department and its employees. We encourage discussion and comments on posts. Your insights are important.
Facebook Comments
Before posting a comment, please note we utilize Facebook’s automatic content filtering feature. All Department social media content will be subject to monitoring. Due to the fact this page is public and possibly visible to persons of all ages, we expect participants to show respect, civility and consideration to visitors. Therefore, user generated posts/comments will be removed or rejected, and the user could be blocked, when the content of a post:
• Contains personal attacks against any member of the public or an employee of the Department.
• Promotes or advertises services or products.
• Apparent spam will be removed.
• Promotes or endorses political campaigns or candidates.
• Contains abusive, profane or vulgar language.
• Incites or promotes violence or illegal activities.
• Contains sexual content, overly graphic, disturbing, obscene or offensive material, or material that would otherwise violate the law if published on this site.
• Includes offensive language targeting specific ethnic, religious, or racial groups.
• Posts or comments that contain any external links.
• Is off-subject or out of context.
• Comments which may interfere or inhibit/compromise current investigation, fire tactics, and the safety of fire staff and officers.
The Department has the right to remove its own postings from their social media sites. The Department cannot control the removal of comments associated with removed posts.
Employees of the Department will not edit public comments to remove objectionable or inappropriate content, so please ensure that comments comply with this policy if you would like it posted.
The Department recognizes that social media tools are available 24 hour a day, and we welcome comments at any time. However, given the need to manage resources, the moderation and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours, Monday through Thursday 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, Pacific Standard Time, or when possible. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends or holidays will be read and posted as soon as possible if they meet the aforementioned criteria; in most cases, this will mean the next business day.
The Department disclaims any and all responsibility and liability for any materials that the Department deems inappropriate for posting, which cannot be removed in an expeditious and otherwise timely manner.
The Department’s use of external social media websites is provided as a public service. The Department disclaims liability for ads, video, promoted content, or comments accessible from any external web page. The responsibility of external content or comments rests with the organization or individuals providing them. Any inclusion or external content or comments on external social media websites does not imply endorsement by the Department.
Privacy
To protect your personal privacy and the privacy of other persons, The Department recommends that people do not include personally identifiable information, such as a full name, Social Security number, phone numbers, addresses, or e-mail addresses in the body of their comments. If comments include personally identifiable information, it may be posted.