UK Biobank Community and Forum Terms of Use

UK Biobank Community & Forum Terms of Use

Effective Date: 08/01/2024

1. Introduction

UK Biobank’s online Community and Forum (together the “Community”) are designed for registered users to discuss issues and share experiences related to the professional use of UK Biobank’s Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP), Access Management System (AMS), Data Showcase, data releases and of certain biomedical database of genetic and other health related information, and for the unregistered “view-only” access and review of information provided by UK Biobank or posted by registered users of the Forum. The Forum is not intended to be used as a forum for discussion of general topics.

1.1 The Community is operated by UK Biobank Limited. Please refer to the UK Biobank Website Terms of Use, the terms below and the User Conduct Policy [JC1] which covers the use of the Community and Forum (together the “Community Terms”). By accessing and using the Community and Forum you hereby agree to the Community Terms. If you do not agree to the Community Terms, please do not register as a user, or access the Community.

2. Access to the Community

2.1 UK Biobank makes no assurance that access to the Community will always be available or be uninterrupted. We reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service we provide on the Community without notice. We will not be liable, if for any reason, the Community is unavailable at any time or for any period. 

2.2 You must be a registered user of the Access Management System to use, post, or communicate with other registered users of the Community.

3. Amendments to Terms of Use

These terms, and any part thereof, may be modified by us, including the addition or removal of terms at any time, and such modifications, additions or deletions will be effective immediately upon publishing on the Community. Please review any notices published for changes to these terms, and in any event, each time you wish to use the Community, to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time. The Effective Date at the top indicates when these terms were last updated. By continuing to use the Community after any amendment to the terms, shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by you of such modifications, additions, or deletions. If you do not agree with the amended terms, you must not continue to use the Community.  

4. Registered Users

4.1 You agree to maintain and promptly update your information on the Community so that it remains current, complete, and accurate.

4.2 By becoming a registered user you expressly consent to allow UK Biobank to display your username in messages that you upload or post on to the Community. 

4.3 If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us at access@ukbiobank.ac.uk.

4.4 We reserve the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms.

5. Monitoring the Community

5.1 UK Biobank will use commercially reasonable efforts to monitor the Community for inappropriate material or content and to moderate the Community for such material or content. However, UK Biobank may not be able to correct all inaccuracies or respond to all postings. You agree that you assume sole responsibility for any damage, loss or harm caused by, and that UK Biobank has no liability to you in respect of your use of the technical advice, descriptions, instructions, contents, information and suggestions made by registered users who upload or post any material or content on the Community.

5.2 UK Biobank reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to remove any material or content which we assess to be inappropriate or off topic and edit such material or content as we deem to be reasonable. UK Biobank also reserves the right to deny you access to the Community through suspension or termination of your account.

5.3 The decision by UK Biobank to monitor, modify and/or remove material or content does not constitute, nor shall it be deemed to constitute any responsibility or liability in any manner on our part in connection with or arising from your use of the Community. You remain solely responsible for the material or content you upload or post onto the Community.

6. Suspension and Termination of an account

6.1 UK Biobank will determine, in its own discretion, whether there has been a breach of the Community Terms through your use of the Community and will take appropriate action where necessary.

6.2 Failure to comply with the Community Terms constitutes a material breach of your permitted use, and may result in UK Biobank taking all or any of the following actions:

a) Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use the Community.

b) Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to the Community.

c) Issue of a warning to you.

d) 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.

e) Further legal action against you.

f) Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.

We expressly exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of these Terms of Use. The actions described above are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

7. User Content

7.1 Any material or content posted by you must adhere to the User Content Policy.

7.2 When you submit or post any material or content to the Community, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable licence to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform that user-generated content in connection with the service provided by the Community and across different media forever.

7.3 Any material or content you post onto the Community will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material or content for any purpose. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material or content posted or submitted by you to the Community constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy. We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any material or content submitted or posted by you or any other user of the Community.

7.4 By posting any material or content onto the Community , you warrant that such material or content complies with these Community Terms, and you agree to indemnify us for any breach of the Community Terms. This means you will be responsible for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of warranty.

7.5 We reserve the right to remove any material or content that you post or link to on the Community if, in our opinion, such material or content does not comply with these Terms of Use.

8. Legal Disclaimer

8.1 By using the Community, you agree that use of the Community is at your own risk and that you accept all risks associated with using or relying on any material or content uploaded or posted on the Community.

8.2 UK Biobank is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on the Community by others. All discussion content within the Community reflects the views of individual registered users only and do not represent the views held by UK Biobank. We disclaim all warranties regarding information, material or content posted on the Community, whether posted by UK Biobank or any third party.

8.3 We do not assume any responsibility for any website or resources that are linked to, on, or from the Community or that you visit as a result of a referral you gained through a link posted on the Community. UK Biobank does not in any way, warrant or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, completeness, usefulness, non-infringement on intellectual property rights, or quality of any material or content on the Community. UK Biobank will not be liable or responsible in any way for any material or content on the Community, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions, or for any losses or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of or reliance on any material or content.

9. Copyright

We respect others’ intellectual property rights and expect our users to do the same. If you believe that your work has been copied on the Community which constitutes copyright infringement, please use the ‘Submit a request’ function or contact us at access@ukbiobank.ac.uk . We reserve the right to terminate access to the Community for users who post material or content that infringes the intellectual property rights of others.