About OCCRP ID

ID TERMS OF USE

These terms tell you the rules for using OCCRP ID (“ID”).

ID is a research desk service provided by OCCRP on request to journalists of its network. From time to time, OCCRP may decide in its sole discretion to provide ID to other individuals (e.g., anti-corruption campaigners). As part of this service, OCCRP provides users with certain data, materials and information as research findings (“Information”) from third party sources on request. ID is made available free of charge.

Please read these terms of use carefully before using ID. By using ID, you confirm that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these terms, you must not use ID.

WHO WE ARE AND HOW TO CONTACT US

ID is operated by the Journalism Development Network, Inc. doing business as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (“OCCRP” or “We” or “Our”). We are a non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland, United States of America.

Our contact details:

Journalism Development Network, Inc. 4401A Connecticut Ave NW 321, Washington DC 20008-2358, USA

info@occrp.org

THERE ARE OTHER TERMS THAT APPLY TO YOU

These terms of use refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of ID:

Our Privacy Policy.
Our Acceptable Use Policy, which sets out the permitted uses and prohibited uses of ID. When using ID, you must comply with this Acceptable Use Policy.
Our Cookie Policy, which is incorporated in our Privacy Policy and which sets out information about the cookies on the ID website.

WE MAY MAKE CHANGES TO THESE TERMS AND ID

We amend these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use ID, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time. Your continued use of ID after the new terms of use become official constitutes an acceptance of these terms of use on your part. These terms were most recently updated on June 13th, 2023.

We may update and change ID from time to time to reflect changes to our users’ needs and our business priorities. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any major changes.

HOW TO USE ID

To use ID, you must first create a user account and profile by visiting www.secure.occrp.org. Once you have created your profile, you will be able to submit ID requests using the ID website. When we receive an ID request, we will allocate the request to one or more member(s) of our research team to assist.

When you choose a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password at any time, or where in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us using the contact details set out at the beginning of these terms of use.

Your profile data, and the content of the ID requests you submit, will be stored on servers operated by us using the commercial infrastructure of a third party vendor. All personal data you provide to us, whether on your profile or in the content of the ID requests you submit, will only be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy (see below).

INFORMATION PROVIDED TO YOU THROUGH YOUR USE OF ID

OCCRP ID is an aggregator of the Information of third parties. OCCRP does not own all of the copyright or hold a licence to use the copyright or other intellectual property rights in the Information provided to you by ID. The intellectual property rights in Information provided to you through your use of ID are owned by the author (or owner) of such Information and OCCRP does not purport to grant you any legal right to use such Information without the author’s permission. OCCRP ID provides Information to you solely for use which is in the public interest.

If an ID request is part of a wider OCCRP investigation, or a similar ID request is filed by another user, OCCRP may share the Information with those working on the investigation or other ID request without your prior consent. OCCRP will try to keep you informed if this happens in relation to one of your ID requests.

The Information provided to you by ID is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should place sole and entire reliance. We recommend that you conduct your own independent fact checking against Information provided to you by ID. We do not recommend, and discourage, using the Information provided to you by ID as a replacement for traditional due diligence checks and know-your-customer background checks.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the Information provided to you by ID is accurate, complete or up to date.

WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LINKED WEBSITES

Where the Information provided to you by ID contain links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them. We have no control over the content of those sites or resources.

HOW YOU MAY USE INFORMATION PROVIDED TO YOU BY ID

Any and all use by you of ID and the Information provided to you by ID, must at all times be in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy.

The Information provided to you by ID are made available for the purposes of journalism, which is in the public interest and not for use in the private sector. We do not recommend and discourage integrating the use of ID into a commercial process, including but not limited to for use in know-your-client checks, due diligence checks or insurance related checks.

If you publish a story using Information sourced from ID, please ensure that you credit OCCRP as follows: “According to data made available via OCCRP ID (Link: https://id.occrp.org)…”

We reserve the right to limit or block access to any user, if your usage of ID or the Information provided to you by ID is not in accordance with our Acceptable Use Policy, these terms of use, or places unreasonable stress on our resources or systems.

We reserve the right to:

investigate your use of ID or the Information provided to you by ID (a) to determine whether a violation of these terms of use or applicable law has occurred or (b) to comply with any applicable law, legal process, or appropriate governmental request;
detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security, or technical issues or respond to user support requests;
block a user’s account or access for actions violating these terms of use, including repeat copyright infringement;
take legal action against users who violate these terms of use (including reports to law enforcement authorities);
manage ID in a manner designed to facilitate its proper functioning, including revoking user access for repeat non-response to communications from the ID service team; and
protect the rights, property, and safety of ourselves and our users, licensors, partners, and the public.

In the interests of ID and our users, in the circumstance that any individual has had her/his account or access blocked, s/he is prohibited from creating or using another account on or seeking access to ID, unless we provide explicit written permission.

SUBMITTING ID REQUESTS

We retain the right to review and approve any ID requests you make to us. If you submit an ID request related to a project or topic being worked on by other users of ID, we may ask whether you would like to be connected to those users in order to collaborate on your work.

You retain whatever ownership rights and the intellectual property rights in the content of your ID request that you may have. When you submit your request to ID, you grant us a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty free, worldwide licence to use, store and copy the content of your ID request (and any intellectual property rights therein). This licence is required to enable OCCRP to provide ID.

You are legally responsible for the content of your ID requests, and re-use of ID Information under applicable laws (which may include the laws where you live or where you view content). This means it is important that you use caution when submitting your ID requests and you should avoid including any content in such request that may result in criminal or civil liability under any applicable laws.

Whenever you submit a request to ID you must comply with these terms of use and the terms set out in these terms content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy. We have the right, but are not obliged to, remove, any request you make to ID if, in our opinion, your request does not comply with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy. If we receive a written request from you to do so, we will delete your user account and search queries. However, we will keep copies of your traffic log for audit purposes.

YOU WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT OF ANY ID REQUEST THAT YOU SUBMIT TO ID SHALL: (A) COMPLY WITH ALL APPLICABLE LAW; (B) COMPLY WITH THESE TERMS OF USE; (C) COMPLY WITH THE CONTENT STANDARDS SET OUT IN OUR ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY; AND (D) NOT INFRINGE OR VIOLATE THE RIGHTS OF ANY PERSON. YOU WILL BE LIABLE TO AND INDEMNIFY US FOR AND AGAINST ALL LOSSES, DAMAGES, COSTS, AND EXPENSES INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES, RESULTING FROM ANY BREACH OF THIS WARRANTY. THIS MEANS YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS, DAMAGE, COST OR EXPENSE WE SUFFER, AS A RESULT OF YOUR BREACH OF WARRANTY.

OCCRP understands the need for confidentiality and discretion in investigative journalism and reporting, however; we reserve the right to disclose your identity to any third party where we are required to do so by applicable law.

You are solely responsible for securing and backing up the content of your ID requests.

WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR VIRUSES AND YOU MUST NOT INTRODUCE THEM

We do not guarantee that ID, or the Information provided to you by ID, will be secure or free from bugs or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access ID and the Information provided to you by ID. You should use your own virus protection software.

You must not misuse ID by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to ID, the server on which ID is stored or any server, computer or database connected to ID. You must not attack ID via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under applicable laws which protect against unauthorised access to computer systems. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use ID will cease immediately.

RULES ABOUT LINKING TO THE ID WEBSITE

You may link to the ID home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website in which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy. If you wish to link to ID, or make any use of the Information provided to you by ID other than that set out above, please contact research@occrp.org.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

The copyright or other intellectual property rights in the ID website and the Information provided by ID are owned by the author (or owner) of such Information. Under no circumstances may you claim that you are the author and/or owner of any intellectual property rights in the ID website and/or the Information provided to you by ID where you are not the author and/or owner of such intellectual property rights. In the event that you do, OCCRP reserve the right, at any time, to permanently suspend and block your use of ID.

TERMINATION

You can stop using ID at any time. In certain circumstances, it may be necessary for us to terminate part or all of ID, terminate these terms of use, block your account or access, or ban you as a user.

We do not guarantee that ID, or any Information provided to you by ID, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend, withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of ID for business and operational reasons. We reserve the right to suspend or end ID at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU

We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors and for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

We exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to ID and any Information provided to you by ID. We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with: use of, or inability to use, ID; or use of or reliance on any Information provided to you by ID. In particular, we will not be liable for: loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue; business interruption; loss of anticipated savings; loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or any indirect or consequential loss or damage. In no event shall our liability exceed USD $500 in aggregate. In the case that applicable law may not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability or incidental or consequential damages, the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you, although our liability will be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

Your use of ID and the Information provided to you by ID is at your sole risk. We provide these services on an “as is” and “as available” basis, and we expressly disclaim all express or implied warranties of all kinds, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Whilst we take technical and organisational measures to ensure ID is as secure as possible, we make no warranty that ID nor any Information provided to you by ID will meet your requirements, be safe, secure, uninterrupted, timely, accurate, or error-free, or that your information will be secure.

We are not responsible for the content, data, materials or actions of third parties, and you irrevocably and unconditionally release us, our directors, officers, employees, and agents forever from any claims and damages, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with any claim you have against any such third parties. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from us or through or from ID or any Information provided to you by ID creates any warranty not expressly stated in these terms of use.

Any Information downloaded or otherwise obtained through your use of ID is done at your own discretion and risk, and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any such material. You agree that we have no responsibility or liability for the deletion of, or the failure to store or to transmit, any content or communication maintained or provided by ID. We retain the right to create limits on use and storage at our sole discretion at any time with or without notice.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the types of disclaimers in this section, so they may not apply to you either in part or in full depending on the law.

HOW TO REPORT ISSUES ABOUT CONTENT PROVIDED TO YOU

If you wish to report any issues about any Information provided to you by ID, please contact us at research@occrp.org.

In the event that you are the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property rights in any of the Information provided by ID and you do not consent to the use of your Information (as applicable) in accordance with the terms of use, please contact us at research@occrp.org and provide proof of your identity and evidence of your ownership of the copyright (or other intellectual property right claim) concerned. If you wish to contact OCCRP regarding the exercise of your rights under applicable data protection and privacy laws, please contact us using the details provided in our Privacy Policy.

HOW WE MAY USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We will only use your personal data as set out in our Privacy Policy. We ask that you review the terms of our Privacy Policy, so that you are aware of how we collect and use your personal data.

WE MAY TRANSFER THIS AGREEMENT TO SOMEONE ELSE

We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will try to give you reasonable notice if this happens.

WHICH COUNTRY’S LAWS APPLY TO ANY DISPUTES?

These terms of use, their subject matter and their formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by New York law. We both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New York.

To ensure that disputes are dealt with soon after they arise, you agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action you might have arising out of or related to use of our services or these terms of use must be filed within the applicable statute of limitations or, if earlier, one (1) year after the pertinent facts underlying such claim or cause of action could have been discovered with reasonable diligence.

GENERAL

These terms of use do not create an employment, agency, partnership, or joint venture relationship between you and us, OCCRP. If you have not signed a separate agreement with us, these terms of use (and the other documents referred to in them) are the entire agreement between you and us. If there is any conflict between these terms of use and a signed written agreement between you and us, the signed agreement will control our relationship with you.

If in any circumstance, we do not apply or enforce any provision of these terms of use, it is not a waiver of that provision.

You understand that, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by us, you have no expectation of compensation for any activity, contribution, or idea that you provide to us, or ID.

If any provision or part of a provision of these terms of use is found unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these terms of use and will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and all other provisions of these terms of use will remain in full force and effect.

ID ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

This acceptable use policy sets out the content standards that apply when you share certain data, materials and information provided to you as research findings (“Information”), use ID, link to ID, or interact with ID in any other way.

ID is a research desk service provided by OCCRP on request to journalists of its member centre and partners. From time to time, OCCRP may decide in its sole discretion to provide ID to other individuals (e.g., anti-corruption campaigners). As part of this service, OCCRP provides users with certain Information from third party sources on request. ID is made available free of charge.

Please read these terms carefully before using ID. By using ID, you confirm that you accept the terms of this acceptable use policy and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these terms, you must not use ID.

WHO WE ARE AND HOW TO CONTACT US

ID is operated by the Journalism Development Network, Inc. doing business as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (“OCCRP” or “We” or “Our”). We are a non-profit company incorporated in the State of Maryland, United States of America.

Our contact details:

Journalism Development Network, Inc. 4401A Connecticut Ave NW 321, Washington DC 20008-2358, USA

info@occrp.org

THERE ARE OTHER TERMS THAT APPLY TO YOU

The following additional terms also apply to your use of ID:

Our ID Terms of Use.
Our Privacy Policy.
Our Cookie Policy, which is incorporated in our Privacy Policy and which sets out information about the cookies on the ID website.

WE MAY MAKE CHANGES TO THE TERMS OF THIS POLICY

We amend these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use ID, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time. These terms were most recently updated on June 13th, 2023.

PROHIBITED USES

You may use ID only for lawful purposes. You may not use ID:

in any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation;
in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;
for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way;
to bully, insult, intimidate or humiliate any person;
to send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any Information which does not comply with our content standards (see below); and
to transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional Information or any other form of similar solicitation (spam); and
to knowingly or negligently transmit any content or data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.

You also agree:

not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of the ID website, or the Information provided to you by ID, in contravention of the provisions of our terms of use; and
not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
- any part of ID;
- any equipment or network on which the ID website is stored;
- any software used in the provision of the ID website; or
- any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.

BREACH OF THIS POLICY

When we consider that a breach of this acceptable use policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate. Failure to comply with this acceptable use policy constitutes a material breach of the terms of use upon which you are permitted to use ID, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use ID;
issue of a warning to you;
legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach;
further legal action against you; and
disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary or as required by law.

We exclude our liability for all action we may take in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The actions we may take are not limited to those described above, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

WHICH COUNTRY’S LAWS APPLY TO ANY DISPUTES?

The terms of this policy, its subject matter and its formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by New York law. We both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New York.