Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (or “Agreement”) are between you and the operator(s) (the “Operator”) of MERMAID. By accessing or using the MERMAID service (the “Service,” at https://app.datamermaid.org, https://api.datamermaid.org, https://summary-api.datamermaid.org and certain other *.datamermaid.org domains that may be incorporated from time to time), you agree to and are bound by this Agreement.

1. Purpose/Goals. MERMAID is a web application for coral reef data collection.  Its mission is to allow coral reef scientists to efficiently collect clean coral reef monitoring data.  Users can register, create profiles and join projects with their teams as they collect field data offline through common transect methods.  MERMAID’s goal is to provide users with access to clean and standardized monitoring data, processed quickly and stored centrally and securely, to transform and accelerate coral reef conservation. MERMAID allows users to collect, manage and export their data in secure projects. MERMAID will also allow users to perform simple analysis and visualization on the data they have access to.
2. Usage.  You agree to use the Service solely for the MERMAID purpose and goals outlined above in furtherance of conservation of wildlife and environments, and never for commercial purposes.  You agree to use the Service in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, statutes and regulations, and you acknowledge that you are solely responsible for such compliance, including with any local laws.  You agree not to defame, harass or threaten anyone or make available any material that is obscene, pornographic or offensive; is intentionally deceptive; is discriminatory or abusive toward any individual or group; violates applicable law or promotes any such violation; contains or installs any malware, viruses or other harmful components; or infringes the proprietary or personal right of any third party. While Operator reserves the right to remove any content Operator determines is in violation of law or Operator’s policies, Operator does not commit to review all content.
3. Account and API Usage. MERMAID is organized on a per-project basis.  Each project will have at least one administrator who creates and manages the project as it exists on the Service.  In order to use the Service, you must register for an account by creating a password-protected login, or using an authentication provider offered by the Service. When you use a MERMAID application program interface (“API”), each request to use an API must include one of your account’s unique API keys. You are responsible for the security of your login and password, and for all content provided, profiles created, projects implemented and any other activity occurring thereunder, including any use of your account’s API key(s).  You will promptly notify the Operator if you become aware of any actual or suspected unauthorized use of or access to the Service.
4. Content. 
   • MERMAID Content. Your use of the Service does not give you any ownership rights in the intellectual property in the Service or in its contents. The Operator owns and shall continue to the own the Service and all of the rights thereto, including without limitation all copyrights, trademarks, patents and other proprietary rights.  All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved to the Operator.  The Operator hereby grants you the limited, non-transferable right to use the Service solely as permitted hereunder. You may use the “MERMAID” name and/or logo solely in and in connection with your permitted use of the Service and solely in a manner that accurately portrays the Service and your use of the Service.  Operator reserves the right to revoke the foregoing permissions at any time with written notice to you.  Any use by you of any Operator name, logo or other mark shall be subject to the advance written consent of the Operator.  The Service may use third-party providers (including but not necessarily limited to Amazon Web Services) to host and serve data.  
   • Your Content.   You represent and warrant that you own all content (including data) you provide to or make available on the Service, and/or possess all rights in the content necessary to consent to this Agreement, and that no part of the content will infringe or violate any copyright, trade secret, trademark, patent, invention, or other proprietary or personal right of any third party.  You represent and warrant that the content will be true, accurate, and complete to the best of your knowledge.  You are solely responsible for all your content.  You hereby grant to the Operator the royalty-free, nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide right, but not the obligation, to use, share, copy and store the content in perpetuity.  Content provided by users will remain the property of content providers and will not be shared or released by the Service without the explicit permission of content providers, subject to the data sharing provisions below.   
   • Third-Party Content.  The Service incorporates content from your project and the projects of others.  If you wish to access or use any third-party data, you should examine the licenses and restrictions in the per-project, per-protocol metadata pertaining such data (see “Data Sharing” below).  You must comply with the per-project, per-protocol licenses and restrictions associated with each third-party dataset. 
5. Data Sharing.  The Service is committed to protecting the data privacy of users, and offers three privacy options for each protocol implemented in each individual project.
   • Private. Collected observations and site-level summary statistics are private, but metadata for project, protocol and site, including site location and type and count of sample unit at each site, are public.
   • Public summary. Collected observations are private, but site-level summary statistics are public, along with metadata for project, protocol and site. This option is the default for all projects.
   • Public. All collected observations are public.
     In order to maintain transparency as to who collected the original data, data is always associated with the names of, and a mechanism to contact, project administrators (but email addresses are never public).
6.  APIs
   • Access and Restrictions. Subject to these Terms of Service, you may access allowed components of the Service’s APIs.  You agree not to (a) sell, rent, lease, sublicense, redistribute, or syndicate access to any APIs; (b) use any APIs in violation of any applicable law or regulation, including privacy laws; (c) use APIs in any manner that (i) compromises, breaks or circumvents the Operator’s technical processes or security measures, (ii) poses a security vulnerability to the Operator or other users of the Service, or (iii) tests the vulnerability of the Operator’s systems or networks; (d) attempt to reverse-engineer or otherwise derive source code, trade secrets, or know-how of any APIs; (e) use automated systems or software to extract (i.e., “scrape”) data from any API; or, (f) attempt to use any APIs in a manner that exceeds the usage or rate limits determined by the Operator.  The Operator reserves the right to audit, limit or block your use of any API if the Operator reasonably suspects any violation of the foregoing restrictions.   
   • Attribution. Subject to these Terms of Service, you may implement allowed components of the Service’s API components for your site(s), application(s) or service(s).  If you use any MERMAID APIs, you must credit MERMAID.  The MERMAID attribution and/or MERMAID logo must appear reasonably prominently, in a form acceptable to Operator, in conjunction with any site, application or service that incorporates any API component or data obtained from the Service.  You may not display or use the Service or MERMAID name or logo in any manner that implies a relationship or affiliation with, sponsorship, promotion or endorsement by MERMAID.
7. Warranty and Disclaimers. The service is provided by operator under this agreement “as is” and “as available” without warranty of any kind, either express, implied, statutory or otherwise, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of title, non-infringement, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  to the maximum extent permitted by law, operator will have no liability related to any content arising under intellectual property rights, libel, privacy, publicity, obscenity or other laws. operator also disclaims all liability with respect to the misuse, loss, modification, or unavailability of any data. operator does not warrant that the service will meet your requirements; that the service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; that the information provided through the service is accurate, reliable or correct; that any defects or errors will be corrected; that the service will be available at any particular time or location; or that the service is free of viruses or other harmful components. The operator makes no representation that the service is appropriate or available for use at all locations, and access to the service from territories where the service is illegal is prohibited.
8. Limitation of Liability. In no event shall operator, any directors, trustees, officers,  employees, independent contractors,  or agents of any operator entity be liable to you or any third party for any special, punitive, incidental, indirect or consequential damages or losses of any kind, or any damages or losses whatsoever, including those resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether or not foreseeable or if operator has been advised of the possibility of such damages or losses, and on any theory of liability, including breach of contract or warranty, negligence or other tortious action, or any other claim arising out of or in connection with:
   1. The access or use of or the inability to access or use the service;
   2. The statements or actions of any third party on or via the service;
   3. Any unauthorized access to or alteration of the data;
   4. Any information that is sent or received or not sent or received;
   5. Any failure to store or loss of data or other content; and (6) any services available that are delayed or interrupted.
9. Release and Indemnification.  You hereby agree to release the Operator from any and all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with your access to or use of the Service.  To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold the Operator and any directors, trustees, officers, employees, independent contractors and agents of any Operator entity harmless from any and all third-party claims, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, due to or arising from: (a) your access to or use of the Service; (b) your violation of any provision of this Agreement; (c) content that you may submit, post to or transmit to the  Service (including a third party’s use of such content (e.g. reliance on the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of your data)); (d) content that you may access or use using the Service, including your reliance on the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any data; or (d) your infringement of any third party’s copyright, trademark, or other proprietary right, violation of privacy right or publicity right, and libel or violation of any other law in connection with this Agreement.
10. General.
    • Choice of Law.  Except to the extent applicable law provides otherwise, this Agreement and any access to or use of the Service are governed by the federal laws of the United States of America and the laws of the State of New York, disregarding New York’s choice-of-law rules. You agree and hereby submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of the courts located in the State of New York.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Operator reserves the right to seek equitable or injunctive relief in any jurisdiction in the world.
    • Survival.  The provisions of this Agreement that by their nature should survive termination will survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability.
    • Notices.  To the fullest extent permitted by law, you (1) consent to receive communications from Operator in an electronic form via the email address you have submitted or via the Service; and (2) agree that all Terms of Service, agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that Operator provides to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that those communications would satisfy if they were on paper. Legal notice to Operator must be made in writing to the address provided below.
    • Modification.  The Operator may, in its sole discretion, modify all or any portions of this Agreement at any time. The Operator will notify you of any changes by posting notice of such modifications in the terms of service or sending notice via e-mail, or other means. Your continued use of the Service following notice of such modifications shall be deemed to be your acceptance of any such modifications to the Agreement. 
    • Termination of Service or Access. Operator reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Service, in whole or in part, or your access thereto, with or without notice. You may terminate your access to the Service at any time by following the process set out in the Service or contacting the Operator.  You will have the choice to remove or retain any data that you have uploaded to the Service following termination of your account.  Upon termination, any licenses, rights or permissions granted to you hereunder shall terminate immediately. 
    • No Assignment. You may not assign or delegate any rights or obligations hereunder without the Operator’s prior written consent, and any unauthorized assignment and delegation by you shall be null and void.
    • Severability, No Waiver, and Survival. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion of the Agreement will be construed to reflect the parties’ original intent. The remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. Any failure on the part of the Operator to enforce any provision of this Agreement will not be considered a waiver of the Operator’s right to enforce such provision. The Operator’s rights under this Agreement will survive any termination or expiration of this Agreement.
    • Titles.  Section headings within this Agreement are for convenience only.
    • Entire Agreement.  This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and the Operator relating to the subject matter and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous understandings, communications or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter.
    • Questions. If you have questions about this Agreement, please contact: [email protected].  Direct legal notices to: Wildlife Conservation Society, Office of General Counsel, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460 USA.
    • Consent. By using this Service, you hereby consent to these Terms of Service.