Community Platform - terms of use

Welcome to Tearfund community platform, a space where our staff, partners and peer agencies come together to connect with each other, share learning, ideas, experiences and best practice and support each other. 

Through the platform, you have access to a variety of resources and content. These include: (a) Materials such as text, images, photographs, graphics, audio,  video, documents and resources (b) Community services such as forums, discussion groups, chat areas, bulletin boards, blogs, wikis, e-mail functions, and other services in connection with which you can upload, download, share, email, post, publish, transmit or otherwise access or make available content (as defined below). Materials, community services, and other information, content and services are collectively referred to as "Content." 

Please read through the following Terms and Conditions as well as Tearfund’s privacy policy. If you do not agree with them, please do not use the platform. If you do use the platform or the content provided, your conduct indicates that you agree to follow and be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

This platform https://community.tearfund.org  is owned and managed by Tearfund. We are a charity registered in England and Wales (number 265464) and Scotland (SCO 037624). Our company number is 994339 and our registered office is at 100 Church Road, Teddington, TW11 8QE.

For the purposes of these terms and conditions, ‘us’, ‘we’ and ‘our’ refer to Tearfund. References to Tearfund include Tearfund Trading Limited, our trading company.

Tearfund may revise the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy at any time without prior notice to you. The revised Terms of Use and Privacy Policy will be effective when posted. You can review the most current Terms of Use and Privacy Policy in the footer of the community platform.

If you have any queries in relation to the terms, please contact learn@tearfund.org .

Personal data

Given the collaborative nature of Tearfund community, community members’ personal data (name, job title and organisation) will be shared with other members of the group. 

Use of materials

Unless the poster of a specific piece of content on the platform has expressly forbidden it in relation to that piece of content, you may download, store, display on your computer, view, listen to, play and print material that is published or broadcast on the platform or is made available for download through the platform subject to the following: 

  1. the materials may be used without specific permission for private personal use or otherwise in pursuit of Tearfund’s charitable objectives, as long as the copyright source indications and content author are also copied, the material is not changed in any way, it is copied in its entirety and is not reproduced in a derogatory or misleading manner or context. 
  2. the materials may not be redistributed for any commercial or business use, including but not limited to, any copying or posting on any network computer ( including organisational internal shared drives) or broadcast in any media. Except where your use constitutes "fair use" under copyright law, you may not otherwise use, download, upload, copy, print, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, post, transmit or distribute any materials or other content from the platform in whole or in part without prior written consent from the content author.

Use for any other purpose is prohibited by law and may result in legal action.

Materials specified above do not include the layout or design of this platform, including logos and graphics. These elements may not be reproduced or distributed without permission. If you are working with or supporting Tearfund and need a copy of our logo, please contact us and we can supply an appropriate version.

Use of Community Services

Community Services are provided for the benefit of users but Tearfund is not obligated to provide any technical support for, or participate in, Community Services. If you are experiencing problems with the community services, please contact your community manager in the first instance.

You may use Community Services subject to the following: 

  1. Community Services may be used solely for your private personal informational and noncommercial purposes or otherwise in pursuit of Tearfund’s charitable objectives 
  2. Content provided on or through Community Services may not be redistributed; and 
  3. Data about other users may not be stored or collected except where expressly authorised by Tearfund and these Terms of Use.

Reservation of Rights

The platform and content provided on or through the platform are the intellectual property and copyrighted works of Tearfund or a third-party provider. All rights, title and interest not expressly granted with respect to the platform and content provided on or through the platform are reserved. All content is provided on an "As Is" and "As Available" basis, and Tearfund reserves the right to terminate the permissions granted to you in the above sections and your use of the content at any time.

Uploading material to our platform

You agree that you will only upload, share, post, publish, transmit, or otherwise make available ("Share" or “Sharing”) on or through the platform, content that you have the right and authority to share.

In particular, you must obtain relevant permission from those pictured in video or images before uploading that content to the platform. See Tearfund advice on participant permissions.

We retain the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material posted or uploaded by you to our site constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

By sharing content, you grant Tearfund the right to distribute the content within Tearfund in pursuit of our charitable objectives. Tearfund will not share content externally with third parties without your prior consent.

Tearfund will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of our platform.

Tearfund has no obligation to monitor the platform or screen content that is shared on or through the platform. However, we reserve the right to remove any material or posting you make on the platform if such material does not comply with the content standards set out below.

Content must not:

  • Contain any material which is defamatory. A defamatory comment is one that is capable of damaging the reputation of a person or organisation.
  • Contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory
  • Contain or promote sexually explicit material
  • Promote violence, illegal activity or incite people to commit any crime, including incitement of racial hatred.
  • Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age
  • Infringe another's rights, including intellectual property rights, copyright, or trade mark 
  • Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence
  • Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety
  • Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person
  • Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person
  • Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse
  • contains any viruses, Trojan horses, or other components designed to limit or harm the functionality of a computer

You agree that all content posted by you on our community platform is accurate and true to the best of your knowledge.

Failure to comply with the above constitutes a material breach of the terms and conditions upon which you are permitted to use our platform, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

  • Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our site
  • Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any post or material uploaded by you to our site
  • Issue a warning to you
  • Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach
  • Further legal action against you
  • Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary

We exclude liability for actions taken in breach of these terms of use. The responses described in this policy are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

Tearfund does not want to receive confidential information from you through or in connection with the platform. Notwithstanding anything that you may note or state in connection with sharing content, it shall not be considered confidential information and shall be received and treated by Tearfund on a non-confidential and unrestricted basis and Tearfund shall not take and shall not be required to take any steps to safeguard the confidentiality of any information that you Share, other than as specified in Tearfund's Privacy Notice.

Reliance on information posted

The information resources and learning or networking facilities on our platform are intended as guides to good practice in the context of current regulatory requirements. It is not legal or financial advice. If you require specific advice on any particular situation you should obtain your own legal or financial advice from independent solicitors or accountants.

We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any material posted on our platform by users that are not employed by Tearfund. We make no warranty as to the accuracy of any material posted on the platform by users and we are not liable for any defamation, libel, slander or falsehoods that may appear on the platform. We have no duty to monitor or edit any material posted by users on the platform. However, we reserve the right to remove or edit, without any notice and for any reason, any material that is uploaded by users to the platform.

We are not liable for any links to third-party websites found in users’ posted material, including the content of the page to which the link directs you to. If any user-posted material contains links to other sites provided by third parties, these links are for your information only and should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them.

Security, passwords and means of accessing the platform and content

Security

You agree not to access or use the platform in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair any Tearfund accounts, computer systems or networks. 

You agree not to attempt to gain unauthorized access to any parts of the platform or any Tearfund accounts, computer systems or networks. 

You agree not to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the platform or any Tearfund accounts, computer systems or networks. You agree not to use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the platform or any Tearfund accounts, computer systems or networks without Tearfund's written permission.

Passwords and access

To use the platform you will be required to complete a registration process.  This may be completed using an existing social media account or by creating a username and password. You agree not to share your password(s), account information, or access to the platform with any other person. 

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of password(s) and account information, and you are responsible for all activities that occur through the use of your password(s) or account(s) or as a result of your access to the platform. You agree to notify Tearfund immediately of any use of your password(s) or account(s) that you did not authorise or that is not authorised by these Terms of Use.

Termination of Use

Tearfund may, in its sole discretion, at any time discontinue providing or limit access to the platform, any areas of the platform or content provided on or through the platform. 

You agree that Tearfund may, in its sole discretion, at any time, terminate or limit your access to, or use of, the platform or any content. Tearfund may terminate or limit your access to or use of the platform if Tearfund determines, in its sole discretion, that you have infringed the copyrights of a third party. You agree that Tearfund shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination or limitation of your access to, or use of, the platform or any content, including content that you may have shared.

Disclaimer

Except where expressly provided otherwise, the platform, and all content provided on or through the platform, are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Tearfund expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement with respect to the platform and all content provided on or through the platform. 

Tearfund makes no warranty that: 

  1. the site or content will meet your requirements; 
  2. the site will be available on an uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free basis; 
  3. the results that may be obtained from the use of the site or any content provided on or through the site will be accurate or reliable; or 
  4. the quality of any content obtained by you on or through the site will meet your expectations.

Any content accessed, downloaded or otherwise obtained on or through the use of the site is used at your own discretion and risk. Tearfund shall have no responsibility for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download or use of content. Tearfund reserves the right to make changes or updates to, and monitor the use of, the site and content provided on or through the site at any time without notice.

Limitation of Liability

We are not liable for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with the platform, but not limited to: loss of profits, business opportunity, goodwill, reputation, loss of data, corruption of data, loss of contracts, or any consequential or indirect loss or damage whatsoever. However, nothing in these community terms of use shall limit or exclude our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees’ agents or subcontractors.

Personal Data

Tearfund will be processing your personal data the details of which appear in the Privacy policy on our website. Your consent will be obtained to authorise Tearfund to process your personal data.

Persons under 18 years of age

Persons who are under 18 years of age are not eligible to use the platform, and we ask that no information in relation to such persons be submitted to Tearfund.

Waiver and Severability

The failure of Tearfund to exercise or enforce any rights or provisions in these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any part or provision of these Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable, such part or provision may be modified to make the Terms of Use as modified legal and enforceable. The balance of the Terms of Use shall not be affected.

Community Guidelines

In addition to these terms of use, we have also produced a set of community guidelines to help you get the most out of the platform.  Read the community guidelines