Terms of use
The Elections 24 Check website is located at https://elections24.efcsn.com/ and its associated backoffice located at https://backoffice.elections24.efcsn.com/ (jointly referred to hereinafter as “Site”) is a copyrighted work belonging to European Fact-Checking Standards Network (hereinafter “the EFCSN”). Certain features of the Site may be subject to additional guidelines, terms, or rules, which will be posted on the Site in connection with such features.
All such additional terms, guidelines, and rules are incorporated by reference into these Terms.
These Terms of Use describe the legally binding terms and conditions that oversee your use of the Site. BY LOGGING INTO THE SITE, YOU ARE BEING COMPLIANT WITH THESE TERMS and you confirm that you have the authority and capacity to enter into these Terms. YOU SHOULD BE AT LEAST 18 YEARS OF AGE TO ACCESS THE SITE. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH ALL OF THE PROVISIONS OF THESE TERMS, DO NOT LOG INTO AND/OR USE THE SITE.
1. Access to the Site
Subject to these Terms. The EFCSN grants you a non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable, limited licence to access the Site solely for your own noncommercial use.
Certain Restrictions. The rights approved to you in these Terms are subject to the following restrictions: (a) you shall not sell, rent, lease, transfer, assign, distribute, host, or otherwise commercially exploit the Site; (b) you shall not change, make derivative works of, disassemble, reverse compile or reverse engineer any part of the Site; (c) you shall not access the Site in order to build a similar or competitive website; and (d) except as expressly stated herein, no part of the Site may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means unless otherwise indicated, any future release, update, or other addition to functionality of the Site shall be subject to these Terms. All copyright and other proprietary notices on the Site must be retained on all copies thereof.
The EFCSN reserves the right to change, suspend, or cease the Site with or without notice to you. You approved that the EFCSN will not be held liable to you or any third-party for any change, interruption, or termination of the Site or any part.
No Support or Maintenance. You agree that the EFCSN will have no obligation to provide you with any support in connection with the Site.
Excluding any User Content that you may provide, you are aware that all the intellectual property rights, including copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, in the Site and its content are owned by the EFCSN, our partners, or other third parties. Note that these Terms and access to the Site do not give you any rights, title, or interest in or to any intellectual property rights, except for the limited access rights expressed below. The EFCSN and its partners reserve all rights not granted in these Terms.
2. Third-Party Links & Ads; Other Users
Third-Party Links & Ads. The Site may contain links to third-party websites and services, and/or display advertisements for third-parties. Such Third-Party Links & Ads are not under the control of the EFCSN, and the EFCSN is not responsible for any Third-Party Links & Ads. The EFCSN provides access to these Third-Party Links & Ads only as a convenience to you, and does not review, approve, monitor, endorse, warrant, or make any representations with respect to Third-Party Links & Ads. You use all Third-Party Links & Ads at your own risk, and should apply a suitable level of caution and discretion in doing so. When you click on any of the Third-Party Links & Ads, the applicable third party's terms and policies apply, including the third party's privacy and data gathering practices.
Other Users. Each Site user is solely responsible for any and all of its own User Content. Because we do not control User Content, you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for any User Content, whether provided by you or by others. You agree that the EFCSN will not be responsible for any loss or damage incurred as the result of any such interactions. If there is a dispute between you and any Site user, we are under no obligation to become involved.
You hereby release and forever discharge the EFCSN and our officers, employees, agents, successors, and assigns from, and hereby waive and relinquish, each and every past, present and future dispute, claim, controversy, demand, right, obligation, liability, action and cause of action of every kind and nature, that has arisen or arises directly or indirectly out of, or that relates directly or indirectly to, the Site. If you are a California resident, you hereby waive California Civil Code section 1542 in connection with the foregoing, which states: "a general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor."
Cookies and Web Beacons. Like any other website, Elections 24 Check uses ‘cookies'. These cookies are used to store information, including visitors' preferences and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users' experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors' browser type and/or other information.
3. Specific terms for researcher access
Third party entities, such as researchers, universities, and policymakers, are granted access to the backoffice of the Elections24Check database located at https://backoffice.elections24.efcsn.com/ on a case-by-case basis (hereinafter referred to as “researcher access”). Researcher access enables users to read articles, download data, and access the statistics and narratives sections of the backoffice.
Applications for researcher access are subject to analysis and approval by the EFCSN Governance Body, and a specific form will be provided for this purpose. External stakeholders will have to submit this form and will have to agree to these Terms of Service.
Use cases that are permitted include but are not limited to
- Non-commercial scientific research
- Journalistic research
- Policy evaluation
Use cases that are not permitted
- Training of ML- or AI models
- Commercial research
- Research for the purpose of spreading misinformation or disinformation, hate speech, of infringing minors’ rights or legal provisions on the prevention of terrorism.
The EFCSN Governance Body will review the applications and grant access to applicants based on the potential contribution of their projects to the knowledge of the disinformation phenomenon and to the improvement of the European information ecosystem, taking into account the applicant’s capacity to enforce the Terms of Use and above all safeguarding the fact-checking community’s independence, including perception of independence. While public institutions can be granted access for the purpose of policy evaluation, particular government entities such as police corps, armed forces, or intelligence services are explicitly barred from accessing the database.
If a third party intends to publish any kind of content based on data or insights gained from the repository, they must notify the EFCSN at least 72 hours before publication, using this email address: [email protected].
Project’s Data made accessible to third parties must be deleted after 1 month after the access was removed. Third parties will allow and facilitate any audit from the EFCSN or a contractor of the EFCSN with the purpose to make sure Project’s Data is stored or deleted in accordance with the present provisions.
Third-party entities engaged in data processing must explicitly commit to not taking or indexing project data to other services or platforms without prior written consent from the EFCSN.
The EFCSN reserves the right to conduct regular compliance checks on third-party entities engaged in data processing. These checks may include audits, inspections, or requests for documentation to ensure ongoing adherence to the General Data Protection Regulation (EU Regulation 2016/679, hereinafter “GDPR”) principles and the agreed-upon Terms of Service.
Third-party entities are obligated to immediately report any incidents or discoveries of non-compliance with GDPR principles or unauthorised data transfers to the EFCSN. Timely reporting is crucial for the EFCSN to take corrective measures promptly.
Third-party entities must explicitly acknowledge and agree to these data protection and compliance requirements as part of their agreement with the EFCSN. Failure to comply with these provisions may result in termination of the relationship and may lead to further legal actions.
Any third party’s researcher access may be revoked by the EFCSN without prior notice.
4. Disclaimers
The site is provided on an "as-is" and "as available" basis, and the EFCSN and our partners and suppliers expressly disclaim any and all warranties and conditions of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including all warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, quiet enjoyment, accuracy, or non-infringement. We and our suppliers do not guarantee that the site will meet your requirements, will be available on an uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free basis, or will be accurate, reliable, free of viruses or other harmful code, complete, legal, or safe. If applicable law requires any warranties with respect to the site, all such warranties are limited in duration to ninety (90) days from the date of first use.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. Some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitation may not apply to you.
5. Limitation on Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall the EFCSN or our partners or suppliers be liable to you or any third-party for any lost profits, lost data, costs of procurement of substitute products, or any indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental, special or punitive damages arising from or relating to these terms or your use of, or incapability to use the site even if company has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Access to and use of the site is at your own discretion and risk, and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your device or computer system, or loss of data resulting therefrom.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, our liability to you for any damages arising from or related to this agreement, will at all times be limited to a maximum of fifty U.S. dollars (u.s. $50). The existence of more than one claim will not enlarge this limit. You agree that our suppliers will have no liability of any kind arising from or relating to this agreement.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
Term and Termination. Subject to this Section, these Terms will remain in full force and effect while you use the Site. We may suspend or terminate your rights to use the Site at any time for any reason at our sole discretion, including for any use of the Site in violation of these Terms. Upon termination of your rights under these Terms, your Account and right to access and use the Site will terminate immediately. You understand that any termination of your Account may involve deletion of your User Content associated with your Account from our live databases. Company will not have any liability whatsoever to you for any termination of your rights under these Terms. Even after your rights under these Terms are terminated, the following provisions of these Terms will remain in effect: Sections 2 through 2.5, Section 3 and Sections 4 through 10.
6. Copyright Policy
The EFCSN respects the intellectual property of others and asks that users of our Site do the same. In connection with our Site, we have adopted and implemented a policy respecting copyright law that provides for the removal of any infringing materials and for the termination of users of our online Site who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights, including copyrights. If you believe that one of our users is, through the use of our Site, unlawfully infringing the copyright(s) in a work, and wish to have the allegedly infringing material removed, the following information in the form of a written notification must be provided to [email protected]:
- your physical or electronic signature;
- identification of the copyrighted work(s) that you claim to have been infringed;
- identification of the material on our services that you claim is infringing and that you request us to remove;
- sufficient information to permit us to locate such material;
- your address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
- a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the objectionable material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or under the law; and
- a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury that you are either the owner of the copyright that has allegedly been infringed or that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
Please note that any misrepresentation of material fact in a written notification automatically subjects the complaining party to liability for any damages, costs and attorney's fees incurred by us in connection with the written notification and allegation of copyright infringement.
7. General
Electronic Communications. The communications between you and the EFCSN use electronic means, whether you use the Site or send us emails or whether the EFCSN posts notices on the Site or communicates with you via email. For contractual purposes, you (a) consent to receive communications from the EFCSN in an electronic form; and (b) agree that all terms and conditions, agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that the EFCSN provides to you electronically satisfy any legal obligation that such communications would satisfy if it were be in a hard copy writing.
Entire Terms. These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the use of the Site. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. The section titles in these Terms are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. The word "including" means "including without limitation". If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the other provisions of these Terms will be unimpaired and the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed modified so that it is valid and enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by law. Your relationship to Company is that of an independent contractor, and neither party is an agent or partner of the other. These Terms, and your rights and obligations herein, may not be assigned, subcontracted, delegated, or otherwise transferred by you without Company's prior written consent, and any attempted assignment, subcontract, delegation, or transfer in violation of the foregoing will be null and void. The EFCSN may freely assign these Terms. The terms and conditions set forth in these Terms shall be binding upon assignees.
Your Privacy. Please read our Privacy Policy.
Copyright/Trademark Information. Copyright ©. All rights reserved. All trademarks, logos, and service marks displayed on the Site are our property or the property of other third parties. You are not permitted to use these Marks without our prior written consent or the consent of such third party that may own the Marks.
Contact Information
Address: 4 rue Belgrand, 75020 Paris (France)
Email: [email protected]
