EpigenCentral Terms of Use

USING EPIGENCENTRAL

The Data, Services and other information provided on the EpigenCentral platform are for informational and research purposes only, and do not constitute medical, legal or other professional advice. We do not promise that everything provided on and through EpigenCentral will be accurate, complete, adequate or current.

Your right to use EpigenCentral and Data is conditional to your compliance with these Terms. So long as you comply with these Terms, you may access and use EpigenCentral for the purpose of facilitating the exploration of epigenetic patterns in data.

If you breach any of these Terms, your right to use EpigenCentral and any further access to the platform and display of Data within EpigenCentral will terminate automatically.

MODIFICATIONS TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

We may alter EpigenCentral and/or may choose to modify, suspend the Services. If we decide to suspend EpigenCentral, we will provide you with advance notice and make reasonable steps to facilitate your retrieval of the Data you deposited.

We may also change or update these Terms from time to time, and legal notices and/or terms located on particular pages of EpigenCentral may supersede provisions contained in these Terms. EpigenCentral may change these Terms and Conditions of Use from time to time. Such amended Terms and Conditions of Use shall be effective upon publication on this website. By accessing and using EpigenCentral you are accepting that you are bound by the (then) current Terms and Conditions of Use. Please check these Terms and Conditions regularly to ensure that you are aware of all terms governing your use of the EpigenCentral Platform.

LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

In some cases, EpigenCentral will provide links to third-party websites. If you use these links, you will leave EpigenCentral and EpigenCentral does not control any of these third-party websites and is not responsible for such websites (or the product, services or content available through them).

SUBMITTING DATA TO EPIGENCENTRAL

As between you and EpigenCentral, you retain ownership of your Submissions. You are solely responsible for ensuring that you have the appropriate permission and authority to submit Data. We are not responsible for any loss, theft, or damage of any kind to any Submission.

With regard to Submissions, you agree to the following general terms, in addition to other specific conditions detailed in the following sections:

• You own all rights in your Submissions (including the right to reproduce and display), or you have acquired all rights in your Submission necessary to grant us the rights in your Submission as detailed herein;
• EpigenCentral will not be subject to any fee, license fee, clearance fee or other financial obligation by virtue of having received your Submission;
• Your Submission does not infringe the copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or any other rights of any this party;
• Information contained in your Submission is not false, inaccurate or misleading;
• Your Submission does not violate any law;
• Your Submission does not contain any viruses, worms, spyware, adware, or other potentially damaging programs or files.

ETHICAL AND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSIONS

By submitting to EpigenCentral, you agree to the following:

• Only de-identified (coded) Data is accepted. You are responsible for ensuring that all the uploaded individual data, including genomic data and pedigree data, does not contain any personal identifying information about the patient.
• You are responsible for ensuring that the patient has provided the appropriate informed consent for the uses being made of the information submitted.
• You are solely responsible for ensuring that Data is removed from EpigenCentral, when required (for example, in the case of patient withdrawal of consent, of an institutional requirement, etc.).
• You certify that all data was acquired by following generally accepted human subject protection guidelines, rules and laws. You further certify that acquisition, use and display of the Data in EpigenCentral complies with applicable local, national and international guidelines, laws and regulations.
• You agree not to intentionally link or combine the Data to other information or archived data available elsewhere, in a way that could lead to the identification of an individual patient, except by prior written permission from the provider or his sponsoring Institution, where required.
• You certify that no attempt to identify individual patients, or to directly contact any patient, will be undertaken, except by prior written permission from the provider or his sponsoring Institution, where required.
• You agree to treat all Data displayed within EpigenCentral as confidential and will not share it with others, except by prior written permission from the provider or his sponsoring Institution, where required.

PUBLICATION RULES

If EpigenCentral enables a research publication, the authors much acknowledge EpigenCentral using the following wording:

"This study makes use of data shared through the EpigenCentral repository. Funding for EpigenCentral was provided by Genome Canada."

UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES

We authorize your use of EpigenCentral only for the purposes set forth in these Terms and Conditions of Use, and all rights in the EpigenCentral platform belong to us.

When using this platform, you agree to abide by common standards of etiquette and to act in accordance with the law. For example, you agree as follows:

• You will not modify, publicly display, reproduce or distribute any of the content of the platform;
• You will not use EpigenCentral in a manner that violates any local, regional, national or international stature, regulation, rules, order, treaty or other law;
• You will not use the platform to stalk, harass, or harm another individual or to impersonate any person or entity or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
• You will not attempt to discover the identity of people whose personal genomic or phenotypic data is stored on the platform;
• You will not interfere with or disrupt the platform or servers or networks connected to the platform;
• You will not use any data mining robots, or similar data gathering or extraction methods in connection with the Platform; and
• You will not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any portion of the platform.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify and otherwise hold harmless EpigenCentral, its officers, employees, agents, subsidiaries, affiliates and other partners from any and all liability, including any and all direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, and any and all costs and/or expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from (i) your use of the EpigenCentral platform, including, but not limited to, your access to, submission of, or distribution of, Data to or from the EpigenCentral platform; (ii) any misuse, unauthorized access to, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of the EpigenCentral platform, information contained in the website, and/or your communications with or through the website, or (iii) any other matter relating to the platform. You understand and agree that EpigenCentral may disclose information provided if in its good faith belief such disclosure is required by applicable law.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

EpigenCentral does not provide medical advice, diagnosis of treatment. The EpigenCentral website and al materials are for informational purposes only and are provided “as is” and on an “as available” basis. EpigenCentral displays user Submissions in good faith as a research tool, does not verify the accuracy, clinical validity or utility of the data. EpigenCentral makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes and legal liability or responsibility for any purpose for with the Data are used.

EpigenCentral does not warrant the platform will be uninterrupted or error-free or that defects in the platform will be corrected, that any information contained on or transmitted through the platform is complete, accurate or current, that user or other information will be completely secure from unauthorized access or disclosure, or that any information will be completely secure from unauthorized access or disclosure, of that any information is free of viruses or other rogue programming.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

EpigenCentral will not be liable to you for any damages resulting from your use of the EpigenCentral platform or any part thereof or from your displaying, copying, or downloading any materials to or from the platform. In no event shall EpigenCentral be liable to you for any indirect, extraordinary, exemplary, punitive, special, incidental, or consequential damages (including loss of data, revenue, profits, use or other economic adavantage) how ever arising.

TERMINATION OF ACCESS

If EpigenCentral believes that you are not complying with these Terms and Conditions of Use, we will communicate with you and provide recommended corrective action(s). However, EpigenCentral reserves the right to terminate your access to the platform, deactivate your account, and/or this agreement for any reason, and/or for any and all violation of these Terms, without providing prior notice to you.

GENERAL TERMS

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario (Canada). This agreement was drafted against the background of Ontario law and is to be interpreted in accordance with that law. Any disputes relating to these Terms or the EpigenCentral Platform will be heard by courts the jurisdiction of the province of Ontario (Canada).

If any of these Terms are deemed inconsistent with applicable law, them such term(s) shall be interpreted in accordance with law, and no other terms will be modified. If we choose not to enforce any of these Terms, we are not waiving any other rights pursuant to this agreement.

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and EpigenCentral and therefore supersede all prior or contemporaneous negotiations, discussions, representations, or agreements between you and EpigenCentral, about the use of the EpigenCentral and Data.

The proprietary rights, disclaimer of warranties, indemnities, limitations on liability and general provisions of these Terms shall survive any termination of these Terms.