SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) maintains social media accounts to provide updates on MEDC, its programs and activities, and to promote the state of Michigan as the ideal location to live, work, visit, start a business and build a future.

MEDC welcomes comments and discussion on content shared via official MEDC social media accounts but encourages civil, respectful engagement that adheres with these Community Guidelines. To promote civil discourse, comments and content posted to official MEDC social media accounts is monitored and reviewed by MEDC. MEDC reserves the right to remove or hide user generated content or comments if they violate the below criteria:

• The use of any profanity, obscene, threatening, discriminatory or harassing language
• Personal attacks on individuals or groups, including language which targets racial, ethnic, or religious groups, gender, sexual orientation, or disability status
• Disclosure of information which is confidential by law or regulation
• Comments advocating for illegal activity or conduct
• Posts violating copyrights or trademarks
• Advertisement or promotion of commercial products, services, entities or individuals
• Endorsement or opposition of any person campaigning for election to a political office or promoting or opposing any ballot proposition.
• "Spam" or other off-topic comments that are generated or appear to have been generated by "social bots" (i.e., content posted by automated software or "bots")
• “Trolling”, or deliberately posting inflammatory, or inappropriate comments or content for the purpose of upsetting other users and provoking an emotional response or disrupting on-topic discussion.
• Information that mat compromise the safety or security of the public, including public systems, and infrastructure.
• Information that may compromise the safety or security of the state, including state employees.

USER-GENERATED CONTENT: TERMS AND CONDITIONS

You, the “User”, may provide content to the MEDC (“User-Generated Content”). By providing User-Generated Content to the MEDC, which may include agreeing to allow MEDC to share the User-Generated Content with and for the brands of Pure Michigan, You Can in Michigan, and Michigan Business, you warrant that (a) you are the owner of such User-Generated Content or have been granted all the rights necessary from the owner to submit such User-Generated Content to the MEDC for use and sharing by the MEDC, and (b) the use and sharing of such User-Generated Content by the MEDC will not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of or otherwise violate the rights of any third party. By submitting User-Generated Content you expressly grant to the MEDC (or warrant that the owner of the User-Generated Content has granted to the MEDC) a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to: use, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, create derivative works of, transfer, or sell such User-Generated Content to or on any other MEDC-related website or online service without your prior written consent. Further, you agree that you will not use, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, create derivative works of, transfer or sell the same or substantially similar User-Generated Content without the MEDC’s prior written consent.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA)

All content posted on MEDC and official state of Michigan social media pages is public record.

• MEDC social media posts may include content or hypertext links to information created and maintained by other public or private sources. When viewing content or a link outside of MEDC’s domain, users are subject to security and privacy policies of the host website.
• MEDC is not responsible for, nor can it control, content on, or the design of, third-party sites.
• Comments and content posted by the public on MEDC social media sites do not reflect the opinions or position of MEDC.
• MEDC is not responsible for loss of sensitive personal identifying information that is voluntarily provided and posted by the public on MEDC’s social media sites.

Questions about the MEDC's Community Guidelines and Customer Use Policy should be submitted via our contact form here: https://test.michiganbusiness.org/contact-medc/

Submission of any content to any MEDC social media site, post, or advertisement, including User-Generated Content, is subject to the terms and conditions found below.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

LEGAL INFORMATION

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (“MEDC”) maintains this website to give public access to MEDC information. This service is continually under development. While we try to keep the information timely and accurate, your reliance on the information is at your sole risk. The MEDC reserves the right, in its sole discretion and without any obligation, to make improvements to; revise, delete or amend; or correct any error or omissions related to the information contained on this website.

DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY

Neither the MEDC, members of its Executive Committee, members of its Board of Directors, nor any of its employees or agents shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described or contained within the website and assumes no responsibility for anyone's use of the information. In no event shall the MEDC, members of its Executive Committee, members of its corporate Board of Directors, or its employees or agents be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of the information contained on this website. The user agrees to hold the MEDC, members of its Executive Committee, members of its Board of Directors, and its employees or agents harmless from and against any damage, loss, or liability arising from any use of the information contained on this website.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

All information contained on this website is provided “as is.” All warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from contamination from computer viruses, freedom from uninterrupted and error free service, and non-infringement of proprietary rights are disclaimed.

DISCLAIMER FOR EXTERNAL LINKS

Certain links on the website lead to resources located on servers or websites maintained by third parties over whom we have no control. Accordingly, we accept no responsibility or liability for any of the material contained on those servers or the accuracy or legality of information contained on other websites. 

Links to other websites do not constitute an endorsement from the MEDC. These links are provided as an information service only. It is the responsibility of the user to evaluate the content and usefulness of information obtained from other websites. 

The MEDC will decide whether to grant requests for MEDC website links. 

INFORMATION & MATERIALS PROVIDED TO THE MEDC

The MEDC does not claim ownership of the information or materials you provide, post, upload, input or submit to the website (“Submissions”), unless otherwise provided under a written agreement with the MEDC or other terms and conditions included on this website. In any event, by providing, posting, uploading, inputting, or submitting your Submissions, you are granting the MEDC permission to use your Submissions in connection with its operations including, without limitation, the rights to: copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your Submissions. 

No compensation will be paid for the use of your Submissions, as provided herein. The MEDC is under no obligation to post or use any Submissions you may provide and may remove any Submissions at any time in its sole discretion. 

By posting, uploading, inputting, providing or submitting your Submissions you warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to your Submissions as described herein including, but not limited to, all the rights necessary for you to provide, post, upload, input or submit the Submissions. 

As a public body, the MEDC is subject to the requirements under the Freedom of Information Act; therefore, it is required to maintain many documents as public records. These records are generally open to the public for inspection. You should assume that your Submissions are non-confidential and are open to public inspection.

ACCURACY OF DATA

The information contained on this website may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes may be made to the information contained on this website. If you have obtained information from the MEDC from a source other than the MEDC, be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution.

NO PROFESSIONAL ADVICE

Information received via the MEDC website and servers should not be relied upon for personal, legal or financial decisions and you should consult an appropriate professional for specific advice tailored to your situation.

COPYRIGHTS

No copyrighted material may be distributed, downloaded, modified, reused, copied, reproduced, transferred, displayed, reposted, transmitted, disseminated, sold, published, broadcast or circulated or otherwise used except as expressly stated either in such materials or in this notice without the express written permission of the MEDC.

MEDC materials may be copied and distributed for personal, noncommercial, informational purposes only. Copied materials must remain intact and include the following notice in a clearly visible position: “Copyright © 2024 Michigan Economic Development Corporation.” This permission to copy and distribute materials does not extend to materials owned by other content providers that appear on the MEDC website.

Reproduction, copying, or redistribution for commercial purposes of any materials on the MEDC website is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the MEDC. If you wish to request permission to use materials in a manner otherwise prohibited by the terms of this section, please contact the appropriate MEDC staff person as indicated below:

• Logo Request Information and Process

TRADEMARK INFORMATION

The MEDC owns certain registered service marks and displays these service marks on its websites. Use of any of the service marks is prohibited, unless permitted by a written agreement with the MEDC.

OTHER

In the event of a conflict between this legal information and specific terms and conditions contained within a separate document, the specific terms and conditions shall control.

Any dispute regarding the use of the MEDC’s website and its privacy and use policies shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Michigan (without regard to conflict of law principles). All legal proceedings arising out of or in connection with this Terms of Use shall be brought solely in state or federal court located in Ingham County, Michigan. The user expressly submits to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of said courts and consents to extra-territorial service of process. 

Should any part of these Terms and Conditions be held invalid or unenforceable by a court, that portion shall be construed consistent with the applicable law and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.

PRIVACY POLICY

1. Introduction  

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (“MEDC”) has created this Privacy Policy to demonstrate its commitment to user privacy and online data security, and to communicate its online information gathering, use and dissemination practices for users of the MEDC websites (the “MEDC websites”). Please take the time to read and understand our Privacy Policy so that you can understand how we treat your personal information.

MEDC reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy at any time in its sole discretion. MEDC will post any changes to the Privacy Policy. You are responsible for regularly reviewing this Privacy Policy and all such changes. Continued use of the MEDC websites after any such changes have been posted shall constitute your agreement to such changes. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and subject to the terms of MEDC's “Legal Information” for the websites, which can be found at www.michigan.org and www.michiganbusiness.org.

2. Information Collected  

a. Information Automatically Collected  

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the MEDC websites, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. This information may include, but is not limited to, your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used by the MEDC for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the MEDC websites. To enhance your experience on the MEDC websites, the MEDC uses a standard feature found in browser software called a “cookie.” Cookies are small files that your web browser places on your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. By showing how and when visitors use the MEDC websites, cookies help the MEDC track user trends and patterns. Cookies also prevent you from having to re-enter your preferences on certain areas of the MEDC websites when you have entered preference information before. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies.

b. Information You Provide to Us  

If you choose to provide us with personal information either while on the MEDC websites, or in responding via email or completing a survey in connection with a feature provided on the MEDC websites, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us provide you with information that you request. MEDC does not capture any such personal information without your knowledge or consent. This information may include demographics, first name and email address. Under no circumstances will the MEDC request your social security number or bank account information when visiting the MEDC websites.

Under certain circumstances (e.g. event registrations), you may be asked to provide your credit/debit card number. All transactions involving your credit/debit card number are conducted using a (SSL) Secure Socket Layer connection. This connection provides increased security to the information as it is transmitted to our websites. We will only use your credit/debit card number for the processing of our payment.

With your permission, we may share your personal information for marketing and advertising purposes, including other Travel Michigan state tourism industry partners. In no event will we release your credit/debit card number. If you register for an event, the information you provide in your registration will be shared with the coordinator for that event.

Except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, any information you submit will not be shared with, disclosed or distributed to third parties, except that MEDC may disclose your personal information when required to do so by law, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena, in response to a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request, when requested by a law enforcement agency and/or when MEDC has reason to believe that someone is causing injury to or interference with the rights or property of another.

3. MEDC's Protection and Use of Your Personal Information  

Except as otherwise provided in this Privacy Policy, if you choose to provide MEDC with personal information, MEDC will only use that personal information within its organization to respond to your specific request or email, and to inform you of various programs, activities or services. MEDC will store this personal information in its secure database, and will take appropriate measures to safeguard personal information against unauthorized disclosure or use.

4. Opt-Out Policy  

You have the option to opt out of being contacted by or receiving information from MEDC, its sponsors, affiliates and/or partners, and to choose how MEDC uses your personal information. You may also review, update and correct your personal information. You may exercise these options by sending an email with your request to [email protected].

5. Exceptions to Protection of Personal Information  

MEDC's obligations under this Privacy Policy do not apply to any information or data that: (a) is not identifiable as yours; (b) is or becomes entirely in the public domain; (c) was known to the MEDC prior to its access to the information or data; (d) received lawfully from a third party through no breach of any obligation of confidentiality owed to you; and/or (e) created by MEDC independently of its access to, or use of, your personal information.

6. Security  

MEDC has put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data security and correctly use the information we collect online.

7. Links to Other Sites  

The MEDC websites have links to other websites. Once you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new website.

8. Additional Information  

Questions regarding this Privacy Policy or the practices of the MEDC websites should be directed to MEDC by emailing such questions to [email protected].