Terms and Conditions
Version: 1.0Date: 2 November 2021
The European Plasmid Repository GmbH ("EPR") operates the www.plasmids.eu website. This page informs you of our Usage Terms and our Data Privacy Terms regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information when you use our website.
Definitions
- Registered User is a user that has registered on plasmids.eu and hence has an account on the EPR website.
- Providing Scientist is a Registered User that has deposited with the EPR a plasmid that is being provided to another Registered User.
- Recipient Scientist is a Registered User that has ordered and will be receiving a plasmid from the EPR.
- MTA Signer is a person who signs an MTA on the EPR website, but may or may not have an account on the EPR website.
- Payer is a person who pays for an order placed on the EPR website, but may or may not have an account on the EPR website.
General Terms of Use
Conditions of use
By choosing to use our website, you are agreeing to abide by all of the Terms and Conditions listed here.Changes to Terms & Conditions
The EPR is continuously improving the website and the services to its users. Hence, EPR reserves the right to modify these Terms and Conditions in a reasonable fashion to adapt to these changes, as well as changes in national and international laws. Changes in the Terms & Conditions will be published on this website, and will take effect immediately upon posting. It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Use prior to each use of our website and by continuing to use the website, you agree to any changes. Nonetheless, Registered Users will also be prompted to read and accept any new Terms and Conditions upon logging in. Users who do not agree with the changes should stop using the EPR website.Terms of Purchase
By placing an order on the EPR website, you agree to the following terms:Proprietary Rights: Except as expressly set forth in these Terms of Purchase or the applicable MTA(s), no other assets or rights of the EPR or the material-providing institutions are being sold, granted, licensed, or conveyed to you.
MTA Signing: After placing an order and before paying for the order, your institution may be required to sign a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). The MTA is between your institution and the institution of the scientist providing the material(s). EPR is not part of the MTA because it merely facilitates the exchange of material between the institution providing the materials and the institution receiving the materials.
Adding or removing material after placing an order: Due to the MTAs that need signing, materials cannot be added or removed from an order, nor can orders be combined, once an order is placed on our website.
Payment: After the MTAs have been signed, the order can be paid by credit card. (In the future, we may implement the ability to pay by Purchase Order, followed by invoicing to your institution. If this is wished, please let us know.) You are responsible for all taxes, duties, tariffs and permit fees, in particular import duties, assessed in connection with your purchase of materials.
Order Cancellation: Orders can be cancelled up to the time of payment. Once an order is paid, it can no longer be cancelled.
Shipping: EPR will only ship the materials once the order has been paid in full. EPR will package your materials for shipping in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. When the order is shipped, EPR will provide you with a tracking number for the shipment. EPR does not guarantee receipt of the shipment within any specific timeframe. You are solely responsible for obtaining all permits necessary to receive the materials. If a package is lost or damaged during shipment, EPR may, at its sole discretion, replace some or all of the order at no additional charge, provided that you have reported lost or damaged shipments to the applicable carrier and notified EPR Customer Service at infoXplasmids.eu within fourteen (14) days of the shipment date.
No Returns: Due to our materials’ perishable nature and other regulatory factors, EPR cannot accept returns. If you experience any problems with your order, please contact us at infoXplasmids.eu.
Refunds: You have the chance to cancel your order up to the time of payment. Due to the MTAs that need signing prior to payment, the time of payment is usually several days after the order is placed. Furthermore, at the time of payment, you will have a second opportunity to review what materials are contained in the order. Once the order is paid, EPR is under no obligation to refund any portion of your purchase.
Material Identity: The EPR aims to facilitate the exchange of materials between Depositing Scientists and Recipient scientists. EPR provides no warranties or guarantees that the identity of the material being distributed is what the Depositing Scientist claims the material to be at the time of deposit. EPR does not validate, and hence does not guarantee, that the sequence of a plasmid matches the sequence provided by the Depositing Scientist.
Damages caused by use of purchased Materials: The EPR is not responsible or liable for any damage caused by the use of materials distributed by the EPR.
No Representations and Warranties
Except as expressly provided in an applicable material transfer agreement, if any, our website, all content on the website, and all ordered materials are provided to you on an “as is” or “as available” basis without any warranty of any kind either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, typicality, validity, safety and accuracy. You are responsible for verifying that the information and materials provided are appropriate for your specific situation before relying on them. EPR is not responsible for any errors or omissions in results obtained from the use of this information and materials. Use of our websites, materials, content, and any other related information provided to you by us is done at your sole risk. EPR makes no representations or warranties that use of our websites will be uninterrupted, error-free or completely secure. You are responsible for taking all necessary precautions to ensure that any content or material you obtain from our website are free of any potentially harmful agents or devices, including viruses.Limitation of Liability
The EPR specifically disclaims any liability, whether based in contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or special damages arising out of or relating to access to or use of our website, its content, or any ordered material, even if EPR has been advised of the possibility of such damages, including but not limited to reliance by any party on any content or materials obtained through the use of our website, or that arises under or relates to mistakes or omissions in, or delays in transmission of, information to or from you, interruptions in telecommunications connections to our website or viruses, whether caused in whole or in party by negligence, acts of god, telecommunications failures, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to our websites, content or related information or programs.Links
The EPR website may contain links to websites operated by other parties. The linked websites are not under the control of EPR, and EPR is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of the other websites. Unless otherwise specified, hyperlinking does not imply any relationship, sponsorship, endorsement or affiliation with such website or organization by EPR. Links are provided to other websites as a convenience to users. Accessing any other websites linked to this website is done at your own risk.Severability Clause
If a jurisdiction does not allow any term or condition described here, all other terms and conditions described here shall remain in full force and effect.Personal Data & Data Privacy Terms
The European Plasmid Repository ("EPR") is committed to protecting your personal data. The EPR website adheres to all the requirements of the EU GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data).Data processing and transfer to 3rd parties
The personal data collected by the EPR are used solely for the purpose of distributing plasmids to the scientific community. EPR does not store or process personal data for any other purpose. We will not sell or rent your information to third parties, nor share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.We will not transfer personal data to any 3rd party except for the following exceptions needed for us to be able to distribute plasmids:
- The name, email address, and institutional affiliation of a Recipient Scientist will be transferred to the Providing Scientist who deposited the plasmids that are being ordered, and to the head of the Technology Transfer Office (or person responsible for material transfers) of the Recipient Scientist's institution, for the purposes of documenting the material transfer and the Material Transfer Agreement.
- The name of Registered Users will be visible to the Registered User's group leader / principal investigator(PI), and to the head of the Technology Transfer Office (or person responsible for material transfers) of the Registered User's institution.
- The name and address of Recipient Scientist will be transferred to a courier service (e.g. DHL) for the purpose of delivering the plasmids to Recipient Scientist.
Data transfer & storage
We use encryption technologies (Transport Level Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)) to transfer data to/from the EPR website. All EPR data are stored entirely on servers located in Germany, and personal data are encrypted. All credit card transactions are performed on the system of our financial service provider Stripe. We do not see or store any credit card information in our system.Personal data of Registered Users are stored as long as the user account is existing. They are deleted when a user cancels their EPR account, with the exception of personal data required to document MTAs and financial transactions, as described below:
- The name, job title, email address and IP address of MTA Signers are stored for the duration of the validity of the Material Transfer Agreement being signed.
- The name and address of Recipient Scientist and of the Payer paying for the order are stored for 10 years as required by law to document the financial transaction.
Cookies
The EPR website uses cookies to 1) allow registered users to stay logged-in, 2) enable payments through the Stripe platform and 3) collect technical information with Google Analytics. The cookies are placed on the user’s computer system and hence can be deleted by the user. We use the following cookies:| Cookie Name | Source | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| grails_remember_me | EPR | This cookie is saved when users select the “Remember me” option upon logging in, enabling the user to stay logged in. |
| JSESSIONID | EPR | This cookie is saved when users log in or fill out a form on the EPR website, to keep track of their session (e.g. plasmid orders). |
| __stripe_mid | Stripe | This cookie provides fraud protection when orders are being paid and is valid for 1 year. |
| __stripe_sid | Stripe | This cookie provides fraud protection when orders are being paid and is valid for 30 minutes. |
| _ga, _gat, _gid, _utma, _utmc, _utmz | These cookies allow Google Analytics to help us evaluate our visitors' experiences so that we can make improvements to our website. |
Personal Data Report
A report of all your Personal Data stored on the EPR server can be obtained by filling the form on this page. The report will be sent automatically by email to the email address provided in the form.Deletion of personal data
The deletion of one’s Personal Data can be requested at any time.If a Registered User has not ordered any plasmids, signed any MTAs or paid for any orders, all personal data will be deleted immediately.
Some personal data for Recipient Scientists, MTA signers, or Payers need to be stored for longer times as detailed in the section "Data storage" above to comply with legal financial regulations or to document an MTA.
Other user rights
Correction of personal data: Personal data for Registered Users can be corrected on the EPR website by going to the User Dashboard.Users have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
Contact Information
Data privacy questions or data privacy concerns can be addressed to adminXplasmids.euApplicable Law
Any disputes relating to these Terms & Conditions will be resolved in a competent court in Germany and German law will govern these Terms and any claim.We use cookies to make sure that our website works properly, to keep you logged-in, and to enable online payments. We do NOT use any cookies for advertisement. By clicking "Accept" you consent to the use of all our cookies. See our cookie policy here.