This page states the “Terms of Use” under which you may access the Professionals for the Public Interest (PftPI) website, an online point of connection among the endorsing organizations of PftPI, policy makers and the public to discuss the defense of professional integrity against external pressures and its importance to the public.

By accessing this website, you are indicating your acceptance to be bound by the provisions of these Terms of Use. If you do not accept the Terms of Use stated here, do not access the site. PftPI may revise these Terms of Use at any time by updating this posting. You should visit this page periodically to review the Terms of Use, because they are binding on you. The terms “you” and “User” as used herein refer to all individuals and/or entities accessing this
web site for any reason.

1. Warranty.

By visiting this site and/or accepting these Terms of Use, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority and capacity to agree to and abide by these Terms of Use. You also represent and warrant that you will use the website in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations.

2. Disclaimer.

PftPI has developed this website as a resource for all those concerned about external pressures confronting professional integrity. PftPI, comprised of the endorsing organizations listed on the PftPI.org home page, is solely responsible for the content of the PftPI website. PftPI takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any information or services listed
on this website or provided by any organization listed on this website. PftPI cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of information on this site. PftPI, its employees, agents, or others that provide information on or through this web site, will not be liable or responsible to you for any claim, loss, injury, liability, or damages, including lost wages or benefits, related to your use of this site or any site linked to this site, or for any claims by third parties. Opinions expressed on PftPI.org and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of PftPI. PftPI reserves the right not to publish a particular submission or comment in any form and to edit submissions and comments for anonymity.

3. Use of Submissions.

All submissions to PftPI.org become the property of PftPI, may be used for any purpose without permission of the participant or any consideration apart from participation in accordance with these guidelines, and will not be returned. PftPI reserves the right to edit or not publish any story or idea submitted to the PftPI.org site based on the submission guidelines for that activity.

4. Privacy Policy.

PftPI has created this privacy notice to explain how we use information that you may provide while visiting our website and to demonstrate our firm commitment to Internet privacy. PftPI may modify this policy from time to time so we encourage you to check this page when revisiting this website. The following discloses our information gathering and
dissemination practices for this website. The type and amount of information received depends on how you use the site.

a. Website Usage/Information Collection

When you visit the PftPI website, we automatically obtain information from you about the name of your Internet service provider, the browser and type of computer you are using, the website that referred you to us, the pages you request and the date and time of those requests. We use this information on an aggregate basis to generate statistics and measure site
activity to improve the usefulness of the site to our visitors. For example, we may use this information to track which pages are most popular among visitors as a whole. We do not track the pages you or any individual visitor may look at during a visit to our site and we do not collect any other information without your knowledge and permission. We do not collect or store personally identifiable information, such as your name or email address unless you
separately provide that information to us.

b. Collection of Personally Identifiable Information

PftPI provides a registration page so you may provide your contact information to submit a story, share an idea or comment on this website. Any information we collect, such as your name, state, email address, type of activity you engage in and any additional information you provide, is collected and stored by PftPI. The information is used to fulfill your request, track
aggregate information about usage of these features and to contact you in the event that your story is chosen as a finalist or the winner of online voting. In the event that your story is chosen as “Most Compelling” in online voting, PftPI will send you an email notifying you of this development. In the event that your idea is selected for inclusion in a briefing book or other document, PftPI will send you an email notifying you of this development. PftPI makes every effort to ensure the security in collection and transmission of your sensitive information.

c. PftPI’s Sharing of Personally Identifiable Information

If you agree to share your email address with our endorsing organizations, PftPI will make that information available to those organizations. If you agree to share your contact information with the media in the event such an inquiry is made, PftPI may share your contact information with media outlets. If you agree to receive updates from PftPI, we will regularly update you on issues relevant to the theme and purpose of the PftPI.org website.
Otherwise, all of your personal information is kept confidential and is for the sole use of PftPI. We will never sell, rent or otherwise provide your personal information to any other organization.

The PftPI website will never post your personal contact information, beyond identifying nickname and state, on the website without your consent. PftPI reserves the right to edit any and all submissions to the site for anonymity.

d. Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s hard drive containing information about the user. The PftPI website uses a cookie for measuring aggregate web statistics, including number of monthly visitors, number of repeat visitors, most popular web pages and other information. PftPI will also use cookies to facilitate your online visit by maintaining data that you provide for online activities (commenting, story or idea submission, etc.) so that you will not need to resubmit certain information. PftPI does not use cookies to track what specific pages an individual site visitor views.

e. Outside Links

This site contains hypertext links to other sites. PftPI is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site, and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information
collected by this website.

f. Security

This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. All user information is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need information to perform a specific job (e.g., notifying an individual of inclusion in the briefing book or selection as “Most Compelling” story) are granted access to email addresses or other identifying information. All employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Finally, the servers that store sensitive information are
kept in a secure environment. If you send us an email, you should know that email is not necessarily secure against interception.

g. Corrections/Updating Personal Information

If your personal information changes (such as your email), or if you wish to have your information removed from our database, contact us and we will endeavor to provide a way to correct, update or remove that personal data provided to us.

5. PftPI Restrictions

Users may not use the PftPI website to transmit, distribute, store or destroy material, including without limitation, this website’s content (a) in violation of any applicable law or regulation, (b) in a manner that will infringe the copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of others or violate the privacy, publicity or other personal rights of others, or (c) in a manner that is defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive or hateful.

Users are also prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the PftPI site, including, without limitation, the following activities: (a) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (b) attempting to interfere with communication to any
user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to this or any endorsing organization site, overloading, “flooding”, “spamming”, “mailbombing” or “crashing;” or (c) solicitation or advertisement. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. The PftPI will investigate occurrences that may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in
prosecuting users who are involved in such violations.

6. Disclaimer of Warranty.

PftPI does not warrant that the PftPI.org website will operate error-free or that the servers are free of computer viruses or other harmful mechanisms. If your use of the website results in the need for servicing or replacing equipment or data, PftPI is not responsible for those costs. In no event shall PftPI be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without
limitation, incidental and consequential damages, lost profits, or damages resulting from lost data or business interruption) resulting from the use or inability to use the site, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not PftPI is advised of the possibility of such damages. PftPI to the fullest extent permitted by law, disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied.

7. Indemnity.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless PftPI, its endorsing organizations, employees and agents, from and against any claims, actions or demands, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, alleging or resulting from (i) any User Content or other material you provide to the PftPI site, (ii) your use of any PftPI content, or (iii) your
breach of the terms of these Terms of Use. PftPI shall provide notice to you of any such claim, suit, or proceeding.

8. Fair Use Notice

The PftPI website and related email updates may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of the external pressures confronting professional integrity across disciplinary lines and encourage discussion of
these issues. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from the PftPI site or email updates for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

9. Professional or Legal Advice

PftPI.org provides general information, not professional or legal advice. If you need professional or legal advice, you should seek out a professional licensed in that area (law, medicine, risk management, financial adviser, accounting, etc.). If you face a situation you believe to be illegal, you should contact a legal professional.

10. Contact Us

If you experience technical problems with the operation of this website, contact us by email.

info@pftpi.org
www.pftpi.org
Professionals for the Public Interest
815 16th St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
202-638-0320
You also may contact us by mail or telephone. These communications will also be governed by these Terms of Use.

April 15, 2009