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Terms of use |
Terms of use |
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These terms tell you the rules for using OCCRP Aleph (“Aleph”).
Aleph is an investigative data platform for journalists working on ‘follow-the-money’ stories. Aleph combines different kinds of data into a simple search interface. We make some data available for public consumption, but most of the data is only accessible to journalists that partner with OCCRP. Aleph is made available free of charge.
Please read these terms of use carefully before using Aleph. By using Aleph, you confirm that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these terms, you must not use Aleph.
Aleph is operated by the Journalism Development Network, Inc. doing business as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project ("OCCRP" or “We” or “Our”). We are a non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland, United States of America.
Our contact details:
Journalism Development Network, Inc. 4401A Connecticut Ave NW 321, Washington DC 20008-2358, USA
These terms of use refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of Aleph:
- Our Privacy Policy.
- Our Acceptable Use Policy, which sets out the permitted uses and prohibited uses of Aleph. When using Aleph, you must comply with this Acceptable Use Policy.
- Our Cookie Policy, which sets out information about the use of session information on Aleph.
We amend these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use Aleph, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time. Your continued use of Aleph after the new terms of use become official constitutes an acceptance of these terms of use on your part. These terms were most recently updated on October 15, 2020.
We may update and change Aleph from time to time to reflect changes to our users' needs and our business priorities. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any major changes.
We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will try to give you reasonable notice if this happens.
Anyone is welcome to browse Aleph, either anonymously, or by creating a user account, which will provide access to certain data and materials otherwise unavailable. You can create a user account by visiting secure.occrp.org.
If you are a professional journalist, you may apply to become a ‘Friend of OCCRP’, in order to gain wider access to the data and materials available on Aleph.
When you choose a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password at any time, or where in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us using the contact details set out at the beginning of these terms of use.
OCCRP is an aggregator of the data and materials of third parties. OCCRP does not own all of the copyright or hold a licence to use the copyright or other intellectual property rights in data and materials on Aleph. The copyright and other intellectual property rights in data and materials on Aleph will be owned by the author (or owner) of such data and materials. Accordingly, OCCRP does not grant you a licence to all of the data and materials on Aleph. OCCRP maintains and makes the data and materials on Aleph available solely for use which is in the public interest.
The content on Aleph is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should place sole and entire reliance. We recommend that you conduct your own independent fact checking against the data and materials that you access on Aleph. We do not recommend against and discourage using the Aleph API as a replacement for traditional due diligence checks and know-your-customer background checks.
Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on Aleph, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on Aleph is accurate, complete or up to date.
Where Aleph contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.
Any and all use of Aleph by you, must at all times be in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy.
If you wish to use Aleph in a manner other than via your internet browser (i.e. by using technical means, automated tools, and other programs which import data and/or materials on Aleph into another application), you will need to create an account.
The data and materials on Aleph are maintained and made available for the purposes of journalism, which is in the public interest and not for use in the private sector. We do not recommend and discourage integrating Aleph into a commercial process, including but not limited to for use in know-your-client checks, due diligence checks or insurance related checks. Aleph is not a data catalogue. We do not provide bulk exports of data to commercial companies, intelligence or security agencies. If you are a journalist, or anti-corruption campaigner and require a bulk export of data, we may be able to help. Please contact us for further information.
If you publish a story using data or materials sourced from Aleph, please ensure that you credit OCCRP as follows: “According to data made available via OCCRP Aleph (Link: https://aleph.occrp.org)...”
We reserve the right to limit or block access to any user, if your usage of Aleph is not in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy, these terms of use, or places unreasonable stress on our systems.
We reserve the right to:
- investigate your use of Aleph (a) to determine whether a violation of these terms of use or applicable law has occurred, or (b) to comply with any applicable law, legal process, or appropriate governmental request;
- detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues or respond to user support requests;
- refuse, disable, or restrict access to the contribution of any user who violates these terms of use;
- ban a user from contributing or block a user's account or access for actions violating these terms of use, including repeat copyright infringement;
- take legal action against users who violate these terms of use (including reports to law enforcement authorities); and
- manage Aleph in a manner designed to facilitate its proper functioning and protect the rights, property, and safety of ourselves and our users, licensors, partners, and the public.
- In the interests of Aleph and our users, in the circumstance that any individual has had her/his account or access blocked, s/he is prohibited from creating or using another account on or seeking access to Aleph, unless we provide explicit permission.
Aleph allows journalist users to upload their own data and/or materials to Aleph in multiple ways. If you are not a journalist and you upload data and/or materials, we may remove such data and/or materials and/or terminate your account at any time. We retain the right to review and approve any data and/or materials you upload to Aleph. We might contact you regarding the data and/or materials you have uploaded to discuss whether it can be made accessible to the public or to OCCRP reporting staff. We will not publish or share your data and/or materials on Aleph without your permission. Once published, we do not make any guarantees that your data and/or materials will always be available on Aleph. We endeavour to host all data and materials which we have approved and published, but we do not make any guarantees that we will do so.
You retain whatever ownership rights in your data and materials and the intellectual property rights in such data and materials that you may have. When you upload and share your data and/or materials on Aleph and where you grant us permission to publish or share your data and/or materials you agree to grant us and other relevant users of Aleph a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty free, worldwide licence to use, store and copy those data and materials (and any intellectual property rights therein) and to distribute and make them available to third parties. This licence is required to enable OCCPR to maintain and make your data and materials available on Aleph and for users to access and use your data and materials.
You are legally responsible for all of your data and materials, and re-use of Aleph content under applicable laws (which may include the laws where you live or where you view content). This means it is important that you use caution when posting data and materials and you should avoid contributing any data and materials that may result in criminal or civil liability under any applicable laws.
Whenever you upload data and/or materials to Aleph you must comply with these terms of use and the terms set out in these terms content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy. We have the right, but are not obliged to, remove, any post or upload of data and/or materials you make on Aleph if, in our opinion, your post or upload of data and/or materials does not comply with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy.
YOU WARRANT THAT ANY DATA AND MATERIALS THAT YOU UPLOAD TO ALEPH SHALL: (A) COMPLY WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAW; (B) COMPLY WITH THESE TERMS OF USE; (C) COMPLY WITH THE CONTENT STANDARDS SET OUT IN OUR ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY; AND (D) NOT INFRINGE OR VIOLATE ANY PERSONS RIGHTS. YOU WILL BE LIABLE TO AND INDEMNIFY US FOR AND AGAINST ALL LOSSES, DAMAGES, COSTS, AND EXPENSES INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES, RESULTING FROM ANY BREACH OF THIS WARRANTY. THIS MEANS YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, COST OR EXPENSE WE SUFFER, AS A RESULT OF YOUR BREACH OF WARRANTY.
OCCRP understands the need for confidentiality and discretion in investigative journalism and reporting, however; we reserve the right, where appropriate and necessary, to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any data and/or materials posted or uploaded by you to Aleph constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy, or where we are required to do so by applicable law.
You are solely responsible for securing and backing up your data and materials.
We do not guarantee that Aleph will be secure or free from malware or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access Aleph. You should use your own virus protection software.
You must not misuse Aleph by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to Aleph, the server on which Aleph is stored or any server, computer or database connected to Aleph. You must not attack Aleph via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under applicable laws which protect against unauthorised access to computer systems. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will cooperate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use Aleph will cease immediately.
You may link to the Aleph home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website in which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy. If you wish to link to or make any use of content on Aleph other than that set out above, please contact us.
The copyright or other intellectual property rights in data and materials in Aleph will be owned by the author (or owner) of such data and materials. Under no circumstances may you claim to OCCRP that you are the author and/or owner of any intellectual property rights in data and/or materials in Aleph where you are not the author and/or owner of such intellectual property rights in data and/or materials. In the event that you do, OCCRP reserves the right, at any time, to permanently suspend and block your use of Aleph.
You can stop using Aleph at any time. In certain circumstances, it may be necessary for us to terminate part or all of Aleph, terminate these terms of use, block your account or access, or ban you as a user. If your account or access is blocked or otherwise terminated for any reason, your public data and/or materials may remain publicly available (subject to applicable policies), and, unless we notify you otherwise, you may still access our public pages for the sole purpose of reading publicly available content on Aleph. In such circumstances, however, you may not be able to access your account or settings.
We do not guarantee that Aleph, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of Aleph for business and operational reasons. We reserve the right to suspend or end Aleph at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice.
We do not exclude or limit in any way 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 and for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
We exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to Aleph or any content on it. We will not be liable to you 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: use of, or inability to use, Aleph; or use of or reliance on any content displayed on Aleph. In particular, we will not be liable for: loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue; business interruption; loss of anticipated savings; loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or any indirect or consequential loss or damage. In no event shall our liability exceed USD $500 in aggregate. In the case that applicable law may not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability or incidental or consequential damages, the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you, although our liability will be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
Your use of Aleph is at your sole risk. We provide these services on an "as is" and "as available" basis, and we expressly disclaim all express or implied warranties of all kinds, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Whilst we take technical and organisational measures to ensure Aleph is as secure as possible, we make no warranty that Aleph will meet your requirements, be safe, secure, uninterrupted, timely, accurate, or error-free, or that your information will be secure.
We are not responsible for the content, data, materials or actions of third parties, and you release us, our directors, officers, employees, and agents from any claims and damages, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with any claim you have against any such third parties. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from us or through or from Aleph creates any warranty not expressly stated in these terms of use.
Any material downloaded or otherwise obtained through your use of Aleph is done at your own discretion and risk, and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any such material. You agree that we have no responsibility or liability for the deletion of, or the failure to store or to transmit, any content or communication maintained by Aleph. We retain the right to create limits on use and storage at our sole discretion at any time with or without notice.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the types of disclaimers in this section, so they may not apply to you either in part or in full depending on the law.
If you wish to report any issues about any content on Aleph, please contact us. In the event that you are the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property rights in any of the data and/or material on Aleph and do not consent to the use of your data and/or material in accordance with the terms of use, please contact us and provide proof of your identity and evidence of your ownership of the copyright (or other intellectual property right claim) concerned. If you wish to contact OCCRP regarding the exercise of your rights under applicable data protection and privacy laws, please contact us using the details provided in our Privacy Policy.
We will only use your personal data as set out in our Privacy Policy. We ask that you review the terms of our Privacy Policy, so that you are aware of how we collect and use your personal data.
These terms of use, their subject matter and their formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by New York law. We both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New York.
To ensure that disputes are dealt with soon after they arise, you agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action you might have arising out of or related to use of our services or these terms of use must be filed within the applicable statute of limitations or, if earlier, one (1) year after the pertinent facts underlying such claim or cause of action could have been discovered with reasonable diligence.
These terms of use do not create an employment, agency, partnership, or joint venture relationship between you and us, OCCRP. If you have not signed a separate agreement with us, these terms of use (and the other documents referred to in them) are the entire agreement between you and us. If there is any conflict between these terms of use and a signed written agreement between you and us, the signed agreement will control our relationship with you.
If in any circumstance, we do not apply or enforce any provision of these terms of use, it is not a waiver of that provision.
You understand that, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by us, you have no expectation of compensation for any activity, contribution, or idea that you provide to us, or Aleph.
If any provision or part of a provision of these terms of use is found unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these terms of use and will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and all other provisions of these terms of use will remain in full force and effect.