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Street Bump Mobile Application Terms of Service

Please read the Terms of Service before using the Street Bump app.

The Street Bump app collects information about road conditions. You can record your trip and send data to the City of Boston. You must agree to the following Terms of Service before you use the app.

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS


The City of Boston (“City”) Street Bump app for smart phones (“Street Bump”) is provided to you subject to the following Terms of Service Agreement (“Agreement”), which may be updated by us from time to time without notice to you.  This “Agreement” can be found within the “About” section of the Street Bump app under “Terms of Service”.  By accessing and using Street Bump, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and provision of this Agreement.


2. USE OF STREET BUMP


Street Bump is intended to collect and report road condition data.  Street Bump does not collect data about the route that users drive.

Street Bump operates only when a user chooses to “RECORD A TRIP” and only uploads data when a user chooses to “End Trip and Upload.”  If, during a recording session, a user presses cancel, no data will be uploaded about that trip.  Street Bump is not intended to serve as a map, provide directions or in any way guarantee that a particular route or roadway is free of defects.

Data collected is then provided to approved municipalities – or other entities who maintain or are assisting with the maintenance of roadways – to improve road conditions and to the developers of this app to improve the app’s performance.

Users should use common sense when driving and not change their driving patterns with the intent of affecting the data collected by Street Bump.  Not only will this result in bad data, it may also result in damage to you or your vehicle. 
 
3. WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION DOES STREET BUMP COLLECT


Outlined below is the information that Street Bump collects for both the operation of the app and enhancements to it.  The data you submit through Street Bump is kept on a server.  We then use aggregated information across all users to pinpoint where there are likely road problems as well as to refine the app, the server and the algorithms that power Street Bump. 


Required Information for Operations:
Bump Data:  Street Bump measures major changes in acceleration up and down – or, in other words, “bumps.”  When there is a change in acceleration of more than a certain threshold (e.g. .4 the force of gravity), then approximately 1.25 seconds worth of accelerometer readings are captured and stored.  That measurement of the bump is paired with the location from the GPS of your phone during that bump.  When you press “End Trip and Upload”, the app uploads the GPS and accelerometer data from each of the recorded bumps during your trip.

Trip Data:  Street Bump does not collect route data.  It does, however, aggregate all bumps collected during one recording session (defined as starting a trip by pressing “Record a Trip” and ending the trip by pressing “End Trip and Upload”) into discrete trips.  This data is collected to facilitate analysis.  For example, our researchers may experiment with a higher accelerometer threshold.  To conduct their experiments, they will process certain “trips” at one accelerometer threshold and other trips at another “threshold.”

Data for Obstacle Identification: The bumps you submit are consumed by a clustering algorithm.  That algorithm looks at all bumps submitted by all users to identify – based on multiple bumps in the same general location – where there is a high likelihood of an actual problem in the road, or obstacle.  To focus only on those bumps that were likely caused while driving and have locations we can find, Street Bump collects five additional pieces of information:

Date & Time of the Bump: the clustering algorithm has a filter to look only at bumps in specific locations during a specific window of time.  The logic of this is that there is more likely to be real obstacle in the road if three bumps are recorded in a location over the course of one week than over the course of one year.

GPS Accuracy: because the clustering algorithm looks at bumps in a specific location, it uses GPS Accuracy to weed out those bumps whose locations cannot be pinpointed and thus shouldn’t be included.  GPS Accuracy is recorded for each bump.

Speed:  Street Bump is engineered for driving; although we envision using this eventually for other modes such as cycling, the accelerometers would need to be recalibrated for that purpose.  Consequently, to weed out any data likely collected when not driving, we calculate and submit speed with each bump recorded.  Any bump recorded below a certain speed threshold (e.g. 5 miles per hour) can be ignored by the algorithm.

Course:  So that the clustering mechanism can distinguish between bumps in different lanes of traffic, Street Bump collects course information for each bump.   It is measures the direction the vehicle is travelling on a 0-360 scale, with 0 measured as north.

Distance Traveled: Similar to speed, we use distance travelled as a second check on submitting data that might have been collected from a short demonstration instead of an actual trip.  For example, you might have broken the speed threshold by running around the office.  To allow for these sorts of demos without corrupting the data, we only allow trips to be submitted if the phone has traveled more than .25 miles.  This distance is calculated by recording your GPS location at the beginning, during and at the end of your trip.  Importantly, none of your routes are kept, but the cumulative distance is calculated and uploaded. 

Phone Information:  Each phone will have a unique, random number assigned to it.  That number will not be your phone number and will not be given out to any participating municipality or the public. The unique ID is consistent across sessions.  Through this unique ID we’ll be able to alert a specific user when a road condition that they helped identify was inspected by the City and fixed or referred for further maintenance.
 
In addition, with each trip we receive the phone’s make, model and operating system; this is used for diagnostic purposes to evaluate how the app is working across devices.


Optional Information for Operations:


Contact Information: By default, there will be no personal information, such as name or email address, linked with either the unique ID or any other data we collect.  If you choose, in the phone’s settings, to add your name and/or email address, then that will be tied to your unique ID and the bumps you report.  This would allow the user another way to potentially be alerted when an roadway obstacle that they helped identify was inspected by the City.


Required Information for Enhancements to Street Bump

We’ve instrumented the app in order to improve the experience for users.  This instrumentation allows us to anonymously capture:

Aggregated Usage Statistics: This includes how the app is used (e.g. where people tap within the app.)

Invalid Bump Data: This includes data about why invalid bumps are recorded as invalid.  This does not include location, but does include speed, acceleration details and GPS accuracy.  This data is used to help us fine tune the filters for what is and is not a valid bump.

Failed Uploads: This includes data about why an upload of a trip fails (e.g. lack of a network connectivity.)

Failed Trips: This includes counts and causes of the number of canceled or failed trips (e.g. number of trips that were less than 1 mile.)

4. WHO SEES WHAT DATA
The City of Boston: All of your submitted data is accessible to the City of Boston and the partners working with it on this project.  Because this is an effort of the City of Boston, all data you submit using Street Bump may be subject to any and all applicable City, State and Federal public records laws.  This includes both operational and enhancement-related information.

Participating Municipalities & other entities: Through the clustering algorithm managed by the City of Boston, obstacles are identified through the analysis of multiple bumps.  Those obstacles are shared with the relevant participating municipality or entity that has care of the road where the obstacle exists.  As part of the data shared, the municipality will receive both the obstacle and the composite bumps data. 

Neither your contact information nor your specific bump data is shared with the municipality or entity.  Any alert that you receive from Street Bump shall come from the City of Boston, rather than directly from the participating municipality.

The Public:  In formally participating municipalities only, obstacles and their composite bumps identified by Street Bump users will appear on streetbump.org.  (Those individual bumps shared will only have a date (but not the time), the location and the accelerometer readings and no other information.) If your bump is not part of an obstacle, it will not appear. 

On streetbump.org, the home page will also display a map of recent activity.  The Street Bump logo will appear on the map in roughly the center point of collection of bumps for a given trip.  This is not necessarily where there was a bump or where the trip was.

Users, however, can choose not to have any of their bumps or data ever appear publicly.  You can select this option in the phone’s settings by selecting “No” for the “Share with Public” option.


5. INTERNATIONAL USAGE
Your data may be stored and processed in any country where we have facilities, and by using Street Bump you consent to the transfer of your Personal Information to countries, including the United States, which may be outside of your country of residence and may provide for different and less stringent data protection rules than in your country. If you object to your data being transferred or used as described in this Policy, please do not use Street Bump.


6. CONTACTING US / REPORTING VIOLATIONS
If you have any questions or comments about this Policy or our privacy practices, or to report any violations of the TOS or abuse of an Application, please contact us at support@streetbump.org.


7. REGISTRATION OBLIGATIONS
If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, offensive, not current or incomplete, or the City has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, offensive, not current or incomplete, the City has the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Street Bump services (or any portion thereof).


8. MEMBER CONDUCT
You understand that all information, data, text, or other materials ("Content"), whether marked by the user as shared or not, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. This means that you, and not the City, are entirely responsible for all Content that you submit or otherwise make available via Street Bump. The City does not control the Content posted via Street Bump and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content. You understand that by using Street Bump, you may be exposed to Content that is objectionable. Under no circumstances will the City be liable for any Content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content submitted or otherwise made available via Street Bump.

We are under no obligation to enforce this Agreement on your behalf against another user. While we encourage you to let us know if you believe another user violated this Agreement, we reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate action at the City’s sole discretion.

You agree to not use Street Bump to:
a)    submit Content that is false or inaccurate;
b)    submit Content that does not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme;
c)    submit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, or otherwise objectionable;
d)    impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
e)    intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law;
f)    “stalk" or otherwise harass another; or collect or store personal data about other users in connection with the prohibited conduct and activities set forth in paragraphs (a) through (e) above.

You acknowledge that the City may or may not pre-screen Content that is shared, but that the City and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to pre-screen, refuse, or remove any Content that is available via Street Bump. Without limiting the foregoing, the City and its designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates this Agreement or is otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content.

You acknowledge, consent and agree that the City may access, preserve and disclose your account information and Content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to:

(i) comply with legal process;
(ii) enforce this Agreement;
(iii) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third parties;
(iv) respond to your requests for customer service; 
(v) protect the rights, property or personal safety of the City, its users and the public.

You may not trace any information of any other Street Bump user for the purpose of obtaining information of any other Street Bump user.

You may not attempt to override or circumvent any of the usage rules embedded into Street Bump. Any unauthorized reproduction, publication, further distribution or public exhibition of the materials provided on Street Bump, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited.  

You may not modify or create derivative works of Street Bump, decompile or reverse engineer Street Bump or otherwise attempt to create the source code from Street Bump, or in any way attempt to, or encourage or assist any other person to, circumvent or modify any security technology or software that is part of Street Bump.

You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to Street Bump or the computer systems and networks connected to Street Bump through hacking, password mining, or any other means.

You may not use any robot, spider, search/retrieval application, or other automated device, process or means to access, retrieve, scrape, or index any portion of Street Bump or any City content. You may not access, retrieve or index any portion of Street Bump for purposes of constructing a searchable database of data collected by Street Bump.


9. INTERSTATE NATURE OF COMMUNICATIONS ON STREET BUMP
When you use the application, you acknowledge that in using Street Bump, you will be causing communications to be sent potentially through a variety of networks (Internet service provider, wireless phone network, etc.)  As a result, even communications that seem to be intrastate in nature can result in the transmission of interstate communications regardless of where you are physically located at the time of transmission. Accordingly, you agree that use of the Street Bump may result in interstate data transmissions.


10. CONTENT SUBMITTED ON STREET BUMP
With respect to Content you submit on Street Bump, the City may use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, and publicly display such Content for the purposes of promoting or improving Street Bump or any other City-related efforts. This right does not terminate.


11. SUBMISSIONS TO THE CITY
By submitting ideas, suggestions, documents, and/or proposals ("Submissions") to the City through its suggestion or feedback pages, you acknowledge and agree that:

a)    your Submissions do not contain confidential or proprietary information;
b)    the City is not under any obligation of confidentiality, express or implied, with respect to the Submissions;
c)    the City shall be entitled to use or disclose (or choose not to use or disclose) such Submissions for any purpose, in any way, in any media worldwide;
d)    the City may have something similar to the Submissions already under consideration or in development;
e)    your Submissions automatically become the property of the City without any obligation of the City to you;
f)    you are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of any kind from the City under any circumstances.


12. INDEMNITY
You agree to indemnify and hold the City and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, partners and licensors harmless from any claim or demand (including reasonable attorneys' fees) made by any third party due to or arising out of:

a)    Content you submit or otherwise make available through Street Bump,
b)    your use of Street Bump,
c)    your connection to Street Bump,
d)    your violation of this Agreement, 
e)    your violation of any Rights of another.


13. NO COMMERCIAL REUSE OF STREET BUMP
You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion or use of, or access to, Street Bump.  


14. MODIFICATIONS TO STREET BUMP
The City reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, Street Bump (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that the City shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Street Bump (or any part thereof).


15. TERMINATION
You agree that the City may, without prior notice, immediately terminate, limit your access to or suspend your Street Bump service. Cause for such termination, limitation of access or suspension shall include but not be limited to:

(a) breaches or violations of this Agreement or other incorporated agreements or guidelines,
(b) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies,
(c) discontinuance or material modification to Street Bump (or any part thereof),
(d) unexpected technical or security issues or problems, (e) extended periods of inactivity, 
(f) engagement by you in fraudulent or illegal activities. Further, you agree that all terminations, limitations of access and suspensions for cause shall be made in the City’s sole discretion and that the City shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your account, any associated email address, or access to Street Bump.


16. LINKS
The City may provide links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. You acknowledge and agree that the City is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources.
Street Bump may facilitate your use of third party services not provided by the City (“Third Party Services”). The City makes no representations or warranties regarding the performance of such Third Party Services, their compliance with applicable laws and regulations, or any other aspects of such Third Party Services. Your use of Third Party Services is at your own risk and you are solely responsible for complying with all legal and contractual requirements necessary for using Third Party Services.


17. THE CITY’S PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
You acknowledge and agree that Street Bump contains proprietary and confidential information that is owned by the City and protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You will not use such proprietary information in any way whatsoever except for use of Street Bump in compliance with the provisions of this Agreement.


18. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:

a)    YOUR USE OF STREET BUMP IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.  THE APPLICATION IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.  THE CITY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
b)    THE CITY AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT:
(i).    STREET BUMP WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS;
(ii).    STREET BUMP WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE;
(iii).    THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF STREET BUMP WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE;
(iv).    ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED;
(v).    STREET BUMP WILL BE FREE FROM CORRUPTION, VIRUSES, HACKING, OR OTHER SECURITY INTRUSION.


19. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE CITY OF BOSTON SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES RESULTING FROM:

a)    YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES;
b)    ANY CONDUCT OR CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR THIRD PARTIES;
c)    ANY CONTENT OBTAINED FROM THE SERVICES;
d)    UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, USE OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR CONTENT, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER OR NOT THE CITY HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE, AND EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.  YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT THE CITY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CONTACT OR INTERACTION BETWEEN YOU AND ANY OTHER USER OF STREET BUMP AND THAT YOU BEAR THE SOLE RISK OF TRANSMITTING THROUGH THE APPLICATION ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING INFORMATION WHICH IDENTIFIES YOU OR YOUR LOCATION.  YOU AGREE THAT THE NEGATION OF DAMAGES SET FORTH ABOVE IS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN CITY AND YOU AND THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS AN AGREED UPON ALLOCATION OF RISK BETWEEN YOU AND THE CITY.  YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ABSENT YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY THE CITY WOULD NOT PROVIDE STREET BUMP TO YOU.

ADDITIONALLY, NO ALERT SENT BY THE STREET BUMP APPLICATION SHALL SERVE AS REASONABLE NOTICE OF A DEFECT OR WANT OF REPAIR SO AS TO MANDATE ACTION BY THE CITY OF BOSTON UNDER ANY LAWS.  THE CITY OF BOSTON IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR ANY INJURIES RESULTING FROM ANY POTHOLE, ROAD DEFECT, OR ROADWAY IN WANT OF REPAIR ENCOUNTERED BY A DRIVER WHILE USING THE STREET BUMP APPLICATION.
 
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE CITY OF BOSTON, THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OF STREET BUMP, BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF, OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OF THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.


20. NOTICE
The City may provide you with notices regarding Street Bump, including changes to this Agreement, by email, SMS, text message, postings on Street Bump, or any other reasonable means now known or hereafter developed. Notices shall be effective immediately.
Such notices may not be received if you violate this Agreement by accessing the Street Bump in an unauthorized manner. You agree that you will be deemed to have received any and all notices that would have been delivered had you accessed Street Bump in an authorized manner.


21. MINOR
You represent that you are 13 years of age or older and, if you are under the age of 18, you either are an emancipated minor, or have obtained the legal consent of your parent or legal guardian to accept and agree to be bound by the terms and provisions of this Agreement.

 If you have agreed to allow your minor child, or a child for whom you are legal guardian (“Minor”), to use Street Bump, you agree that you shall be solely responsible for: (a) the online conduct of such Minor, (b) monitoring such Minor’s access to and use of Street Bump, and (3) the consequences of any use of Street Bump by such Minor.


22. GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without regard to any conflict of law provisions. You agree that any claim or dispute with the City relating in any way to your use of Street Bump shall be brought exclusively before a state or federal court sitting in Boston, Massachusetts, and you irrevocably waive any jurisdictional, venue, or inconvenient forum objections to such courts.   


23. MISCELLANEOUS
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and the City with respect to your use of Street Bump, superseding any prior version of this Agreement between you and the City with respect to Street Bump.
If any provision of this Agreement shall be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severed from this Agreement and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement.
The City’s failure to assert any right or provision under this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

You agree that any cause of action arising out of or related to your use of Street Bump must commence within one year after the cause of action accrues. Otherwise, such cause of action is permanently barred.
The section titles in this Agreement are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

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