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Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (the "Terms") govern your access to and use of the Envision Portal (the "Portal") and related services. By accessing or using the Portal, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Portal.

Note: The Envision Portal is a research-focused platform for managing and sharing eye imaging datasets. It is not intended for clinical decision-making, diagnosis, or patient care.

1. Definitions

For the purposes of these Terms:

  • "Envision Portal" or "Portal" means the cloud-based, open-source platform for managing, curating, and sharing eye imaging data and associated metadata.
  • "Services" means all functionality provided through the Portal, including dataset browsing, access request workflows, submission workflows for invited contributors, and related tools.
  • "User", "you" means any individual or entity that accesses or uses the Portal.
  • "Dataset" means any collection of data, files, documentation, or metadata made available through the Portal.
  • "Contributor" means a User who submits or manages Datasets in the Portal.

2. Eligibility and Accounts

By using the Portal, you represent and warrant that you are legally permitted to do so under applicable law and any institutional policies that apply to you.

Certain features of the Portal may require you to create an account. You agree to:

  • Provide accurate and up-to-date registration information;
  • Maintain the confidentiality of your login credentials; and
  • Be responsible for all activities that occur under your account.

3. Nature of the Service

The Envision Portal is designed to support researchers, data stewards, and AI/ML developers working with eye imaging datasets. The Portal:

  • Provides tools for sharing, discovering, and reusing eye imaging datasets;
  • Supports guided submission workflows for invited Contributors, including data standardization, de-identification, and metadata completeness;
  • Distinguishes between public and controlled-access Datasets; and
  • Aligns with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles and the TRUST Principles for Digital Repositories.

The Portal is currently under active development and may be labeled as a preview or early version. Features may change, be added, or be removed without prior notice.

4. Data Access and Use

4.1 Public Datasets

Some Datasets may be made publicly discoverable through the Portal's dataset catalog at /datasets. Access to and reuse of public Datasets is subject to the license and terms specified on the corresponding dataset overview page and any linked documentation or license files.

4.2 Controlled-Access Datasets

Certain Datasets may be designated as controlled-access due to sensitivity, agreement terms, or other restrictions. Access to such Datasets may require:

  • Submitting an access request form through the Portal;
  • Providing information such as your name, affiliation, contact details, and intended use; and
  • Agreeing to dataset-specific terms, licenses, or data use agreements.

By requesting or receiving access to controlled-access Datasets, you agree to:

  • Use the data only for the purposes and within the scope you described and that are allowed by the applicable license or agreement;
  • Not attempt to re-identify individuals or link data to identifiable persons;
  • Implement reasonable technical and organizational safeguards to protect the data; and
  • Not share the data with others except as explicitly allowed by the relevant license or agreement.

4.3 Attribution and Citation

You agree to follow any citation or acknowledgement instructions associated with a Dataset, including citing DOIs or other identifiers provided in the dataset overview page or linked documentation.

5. Contributor Responsibilities

At this time, dataset submission is typically available to invited Contributors. If you submit or manage Datasets in the Portal, you agree that:

  • You have the necessary rights, approvals, and permissions (including any required ethics or institutional approvals) to share the data in the manner enabled by the Portal;
  • Any required de-identification or anonymization has been performed in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and guidance;
  • You will not upload data that contains protected health information (PHI) or other directly identifiable personal data unless there is an appropriate legal and ethical basis and the Portal explicitly supports such handling;
  • You will provide accurate and sufficiently detailed metadata and documentation to support responsible reuse; and
  • You will comply with any additional project-specific policies that apply to your study or dataset.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Portal or Services to:

  • Violate any applicable laws, regulations, or institutional policies;
  • Upload or distribute malware, malicious code, or content that could harm systems or data;
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Portal, Datasets, or other users' accounts;
  • Interfere with or disrupt the normal operation of the Portal, including by excessive automated requests or scraping beyond what is reasonably necessary for research purposes;
  • Misrepresent your identity, affiliation, or your intended use of data;
  • Attempt to re-identify individuals in de-identified datasets; or
  • Use the Portal in any way that could harm study participants, other users, or collaborating institutions.

7. Intellectual Property

7.1 Platform and Software

The Envision Portal software, design, and infrastructure are protected by applicable intellectual property and open-source licenses. The source code is made available at github.com/EyeACT/envision-portal and may be used subject to the terms of the applicable license(s).

7.2 Datasets and Content

Ownership and licensing of Datasets and associated metadata are determined by the Contributors and/or their institutions and funding bodies. Each Dataset may be subject to its own license or terms of use, which are indicated in the dataset overview page or linked documentation. You agree to comply with such dataset-specific terms.

8. Privacy and Data Protection

Your use of the Portal is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect, use, and protect personal information. Please review the Privacy Policy at /privacy.

9. Service Availability and Changes

We aim to provide a reliable service, but the Portal may experience downtime, maintenance windows, or technical issues. Service status and planned maintenance are reported via our public status page at status.envisionportal.org.

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Services at any time, with or without notice, including in response to security concerns, technical issues, or changes in funding or project scope.

10. Disclaimers

  • The Portal and all Datasets are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied.
  • We do not guarantee the completeness, accuracy, or suitability of any Dataset for a particular purpose.
  • The Portal does not provide medical advice and is not intended to replace clinical judgment or professional medical guidance.
  • To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event shall the operators of the Envision Portal, the FAIR Data Innovations Hub, Eye ACT collaborators, or their respective institutions, funders, employees, or affiliates be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, profits, or opportunities, arising out of or in connection with your use of or inability to use the Portal or any Dataset.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the operators of the Envision Portal and their collaborators and institutions from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in any way connected with your use of the Portal or Datasets, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any applicable law or third-party rights.

13. Third-Party Services

The Portal may link to or integrate with third-party services, platforms, or resources (such as external documentation, code repositories, or dataset hosts). We do not control and are not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of any third-party services. Your use of such services is subject to their own terms and policies.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do so, we will update the "last updated" date below and may provide additional notice as appropriate. Your continued use of the Portal after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

Last updated: December 2, 2025

15. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms or about the Envision Portal, please contact us through our Contact page. You may also report technical issues or feature requests via our GitHub issues at github.com/EyeACT/envision-portal/issues.