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PolicyLink Terms of Service

Effective Date: February 24, 2023

In these Terms of Service, PolicyLink and its affiliated entities are collectively referred to as “PolicyLink,” “we,” and “our.” These Terms of Service govern your use of PolicyLink’s websites; mobile applications; online content, digital products and services; software applications and platforms; and any other PolicyLink products and services (collectively, the “Services”). Some of our Services may include software that is downloaded to your computer or mobile device and may be automatically updated from time to time; these Terms of Use will apply to all such updates. Please read these Terms of Use carefully and contact us if you have any questions.

1. This is a Binding Contract

By checking the box indicating that you agree to PolicyLink’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy or by continuing to use any of the Services, you are agreeing to enter into a legally binding contract with PolicyLink (“Terms”), even if you are using the Services on behalf of a company, government agency, or other entity. Please read these Terms carefully before clicking “Submit” or using the Services.  If you do not agree to the Terms, do not check the box indicating that you agree to PolicyLink’s Terms, do not click “Submit,” and do not use any of the Services.

These Terms apply to the following websites, among others:

2. Changes to the Terms

PolicyLink reserves the right to modify these Terms and to initiate new or additional terms or conditions pertaining to your use of the Services at any time. If we make changes to the Terms that will significantly impact your user experience, we will provide notice through our Services or other means to provide you the opportunity to review the changes before they become effective. If you desire, you may terminate the Terms as described in the section entitled “Changing and Terminating Services.” Otherwise, your continued use of the Services will constitute your acceptance of the changed or new terms.

3. Who May Use Services

Our Services are not directed to children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us Personal Information without their consent, they should contact us at info@policylink.org. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with Personal Information, we will delete such information from our files. Any information provided by an individual older than 13 but younger than 18 must be provided with that individual’s parent’s or legal guardian’s consent. 

PolicyLink is headquartered in the United States of America (USA) and operates the Services in the USA. The Services are directed to residents of the USA. If you choose to access our Services from locations outside the United States, you consent to the collection, transmission, use, storage and processing of content and data (including your personal information) in the USA. You also agree to comply with and are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with all local laws, regulations, and rules in the jurisdiction in which you reside or access the Services, if and to the extent local laws are applicable to use of our Services. Unless we have entered into a separate, mutually executed written agreement with you that says otherwise, we do not represent that our Services are appropriate or available for use in jurisdictions outside the United States. The right to access and use the Services is not granted in jurisdictions, if any, where it may be prohibited, or where your use would render PolicyLink in violation of any applicable laws or regulations, including without limitation, all applicable privacy laws.

4. Your Account

As an account holder, you agree to: (1) use the same name you use in everyday life; (2) provide accurate and complete information about yourself and update the information to keep it accurate and complete; (3) create and deploy a strong and secure account password; (4) keep your password secure and confidential; (5) not transfer your account password or permit access to your account or account privileges to anyone else without our written permission; and (6) follow these Terms, all applicable laws, and based on the Services used, follow the PolicyLink Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, other applicable PolicyLink policies, and any terms specific to a particular Service.

  • Privacy Policy and Your Privacy Choices.  We may need to collect and process your personal data to provide the Services. PolicyLink’s practices related to processing of individual personal data is described in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement. We encourage you to review the terms of our Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and your privacy choices before using our Services.

    When you interact directly with others while using our Services, you should be cautious about the personal information you decide to share with them. We do not control what others choose to do with any personal information they obtain from users while using our Services, and we cannot be responsible for such use.
     
  • Communications. You agree that PolicyLink may provide notices and messages to you in the following ways: (1) within the applicable Service; and (2) sent to the contact information methods you provide us (e.g., email, mobile number, etc.). You agree to keep your contact information up to date in your account so that we may reach you when needed.

    Please review your settings to control and limit the types of content and communications you receive from PolicyLink, as applicable. You may unsubscribe from our newsletters using the link in the newsletters at any time.
     
  • Payment. If you buy any paid Services or products offered through the Services, you agree to pay the applicable fees and taxes. Paid Services will be subject to additional invoice, payment and refund terms and conditions presented to you at the time of purchase.

5. User Content and Information

A. User Content

(i)  User Content. The Services features may include messaging and sharing content that you provide, such as information about you, your activities with PolicyLink, written information and commentary about PolicyLink or relevant third-party content, photos, video files, audio files, and other materials (“User Content”). You agree that PolicyLink is not obligated to publish any User Content and may remove it in its sole discretion, without notice. PolicyLink is not responsible for examining or evaluating User Content or the accuracy of any materials you or others post.

(ii)  Feedback. We welcome your suggestions, ideas, comments, and other feedback regarding the Services (“Feedback”). By submitting Feedback, you grant us the right to use the Feedback without any restriction or obligation, or any compensation to you.

(iii) Limitations. The Services are only available in English at this time, and are only available in the USA. To the extent you choose to access and use the Services, you do so at your own initiative and agree to use the Services only as permitted by these Terms and any applicable laws or regulations (including any local laws), as well as any additional policies or guidelines PolicyLink may adopt.

(iv)  Non-Confidential Data. Any information submitted or communicated to PolicyLink through use of the Services that does not include personal information or data about you is non-confidential and non-proprietary, and PolicyLink may, without compensation to you, incorporate, distribute or otherwise use such information for any commercial or non-commercial purpose. Any personal information or data submitted to PolicyLink through the use of the Sites is governed by the terms of our Privacy Policy.

B. Unauthorized Use and User Content

(i)  Restrictions. You agree that you will not use the Services for unlawful and unauthorized purposes. You may not use the Services in conflict with these Terms or applicable law. Specifically, you agree that, when using our Services, you will not share or upload User Content that:

  • Contains illegal material or promotes illegal activities.
  • Contains threats or is intended to organize acts of violence.
  • Harasses others through the use of abusive or otherwise inappropriate content directed at private individuals.
  • Violates intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of another party. To be clear, you should never share content that you do not have the right to share, claim content that you did not create as your own, or otherwise take someone else’s intellectual property or other proprietary rights. You should always attribute materials used or quoted by you to the original copyright owner.
  • Spams others. Do not share irrelevant or advertising, promotional, or solicitation content.

(ii) Prohibited Activities. In addition, unless you have prior written authorization from PolicyLink, you agree not to do any of the following:

  • Misrepresent your identity.
  • Misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, including PolicyLink.
  • Share your password or otherwise put your account at risk.
  • Use or attempt to use another user’s account.
  • Engage in contact mining or soliciting email addresses or other personal information from other users.
  • Send promotional communications to other users using information from any Site, another user’s content, PolicyLink Materials (as defined below), or other PolicyLink hosted resources.
  • Develop, support, or use software, devices, scripts, robots or any other means to scrape the Services or otherwise copy profiles or other data from the Services.
  • Override any security feature or bypass or circumvent any access controls or use limitations of the Services.
  • Post anything that contains viruses, worms, malware, or any other harmful code.
  • Reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, decipher or otherwise attempt to derive the source code for the Services or any related technology that is not open source.
  • Deep-link the Services for any purposes.
  • Use bots or other automated methods to access the Services, add or download contacts, send or re-direct messages.
  • Monitor availability, performance or functionality of the Services.
  • Engage in “framing” or “mirroring” or otherwise simulating the appearance or function of the Services.
  • Overlay or otherwise modify the Services or their appearance.
  • Interfere with the operation of, or place an unreasonable load on, the Services (e.g., overloading, spamming, mail-bombing, etc.).
  • Access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of PolicyLink’s systems.
  • Attempt to break or circumvent authentication or security measures or otherwise test the vulnerability of PolicyLink systems or networks.
  • Reproduce, transfer, sell, resell, or otherwise misuse any content from the Services.
  • Assist another user or any other third party in engaging in any of the above behaviors.

(iii) Political Activities. PolicyLink is classified for federal tax purposes as a publicly supported charity that is subject to restrictions on certain activities. In addition, PolicyLink operates and maintains the Services in part with grant funding that is subject to certain restrictions on the use of grant funds. Consequently, except as specifically provided in these Terms, the Services may not be used to conduct any activities defined for federal tax purposes to constitute lobbying, candidate campaign intervention, or a voter registration drive, and you are prohibited from using the Services for any such purposes. PolicyLink reserves the right to monitor any material you post to the Services; to remove from the Services any material that PolicyLink determines, in its sole discretion, may or does violate this prohibition; and to take such steps as it deems prudent, in its sole discretion, to prevent the posting of any such material, including but not necessarily limited to blocking your ability to post content to any or all portion(s) of the Services.

Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations, PolicyLink, in its sole discretion, may choose to conduct or permit you to conduct limited activities defined for federal tax purposes to constitute lobbying or a voter registration drive solely on/in connection with the following sites:

Such activities are prohibited on any other site owned, operated, or otherwise controlled by PolicyLink unless added to the foregoing list, which may be amended from time to time at the discretion of PolicyLink.

(iv) Internal Messaging. The Services may include the capability for registered users to send messages directly to one or more other registered user(s) within the Services. All limitations on the use of the Services set forth in these Terms apply fully to any communication made via such internal messaging capability.

(v) Unauthorized Content. You are responsible for ensuring that all User Content you share complies with these Terms and applicable law, including respecting the intellectual property and proprietary rights of others. Specifically, you agree not to upload or to provide illegal or inappropriate content or information, or content or information that is protected by intellectual property laws (such as copyright, trademark, patents, etc.) for which you do not have a valid license (“Unauthorized Content”).

(vi) Removal and Termination.  We reserve the right to remove User Content you share as well as to terminate your further use of the Services in the event you breach these Terms or other applicable PolicyLink terms and conditions, PolicyLink policies, or applicable law or regulations.

6. Limited License

A. PolicyLink Materials

PolicyLink may, from time to time, provide you access to certain PolicyLink proprietary documentation, content, information, software, databases, tools, models, prototypes, lists, platforms, and other materials (“PolicyLink Materials”). You agree that any PolicyLink Materials that PolicyLink provides as part of the Services are licensed to you and may be used by you only in accordance with these Terms as well as any additional license terms and conditions that may accompany the PolicyLink Materials.

  • License to You. We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable license to use the PolicyLInk Materials and our Services for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may only use the Services on devices that you own or control. Accessing and using our Services and/or PolicyLink Materials does not give you ownership of any intellectual property or proprietary rights in either. PolicyLink and/or its licensors and suppliers retain ownership of all rights, title, and interest in the Services and PolicyLink Materials, and except for the limited use rights expressly granted in these Terms, no other rights or licenses are granted or implied. You may not use the Services in any way that is inconsistent with these Terms or that infringes any intellectual property or proprietary rights of PolicyLink or any third party.
     
  • License from You: You retain all intellectual property rights to, and are responsible for, any User Content you share. You grant PolicyLink a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferable and sublicensable right to use, copy, modify, translate, distribute, publish, and process any information and User Content that you provide through the Services, without any further consent, notice, accounting, and/or compensation to you or others. Because you own your User Content and information and we only have non-exclusive rights to use it, you may choose to make your User Content available to others as you choose.

B. PolicyLink Trademarks

PolicyLink names and logos, trade dress, and all related product and service names, design marks and slogans (including, but not limited to POLICYLINK, the POLICYLINK logo, LIFTING UP WHAT WORKS, DEMAND EQUITY NOW, SOLIDARITY FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE, ACCESS FOR FINANCIAL SECURITY, NATIONAL EQUITY ATLAS, CONVERGENCE PARTNERSHIP, the CONVERGENCE PARTNERSHIP logo, PROMISE NEIGHBORHOODS INSTITUTE, the PROMISE NEIGHBORHOODS logo, BLACK AMBITION, BLACK AMBITION PRIZE, BLACK AMBITION OPPORTUNITY, INC., and HEALTHY FOOD FINANCE) are the trademarks or service marks of PolicyLink and/or its licensors ("PolicyLink Marks"). While we understand that you may not intend to cause any harm by using our protected PolicyLink Marks, your use of any of the PolicyLink Marks may suggest a relationship or sponsorship of your organization that does not exist. Moreover, as trademark owners, we are obligated under federal and common law to police the use of our marks and must monitor such for unauthorized use; otherwise, we risk the abandonment of our marks as well as the inability to enforce our rights against other third parties. Accordingly, you may not use or reproduce any of the PolicyLink Marks without our express, prior written consent.

7. Third Party Content and Sites

When using our Services, you may encounter content or information that may be inaccurate, incomplete, delayed, misleading, illegal, offensive or otherwise harmful. We do not generally review content provided by our users or other parties. You agree that we are not responsible for others’ (including other users’) content or information. It is not possible to prevent every possible misuse of our Services, and you agree that we are not responsible for any misuse. If you have questions or concerns about content posted or another User’s behavior, please contact us.

You are responsible for deciding if you want to access or use third-party apps and sites that link from our Services. If you allow a third-party app or site to authenticate you or connect with your PolicyLink account, that app or site can access information on PolicyLink that’s related to you. Third-party apps and sites have their own legal terms and privacy policies, and you may be giving others permission to use your personal information in ways that PolicyLink would not use it. Except to the limited extent required by applicable law, PolicyLink is not responsible for these other sites and apps—use these at your own risk.

  • Third-Party Apps and Software. With respect to third party apps and software that may be included in or accessed by our Services (“Other Software”), you are not permitted to: (a) reverse-engineer or attempt to derive the source code from, or create derivative works of, the Other Software, or any portion thereof; (b) sublicense or distribute the Other Software or rent, electronically distribute, timeshare, or market the Other Software, (c) access, use, or copy any portion of the Other Software to directly or indirectly develop, promote or support any product or service that is competitive with the same Other Software, (d) remove any identification, patent, trademark, copyright, or other notice from the Other Software; (e) interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of the Other Software or third-party data contained therein; (f) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Other Software, including access to other users’ data; (g) disclose or publish, without the applicable licensor’s express prior written consent, performance or capacity statistics or the results of any benchmark test performed on the Other Software; (h) use the Other Software in any manner that violates any law, rule, regulation or any other legal or regulatory requirement imposed by any regulatory or government agency or political subdivision, whether federal, state, local, or foreign; or (i) use, reproduce, distribute, or permit others to use, reproduce, or distribute any Other Software apart from the Services.
     
  • Open-Source Software.  The Services may contain software licensed under the terms of separate open-source software licenses (“Open-Source Software”). Such Open-Source Software is licensed under the terms of the license that accompanies or is associated with the Open-Source Software. Nothing in these Terms limits your rights under, or grants you rights that supercede, the terms and conditions of any applicable end user license for such Open-Source Software.

8. Location Data

PolicyLink, as well as select PolicyLink suppliers, sponsors, and experts, and certain PolicyLink business partners (collectively, “PolicyLink Business Partners”) may provide certain features in the Services, such as those that rely on location information. To provide and improve these location-based Services, where available, PolicyLink and the PolicyLink Business Partners may transmit, collect, maintain, process, and use your location data. The location data and queries collected by PolicyLink help provide and improve location-based Services. PolicyLink also uses location data, in an aggregated and de-identified format, to measure the outputs/outcomes of our programs. By providing consent and using any location-based features provided by or through the Services (including by accessing your device’s camera, microphone, or storage), you agree and consent to the transmission, collection, maintenance, processing and use of your location data and queries to provide and improve such Services. You may withdraw this consent at any time by going to the settings on your device and either turning off the global location services setting or turning off the individual location setting for the Services at issue. You agree and acknowledge that some Services will not be available once the Location Services setting on your device has been turned off.

9. Take Down Policy and Copyright Claim

  1. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and laws of certain other jurisdictions, PolicyLink has adopted the following policy toward copyright infringement.  we reserve the right to (i) block access to or remove material that we believe in good faith to be copyrighted material that has been illegally copied and distributed by any of our advertisers, affiliates, content providers, members or users and (ii) remove and discontinue Services to repeat offenders.

(1)   Procedure for Reporting Copyright Infringements.  If you believe that material or content residing on or accessible through the Services infringes your copyright (or the copyright of someone whom you are authorized to act on behalf of), please send a notice of copyright infringement (“Notice of Copyright Infringement”) containing the following information to PolicyLink's designated agent (“Designated Agent,” whose contact details are listed below):

(a)            a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed;

(b)           identification of works or materials being infringed;

(c)            identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing including information regarding the location of the infringing material that the copyright owner seeks to have it removed, with sufficient detail so that PolicyLink is capable of locating and verifying its existence;

(d)           contact information about the notifier including address, telephone number and, if available, email address;

(e)            a statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the material identified as (1)(c) above is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

(f)             a statement that the information provided is accurate and under penalty of perjury that the notifier is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

(2)   Upon receipt of a proper Notice of Copyright Infringement by the Designated Agent, PolicyLink reserves the right to:

(a)            remove or disable access to the infringing material;

(b)           notify the content provider who is accused of infringement that We have removed or disabled access to the applicable material; and

(c)            terminate such content provider's access to the Services if the content provider is a repeat offender.

(3)   Procedure to Supply a Counter-Notice to the Designated Agent.  If the content provider believes that the material that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or the content provider believes that it has the right to post and use such material from the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or, pursuant to the law, the content provider may send a counter-notice (“Counter-Notice”) containing the following information to the Designated Agent:

(a)            a physical or electronic signature of the content provider;

(b)           identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or disabled;

(c)            a statement under penalty of perjury that the content provider has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material; and

(d)           the content provider's name, address, telephone number, and, if available, email address, and a statement that such person or entity consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the content provider’s address is located, or, if the content provider's address is located outside the United States, for any judicial district in which PolicyLink is located, and that such person or entity will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement or an agent of such person.

Upon receipt of the Counter-Notice by the Designated Agent, PolicyLink may, in its discretion, send a copy of the Counter-Notice to the original complaining party informing that person that PolicyLink may replace the removed material or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider accused of committing infringement, the removed material may be replaced or access to it restored in 10 to 14 business days after receipt of the Counter-Notice, at PolicyLink’s discretion. 

B. Please contact PolicyLink’s Designated Agent at the following address and/or email:

Address:

PolicyLink
Attn:  Chief Financial Officer
1438 Webster Street, Suite 303
Oakland, California 94612-3228

Email: finance@policylink.org

10. No Warranty

YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS AND THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND SOLE RISK. POLICYLINK AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS, EXPERTS, SPONSORS, CONTRACTORS, AND LICENSORS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “POLICYLINK AFFILIATES”) EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM 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. TO THE EXTENT ANY WARRANTY EXISTS UNDER LAW THAT CANNOT BE DISCLAIMED, POLICYLINK SHALL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR SUCH WARRANTY.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL POLICYLINK OR THE POLICYLINK AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR PERSONAL INJURY, OR FOR INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST INCOME OR REVENUE, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, WHETHER OR NOT POLICYLINK WAS AWARE OF OR SHOULD HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THESE DAMAGES AND EVEN IF SUCH DAMAGES WERE FORESEEABLE. IN NO EVENT SHALL POLICYLINK OR THE POLICYLINK AFFILIATES’ TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU UNDER THESE TERMS FOR ALL DAMAGES (OTHER THAN AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW IN CASES INVOLVING PERSONAL INJURY) EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF U.S. ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS (USD$100.00).

IN ADDITION, POLICYLINK AND THE POLICYLINK AFFILIATES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR THE ACTS, OMISSIONS, AND CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES. YOUR SOLE REMEDY AGAINST POLICYLINK AND THE POLICYLINK AFFILIATES FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SERVICES IS TO STOP USING THE SERVICES.

THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS A PART OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN YOU AND POLICYLINK, AND POLICYLINK WOULD NOT HAVE ENTERED INTO THESE TERMS WITH YOU WITHOUT THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

12. Indemnity

At PolicyLink’s request, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless PolicyLink and the PolicyLink Affiliates from any and all demands, losses, liability, damages, claims, suits, costs and/or expenses (including attorneys’ fees) arising out of: (1) your use or attempted use of the Services in violation of these Terms; (2) your violation of any law or rights of any third party in connection with your use of the Services; and/or (3) your contribution of User Content and your use or contribution of Unauthorized Content, including without limitation any claim of infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property or other proprietary rights.

You also agree that you will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless PolicyLink and the PolicyLink Affiliates from all claims arising out of or related to your access or use of, or your inability to access or use, the Services, including any information or material viewed or downloaded from the Services that appear to you or are construed by you to be obscene, offensive, or defamatory.