# Terms of Use – Curation Tool **Version:** 1.0 **Effective date:** Upon publication ## 1. Provider and Service The Curation Tool is privately operated by: **Nicolas Mathieu Lamoure** Frankfurter Straße 81 63500 Seligenstadt Germany **Email:** info@curation-tool.com The Curation Tool is an online platform designed to facilitate the creation, organization, administration, and execution of annotation, judgement, and other research-related tasks. The platform is intended for scientific research, education, and private non-commercial projects. Use of the platform is provided free of charge unless otherwise expressly agreed. Commercial use requires a separate agreement with the platform operator. These Terms of Use govern access to and use of the platform. The processing of personal data is described separately in the Privacy Policy. ## 2. Accounts and Access ### 2.1. Registration and Account Responsibilities Users must provide accurate registration information and maintain a valid, accessible email address. Users are responsible for protecting their login credentials and must not intentionally provide unauthorized individuals with access to their accounts. The platform uses an account and permission system with different user roles, including Administrators, Project Supervisors, and Curators. Account activation, role assignments, and changes to access permissions are subject to the platform's administrative procedures. Users must be legally capable of entering into these Terms or have any authorization required by applicable law. The platform is not specifically designed for children. ### 2.2. Access Permissions Users may access, modify, export, or delete information only to the extent permitted by their assigned roles and Project permissions. Users must not attempt to circumvent access restrictions, gain unauthorized access to other accounts or Projects, or interfere with the platform's security mechanisms. Project Supervisors are responsible for assigning access permissions to appropriate participants within their Projects. ### 2.3. Account Security Users should notify the platform operator if they become aware of unauthorized account access or a security incident affecting the platform. The operator may temporarily restrict access where reasonably necessary to protect the platform, its users, or the integrity of research data. ## 3. Research Projects and User-Provided Content ### 3.1. Responsibility for Research Projects Project Supervisors and the individuals or organizations responsible for the respective research activities are responsible for ensuring that their Projects comply with applicable law and relevant research requirements. This includes, where applicable: - Establishing an appropriate legal basis for processing personal data. - Providing required information to research participants. - Obtaining valid consent where legally necessary. - Ensuring that uploaded datasets, stimuli, and other materials may lawfully be used. - Respecting applicable copyright, intellectual property, and confidentiality requirements. - Establishing appropriate data retention and deletion arrangements. - Ensuring that external cloud storage arrangements are suitable for the research data concerned. The allocation of data protection responsibilities between the platform operator and the responsible research controller must be determined for the respective processing activities. The platform operator does not automatically become the controller responsible for the scientific purposes of every Project merely because the platform provides the technical infrastructure. ### 3.2. Prohibited Content and Activities Users must not use the platform to: - Upload, distribute, or process unlawful content. - Infringe third-party intellectual property rights or confidentiality obligations. - Harass, threaten, impersonate, or unlawfully discriminate against other individuals. - Introduce malicious software or interfere with the operation or security of the service. - Access or attempt to access information without authorization. - Process personal data unlawfully or disregard applicable data protection requirements. - Use the platform for fraudulent activities or other unlawful purposes. The intentional collection or processing of special categories of personal data within the meaning of Article 9 GDPR is not permitted as part of the platform's standard use. A Project intending to process such information must obtain explicit prior written authorization from the platform operator and independently establish all applicable legal bases and safeguards. Authorization by the platform operator does not replace compliance with the GDPR or other applicable law. ### 3.3. Rights to Uploaded Materials Users and the respective rights holders retain their rights to datasets, stimuli, annotations, and other materials uploaded or produced through the platform. To the extent they are entitled to do so, users authorize the technical storage, reproduction, processing, display, and export of such materials insofar as necessary to provide the requested platform functions and enable authorized research collaboration. This authorization does not transfer ownership of intellectual property rights to the platform operator. It does not replace any required legal basis for processing personal data. ### 3.4. Enforcement Where the operator becomes aware of a suspected violation of these Terms or applicable law, the operator may investigate the matter and take appropriate, proportionate measures. Depending on the circumstances, these measures may include restricting access, requesting the removal of unlawful material, suspending an account, or terminating access to the platform. Where reasonably possible and legally appropriate, affected users will be informed of the reason for such measures and given an opportunity to seek clarification or challenge an erroneous decision by contacting the operator. Mandatory rights and procedures under applicable law remain unaffected. ## 4. Scientific Contributions Annotations, judgements, reviews, adjudications, and other research contributions form part of the respective research Project. Scientific contributions may remain available to authorized Project participants after a Curator leaves the Project or deletes their platform account, insofar as continued retention and processing are legally permissible. Such retention may be necessary for scientific documentation, evaluation of annotation agreement, reliability analysis, or the preservation of research results. Where identifying information is no longer required, appropriate measures should be taken to remove, separate, or minimize such information. The deletion of an account does not automatically establish that every associated research contribution must be deleted. The continued processing of personal data requires an appropriate legal basis and applicable safeguards. Nothing in these Terms limits mandatory rights under the GDPR, including the right to request erasure where the legal conditions are met. Further information is provided in the Privacy Policy and the applicable project-specific privacy notices. ## 5. Account Termination and Deletion ### 5.1. Voluntary Account Deletion Users may request or initiate permanent deletion of their accounts through the available platform functions. Permanent account deletion removes the user's account and associated personal profile information from the active platform database without a general waiting period, subject to applicable law and the retention arrangements described in the Privacy Policy. Users who own research Projects should consider the consequences of account deletion for those Projects and their participants. Where the platform provides warnings concerning affected Projects, Curations, or other information, users should review them before confirming deletion. ### 5.2. Deletion of Curations The platform provides a standard Curation deletion procedure with a 30-day recovery period. Where the corresponding function is available to an authorized user, permanent deletion may be initiated without this recovery period. Existing database backups and independently stored external copies remain subject to their respective retention arrangements. Further details are provided in the Privacy Policy. ### 5.3. Outstanding Acknowledgements The platform may require users to acknowledge receipt of updated legal or privacy information. Where an acknowledgement remains outstanding, the platform may send reminders and communicate a deadline. If the acknowledgement is still outstanding after the communicated deadline, an Administrator may manually review the account and determine whether further access restrictions or account closure are appropriate and legally permissible. **Account deletion does not occur automatically solely because an acknowledgement remains outstanding.** Where a user owns active research Projects, the consequences for those Projects and their participants must be considered before administrative account closure. Automatically assigned Example Projects do not constitute independently owned research Projects for this purpose. Acknowledgement of a privacy notice does not constitute general consent to personal data processing or a waiver of statutory rights. ### 5.4. External Storage and Exports Deleting a Curation, Project, or user account does not automatically delete research files stored in external cloud storage accounts. The platform operator does not independently delete files from cloud accounts controlled by users or research Projects as part of the ordinary platform deletion procedures. The same applies to datasets and reports independently exported or downloaded from the platform. The respective account holders and responsible research controllers remain responsible for managing these copies in accordance with applicable law. ## 6. Availability, Liability, and Legal Conditions ### 6.1. Service Availability The Curation Tool is provided as a research and educational platform. The operator endeavors to maintain a secure, functional, and reliable service. However, uninterrupted availability or freedom from technical errors cannot be guaranteed. Temporary interruptions may occur due to maintenance, software updates, technical failures, security measures, or circumstances beyond the operator's reasonable control. Users and Project Supervisors should maintain appropriate independently controlled copies of research materials where necessary for their work. Nothing in this section limits mandatory statutory rights. ### 6.2. Liability The operator remains liable without limitation for damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence, for injury to life, body, or health where liability arises under applicable law, and in all other cases in which liability cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. In cases of slight negligence involving the breach of an essential contractual obligation, liability may be limited to the damage that was foreseeable and typical for the contractual relationship, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Any further exclusion or limitation of liability applies only insofar as permitted by mandatory law. These Terms do not exclude or restrict rights or remedies that cannot legally be waived. ### 6.3. Changes to These Terms The operator may revise these Terms to reflect changes in applicable law, platform functionality, technical arrangements, or organizational requirements. Each published version will be identified by its version number and publication date. Users will be informed of material changes through appropriate communication channels, including email or notifications within the platform. Where legally required, changes to the contractual relationship will be subject to the user's agreement or another applicable legal basis. An acknowledgement of receipt does not, by itself, replace any agreement required under applicable contract law. Changes do not retroactively eliminate statutory rights. ### 6.4. Applicable Law These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. Where mandatory consumer protection provisions of another applicable jurisdiction provide rights that cannot be excluded by agreement, those rights remain unaffected. ### 6.5. Contact Questions about these Terms, account restrictions, or the operation of the platform may be directed to: **info@curation-tool.com**