Terms of Use
Welcome to Eterna! Eterna is a place where professional scientists and non-professional scientists come together to play puzzles and research RNA. By joining the Eterna community, you're helping to study one of the building blocks of life and to create new RNA-based technologies.
Applicability
This Agreement is between Eterna, as operated by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr. University ("Stanford") and you, the user. This Agreement sets forth the legally binding terms and conditions for your use of Eterna ("Websites", https://eternagame.org and associated websites), in consideration a grant of access rights. This agreement applies to all users of the Websites, including users who are also contributors of content, information, and other materials or services on the Websites. You may view the most recent Terms of Use at any time at https://eternagame.org/terms.
By visiting and/or using the Websites in any manner, including but not limited to creating a user account, logging in to a user account, using the Eterna game software, posting on the forums, and/or any other use of the Websites, you are agreeing to the Agreement. If you do not want to agree to the terms of this Agreement you must not access or use the Websites. Eterna may modify this Agreement from time to time. Your continued use of the Websites following the posting of revised Terms of Service means that you accept and agree to the changes.
User Accounts
Due to applicable U.S. laws, Eterna is only for people 13 years or older. If you are younger than 13, please consider joining NOVA Labs and the many other great science projects directed toward people under the age of 13.
The project may terminate, suspend, or block your account at any time, for reasons including but not limited to noncompliance with these terms or on your request.
Acceptable Use
Lawful Use
You agree to use the Websites in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. You are responsible for making sure that your use of the Websites is in compliance with laws and any applicable regulations.
Behavior and Conduct
Eterna is a game and a science lab, but it is also a community. Be respectful of others. Since Eterna is open to people from many different age groups and many different backgrounds, the Eterna community does not tolerate profanity or obscenity. The Eterna community does not tolerate harassment or bullying. You agree to comply with Eterna's Code of Conduct.
Fair Play
You agree not to interact with the Websites in any way that gives you an unfair advantage or benefit, such as in points, ranks, badges, or other achievements, through any means, including but not limited to circumvention of validation mechanisms or other unintended use of the Websites.
Security and Vulnerabilities
You agree not to interact with the Websites in any way that would harm its users or its ability to effectively provide its services. For our responsible disclosure policy, please see our Open Bug Bounty page.
User Generated Content
The Websites may contain games, forums, chat rooms, personal web pages or profiles, editable wiki pages, and other interactive features that allow users to post, submit, publish, display, or transmit to other users or other persons (hereinafter, "post") content or materials (collectively, "User Contributions") on or through the Website. You agree that you either own or have the rights to post your User Contributions.
We need the legal right to do things like host your User Contributions, publish them, and share them. You grant us and our legal successors the right to store, archive, parse, and display your User Contributions, and make incidental copies, as necessary to provide the Websites, including improving the Websites over time. This license includes the right to do things like copy it to our database and make backups; show it to you and other users; parse it into a search index or otherwise analyze it on our servers; share it with other users; and perform it, in case your User Contributions are something like audio or video.
We have the right to refuse or remove any User Contributions that, in our sole discretion, violate any laws or Eterna terms or policies.
Designs You Create
To help create better RNA technology, individuals within and outside of Eterna including researchers, developers, and participants analyze the designs you make and how you make them.
All designs that you create using Eterna will be made accessible to all, online, for as long as Eterna exists. Experimental results of such designs are property of the relevant parties ("Experimental Partners"), and made available to Eterna participants to assist in further research within the Eterna platform. Otherwise, all rights are reserved by the Experimental Partners who may specify allowable usage in other contexts.
In addition to designs, Eterna may record the steps you make to solve a puzzle to help the community develop better solutions to RNA problems. These records may be made available to you, to community members who have solved the puzzle, to Eterna developers, and to other researchers. These records are associated with your Eterna account.
Stuff You Write
You may post to the Eterna forum, contribute to the Eterna wiki, or create other content while you're here at Eterna. Unless you specify otherwise, copyright protection for this content will be covered by the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which allows others to share and adapt your work so long as they give appropriate credit. You have copyright over anything you write. This includes writing or images you create in the forum, in chat, in comments, or in your profile.
Programs You Make
If you contribute a script to the EternaScript library, you agree that any software you create will be licensed under the BSD 3-Clause license, which ensures that others can use, modify, and share your code. You may develop other software related to Eterna not using EternaScript. Of course, how you license that software is up to you.
Other Intellectual Property
To support itself, Eterna licenses RNA-related software commercially, in part by using design strategies and solutions contributed by the community.
Licensing profits support the development of Eterna software through an organization called Eterna Commons. Eterna Commons is a collaboration between the institutions that develop Eterna. It aims to advance RNA science for the public benefit through the Eterna platform and to support participants' scientific endeavors.
Patents and any other intellectual property developed by Eterna will also be managed by Eterna Commons.
Any use of Eterna content to produce new technology obligates you to respect human rights in the maintenance, distribution, and development of such technology.
Disclaimer of Warranties
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or the Websites will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, ETERNA WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITES OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT.
YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITES, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITES, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER ETERNA NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH ETERNA MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITES. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER ETERNA NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH ETERNA REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE WEBSITES, ITS CONTENT, OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITES WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE, OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT THE WEBSITES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITES WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, ETERNA HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Limitation of Liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL ETERNA, ITS AFFILIATES, OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITES, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITES OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
All matters relating to the Websites and these Terms of Use and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction). Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Use or the Websites shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the State of California, in each case located in the City of Stanford and County of Santa Clara, although we retain the right to bring any suit, action, or proceeding against you for breach of these Terms of Use in your country of residence or any other relevant country. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.
Privacy Policy
The following provides information on information we collect when viewing the Websites and how we handle it. We recognize this is an important responsibility, and aim to be as transparent as possible.
Personal Information We Collect
"Personal Information" is any information about one of our Users which could, alone or together with other information, personally identify them or otherwise be reasonably linked or connected with them. Information such as a username and password, an email address, a real name, an Internet protocol (IP) address, and a photograph are examples of "Personal Information."
Personal Information does not include aggregated, non-personally identifying information that does not identify a User or cannot otherwise be reasonably linked or connected with them. We may use such aggregated, non-personally identifying information for research purposes and to operate, analyze, improve, and optimize our Websites.
Account Credentials
A username and password are provided on account registration. This is necessary to authenticate your account, and the username is used to identify you throughout the site and in other communications such as providing attribution in research publications, presentations, or publicity. Your password may be changed at any time through your user profile, and your username may be changed in some situations by contacting support@eternagame.org.
You may also opt to authenticate your account via third-party providers such as social networks. We will collect the necessary identifiers or tokens necessary to authenticate your account with the relevant provider. We may request information such as email, name, and profile picture from the third party to expedite creation of your account, and in some cases keep it in sync with the third-party provider.
A valid email address is required on account registration in order to provide necessary account functions such as verification and password resets. Eterna staff may in rare situations use this email to directly contact a user with respect to their account or usage of the Eterna Websites, particularly when contact by methods such as in-game messaging are insufficient. Eterna may also send emails relating to notifications, project updates, or other similar information based on your preferences. Your email and contact preferences may be changed at any time through your user profile.
Personal Name
A personal name may be optionally provided (and updated at any time) through your user profile. This is used for attribution in your autogenerated player certificate as well as instead of or in addition to your username in research publications.
You may also otherwise opt to allow use of your name to publicly thank participants, such as in publications and presentations.
IP Address
Your IP address is a necessary piece of information to provide our content to you - without it, we would have no way of providing you our content. In addition to such usage, we may also retain IP addresses in abuse prevention systems (such as for rate limiting) and transient logs (to detect or troubleshoot potential abuse or other problems).
User Generated Content
Any Personal Information you post to your user profile, forums, chat, comments, or other similar areas of the website, is public. You are responsible for any information you post in such locations.
Cookie Policy
A cookie is a file designed to contain a small amount of user and website information stored on a user's computer. The file interacts with the user and the website to provide a webpage tailored to the user through its awareness of information held within the file. Cookies also have the ability to carry all or parts of the information stored within the file to other websites that the user may visit or to third parties.
Types of Cookies
A third-party cookie is placed by a domain other than that of the website the user is visiting.
A session cookie is temporary, linking the actions of a user during any given browser session. When the browser is closed, the cookie is deleted.
A permanent cookie, also known as a persistent cookie, is stored for a specific period of time and activates each time the user visits the website that created the cookie.
Our Use of Cookies
We use third-party, session and persistent cookies and similar technology to collect aggregate (non-personal) information about the Websites usage by all of our visitors and to help us remember you and your preferences when you revisit the Websites. These cookies may stay on your browser into the future until they expire or you delete them. We also use technology to remember you the next time you log in. Some of these cookies are erased when you close your browser window and some persist for a period of time. Further general information about cookies and how they work is available at www.allaboutcookies.org.
We may allow selected third parties to place cookies through the Websites to provide us with better insights into the use of the Websites (such as page visits and response time).
Adjusting Cookie Settings
You can change your cookie settings by reviewing your internet browser's cookie options. The links below to popular browsers may help you understand your cookie options better. Typically, such information can be found under the browser's 'Help', 'Preferences' or 'Options' menus.
- Cookie settings in Chrome
- Cookie settings in Firefox
- Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
- Cookie settings in Safari - iOS
- Cookie settings in Safari - macOS
Blocking Cookies
Should you choose to decline or block cookies by adjusting your browser settings, including cookies essential to the Websites. Please note that all or parts of our Websites may not be functional or accessible to you. Our Websites will issue cookies as soon you visit the Websites, unless your browser cookie settings are adjusted to prevent such an occurrence. Please review the information provided in this cookie policy on adjusting cookie settings for the browser of your choice.
How We Share Information We Collect
We do not sell your Personal Information for monetary or other consideration. We may share your Personal Information with third parties under one of the following circumstances:
With Your Consent
We share your Personal Information, if you consent, after letting you know what information will be shared, with whom, and why.
With Service Providers
We share Personal Information with a limited number of service providers who process it on our behalf to provide or improve our Websites. For example, we must necessarily transmit and store your data via our cloud service provider.
Under Strict Limitations With Limited Partners
As part of our partnership with SciStarter, certain contributions are reported so that if you are a SciStarter member, they can appear on your profile. This report includes the contributor's (sha256) hashed email address. The use of a cryptographic hash ensures that SciStarter (or anyone else) cannot connect that hash to a specific person or a specific email address, unless the email address is already known (ie, you have previously signed up for SciStarter).
For Legal Disclosure
Unless prevented from doing so by law or court order, or in rare, exigent circumstances, we make a reasonable effort to notify users of any legally compelled or required disclosure of their information. Eterna may disclose Personal Information or other information we collect about you to law enforcement if required in response to a valid subpoena, court order, search warrant, a similar government order, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to protect our property or rights, or those of third parties or the public at large.
Change in Control
We may share Personal Information if control of Eterna is moved to another institution. If any such change of ownership happens, we will ensure that it is under terms that preserve the confidentiality of Personal Information.
Information Security
Eterna takes the security of your personal information seriously. No method of transmission, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure nor can any process or software be guaranteed to be free from error. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. However, we take thorough measures to protect Personal Information from unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction; maintain data accuracy; and help ensure the appropriate use of Personal Information.
Eterna strives to ensure our systems and software follow security best practices, including patching, configuration, access controls, credential management, and encryption where appropriate.
Data Rights and Retention
Should you need any additional assistance to employ your rights, such as under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and such tools are not readily available to you, contact support@eternagame.org for assistance.
Account deletion requests will be honored, and will result in the removal of profile information including account credentials, email, and personal name. User Contributions will still be preserved, but their attribution will be anonymized. We cannot retroactively remove information such as username or personal name from published research.
Contact
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact support@eternagame.org.
Changelog
- June 28, 2023: Removed information about data collection by Google Analytics as it is no longer used, clarify security practices, add information on information shared with SciStarter
- October 2, 2021: Rewritten to improve clarity, consistency, and thoroughness. Added Privacy Policy.
- February 27, 2016: Initial version