Privacy/Legal

My Group Genius Portal Terms of Use and Privacy and Information Security Policy

Welcome. This My Group Genius web portal (“Portal”) has been developed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (“Foundation”) to serve as a platform for communication and information exchange among education partners and those receiving grants from the Foundation and may include notices, announcements, meetings, discussion boards, grantee-specific pages and information pertinent to their work. While this is a password-protected site, please understand that information that you post is not confidential.

Your use of the Site is governed by My Group Genius Portal Terms of Use and Privacy and Information Security Policy (“Portal Agreement”). BY BY LOGGING INTO OR USING THE PORTAL WILL BE YOUR AGREEMENT TO THIS PORTAL AGREEMENT, WITHOUT MODIFICATION BY YOU. If you do not agree, do not log-in or use the Portal.

Each user of the Portal (“you”) agrees to the following terms and conditions:

Incorporated Terms: The Portal Terms include all terms and conditions of the Foundation Terms of Use for http://www.gatesfoundation.org (“Foundation Terms”), which you should review and download or print by visiting http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/Pages/terms-of-use.aspx and all terms and conditions of the Foundation’s Privacy & Information Security Policy for http://www.gatesfoundation.org (“Foundation Privacy Policy”), which you should review and download or print by visiting http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/Pages/privacy-policy.aspx Terms used but not defined in the Portal Agreement have the definitions set forth in the Foundation Terms or the Foundation Privacy Policy, except that “Site” (as defined in the Foundation Terms) shall include the Portal.

The capitalized terms used but not defined in this agreement have the definitions set forth in the Foundation Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, except that:

• “Site” (as defined in the terms) will include the Portal.

Supplemental Terms: The following terms and conditions apply in addition to the Foundation Terms and the Foundation Privacy Policy. If there is a conflict between this Portal Agreement and the Foundation documents, the more specific provision of this Portal Agreement will control the conflict:

1. Members Only. This Portal is for use only by persons who have been authorized by the Foundation to use the Portal (e.g., grant recipients under US Program, Foundation employees, grantees under other grant programs and persons affiliated with the grant process such as those who review grant applications (who are hereafter called a “Member”). In addition, you represent and warrant that you are a Member and that you have received a Portal access credential. You also agree to keep your access credentials confidential and not to allow anyone else to use them.

2. No Student Personally Identifiable Information. You agree that you will not post or transmit any student name, identity or other identifying information, or any material that would violate any federal or state law or regulation, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), or for any other purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by this agreement; you further represent that you have the right to post or transmit the information you submit as Content.

3. User Generated Content. The Foundation Terms also deal with Content that you provide in the “User Generated Content and Site Activities” section. Under that section, Portal Members grant the Foundation the right to use Content posted by Members in accordance with the terms of that license. If any Member cannot or does not want to grant that license as to particular Content, or if a Member fears that another Member will not abide by the terms of the license, the Member should not post that Content

   Except where otherwise noted, Content that you and other Members post may be made available to other Members under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial License (CC-BY-NC). More information about this license is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This Creative Commons license permits you to copy, distribute and transmit Content under the following conditions:

   • Attribution — You must attribute the Content in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
   • Noncommercial — You may not use this Content for commercial purposes.

   We hope you do post Content so that others may use it under that license, but that is a decision you need to make yourself depending on the nature of the Content. Putting legal matters aside and relying on courtesy, Members should feel free to ask other Members to honor a posting Member’s request for restricted use of Content, but whether a request is honored will be at the risk of the posting Member. That will be left to the courtesy accorded among Members and the Foundation will not become involved or attempt to enforce requested restrictions.

   The only controllable way to protect Content that you want to specially protect is for you to decide not to post anything that you would not want misused or to become public. Accordingly, you agree to take your own steps (such as by not posting) to protect your confidential, sensitive or important information and to protect your intellectual property rights.

   Here are some illustrations of the kinds of steps you might want to take:

   • You should not share a patentable idea if you intend to apply for a patent because disclosure on the Portal could be viewed as a public disclosure which could adversely affect your ability to secure patent rights. Similarly, you should not post a research idea or solution if you do not want to risk use of it by someone else.

   • Under the Foundation Terms, you also grant a Feedback License to the Foundation (but not to Members) in your Content (see “Feedback, Your License to Us” in the Foundation Terms). If you do not want to grant that license, do not post the Content.

   • Do not post Content for which you want to be paid by anyone: as explained in the Foundation Terms, the Foundation does not pay for Feedback and nothing in the Portal Agreements requires any Member to pay for it. Theoretically you could make a deal with another Member to pay you for your Content, but that would have to be lawfully accomplished by you and the other Member – nothing on the Portal achieves that result for you.

   
   
4. Additional Restrictions. In addition to the restrictions set forth in the Foundation Terms, you agree not to use the Portal or Content (including Available Content) unlawfully or for illegal purposes, in breach of the Portal Agreement or any other contract, in violation of an academic or ethical code of conduct, or to advertise or market to other Members.
5. Respect lobbying and private solicitation restrictions. As a private foundation, U.S. tax laws prohibit the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from engaging in political campaigns or lobbying activities. Federal and state laws regulate the solicitation of funds from individuals and fundraising activities on behalf of grantees or others. On any foundation-branded pages or in the context where your comments could be attributed to the foundation:
   1. Do not make any statements, post content or provide links to content that expressly or impliedly endorse or oppose any candidate for public office.
   2. Do not make any statements, posting content or provide links to content that contain a “call to action” about legislation such as encouraging others to contact a government official to express support for, or opposition to, a legislative proposal. Such a communication could be viewed as lobbying.
   3. Do not promote fundraising activities or solicit funds.
6. Non-Portal Agreements: Information from Members Is Not Binding on the Foundation. Any grant agreement or other agreement in a paper or electronic record that you now or later have with the Foundation (“Non-Portal Agreement”) is not subject to or modified by this Portal Agreement or information on the Portal (such as a comment about a Non-Portal Agreement by a Portal Member). The Non-Portal Agreements remain in full force and effect and your use of the Portal does not relieve you of your obligations under them. For example, if you “report” something to a Foundation employee on the Portal, such reporting does not relieve you of any obligation to make a report under your Non-Portal Agreement – you must still comply with your Non-Portal Agreement. Also, any opinions, advice, statements, assistance, services, offers, or information expressed or made available by Foundation Members on the Portal do not necessarily reflect those of the Foundation. You agree that if you seek a binding amendment to or interpretation of anything, e.g., of a Portal Agreement, a Non-Portal Agreement or a grant, that you will contact Andrew.smiles@gatesfoundation.org and will not rely on Portal Content –- Portal Content may not be accurate or authorized.
7. Use of Personal Information: In addition to the personal information we collect that is described in the Foundation Privacy Policy, the Portal allows collection of additional information for a different purpose. At the Portal, you may set up a “profile” where you can supply information such as your name, institution or affiliation, location, grant project description, interests, picture, email address, and other information about yourself or your research that you elect to share. Your Portal profile is intended to be accessed by other Members. Accordingly, only post information in your Portal profile that you want to share. Also, do not post sensitive personal information such as a social security number, bank account number, financial information or anything else that could be used by someone intent on mischief or committing identity theft. As noted in the Foundation Privacy Policy, the Foundation does not guarantee security of any information and your profile information (and anything else you post) will be accessible by others