CityWildlife Data Handling Policy

Use of Records
Neither CityWildlife nor its supporting organisations is responsible for the accuracy of the information provided. Any record is specific to the date of recording and does not necessarily imply continuance at a site. Lack of records does not necessarily imply that there is nothing present. Users of data obtained from CityWildlife are required to acknowledge CityWildlife in all documents containing any part of the information obtained.

Confidential Records
Some types of records entered onto CityWildlife are treated as confidential. Generally these are records of certain species which have a recent history of persecution or are particularly rare or vulnerable to disturbance. Examples include badger setts and raptor nesting sites. Such information will not be made available to the public through CityWildlife, although it may be forwarded to the City Council Ecologist and professional nature conservation organisations.

Data Ownership
CityWildlife holds information that has been received from a variety of sources, including professional biological recorders and volunteers. All such data remains under the ownership of the recorder. All naturewardens are responsible for ensuring they have legal ownership of all information submitted to CityWildlife (or appropriate permission from the legal owner). Brighton & Hove City Council retains copyright of CityWildlife database holdings. By submitting information (including species records and photographs) to this website you agree to allow it to be made available to the public through CityWildlife.

Personal Information
CityWildlife holds information about people who submit records to the web site (Naturewardens). The information is used for verification and validation of the data and for communication purposes and is used solely in accordance with CityWildlife's functions. Other than the names of Naturewardens (which are displayed on the web site), such information is not supplied to inquirers.

Right to Bar
CityWildlife and its supporting organisations retain the right to bar individuals from entering records onto the CityWildlife database and to delete the existing CityWildlife records of individuals who have misused the site for malicious, illegal, defamatory, misleading or any other reasons deemed by the supporting organisations to be inappropriate to the proper use of this web site.

Individuals entering records deemed inappropriate for CityWildlife for any of the above reasons will be informed by e-mail and offered an opportunity to provide an explanation. Their response, the nature of the submitted data and any previous incidents will be taken into account before taking a decision to bar and the offender will be notified by e-mail. Once taken, the decision of the CityWildlife administrators will be final and no further correspondence will be entered into.