Terms and Conditions

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the services, including access to the Adaptation Clearinghouse and our various websites (collectively referred to as the “Site”), APIs, email notifications, applications, buttons, widgets, ads, and commerce services, and any information, text, graphics, photos or other materials uploaded, downloaded or appearing on the Services, collectively referred to here as Content. Your access to and use of the Services are conditioned on your acceptance of and compliance with these Terms. By accessing or using the Services you agree to be bound by these Terms.

1.    Additional Definitions

The term Site includes the Georgetown Climate Center website (www.georgetownclimate.com and www.georgetownclimate.org), the Adaptation Clearinghouse and all of its subdomains (including www.AdaptationClearinghouse.com and www.AdaptationClearinghouse.org), the State Energy Analysis Tool (energy.georgetownclimate.org), and the Transportation and Climate Initiative (www.transportationandclimate.org).

2. Basic Terms

You are responsible for your use of the Services, for any Content you post to the Services, and for any consequences thereof. Adaptation resources you submit, post, or display will be able to be viewed by other users of the Services and through third party services and websites. You should only provide adaptation resources that you are comfortable sharing with others under these Terms.

Profile information, such as your username, job title, employer, areas of interest, favorite resources, rated resources, and your user photo may be shared with partner organizations. At no point, however, will Georgetown Climate Center or the Site sell any profile information that you have entered onto the Site.  For more details about how information on the Site may be used, please consult our Privacy Policy.

You may use the Services only in compliance with these Terms and all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules, and regulations.

The Services provided by the Georgetown Climate Center and its web properties are always evolving and the form and nature of the Services that the Georgetown Climate Center provides may change from time to time without prior notice to you. In addition, the Georgetown Climate Center may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing the Services (or any features within the Services) to you or to users generally and may not be able to provide you with prior notice.

3. Site Content

Content displayed on the Site consists of clean energy and climate change data, resources, and information. 

Content in the Adaptation Clearinghouse is focused on resources (reports, tools, data, organizations, users, and other adaptation or resilience resources) that help policymakers and all Adaptation Clearinghouse users prepare for climate change impacts.  The Clearinghouse focuses on resources that affect humans and the built environment in the United States. Other focus areas include the water, coastal, transportation, infrastructure and public health sectors, and adaptation planning, policies, and law and governance. Resources that fall within these areas receive priority and are the most likely to be published in the Adaptation Clearinghouse.

Content displayed on the Site, particularly content that comes from the Georgetown Climate Center itself, is delivered in a manner that is as accurate, informative, and without bias as possible. The Site takes pride in its reputation as an accurate and trustworthy source of information.  With that said, the Georgetown Climate Center, the Adaptation Clearinghouse, and its partners are not liable for inaccurate content that may appear on the site in error or content that has been uploaded by one of its users.  If content is reported as inaccurate, Site administrators will take appropriate action to address or remove any factually inaccurate or inappropriate content from the Site.  Inappropriate content may consist of any content that falls outside of focus areas identified in this section or is in violation of any U.S. laws. 

4. Account Deletions, Status, and Spam Prevention

In order to protect the security and privacy of all Site users, Site administrators will delete or block accounts suspected of registering for the site solely for advertising purposes, accounts that appear to have been registered by a spam bot, or accounts that are found to be in violation of the terms and conditions described on this page. 

Children Under the Age of 13. Our Site is not specifically dedicated to or intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on this Site, register on this Site, use any of the interactive or public comment features of this Site, or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, or any screen name or user name you may use. In accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, if we learn we have collected any information from a child under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, the information will be purged from our database. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at peter.rafle@georgetown.edu.

5. User Submissions

Users may submit adaptation resources or other content to the Site.  Site administrators reserve the right to edit submitted content at any time before or after publication of user submitted content to improve the accuracy, readability, and consistency of the content displayed on the Site.  Content will be reviewed by Site administrators before content is available to the entire Site community. This also means that content submitted to the site will often not be published immediately. Site administrators also reserve the right to not publish content if they determine the content is not consistent with the goals and content focus areas made available on the Site.

6. Email subscriptions

Upon creation of an Adaptation Clearinghouse account, users will receive email notifications about new content available in the Adaptation Clearinghouse, network related emails, and emails asking users to rate resources. Users can receive emails from other users via a contact this user form on the Site. Users may adjust their interest area subscriptions (networks, geography, sectors, etc.) and email preferences at any time. Users may opt out of receiving emails from the Site and the Georgetown Climate Center.

  

 

Privacy Policy 

We are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how the Site collects certain types of personal information, how we use the information, with whom we share the information, and the choices you can make about our use of the information. We also describe the measures we take to secure your information and how you can contact us about our privacy practices.

Information We Collect

We may collect certain personal information and non-personal information through our Site.

Personal Information. Here are the most common types of personal information we collect: 

  • Contact information (such as name, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number);
  • Login and access credentials (such as username and password);
  • Professional associations (such as your employer, your job title, and any Adaptation Clearinghouse networks that you choose to join on the Site);
  • Areas of interest that you submit through the Site;
  • Photos, articles, or resources that you share with us and how you interact with the Site.
  • Comments and resources that you submit through the Site. 

Non-Personal Information. When you visit our Site, non-personal information may be collected in order to improve visitors’ online experience and facilitate your visit within our Site. This non-personal information is collected through automated technologies such as cookies, web server logs and web beacons. A "cookie" is a file that a website sends to a visitor's computer or other Internet-connected device to uniquely identify the visitor's browser or to store information or settings in the browser. A "web beacon," also known as an Internet tag, pixel tag or clear GIF, links web pages to web servers and their cookies and may be used to transmit information collected through cookies back to a web server.

The information collected using these tools may include your IP address, browser characteristics, operating system, the address of the web page that referred you to our Site, dates and times of Site visits, the language your system uses, and the country and time zone in which your device is located. These technologies permit the collection of "clickstream data," which may include a log of content you access while browsing a website.

How We Use the Information We Collect

In general, we use personal information to pursue our mission and operations, and to enhance your experience as a user of our Site.  We may use the information we collect to: 

  • Verify your identity;
  • Provide, administer, and communicate with you about products, services, and events, and resources;
  • Create, administer, and communicate with you about your online account or subscription;
  • Process, evaluate, and respond to your requests, inquiries, and applications;
  • Provide and administer communications tools available through our Site;
  • Operate, evaluate, and improve our Site;
  • Protect against and prevent fraud, unauthorized activity, claims, and other liabilities; or
  • Comply with and enforce applicable legal requirements, industry standards, and our policies and terms of use.

We also may use the information in other ways for which we provide specific notice at the time of collection.

Sharing of Information

Partners, Agents, Affiliates. We do not sell or otherwise disclose personal information we collect on our Site, except as described here. We may share user information with our partners, service providers, agents, or affiliates who perform services on our behalf. These parties are not authorized by us to use or disclose the information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. In the course of these communications, they may use our tools to share personal information about the parties they represent. Partners include, but are not limited to, the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network.

My Clearinghouse information. When you add a resource to your personal Clearinghouse, the item may be shown on your public facing profile page as recent activity or items recently added to your clearinghouse. When you rate a resource, that resource may appear on your public facing profile as a highly rated resource, if you rate it with four or five stars.

Other Disclosure. In addition, we may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law or legal process (such as a court order), (ii) in response to a request by law enforcement authorities or regulatory agencies, or (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity. We also reserve the right to transfer personal information we have about you in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets. Should such an event occur, we will use reasonable efforts to direct the transferee to use personal information you have provided to us on this in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy. 

Your Rights and Choices

We offer you certain choices about how we communicate with you and what information we collect from you. The Site may provide features that allow you to (i) access and update personal information you have provided there, or (ii) register your communications preferences, such as by telling us not to send you materials. You also may contact us as described in the How To Contact Us section below to learn how to update your preferences, remove your information from our mailing lists, or submit other requests. The Site also provides the capability to opt-out of sharing your information with our partners.

How We Protect Personal Information

Security. We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect on our Site against accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. 

Disclaimer. However, no data transmitted over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, and we do not represent or guarantee the security of personal information or other information in any form. By using this Site you are agreeing that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of the sharing of the information you supply to us with service providers, affiliates, or agents, or as the result of the presence of such parties on this Site.

Links to Other Websites, Features, and Embedded Content

For your convenience and information, the Site may provide links to other websites or online services, including social media sites, or present content or features from other websites or other third parties. These websites may have their own privacy notices or policies, and we strongly suggest you review their policies and practices to ensure that the privacy of the information you submit on their site does not conflict with and is consistent with how you wish your information to be treated. Such sites may also place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data, or solicit personal information from you. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices, or the content of any other websites that may provide access to, or be linked to or from, this Site, including that of any social networking sites [and third party advertisers whose offerings require you to navigate away from our site].

Data Storage Location and Duration

Our databases are located in the United States. If you are located outside of the US, by sending us your data you consent to its transfer to and storage within the US. We keep your data for as long as we think is necessary or advisable and reserve the right to retain it to the full extent not prohibited by law. We may discard your data at our discretion and you should not rely upon our storage of any personal information or other data.

Special Note to International Users

Our Site is hosted in the United States. If you are accessing the Site from the European Union, Asia, Africa, or any other region with laws or regulations governing personal data collection, use, or disclosure differ from U.S. laws, please note that you are transferring your personal data to the U.S., which does not have the same data protection laws as the EU and other regions. By providing your data you consent to: (i) the use of your personal data for the uses identified above in accordance with the Privacy Policy, and (ii) the transfer of your personal data to the U.S. as indicated above and the application of U.S. laws to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information.

Changes and Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may change or update this Privacy Policy, and we encourage you to refer back to it periodically. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes to this webpage and any other places we deem appropriate. We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, or by other means, such as e-mail, at our discretion. When we revise this Privacy Policy we will also revise the Effective Date below.

How to Contact Us

For more information, please contact Peter Rafle, communications director for the Georgetown Climate Center, by email at peter.rafle@georgetown.edu.

Acceptance of this Privacy Policy

Your use of the Site, including any dispute concerning privacy, is subject to this Privacy Policy and the applicable Terms and Conditions of Use. By using our website, you are accepting the practices set out in this Privacy Policy and the applicable Terms and Conditions of Service. Your continued use of any portion of our Site following posting of a change or update to this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of the changes.

 

Effective Date: July 15, 2016