Terms and conditions of use of public access wireless

By accessing and using the London Borough of Hillingdon Guest Wireless, you confirm that you accept these terms and conditions of use and agree to comply with them.

Use of the service

  1. You must have a wifi-enabled device with software that works with the LBH Guest Wireless. The type, specification and condition of your device may affect your use of and access to the LBH Guest Wireless.
  2. You accept the risk of any failure or damage to your device as a result of using the LBH Guest Wireless. The LBH Guest Wireless is available to you when your device is within range of council-owned sites. 
  3. You take responsibility to configure your device with the appropriate security settings, firewall and antivirus protection to control access from other wireless devices and the internet. When you use the LBH Guest Wireless, you do so entirely at your own risk.
  4. Your use of the LBH Guest Wireless has security risks because the LBH Guest Wireless is provided over an unsecured public wifi network. You acknowledge that the use of the LBH Guest Wireless is not secure. We, therefore, cannot undertake to guarantee the security or integrity of any personal data transferred by you or to you using the LBH Guest Wireless or the security of any device used within our LBH Guest Wireless.
  5. It is your responsibility to safeguard your personal information when using LBH Guest Wireless. Online banking or financial transactions are carried out at your own risk. Emails are easy to intercept and there is no guarantee of their privacy, so do not send confidential data. The council will not be liable to you for the content or security of personal information that you send or receive through our LBH Guest Wireless. 
  6. The council is not liable to you for any accidental loss or destruction of or unauthorised access to, any personal information that you transmit using our LBH Guest Wireless or for any claim, loss, injury or damages from the use of LBH Guest Wireless, including but not limited to breach of copyright.
  7. You understand that information on the internet is protected by copyright and that you are responsible for observing the conditions of copyright on each site that you visit. 
  8. The council may impose usage or LBH Guest Wireless limits, suspend the LBH Guest Wireless, or block certain kinds of usage, to protect, and to be fair to, other users. Network speed will vary based on the specification of your device, configuration, compression and network congestion.
  9. Public wifi provided by the council uses filtering and antivirus software. Filtering software is in place to screen out inappropriate, offensive and/or illegal material and activity may be monitored. The council reserves the right to block sites considered to be inappropriate or identified as a potential risk to users or to the network. However, the council cannot guarantee that all such material will be identified and blocked. Adults should be aware of this and take the relevant precautions to monitor access when allowing children in their care to use the LBH Guest Wireless.   
  10. We cannot guarantee or promise that the LBH Guest Wireless will always be available, or that the LBH Guest Wireless will be fault free or fit for any particular use or requirement. We may occasionally have to interrupt the LBH Guest Wireless or change the technical specification of the LBH Guest Wireless for maintenance reasons, for upgrades or because of an emergency, or where otherwise reasonably required. We are not responsible for data, messages, or web pages that may stop working or for any information that may be lost because of interruptions or performance issues with our LBH Guest Wireless. 
  11. We accept no responsibility for the availability, content, quality or accuracy of information accessed through the LBH Guest Wireless. Each user of the LBH Guest Wireless is responsible for assessing this for themselves.
  12. We have no control over the content of sites accessed through the LBH Guest Wireless and we will not be liable to you if you use such sites. Each site you visit should have their own terms and conditions and usage policies. Please check their terms and conditions and policies before you use any website and make sure you have the right to use the site. 
  13. These terms of conditions should be read in conjunction with the library guidelines and information when accessing LBH Guest Wireless via the library facilities in the borough of Hillingdon. 
  14. Employees of the council cannot provide IT support to help you to configure your device to access LBH Guest Wireless or in connection or arising from LBH Guest Wireless.  
  15. Employees of the council must adhere to these terms and conditions and the council's policies, including the 'ICT acceptable usage policy'.  

Children and young people

  1. LBH Guest Wireless is not accessible to anyone under the age of 11 years old.
  2. If you are between 11 and 13 years old, you confirm that you have obtained your parent's or guardian consent before using the LBH Guest Wireless and you agree to use the LBH Guest Wireless in accordance with these terms and conditions. Where you are a parent or guardian consenting to the use of the LBH Guest Wireless, you agree to supervise their use (where possible) and assume all associated risks and all liabilities arising from their use of the LBH Guest Wireless. 

Restrictions on use / prohibited uses  

  1. The use of LBH Guest Wireless for illegal or unauthorised activities is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:  
  • accessing, viewing, displaying or distribution of material considered obscene, offensive, abusive, defamatory and/or illegal whether by text, images and/or sounds. This includes (but is not an exhaustive list) the sending of emails and text messages which could be considered racist, obscene, offensive, threatening and/or abusive
  • accessing, viewing or distributing material of a pornographic, violent, racially or religiously offensive nature or other inappropriate material (which is determined as such by the council)  
  • promoting racism, bigotry, hatred or harm to any group or individual
  • access to or distribution of copyrighted material or content, violating copyright or software licence agreements or engaging in any activity which may result in intellectual property rights violations
  • taking part in illegal activities and engaging in any activity in violation of the law
  • sending spam, or unsolicited bulk emails, or to carry out denial of service or any other malicious attacks
  • gaining or attempt to gain unauthorised access to computer systems, accounts or networks belonging to the council or external parties
  • in a way that could damage, disable, overburden, impair or compromise our systems or security or interfere with other users of the LBH Guest Wireless
  • to knowingly send, receive, upload, download or use any material which is abusive, indecent, defamatory, obscene or menacing, may contain viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful
  • transfer of technology, software, or other materials in violation of applicable export laws and regulations and/or engaging in export control violations
  • to create false identities, engage in fraudulent activities or misrepresent themselves in online media, blogs and chatrooms
  • to send unsolicited advertising or promotional material.
  1. The council reserves the right to refuse, suspend or terminate LBH Guest Wireless access to any individual in breach of these terms and conditions of use and any policy referred to within.
  2. The council may take legal action and/or engage with crime enforcement agencies, such as the police and seek reimbursement of all costs resulting from the breach.      
  3. The council may process and disclose your personal data to our employees, our wifi partners (and their staff) who help us provide the LBH Guest Wireless to you, government bodies and law enforcement agencies in connection with any investigations to help prevent or detect unlawful activity. We may also need to do this to respond to legal or regulatory requests, other third parties in connection with possible legal proceedings and/or other third parties in emergency situations .

Termination

  1. The council can refuse, suspend and terminate your access to and use of LBH Guest Wireless, without notice, where you have breached any of the terms of conditions of use or where you have behaved in an unlawful manner, or have used LBH Guest Wireless for any unlawful purpose, or in any manner inconsistent with these terms and conditions, or acted fraudulently or maliciously.  
  2. The council may also change, suspend, withdraw or change all or any aspect of the LBH Guest Wireless at any time and for any reason without notice.     

Limitation of liability/disclaimer   

  1. The LBH Guest Wireless is provided to you on an "as is" and "as available" basis and unless the law requires it, we will not be liable to you in any way in respect of the LBH Guest Wireless, your use of the LBH Guest Wireless and any content or data obtained or downloaded from it.
  2. The council and our affiliates shall not be liable to you for any loss, damage or injury whatsoever, direct or indirect, even if foreseeable (whether in contract, tort, negligence or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with using the LBH Guest Wireless. This includes the loss of or damage to personal computer equipment on council premises.   
  3. The council gives no warranties, promises and/or representations of any kind, expressed or implied, are given with respect to the LBH Guest Wireless, including without limitation that: (i) the LBH Guest Wireless functions will be uninterrupted or free of errors or omissions; (ii) the defects will be corrected; (iii) the LBH Guest Wireless will continue to be available; (iv) the LBH Guest Wireless is virus free or (v) the LBH Guest Wireless  is compatible with your computer systems, software or hardware.
  4. The council shall not be liable for any loss or damage that occurs as a result of any virus, including without limitation any distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other materials. 
  5. The council are not liable to you for any accidental loss or destruction of, or unauthorised access to, any personal information that you transmit using our LBH Guest Wireless.   
  6. The use of LBH Guest Wireless and entering websites or their content is entirely at your own risk. The council assumes no responsibility or liability for:
  • the safety of equipment, software configurations, security, data or any loss, damage or injury resulting from its use
  • any information, data or documents lost, damaged or unavailable due to technical or any other difficulties
  • any action or behaviour carried out via email, chat rooms or other sites
  • any disclosure of personal and/or private information including credit and debit cards, and any other financial or non-financial account information
  • any fraudulent behaviour resulting from the use of LBH Guest Wireless.        

Disputes

  1. These terms and conditions and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with the service or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
  2. These terms and conditions do not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
  3. Each of the provisions of these terms and conditions operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
  4. If the council delays in enforcing their rights and remedies under these terms and conditions, the council can still enforce them later.
Page last updated: 19 Dec 2023