Terms of Use
1. Introduction
Thank you for your interest in the Center for Humane Technology!
These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) cover your rights and obligations relating to your access and use of the CHT website (including
humanetech.com) and all related features, pages and sub-domains (collectively, the “Website”). All references to “we”, “us”, “our”, “or “CHT” refer to Center for Humane Technology, a California nonprofit corporation. All references to “you”, “your”, or “user” refers to the user of the Website. In addition to these Terms, please review the
CHT Privacy Policy, which describes our practices related to collection and use of your information. These Terms apply to our Privacy Policy as well, and both these Terms and our Privacy Policy comply with the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). By using the Website, you represent and agree that you have read, understand, and agree to be bound by both these Terms and our Privacy Policy as binding agreements. Further, you agree that these Terms and our Privacy Policy apply to your past use, if any, of the Website prior to the Effective Date.CHT provides free information and hosts various informational services in furtherance of its mission to drive a comprehensive shift toward humane technology that supports humanity’s well-being, democracy, and shared information environment.
PLEASE CAREFULLY READ THESE TERMS, AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, INCLUDING LIMITATION OF OUR LIABILITY AND BINDING ARBITRATION. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE WEBSITE. Do not hesitate to contact us at
[email protected] if you have any questions or want to discuss either of these important documents.
2. Age Policy; Permitted Users
We do not intend that the Website be used by anyone under 18 years old. If we learn or have reason to suspect that a user is under 18 years of age, we will promptly delete any personally identifiable information transmitted to us by that user and prevent that user from using our Website. Further, you represent and warrant that your use of the Website does not and will not conflict with any pre-existing obligation in conflict or in any way inconsistent with the provisions of these Terms.
3. Information We Make Available to You
We may provide you with various information in furtherance of your use of the Website. Our intention in doing so is to be helpful and to make the Website more useful to you. However, you agree that all information and suggestions that we provide to you through the Website is strictly for informational purposes and shall not be construed or relied upon in any way. You agree that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, and as detailed below in the “Limitation of Liability” section of these Terms, we will not incur any liability at all whatsoever in the event that your reliance on any information provided by us results in harm or damage to you or your property.
4. Information You Provide to Us
You may provide us with information about yourself through the Website or by giving us access to information collected by third parties (for example, you may provide us with your name and email address in order to receive more information about CHT and its work). The information collected by us is detailed in our Privacy Policy. By providing this information and content, you grant us the right to use the information and content for any purpose that is in furtherance of providing you the Website, as described in these Terms and our Privacy Policy. While we do not claim ownership over any such information and content that you provide, you agree that we have the right to use such information and content in furtherance of providing you the Website. Further, by providing us with information and content through the Website, you represent and warrant that you own, or have the full legal authority to distribute, all information that you provide through the Website.
In addition, we should not be relied upon as a means to store your data or information and we assume no responsibility for such activities.
5. Prohibited, illegal, and inappropriate content
As part of the functionality of the Website, you may provide us with information about you. You also agree not to post or make available any inappropriate content on the Website or on any platform through which the Website hosts services such as virtual conversations, including, but not limited to, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or threatening content; content that advocates or encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national, or foreign law or regulation; content that is misleading or not true; or advertise or otherwise solicits funds for goods or services. If you post prohibited, illegal, or inappropriate content, we may remove such content from our servers, and we may suspend or terminate your account, and we reserve the right to investigate, and seek applicable remedies for, violations of applicable law to the fullest extent of the law.
6. Digital Millennium Copyright Act
We value your intellectual property rights. As such, we reserve the right to suspend and/or terminate any user’s account who is found to have infringed on the intellectual property rights of users, CHT, or third parties, or who violated any laws related to intellectual property. In the event that you have a good faith belief that your intellectual property rights or the rights of someone else have been violated on our Website, and you want us to delete, edit, or disable the material in question, you must provide us with all of the following information (as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998): (a) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works; (c) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringed or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material; (d) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and if available, an electronic mail address at which you may be contacted; (e) a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (f) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. For this notification to be effective, you must provide it to our designated agent at:
Copyright Agent
Center for Humane Technology
77 Van Ness Avenue 101-1601
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.320.8554
[email protected]
To be effective, the notification must be a written communication that includes the following:
- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
- Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
- Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
- Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;
- A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and
- A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
7. Your Use of Others' Intellectual Property
Although you may provide information and content to CHT as part of your use of the Website, you agree to be respectful of others’ intellectual property rights. You may not upload, transmit, or otherwise distribute any information or content in violation of intellectual property laws or proprietary rights of any third parties. If you do not respect a third party’s intellectual property or proprietary rights, you are solely responsible for any violations of law. In addition, you are solely responsible for infringement of third party rights caused by any information that is generated from your account.
8. Third Party Sites and Services
Our Website may be integrated with services provided by third parties as part of the functionality of the Website. You understand that, except as required by GDPR, we do not have control over third parties and that such third parties are not agents of CHT. As such, we make no guarantees about, and assume no responsibility for, the information or services provided by third parties, except to the extent required by GDPR. You acknowledge and agree that we make no representation or warranty about, and do not endorse, third party’s products or services or the information provided by third parties, whether through the Website or otherwise. Accordingly, we are not responsible for your use of any third-party product or service or any harm or losses arising from or relating to your use of any third-party products or services, except to the extent required by GDPR. You should contact the third party with any questions about their products and services. CHT hereby disclaims and you hereby discharge, waive and release CHT and its licensors and suppliers from any past, present, and future claims, liabilities, and damages, known or unknown, arising out of or relating to your interactions with such third parties and their products and services.
For California residents, IN CONNECTION WITH THE FOREGOING, YOU HEREBY WAIVE CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE SECTION 1542, WHICH STATES: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.” YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY SIMILAR PROVISION IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION.
Additionally, we may provide links to third-party websites and businesses. You acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the accuracy, content, or functionality of services provided on or by such third-party websites or businesses, and we do not endorse, nor assume any liability related to your use of, such websites or businesses in any way.
9. Updates to the Website
CHT may from time to time develop patches, bug fixes, updates, upgrades and other modifications to improve the performance of the Website (“Updates”). These may be automatically installed without providing any additional notice or receiving any additional consent, except to the extent required by GDPR. If you do not want such Updates, your remedy is to stop using the Website. Your continued use of the Website is your agreement to these Terms with respect to the Website.
10. Proper Use of the Website
You shall not violate or attempt to violate any security features of the Website, including, without limitation, (a) accessing content or data not intended for you, or logging onto a server or account that you are not authorized to access; (b) attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Website, or any associated system or network, or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (c) interfering or attempting to interfere with service to any user, host, or network, including, without limitation, by means of submitting a virus to the Website, overloading, “flooding,” “spamming,” “mail bombing,” “crashing,” or undertaking similar activities; and (d) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or in any posting using the Website.
11. Ownership of the Service
You may choose to, or we may invite you to submit comments, suggestions, or ideas about the Website and CHT’s content, including how to improve the Website (“Feedback”). By submitting any Feedback, you agree that your submissions are voluntary, gratuitous, unsolicited, and without restriction and will not place us under any fiduciary or other obligation. We may use, copy, modify, publish, or redistribute the submission and its contents for any purpose and in any way without any compensation to you. You also agree that we do not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to us, developed by its employees, or obtained from other sources.
12. Our Intellectual Property
The software, including all files and images contained in the Website, and accompanying data, as well as all data provided by users and/or collected by us through the Website (collectively “Our IP”) are the property of CHT or are used with permission from third parties. As part of these Terms, we grant you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, and revocable license to use Our IP solely for the purposes for which it is intended. And, specifically, you may not sell, redistribute, download, export, or reproduce Our IP in any way. You also may not decompile, reverse-engineer, disassemble, or otherwise convert Our IP without our permission. This Section does not apply to any component of Our IP that may be offered under an open source license.
13. Our Assumption of Risk
CHT MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED (SEE BELOW), AS TO THE CONTENT OR OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.
14. Disclaimer of Warranties; "As Is"
WE ARE MAKING THE WEBSITE AVAILABLE “AS IS” AND, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT. YOU ASSUME THE RISK OF ANY AND ALL DAMAGE OR LOSS FROM USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.
15. Limitation of Liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS, OR LOST DATA, REGARDLESS OF THE FORESEEABILITY OF THOSE DAMAGES) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: ANY CLAIM RELATED TO PERSONAL OR BODILY INJURY IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE WEBSITE; ANY HARM OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY, OR OTHERWISE RELATED TO, YOUR RELIANCE ON INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE WEBSITE; ANY LOSS OR UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF DATA; ANY HARM OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY, OR OTHERWISE RELATED TO, YOUR USE OF OR INTERACTION WITH ANY SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH THE WEBSITE; AND ANY VIOLATIONS OF APPLICABLE LAWS, RULES, REGULATIONS, AND OTHER AGREEMENTS. THIS LIMITATION SHALL APPLY REGARDLESS OF THE LEGAL THEORY OR FORM OF ACTION.
IN NO EVENT WILL OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS AND YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE EXCEED ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00).
THE LIMITATIONS OF DAMAGES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN YOU AND US. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF DAMAGES OR CAUSES OF ACTION, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
16. Written Communications
When you communicate with CHT electronically by sending an email to CHT, subscribing to an email list, registering for a CHT-sponsored event, applying for a grant, or otherwise registering on a CHT site, you consent to receiving electronic communications from CHT. CHT may communicate with you by email, social media or by posting notices on the Site. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that you provide electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
17. Indemnification
In the event that any third party, including without limitation another user, brings a claim against us related to your actions, content, information, or any other use of the Website by you, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold us and our agents harmless from and against any and all third-party claims, including privacy violations, losses, liability, damages, and/or costs (including reasonable attorney fees and costs) relating to such claim. We will notify you promptly of any such claim and will provide you with reasonable assistance, at your expense, in defending any such claim, provided, however, that our failure to so notify you shall not relieve you of your indemnity obligations, but instead shall reduce those obligations by the amount of damages or increased costs and expenses attributable to our failure to give notice. We reserve the right to approve counsel retained by you, to take control of the defense (at our expense) of any claim for which indemnity is required, and to participate in the defense of any claim (at our expense) for which indemnity is required. You may not settle any claim without our prior consent.
18. Dispute Resolution
You agree to resolve any dispute, claim, or controversy with CHT arising out of or relating to your use of the Website in the following manner. First, we both agree to attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally by contacting each other by email (you can email us at
[email protected]). Second, if the dispute is not resolved through informal resolution, we both agree to attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute through mediation administered by JAMS, which shall take place in San Francisco, CA, and the costs of which shall be divided equally between you and CHT. Third, if the dispute is not resolved through informal resolution and mediation, we both agree to participate in binding arbitration administered by JAMS, which shall take place in San Francisco, CA.
Either you or we may bring a lawsuit solely for injunctive relief without first engaging in the dispute resolution process described above.
We both agree that, in the event of arbitration, or in the event of a lawsuit as permitted by this Section or otherwise, the prevailing party shall be entitled to costs and fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees). Arbitration pursuant to this Section shall be confidential, and neither you, nor CHT, nor the arbitrator may disclose the existence, content or results of any arbitration, except as may be required by law or for purposes of enforcement or appeal of the arbitration award. Judgment on any arbitration award may be entered in any court having proper jurisdiction. There shall be no right or authority for any claims subject to this arbitration clause to be arbitrated on a class action or consolidated basis or on bases involving claims brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public (including, but not limited to, as a private attorney general). If any portion of this arbitration clause is determined by a court to be inapplicable or invalid, then the remainder shall still be given full force and effect.
YOU AND CHT EACH HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE ANY AND ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY.
Nothing contained in this Section shall limit our ability to terminate, or otherwise take action related to, your account as provided in these Terms.
19. Governing Law, Venue, & Personal Jurisdiction
These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of law provisions. In the event that a lawsuit is filed where permitted under the provisions above, or in the event that the provisions above are found not to apply to you or to a given dispute, we both agree that any judicial proceeding will be brought in the federal or state courts of San Francisco County, CA. Both you and we consent to venue and personal jurisdiction there.
20. Severability Waiver
If, for whatever reason, any term or condition in these Terms is found unenforceable, all other terms and conditions will remain unaffected and in full force and effect. The failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of our right to do so later, and no waiver shall be effective unless made in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the waiving party.
21. Changes to These Terms
CHT reserves the right to change these Terms from time to time, with or without notice to you. If you continue to use the Website, you consent to the new Terms. Any changes to these Terms will become effective on the “Effective Date” indicated above. If you continue to use the Website after the Effective Date, you consent to the new Terms. CHT will always have the latest Terms posted on the Website.
22. Contact Us
If you have any questions about these Terms, our Privacy Policy or our Website, please feel free to contact us by email at
[email protected].
23. Headings Used in These Terms
The section headings contained in these Terms are for reference purposes only and shall not affect the meaning or interpretation of these Terms in any way.
