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Terms and conditions

Last updated on 02/03/2023.

Information contained on the site

This website – aimed at highlighting the diversity of existing citizen cultural research projects within the Particip-Arc Network – is for information purposes only. The portal is an interdisciplinary platform serving research projects based on citizen science approaches in the fields of culture; however, it also presents resources, news and events related to citizen cultural research. The relay platform provides links to other participation websites for the projects presented. This site also:

  • provides better information and increased participation thanks to shared resources on citizen science; 
  • offers to take part in citizen science outings, feedback days, discussion meetings and themed schools – see the News section.

No information contained on the site may be construed as having any contractual value whatsoever. The scientific texts published on the site are valid at the date of publication and do not bind their authors in the future.

Information on the services or objects in the collections or any other information contained on the site is taken from documents considered reliable on the day they were uploaded online. All information, whether practical or scientific, is of an indicative nature only and without any commitment on the part of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network.

The information contained on the website may be modified at any time without prior notice by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network. The information contained on the PARTICIP-ARC website does not constitute an offer of services or products or a commercial solicitation of any kind, nor does it constitute a recommendation or advice. The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, shall not be held liable for any decision taken or not taken on the basis of information contained on the website, nor for any use that may be made thereof by a third party. This information does not entail the liability of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.

 

Acceptance and modification of the Terms and Conditions and the Website 

Access to and use of the site are subject to acceptance of and compliance with Terms and Conditions (T&C). By browsing the website, whatever the technical means of access and the terminals used, the user is presumed to be aware of the T&C and to have accepted them without reservation. The T&C apply, as necessary, to any variation or extension of the site on existing or future social and/or community networks.

The T&C may be modified at any time by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc Network. The user is therefore advised to refer to the latest version of the T&C, which may be accessed at any time on the website before browsing. In the event of disagreement with the T&C the user will be denied access to the website.

 

Protection of website content

The PARTICIP-ARC website and all its constituent elements are the property of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, and are protected by copyright and intellectual property law.

Reproduction of all or part of this site in paper or electronic form is authorised solely for non-commercial use for distribution to associations, for information or teaching purposes, subject to compliance with the following three conditions:

  • free distribution ; 
  • respect for the integrity of the documents reproduced: no modification or alteration of any kind; 
  • clear and legible citation of the source indicating the name "PARTICIP-ARC", the Internet address of the portal: www.participarc.net " and the mention: "© PARTICIP-ARC - Reproduction prohibited - All rights reserved".

The distribution or use of site content and information for commercial or advertising purposes is strictly prohibited. For any other use, please contact particip-arc@mnhn.fr.

Databases and/or data files are protected by special provisions, introduced by law no. 98-536 of 1 July 1998 relating to the legal protection of databases. The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, guarantees that it holds the intellectual property rights to the content posted online or that it has obtained the necessary authorisation from the rights holders.

They may not be re-used without the express prior authorisation of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, which coordinates the Particip-Arc network.

 

Website access and use of content

The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, authorises all visitors, in accordance with present conditions and the rules of use on the Internet, to consult this website free of charge, for information purposes only, solely for their personal and private use and to the exclusion of all commercial purposes. All costs associated with access to the website, including hardware, software and Internet access costs, are the sole responsibility of the user. 

Any person interested in becoming involved in the Particip-Arc network ("professional users") will be able to create a personalised user account on the PARTICIP-ARC website. In doing so they undertake to provide, maintain and regularly update accurate, complete and up-to-date information.

Professional users will be able to upload information directly to the portal about themselves, their organisations, their projects and their events, as well as resources, photos, videos, email addresses, telephone numbers, postal addresses and website addresses.

 

Services provided 

1/ Creation of a user account for people wishing to become network members

Anyone wishing to get involved in citizen cultural research should create a user account and join the Particip-Arc network. 

This enables them to: 

  • describe their participatory cultural research project; 
  • interact with other members of the network;
  • share resources, publish events and news.

Registration will only be taken into account once the PARTICIP-ARC CHARTER OF COMMITMENTS AND VALUES has been accepted (tick the box when registering). This charter sets out the shared common values and the specific features of the projects presented on the PARTICIP-ARC portal. 

Once the registration form has been completed, the user can access their personal space (in the form of a dashboard), which can be enhanced with:

  • personal information;
  • information relating to their professional profile and skills;
  • information about their project (for inclusion in the project directory: project name, objectives, concrete actions, logo, website, contact email, location, period and method of participation, level of involvement, training required, detailed description of the project, background, project partner organisations, co-leaders, etc.).

In addition, users can access the resource centre, news feed and events section to publish:

  • resources: name and type of resource, source, description, themes covered, detailed description, project or event linked to the resource, accessibility, geographical scope and publication date. 
  • events and news: name of the event or news item, photo, description of the event or news item, start and end dates of the event, link to the official event page, postal address of the event, themes covered, name of the organising body, related projects, name of the contact person for the event, telephone number and email address.

Some of the above-mentioned information uploaded by the user will be made public by default, with the exception of information dedicated to the Particip-Arc network: the email and telephone number of project co-sponsors.

The information provided by the user is hosted by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network. Registration for the network is free and must comply with the following conditions: 

  • all the information provided when registering and creating a profile must be genuine and accurate. 
  • registration must be on a personal and non-commercial basis
  • use of the site must not contravene any laws or regulations in force.

Any account and/or profile may be deleted at any time and without notice by the website administrators if they believe that it contradicts the exceptions listed above.

All account users using the website undertake to uphold the intellectual property rights to all elements and content freely uploaded to the PARTICIP-ARC site: information, texts, publications, photographs, videos, drawings and/or images. Users may share freely accessible resources. 

By uploading content onto PARTICIP-ARC, users agree to transfer all economic rights (reproduction, use, adaptation, translation) free of charge and non-exclusively to the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, for non-commercial use to promote PARTICIP-ARC, studies and analyses. User content may be used by the resource centre under Creative Commons with the following licence:


Attribution – Non-Commercial – Non-Modification CC BY-NC-ND 

This licence is the most restrictive of the six main Creative Commons licences, allowing others to download your work and share, when credited with your name, but not to modify in any way or use for commercial purposes.

 

2/ Exchanges

The PARTICIP-ARC site enables users to communicate with other members of the network via comments. The author of a message is solely responsible for their comments. 

In the event of failure to comply with the provisions below and with the laws and regulations in force in France, the author will be liable, in addition to the deletion of their message, to civil or criminal penalties.

Each user undertakes to respect the following ethical rules: 

  • not to carry out any operations that could harm the correct functioning of the PARTICIP-ARC website;
  • to exercise particular vigilance in the use of elements made available to them and to observe all the usual precautions; 
  • not to disseminate content, messages or Internet links of a racist, defamatory, rude, abusive, aggressive, violent or discriminatory nature; 
  • not to publish or disseminate information that contravenes copyright or related rights, the law applicable to databases, image rights or the right to privacy, or that infringes any other legislative or regulatory provision in force; 
  • not to distribute non-public telephone numbers or email addresses;
  • to comply with the rules governing access rights and usage, which differ according to the status assigned to each member by the platform administrators.

 

3/ Newsletter subscription

The site offers any visitor or member the possibility of subscribing to the newsletter, by providing the following information:

  • email address

This information is collected for the purpose of sending information and news content (in the form of newsletters).

The user is informed (and must accept) that this subscription constitutes a collection of personal data. If the user is opposed to the collection of personal data, they should not subscribe.

Registration for the newsletter is free and open to all, provided that:

  • all information provided at the time of registration is authentic and accurate;
  • registration is for private, non-commercial use only;
  • use of the webite does not infringe any applicable law or regulation.

A subscription may be deleted at any time and without notice if the webite administrators believe that it contravenes the exceptions listed below.

The information provided by the user is accessible by the departments in charge of designing, publishing and sending the newsletters, within the Particip-Arc network coordination team. It is not passed on to third parties.

 

Personal data

For all information concerning the processing of personal data by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, please refer to the PRIVACY POLICY.

 

Liability

1/ Responsibility of the User  

All hardware and software required to access and use the website are the sole responsibility of the user, who is therefore solely responsible for the proper functioning of their equipment and Internet access. 

It is therefore the user's responsibility to take all appropriate measures to protect their own data, computer systems and/or software from contamination by any viruses. 

The user is solely responsible for their use of the website.

The user/client is responsible for any damage they may cause to the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as part of the coordination of the PARTICIP-ARC network, as a result of non-compliance with the T&C. 

The user undertakes to inform the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle without delay, by any means, of any error, fault or irregularity that they observe in the use of the website, as soon as they become aware of it.

In order to respond to a security alert (anti-virus check, etc.), at the request of an authority (administrative, judicial or any other authorised authority), or an alert from another user, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as part of Particip-Arc coordination, reserves the right, where applicable:

  • to retain, for purposes of proof, any information that does not comply with the rules set out in the Terms and Conditions (T&C); 
  • to keep, for purposes of proof, all logs, connection traces or data of a personal or non-personal nature proving the imputability to the user of the behaviour or actions in question; 
  • to modify, reject and/or delete access to any information that does not comply with the rules set out in the T&C.

 

2/ Responsibility of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network

The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, promises to use all reasonable means at its disposal to ensure high-quality access to the website.

The website is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except in the event of a force majeure or the occurrence of an event beyond the control of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and subject to any breakdowns and maintenance operations necessary for the proper operation of the website. 

In addition, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle cannot be held responsible for any malfunction of the network and/or servers or any other event beyond its control, which prevents or degrades access to the website.

The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, reserves the right to interrupt, temporarily suspend or modify without notice access to all or part of the website, in order to carry out maintenance, or for any other reason, without the interruption giving rise to any obligation or compensation.

The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle may not be held liable for any damage that may be caused as a result of: 

  • use of the website by the user in a manner that does not comply with these T&C and the regulations in force; 
  • the configuration of the user's computer allowing them to identify themself automatically and thus allow any third party to use the website with their account or by usurping their identity. Consequently, to limit this risk, the user is invited to secure access to their account (deletion of cookies and automatic identification, etc.). 

 

Hypertext links

Hypertext links have been set up on from the website to other external resources on the Internet and vice versa. These links should not be considered as constituting an offer of services or products, or a recommendation, advice or commercial solicitation of any kind. The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, declines all responsibility for the content and use that may be made by any third party of the information appearing on all other sites. 

Similarly, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, accepts no responsibility for the consequences of technical failures in connection with these links.

Hypertext links to pages or documents published on the www.partriciparc.net portal are authorised if the links ensure that the origin of the document can be identified. The user must inform the portal administrators in advance at the following address: partricip-arc@mnhn.fr. The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, in its capacity as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, may at any time demand the removal of hypertext link(s) established by any person to the PARTICIP-ARC website from an external site, if this website contravenes the image of the Particip-Arc network, the projects presented, or more generally citizen science.

 

Security and integrity of telecommunications 

The security and integrity of Internet communications cannot be guaranteed. The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, as coordinator of the Particip-Arc network, declines all responsibility for the consequences of technical failures in relation to the site, particularly with regard to any difficulty in accessing the site or any interruption in the distribution of the site.

 

Protection of computer systems 

Articles 323-1 et seq. of the Criminal Code punish offences against automated data processing systems, in particular: 

  • fraudulently accessing or remaining in all or part of an automated data processing system; 
  • hindering or distorting the operation of such a system; 
  • fraudulently introducing data into such a system or fraudulently deleting or modifying the data contained therein.

 

Applicable law - attribution of jurisdiction  

The PARTICIP-ARC site, whose official language is French, is subject to French law and falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the French courts.