Link Policy

The Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG) complies with the State Website Linking and Privacy Policy. TBPG encourages organizations that link to this website to comply with the provisions of the State Website Linking and Privacy Policy, especially regarding protection of the privacy rights of individuals, and to make reasonable efforts to provide accessible sites.

Disclaimer

This website provides links to other websites, both public and private, for informational purposes. TBPG makes no representations, guarantees, or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, or suitability for any purpose of the information provided via third-party website links. TBPG specifically disclaims any and all liability and responsibility for any claims or damage that may arise as a result of TBPG providing the website or the information it contains, or that may arise in any way with respect to any websites maintained by third parties and linked to the TBPG site. TBPG makes no effort to independently verify, and does not exert editorial control over information on pages outside the TBPG website. TBPG advises site visitors to read the privacy policies of any third-party sites accessed through this site.

TBPG does not endorse any of the products, vendors, consultants, or documentation referenced in this website. Nor does it endorse any content, viewpoint, accuracy, opinions, policies, products, services, or accessibility of any third-party website. Any mention of vendors, products, or services for informational purposes only.

Links to TBPG

Advance permission to link to TBPG’s website(s) is not necessary. However, be aware that TBPG subpages may change at any time without notice. Entities and individuals linking to TBPG must continuously verify links to our subpages.

Entities and individuals linking to TBPG shall not capture TBPG pages within frames, present TBPG content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent TBPG content.  Furthermore, they shall not misinform users about the origin or ownership of TBPG content. Certain information on TBPG may be trademarked, service-marked, or otherwise protected as intellectual property. Protected intellectual property must be used in accordance with state and federal laws and must reflect the proper ownership of the intellectual property.

Any link to the TBPG site should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to TBPG unencumbered.

The “Back” button should return the visitor to original site if the visitor wishes to back out.

Links from TBPG

This section outlines the criteria and requirements that external websites must meet to have a link on the TBPG website. It also details how links are accepted and removed from the TBPG website.

TBPG reserves the right to link to external websites that it feels would provide a service or otherwise be of value to constituents.

Acceptance Criteria

TBPG links to federal, state, and local governments that provide information and services that benefit Texas citizens, Texas local government, and Texas state agencies. At its discretion, TBPG will consider link requests to non-governmental websites that contain information and/or services that further the purpose of TBPG, relevant industry-related associations and timely and relevant information.

The TBPG website is not a forum for public communication and debate. The criteria outlined in this section have been established to ensure that the TBPG website remains a non-public forum.

Every link request must undergo review to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the purpose of TBPG. Links are approved for TBPG based on the following criteria:

1. The external website corresponds with the purpose of TBPG
2. The site’s content is appropriate with respect to the purpose of TBPG and the site is not:
   1. Site that exhibits hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, libelous or otherwise defamatory content;
   2. Site that advocates or promotes the use of alcohol or tobacco;
   3. Site belonging to or supporting a political affiliation; or
   4. Site that furthers the agenda of a political organization or candidate running for office.

TBPG reserves the right to deny links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the purpose of TBPG, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above in numbered sections or set out below in the section on Conditions for Link Maintenance on TBPG.

Review Process

Please e-mail link requests to TBPG’s Operations Manager. Each link request should address how the site meets the two acceptance criteria outlined above.

The link request will be reviewed against the acceptance criteria set forth above. The decision of TBPG is final as to whether the requesting site may have a link from TBPG.

Approved sites must comply with the following conditions for link maintenance and may be required to enter into a written linking agreement with TBPG.

Conditions for Link Maintenance on TBPG

To give superior customer service to citizens and businesses accessing governmental information and services through TBPG, we require that external websites linked from TBPG meet the following conditions in order to maintain a link on TBPG:

1. The linked site must provide the user with access to an e-mail address and/or a customer service telephone number so that users may contact the site if there are problems with format, accuracy, timeliness, or payment processing.
2. Linked sites should not excessively burden the TBPG customer support system. If the site excessively burdens the TBPG customer support system, TBPG has discretion to take the linked site off the TBPG website.
3. Linked sites must have a privacy and security policy accessible from their home page informing the user of what information is collected, how it is collected, and how it is use. TBPG encourages linked sites to comply with industry-accepted accessibility standards to ensure that persons with disabilities may access these site.
4. Linked sites must notify TBPG at the e-mail address provided below if the site to which TBPG links becomes inaccurate or inactive.

Removal Process

TBPG reserves the right to remove links if it determines that a website contains misleading or unsubstantiated claims, conflicts with the purpose of TBPG, or does not meet one or more of the criteria set forth above in the Acceptance Criteria section or set out above in the Conditions for Link Maintenance on TBPG section.

Links from TBPG will be reviewed regularly and may be removed for the following reasons:

1. The link no longer points to the original information or resource to which it was intended to point;
2. The website pointed to by the link contains inaccurate or misleading information or has changed such that it is no longer in compliance with the accepted criteria;
3. The website pointed to by the link violates the conditions for link maintenance;
4. Access to the information has become difficult due to non-standard formatting, lengthy download times, or intrusive advertising;
5. The link is permanently unreachable or remains unavailable for a lengthy period; and
6. The external website fails to comply with the written linking agreement, if any.
7. The decision of the TBPG is final as to whether a link is to be removed from TBPG.

State Agency Link and Privacy Policy

Agencies, including TBPG, are required to post a link to the State Agency Link and Privacy Policy.