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Terms of Use and Privacy Statement

 

The Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) Directory of Experts is an online platform designed to link experts, practitioners, and organizations working in the Agric fraternity with one another. The platform also allows for approved organizations to post notifications about events, research, consultancies, grants, and other news related to the development of Agriculture in Africa.

As a condition of use for the Directory of Experts, you agree to the following terms and conditions. You will be asked to confirm your consent when creating a profile, sending a response to an endorsement, and/or using the Directory of Experts to contact a listed AR4D Expert. Your continued use of the Directory of Experts is considered consent to continue to be bound by this Terms of Use and Privacy Statement. These terms and conditions explain how the Directory of Experts functions and how personal information that is submitted by AR4D Experts to the Directory of Experts is administered by the International Development Research Centre (AR4D), which houses the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems. The Directory of Experts is developed by the Centre of Excellence and also governed by the terms of use for the website of the Centre of Excellence. For those terms of use, please see https://AR4Dsystems.ca/terms-use

Importantly, AR4D respects the privacy concerns of users of the Directory of Experts website (directoryAR4D.org), and all personal information held by AR4D is protected under Canada’s Privacy Act. Personal Information collected by the Directory of Experts is kept in the following Personal Information Bank: Centre of Excellence for AR4D systems - Directory of Experts (AR4D PPU 001).

If you don't agree with the way your personal information is handled by AR4D, please contact the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems at [email protected].. 

Definitions

For the purposes of the Terms of Use and Privacy Statement:

·        “AR4D Experts” shall mean persons who submit personal information to be included as a member of the Directory of Experts. 

·        “Endorser” means an individual that we contact to verify certain profile information about someone who is applying for membership in the Directory of Experts. 

·        “Member” means a AR4D Expert or AR4D Organization. 

·        “Personal information” is information which can be used to identify an individual, including biographical information, employment history, and contact information.

·        A “User” shall mean any person that has access to the internet and browses the Directory of Experts for expertise and information about organizations or notifications. 
 

Terms of Use

All Users

Use of the Directory of Experts in any capacity constitutes acceptance of these Terms of Use. Any member of the public with access to the internet may browse the Directory of Experts. Anyone may access and use the Directory of Experts as made available, provided they comply with these Terms of Use and applicable laws. The information on this site is provided solely for the purposes of linking experts, practitioners, and organizations working in civil registration and vital statistics systems with each other, and for organizations to post notifications on relevant information and news relating to development and governance of civil registration, identity management, and vital statistics systems. Any other use is prohibited.

AR4D reserves the right to change, suspend, or discontinue the Directory of Experts at any time. We will aim to provide all Members with advance notice of any suspension or discontinuation of the Directory of Experts.

Members of the Directory

There are two types of membership in the Directory of Experts: AR4D Experts and AR4D Organizations. All applications for membership in the Directory of Experts are vetted against a standard set of criteria according to the sector the applicant applies to. Approved organizations can create accounts, post to the news alerts page, and post notifications to Members.

If you create a member account, you are responsible for anything that happens through your account unless you close it or report misuse. 

You agree to only upload truthful information to your profile and that such information or images do not violate the law or any intellectual property rights. You further agree to use the service in a professional manner. 

Members can be contacted directly via a contact form on the relevant Member’s page that links directly to the email address provided by the Member. You agree that the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems may contact you for the purpose of: confirming your intention to create a profile in the Directory of Experts, notifying you of changes to the Directory of Experts, entering information on profiles, and/or providing links to posts. 

You further agree that any members of the public may contact you or your organization through the contact form function within the Directory of Experts. Messages will be sent to the e-mail you provide on the application form.  

Approved accounts can be edited at any time by Members through their account. Members can email the Centre at [email protected] to have their account deleted.

Limitation of liability and indemnity

The information provided in the Directory of Experts is provided as-is. Neither the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems, nor AR4D assume any responsibility for any contract terms negotiated or finalized between the Users of the Directory of Experts and the AR4D Experts and/or AR4D Organizations. Further, neither the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems nor AR4D assume any responsibility for the content or quality of information provided by any “AR4D Expert” or “AR4D Organization.” You are responsible for verifying any information collected through your use of the Directory of Experts before engaging with a AR4D Expert or AR4D Organization. 

Except as required by law, the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems, AR4D, their directors, officers, employees, contractors and agents, are not responsible for any claims, costs, or losses resulting from any reliance placed on the information contained on the Directory of Experts. This provision applies to any claim, regardless of whether the claim asserted is based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal grounds or theory.

All “AR4D Experts” and “AR4D Organizations” through use of the Directory of Experts, agree to indemnify and hold AR4D and the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems harmless from and against any and all damages, costs, and expenses (including court costs and reasonable legal fees) incurred by AR4D or the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems as a result of:

  1. their use of the Directory of Experts; or
  2. a violation of these Terms of Use by the AR4D Expert or AR4D Organization.

All “AR4D Experts” and “AR4D Organizations” further agree to defend and participate in the defense of any claim or suit alleging that AR4D or the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems has liability in this regard. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this obligation to indemnify and hold harmless the Centre does not apply to any damages, costs and expenses directly related to a breach of the Privacy Statement by AR4D. This section will survive termination of use of the Directory of Experts. 

Uploading your logo to the Directory of Experts

Members have the option to display an image within their profile (a “Profile Logo”). You need permission from your organization to upload and permit us to display your organization’s logo. By uploading a logo to the Directory of Experts, you hereby agree to the following:

·        You affirm that you have authority on behalf of your organization to grant the license and permission herein;

·        You hereby grant AR4D a worldwide, royalty-free, sub-licensable right to display the logo on your personal or organizational profile page in conjunction for the purpose of the Directory of Experts, as well as in any posts made to the news alerts page; and,

·        You hereby agree to hold harmless, indemnify, and defend AR4D, its directors, officers, employees, and agents against any claims, liabilities, losses, and/or damages that arise from the display of the Profile Logo in the Directory of Experts. This provision will survive the term of these Terms of Use.

AR4D reserves the right to decide, in its sole discretion, to remove any organizational logo at any time from the profile of a AR4D Expert or Organization with or without notice.

Posting information to the Directory of Experts

Organizational members may post information to the news alerts page. AR4D does not generally review the content posted to the site.

In posting links to the Directory of Experts, you agree to the following:

·        To only post material related to civil registration, vital statistics and identity management systems; 

·        Not to post any content which violates the rights of any third party; and 

·        Not to post any content which is illegal, indecent, defamatory, hateful, harmful, or violent. 

You understand and acknowledge that AR4D has no obligation to make posts available and may remove any posts in its sole discretion, without cause and without notice. Where appropriate, AR4D will notify a User before removing any content posted by them. 

AR4D reserves the right to remove a Member from the Directory of Experts immediately for violation of the above obligations, with or without notice to the Member. 

Privacy Statement

How the Directory of Experts uses and discloses your personal information:

Any individual with internet access can use the Directory of Experts and search through Members’ profiles. The type of information which is made public and the type of information that is only accessible by authorized AR4D staff is outlined in this document, which you should read carefully. 

The information fields marked as mandatory refer to information that is required to vet applications for membership to the Directory of Experts. Users will be able to see this information on the Expert’s or Organization’s profile. An Expert or Organization’s email address will not be displayed publicly, however an Expert or Organization may decide to post website and social media contact links on their public profile. 

In addition to the information listed below, which is made public or used for vetting, AR4D also collects year of birth and sex for statistical purposes. This will enable AR4D to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and whether membership is reflective of the AR4D systems sector. This information will be anonymized when used for statistical purposes and may be retained in anonymized form in accordance with Records Class - Inclusive Economies AR4D PB 025.

The operation of the Directory of Experts is supported by third party technology service providers. AR4D will only provide these third parties with such access to your personal information as is necessary to support the Directory of Experts. Service providers will manage your personal information in accordance with these Terms of Use and Privacy Statement

A.    Personal information related to and collected by AR4D Experts

If the account of an Expert is approved, some of their profile information becomes publicly accessible. An Expert applying to the system must complete all mandatory fields for their application to be vetted. In addition to the statistical purposes mentioned above, information will be collected for the purposes of vetting applicants and building their profile on the Directory of Experts. Information will only be made public once an Expert’s application has been approved.

Personal information collected from AR4D Experts

B. Personal information related to AR4D Organizations:

No personal information submitted by a staff member creating an organizational account will be disclosed publicly. Only authorized AR4D staff may review personal information submitted for the purpose of managing the Directory of Experts.

Public information displayed on organizational profiles will include:

·        Name of organization* 

·        Country*

·        Sector*

·        Type of institution*

·        Mandate of institution*

·        Logo*

Personal information collected from AR4D organizational representatives

c. Personal information related to Endorsers:

Certain personal information related to Endorsers will be collected from applicants. This information is used solely for vetting applicants to the Directory of Experts. 

Personal information related to Endorsers

Retention

Information submitted by AR4D Experts or AR4D Organization representatives will be housed by the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems until November 2020 unless otherwise notified. Should the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems decide to extend the lifespan of the Directory of Experts or transfer the directory to another partner organization, AR4D Experts and Organizations will be notified of this intention using the contact information that they provided at the time of submitting their information to the Directory of Experts. A AR4D Expert or AR4D Organization may also delete their profile at any time.

Information collected on unsuccessful applicants will be deleted 45 days after the individual is notified that their application was unsuccessful. All personal information related to an expert or organization will be deleted when an account is cancelled. 

The Centre of Excellence will email Members who have not logged into their account for six months to prompt them to login within three months. This is to prevent their account being automatically inactivated. The Member will be notified again if there is no activity after nine months, after which time the account will be deleted by AR4D. 

Endorsers may also request that their personal information be removed at any time. Otherwise, their information will be retained only in connection with a successful application. An Endorser’s information will be deleted from the platform if they do not log in to the Directory of Experts (whether to endorse or decline to endorse an applicant). An Endorser’s information will be deleted within the application if they log in to the Directory of Experts and decline to endorse an applicant. An Endorser’s personal information that is retained in connection with a successful application will be removed when the related Expert profile is removed. 

Access to and correction of personal information

You may request access to the personal information about you held by AR4D Expert Directory. Information on how to make a request may be accessed here: https://experts.faraafrica.org/sites/default/files/private/howto.pdf. If any personal information about you is incorrect, you may correct it directly through editing your profile. You may also make a request directly to the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems to correct the personal information by following the same steps as making a request for access. 

Approved accounts can be edited at any time by Members through their account. Members can email the Centre at [email protected] to have their account deleted.

Complaints

If you don't agree with the way your personal information was handled by the AR4D Expert Directory, please contact the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa at faraafrica.org.

Contact

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Centre of Excellence for AR4D Systems at [email protected].

 

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