Terms and conditions

Terms and Conditions

Spatial Transcript Omics DataBase (hereinafter referred to as "platform" / "STOmicsDB") complies with the "Terms and Conditions" established by China National GeneBank. This page outlines our Terms and Conditions which applies to all services provided by STOmicsDB.

Terms and Conditions Recently updated: Feb 2023

Please read the "Terms and Conditions" carefully before using STOmicsDB’s services. The "Terms and Conditions", "Privacy and Security Policy" and "Data Sharing Policy" are valid contracts signed by STOmicsDB and users concerning the relevant use of STOmicsDB services. By accessing or using the STOmicsDB website, you are deemed to have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by all the "Terms and Conditions", "Privacy and Security Policy" and "Data Sharing Policy" and then in effect. If you disagree with or cannot fully understand the "Terms and Conditions", "Privacy and Security Policy" and/or the "Data Sharing Policy", please do not use any of STOmicsDB’s services including the data access, search, upload, download, etc.

Users’ access to or use of the content and services provided by STOmicsDB should be bound by the "Terms and Conditions", "Privacy and Security Policy", "Data Sharing Policy", and all the instructions, policies, statutes, guidelines, and relevant laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China cited by STOmicsDB. Please click the following link for more details on the "Privacy and Security Policy".

Disclaimer

STOmicsDB shall not bear any legal responsibility for any personal information leakage caused by you informing others of your STOmicsDB account and password or sharing your registered account with others.

STOmicsDB shall not bear any legal responsibility for leakage of personal information caused by misuse or malicious use of registered accounts by other third parties.

STOmicsDB only archive anonymized data. If the data uploaded by users has the risk of collection, utilization or leakage of personal information illegally, the users and their organization units shall take the relevant legal responsibilities on their own and STOmicsDB bear no responsibility.

If any STOmicsDB users violate the “Term and Conditions” and use the user's personal information or materials for any purpose other than collaboration, STOmicsDB shall not in any way be liable for any legal liability arising from third-party infringement.

All users acknowledge and agree that any information, data, and/or materials submitted to or published to STOmicsDB, should comply with the latest “Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources”, and that for the form, content, and accuracy of the information, data, and/or materials, the users will bear full responsibilities.

STOmicsDB will not bear any legal responsibility for the legal dispute caused by the data uploading by Data Submitter (refers to the users who apply to submit data to STOmicsDB) without the full and informed consent of the sample donor.

All STOmicsDB materials are provided in the way of "what you see is what you get" without any express or implied warranties, including but not limited to the fitness for a particular purpose and/or non-infringement. Users will assume full responsibilities for the risk of all content, data or software downloaded or accessed through STOmicsDB if expressly agree to use STOmicsDB. STOmicsDB does not represent or warrant that the information on this platform is accurate, complete, reliable, newest or error-free.

STOmicsDB will make every effort to ensure users to access and use the platform securely. But it does not represent or warrant that STOmicsDB or other servers will be free of viruses or other harmful ingredients. STOmicsDB will not be liable for any liability arising from the inclusion of viruses.

STOmicsDB reserves the right to expel any user and prevent them from further access to STOmicsDB at any time due to user’s violation of laws and regulations, and STOmicsDB reserves the right to delete any information that is abusive, illegal, destructive or inappropriate at its sole discretion without prior notice.

STOmicsDB Public Data sources include CNGB, NCBI, EBI, DDBJ, Uniport and GISAID, also contains links to third party databases. STOmicsDB is not directly or indirectly liable for any damage or loss arising out of the use or reliance on any data, content or services on any such database or resource, or any damage or loss associated with such use or reliance. You agree that STOmicsDB does not make any express or implied guarantees for the data used in STOmicsDB from external databases. When using data for scientific research, you should abide by all applicable laws and regulations, relevant scientific research norms and ethical principles. STOmicsDB shall not assume any legal responsibility due to the user’s violations of laws, regulations, scientific research norms, and ethical principles.

The collaboration reached through STOmicsDB, including but not limited to sample or data sharing, the intellectual property arrangements shall be subjected to the all applicable laws, regulations and guidelines of the People's Republic of China. STOmicsDB does not assume any legal responsibility for disputes in the process of collaboration.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY DAMAGES DIRECT OR INDIRECT RELATED TO THE USE OR CAN NOT USE STOMICSDB AND ITS CONTENT, WHETHER DUE TO BREACH OF CONTRACT, INFRINGEMENT(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE AND STRICT LIABILITY) OR OTHER REASONS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER STOMICSDB HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR ANY OTHER CLAIM, STOMICSDB AFFILIATES, GOVERMENT, ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYES, AGENTS, OR RELATIONSHIP ENTITY DO NOT ASSUME ANY INDIRECT, SPORADIC, SPECIFIC, SUBORDINATE, DISCIPLINARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGE RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPENSATION, DO NOT ASSUME ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, SPORADIC, ASSOCIATED, AND/OR OTHER CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS.

These include:

Use or cannot use STOmicsDB data and/or services;
Unauthorized access, modification, or transfer of data of other users;
Any third-party statements or activities on STOmicsDB;
Any action or inaction of users based on objects or content published on STOmicsDB;
Any other matters related to STOmicsDB data or services.

Whether or not we are aware of the possibility of such damage, these restrictions remain applicable even if any limited remedies fail.

Without prejudice to the limitation of liability or disclaimer in this "Terms and Conditions", STOmicsDB shall not be liable for any delay or failure caused by direct or indirect reasons beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to internet failure, power outage, computer failure, communication or other equipment’s failure, strike, labor dispute, riot, chaos, civil strife, labor or material shortage, fire, flood, storm, explosion, natural disasters, war, government action, domestic or foreign court order and non-performance of the third parties.

Except for this "Terms and Conditions", STOmicsDB does not provide any verbal or written advice, information to constitute any warranty, representation or assurance.

User Commitment

The user agrees and promises:

The user has read and will abide by the "Terms and Conditions" in detail and will continue to understand the updates of the "Terms and Conditions", and has fully understood the rules and possible consequences of submitting data to STOmicsDB;
All data, information, documents and materials submitted to or released by STOmicsDB from users are strictly personal reviewed to ensure that they are legal, true, complete and accurate;
The user has obtained the full and complete authorization from the right holder, and has the right to submit to STOmicsDB or publish, provide, and manage relevant data and information through STOmicsDB. There is no controversy or dispute about the relevant data and information (including but not limited to intellectual property rights, data ownership, etc.);
The data and information submitted by the user to STOmicsDB or published through STOmicsDB involves human genetic resources (the term “human genetic resources (HGR)” includes human genetic resources materials and human genetic resources information according to the “Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources”. The term “HGR materials” means genetic materials such as organs, tissues and cells which contain human genomes, genes and other genetic substances. The term “HGR information” means information materials such as data generated from the utilization of HGR materials.) information (hereinafter referred to as "HGR information "):
1. The user guarantee that the source of the HGR information is legal and that all activities (including but not limited to collection, preservation, utilization, external provision, or open access of HGR information) that they have carried out or will carry out in response to the submitted data should comply with the relevant Administrative regulations on Chinese Human Genetic Resources (including but not limited to “The Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources”).
2. According to the relevant laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China on the administration of Chinese human genetic resources and related policies, the user who collect, preserve, utilize, export or open-up HGR information should obtain relevant administrative approvals (such as the administrative license for HGR collection and preservation), and/or recordation for external provision or open-up of HGR information with the MoST (China's Ministry of Science and Technology).If the recordation for external provision or open-up of HGR information is terminated or revoked by the MoST, the user will immediately notify STOmicsDB (datasubs@cngb.org) on the day of termination. STOmicsDB has the right to take corresponding measures (including but not limited to immediately suspend the service, terminate the service or delete the corresponding information, etc.) when receiving the notice or discovering the aforementioned situation through other ways;
All activities that have been or will be carried out for all data and information submitted to or released by STOmicsDB should be in compliance with the laws, regulations, policies, biosafety and bioethics principles of China and other relevant countries or regions.

Continuing to use any service provided by STOmicsDB means that the user has fully understood and agreed to make the above commitments. If the above commitments are violated or there are any violations of laws and regulations regarding the relevant data, the user agrees to assume all legal liabilities and the losses caused to the related parties, and STOmicsDB shall not assume any legal liabilities for this. At the same time, STOmicsDB has the right to take corresponding measures according to the situation, including but not limited to immediate suspension of service, termination of service or deletion of corresponding information.

Data Service

STOmicsDB is only serves as a public welfare, non-profit and third-party data management platform.

The data archived by STOmicsDB will follow the data ethics principles, authority and rights (including intellectual property rights) declared by global research users. For data in STOmicsDB from public source, users will follow the respective Terms and Conditions, data sharing policies, etc. of the source database.

The sample / data resources in STOmicsDB contributed or licensed by individuals, companies, or organizations are protected by copyright law and relevant regulations. Users represent and warrant that they would not infringe the rights of any other person or entity, including but not limited to intellectual property. The use of STOmicsDB does not grant you ownership or intellectual property rights in any content, code, data, materials that you may access on the platform.

The data administrator email (datasubs@cngb.org) of STOmicsDB is responsible for handling data reviews and replying to users’ inquiries. STOmicsDB reserves the right to refuse uploading data for users if the data review fails. More details subjects to the data administrator’s email reply. STOmicsDB respects and protects the Data Submitter's / organizations' interests. When submitting data to the designated databases of STOmicsDB, the submitters/organizations must determine the Data access manner (Public, Controlled, and Private). In order to respect the findings and results of all researchers, users must get approval for Controlled Data before accessing and using it for secondary research. Any user can access Public Data (Data access manner: Public) in STOmicsDB.

STOmicsDB is unable to convert the Public Data to the Controlled Data or take back data from other users once the data is released. STOmicsDB can only delete the data stored on the platform according to the user’s requirements.

Rights and Obligations of Data Submitter

The Data Submitter has the authority to manage the data (hereinafter referred to as "data management authority"). The above data management authority includes but is not limited to:
1. add, delete, update and view the data or authorize other STOmicsDB users to perform the above operations on their behalf;
2. terminate the access of the data they submitted;
3. set or modify the Data access manner (Released Public Data can no longer be applied to modify its Data access manner as Controlled Data or Private Data).
When submitting data to STOmicsDB as Public Data, the Data Submitter shall set the data release date.
The Data Submitter have the right to declare patent rights, copyrights or other intellectual property rights in all or part of the data.
Rights and Privacy Protection of Sample Donors: before submitting data to STOmicsDB, Data Submitter need to acquire fully Informed Consent from sample donors. Data submitted by submitters cannot include any information that can identify the sample donors. If the platform receives a complaint or finds that there is a sample donor’s personal information in the data, the platform will confirm the data and information with Data Submitter immediately, and delete or anonymize to protect the personal information and privacy of the sample donor. If sample donors request to delete the data containing their personal information, the Data Submitter is obliged to delete the relevant data uploaded to STOmicsDB after receiving the notification from the sample donor.

Rights and Obligations of Users

Controlled Data usage specification:

Data Applicant (refers to the users who apply for access to Controlled Data) shall abide by the STOmicsDB Controlled Data use specification (Data Access Guide) when using Controlled Data. These include:

Submit the “Controlled Data Application Form” for Controlled Data access, agree to list the summary of the research, the authorized users, the contacts, and the affiliations;
Data Applicant, the affiliations, and all the collaborators should use and only use the relevant Controlled Data strictly in accordance with the description filled in the “Project Information” section of the “Controlled Data Application Form”. Using Controlled Data for other projects needs to apply separately and resubmit the "Controlled Data Application Form". Should Data Applicant, and applicant’s institution(s), and all the collaborators wish to utilize the Controlled Data for the project not listed in Section II “Project Information” of the application form, the Data Applicant MUST complete a separate Controlled Data Application Form for access to the Controlled Data and send to STOmicsDB [email: datasubs@cngb.org];
The initial time limit for the platform to open Controlled Data usage rights for Data Applicant is set by the Data Submitter. To extend the period of use, Data Applicant should apply to extend the Controlled Data period by sending written instructions (scanned copies) to STOmicsDB via email. The written instructions should be signed by the Data Applicant and confirmed by the seal of their institution. After being approved by the Data Submitter and the platform, the platform will extend the Controlled Data usage period for the Data Applicant according to the Data Submitter's instructions. In relation to the external provision of HGR information, the initial period and the extended total period of using the Controlled Data shall not exceed the corresponding period of HGR information external provision specified in the "MoST’s (China’s Ministry of Science and Technology) Human Genetic Resource Administration Record-filing Form (hereinafter referred to as “record-filing form”)" provided by the Data Submitter. If the time limit is exceeded, STOmicsDB will refuse or suspend the use of the relevant Controlled Data access rights, and contact the Data Submitter to confirm the availability of HGR information;
Protect data confidentiality;
Comply with all applicable national, provincial and local laws and regulations, as well as laws and regulations related to human genetic resources management and related policies;
Prohibit any attempts to identify the personal information of the data donors;
Prohibit the sale of any Controlled Data obtained from STOmicsDB;
Prohibit any sharing of the Controlled Data with any third party except for the project specified in the "Controlled Data Application Form" and the organization or project partner of the Data Applicant;
If the Data Applicant provides relevant Controlled Data to their institution or project partner, the latter should also abide by the STOmicsDB Controlled Data usage specification when using of the relevant Controlled Data;
In all oral or written presentations, disclosures, or publications, the original research contributors, funding organizations, and specific STOmicsDB accessions must be referenced.

Public Data usage specification:

Prohibit any attempts to identify the sample donor’s personal information from the data;
Prohibit the sale of Public Data acquired from STOmicsDB database;
In all oral or written presentations, disclosures or publications, the original research contributors, funding organizations and STOmicsDB accessions must be cited;
For the data stated rights clearly, users should get approval from rights holder before using.

Data sharing specifications of Open Access with Reservations of Rights [for virus sequence data]:

STOmicsDB marks data that follow Open Access with Reservations of Rights and inform data users about the rights and claims of the data submitters. The main claims include:

Data users can freely access to and download the data, but they are not allowed to distribute the data.
Data users need to clearly acknowledge the data submitters, and negotiate and confirm with the data submitters the way of acknowledgment (please contact the data submitters via our e-mail delivery system).
Data users should obtain consent from the data submitters before reprocessing and reworking the data and producing related results and intellectual property rights. (please contact the data submitters via our e-mail delivery system).

The above claims shall not conflict with the terms and conditions of the source database and applicable laws and regulations.

When finding any acts in violation the Controlled Data usage specification or Public Data usage specification, please report to STOmicsDB immediately. If users violate the Controlled Data usage specification or Public Data usage specification, STOmicsDB will take appropriate measures.

Online service

All users are prohibited from using screen captures, data mining, robots, or similar data collection and extraction tools other than search engines to create, maintain, promote, or copy information contained on STOmicsDB in their own databases or any other media.

STOmicsDB will use Cookie to record access to the website and to collect statistical information about the user's specific access to STOmicsDB and the user's preferences for the website and online services. Cookie can help you use the dynamic features of your web pages more easily. You can opt out of your browser's Cookie at any time if you don’t want to use Cookie. You can still access the STOmicsDB information and resources, but it may affect the functionality associated with the Cookie if you do not activate the Cookie.

Your web browser may produce pop-up advertisements during visiting STOmicsDB. The advertisements were most likely produced by other databases you visited or by third party software installed on your computer. When accessing STOmicsDB, we do not endorse or recommend that you view third-party pop-up advertising products or services on your computer screen.

STOmicsDB does not provide specific medical advice, but only provides users with information that can better understand their health and diagnose diseases. Please consult a professional doctor for diagnosis and answers to your personal questions.

Any comments or opinions expressed by users on STOmicsDB represent only the personal views of the users and do not necessarily state or reflect the views of STOmicsDB, the CNGB, or the Chinese government, nor are they used for advertising or product recognition.

Access to the database is permitted on a temporary basis and we reserve the right to withdraw, restrict or amend the service we provide on the database or part of the database without notice.

STOmicsDB has taken proper technical and organizational measures to ensure the achievement of the appropriate safety level.
STOmicsDB fulfills its obligations to maintain network security in accordance with the law, including but not limited to unsetting malicious programs, and immediately taking remedial measures against risks such as security defects and vulnerabilities in its products and services. The platform informs the user in a timely manner according to the regulations and reports to the relevant competent authorities, and there is no act of arbitrarily terminating the obligation to provide security maintenance for its products and services.

STOmicsDB will make every reasonable effort to maintain continuity of online services, and provide a warning of any change or discontinuity.

Intellectual property

Users will negotiate and determine on their own the ownership of results, intellectual property rights, other rights in the use of STOmicsDB public data outputs, the allocation and the revenues.

If Data Applicant applies for Controlled Data through STOmicsDB and reach a cooperation intention, they shall negotiate, sign a material / data transfer agreement, and clearly stipulate fees, transfer methods, intellectual property rights distribution, etc. on their own under legal premises. The user’s aforementioned behavior is independent of the platform. The allocation of intellectual property rights by users should comply with legal regulations. When involving the use of Chinese human genetic resources for international cooperative scientific research, it should also comply with the relevant provisions on the allocation of intellectual property rights in the "Regulation of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources".

The ownership and income distribution of the results, intellectual property and other rights produced by using STOmicsDB's Public Data shall be determinded by themselves.
If users use Reserved Public Data of STOmicsDB for reprocessing or recreation, the subsequent distribution of intellectual property rights requires the consent of the data submitter.

If users use STOmicsDB's Public Data/ Controlled Data/ Reserved Public Data, they need to provide an acknowledgement to CNGB and quote the project accession number of STOmicsDB in their articles/patents/software copyrights and other achievements.

Compensation

The user agrees to compensate STOmicsDB affiliates, governments, managers, directors, employees, agents or associated entities, etc. immediately after receiving the request to avoid all liability, loss, claims, disputes, damages and payment of any form of fee, including but not limited to attorneys' fees and costs for the following reasons:

You violate the relevant terms ("Terms and Conditions", "Privacy and Security Policy" or "Data Sharing Policy");
You infringe any intellectual property rights or other rights of any person or entity;
Any other liability as a result of your use of STOmicsDB.

Restrictions on litigation filed with us: The user agrees that when the user uses STOmicsDB or the related clauses cause losses and STOmicsDB is at fault, the user's lawsuit request or cause of action must be submitted within the statutory limitation period after the appearance of the lawsuit request or cause of action, otherwise it will be regarded as the user default to give up the relevant rights. During this period, if we fail to enforce or exercise any of these provisions or related rights, it does not mean that we waive the right or provision. The user agrees to compensate, protect and keep us from any liability, loss, claim and expense (including the attorney's fees and litigation fees) caused by the user's violation of these terms and rules.

Termination or Suspension

If STOmicsDB believes that the user has violated the "Terms and Conditions" or any laws or regulations, STOmicsDB may immediately terminate or suspend any user's account access to STOmicsDB without notice, and STOmicsDB may, at its discretion, take any further action it deems appropriate, desirable or necessary. If STOmicsDB has not exercised the rights granted in these terms, it shall not be deemed that it has waived this right automatically.

Modification

The STOmicsDB reserves the right to modify at any time:

With inform in advance, content, data and information submitted by user;
In the case of without prior notice, the content (and services provided) on the STOmicsDB website.
The database is not responsible to any user or any third party for any such modification.

Applicable Law

You understand and agree that these "Terms and Conditions" are governed and bound by the laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China, and do not implement their conflicting laws. Any disputes related to these terms and conditions should be resolved through friendly consultation between the two parties. Either party has the right to file a lawsuit in a court with jurisdiction in Yantian District, Shenzhen, China.

If Terms and Conditions are translated into other languages, including English, the Chinese version will prevail in case of any conflict or ambiguity.

You acknowledge and agree that a separate compensation do not have remedy any breach of these terms and conditions. Therefore, we have the right to apply for a prohibition or other measures to stop the action that threatens or actually violates these terms and conditions and receive appropriate compensation.

Severability

The provisions of the "Terms and Conditions" shall be independent with each other and the validity of each provision shall not be affected by any other invalid provision. If any provision of the “Terms and Conditions”, or any part of a provision is found to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, the remainder shall remain in force and shall be valid. It shall replace the illegal, invalid or unenforceable provisions or part of the provisions with similar, legal, valid and enforceable provisions in the applicable law, and add them to the “Terms and Conditions”.

Data and Privacy Protection

Please refer to the “Privacy and Security Policy” for STOmicsDB personal information data and privacy protection.

Extra Information

If you have any questions about the use of STOmicsDB or the above terms and conditions, please contact us by email: P_STOmicsDB@genomics.cn.

Updates

STOmicsDB has the right to update this "Terms and Conditions" from time to time in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, policies and the needs of STOmicsDB operation and management. The updated version will be released on the STOmicsDB official website. If you do not agree to the changes made by STOmicsDB to the “Terms and Conditions”, you have the right to stop using the relevant services provided by STOmicsDB and notify STOmicsDB in writing. If you continue to use our services after the updated version is released, it means that you accept the updated content.