Terms & Conditions / Privacy / Copyrights

General Terms and Conditions

Welcome to “Ekhbar Platform”:
These terms and conditions outline the rules and regulations for the use of Transparency International – Lebanon (TI – LB) ‘s Ekhbar Platform located at: (Https://ekhbar.org) By accessing or using the EKHBAR platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. If you do not accept these terms, you are not authorized to use this platform. Please review these terms carefully.

Please read our General Terms and Conditions carefully:
The following terminology applies to these Terms and Conditions, Privacy Statement and Disclaimer Notice and all Agreements:
- “You” and “Your” refers to you, the person accessing this website and compliant to TI-LB’s terms and conditions or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the service as applicable
- “TI-LB”, “Ourselves”, “We”, “Our” and “Us”, refers to Transparency International - Lebanon (TI – LB)
- “Party”, “Parties”, or “Us”, refers to both the person accessing this website and ourselves. Any use of the above terminology or other words in the singular, plural, capitalization and/or he/she or they, are taken as interchangeable and therefore as referring to same.
- “Country” refers to Lebanon.
- “Third-party Social Media Service” means any services or content (including data, information, products or services) provided by a third-party that may be displayed, included or made available by the service.
- “Website” refers to Transparency International - Lebanon (TI-LB)’ Ekhbar Online Platform accessible from: (Https://ekhbar.org)

Cookies
To improve your experience on the Website, we employ the use of “cookies”. By accessing (Https://ekhbar.org), you agree to use cookies in agreement with Transparency International -Lebanon TI - LB Privacy Policy.
Most interactive websites use cookies to retrieve the user's details for each visit. Cookies are used by our website to enable the functionality of certain areas to make it easier for people visiting our website. Third-party web sites or services may also use cookies.
You should be able to control how and whether cookies will be accepted by your web browser. Most browsers offer instructions on how to reset the browser to reject cookies in the "Help" section of the toolbar. If you refuse the use of cookies, many functions and conveniences of the Website may not work properly.
When users come to our Website, we may track, collect and aggregate Non-Personal Information indicating, among other things, which pages of our Website were visited, the order in which they were visited, when they were visited, the documents downloaded, and which hyperlinks were "clicked." We also collect information from the URLs from which you linked to our Website. Collecting such information may involve logging the IP address, operating system and browser software used by each user of the Site. Although such information is not Personally Identifiable Information, we may be able to determine from an IP address a user's Internet Service Provider and the geographic location of his or her point of connectivity.

How we use the information
Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the different ways EKHBAR uses the information that we gather.
- We use Non-Personal Information to build higher quality, more useful services by performing statistical analyses of the collective characteristics and behavior of our users, and by measuring demographics and interests regarding specific areas of our Site.
- We use Personally Identifiable Information collected when you sign-up for our various email or update services to send you the messages in connection with the Website. We may also archive this information and/or use it for future communications with you.
- Our operations and maintenance contractors may have limited access to your Personally Identifiable Information in the course of providing products or services to us. These contractors may include vendors and suppliers that provide us with technology, services, and/or content related to the operation and maintenance of the Website. Access to your Personally Identifiable Information by these contractors is limited to the information reasonably necessary for the contractor to perform its limited function for us.
- We may offer you the ability to receive updates either via email or by posting on portions of the Website only accessible to registered users. In order to subscribe to these services, you may be required to provide us with Personally Identifiable Information such as your name and email address.

External links
For your convenience we may provide links to sites operated by TI-LB or other organizations ("Other Sites") that we believe may be of interest to you. We do not disclose your Personally Identifiable Information to these Other Sites without obtaining your consent. We do not endorse and are not responsible for the privacy practices of these Other Sites. If you choose to click on a link to one of these Other Sites, you should review the privacy policy posted on these site to understand how that Other Site collects and uses your Personally Identifiable Information.

Intellectual property rights
Https://ekhbar.org informs its users that many elements of the Website:
- Are protected by copyright legislation: this may include photographs, articles, reports, legal researches, studies, drawings, animated sequences, recordings in digital audio or video format, etc.;
- And/or are protected by design legislation;
- Are protected by trademark legislation (including the term “trademark” or by TI-LB’s logo or by its former LTA logo);
As such, any reproduction, representation, use, adaptation, modification, incorporation, translation, marketing, partial or complete by any process and on any medium whatsoever (paper, digital, etc.) for any distribution anywhere must do subject to prior written authorization from TI-LB.

License
TI-LB exclusively owns all intellectual property rights in and to all content and materials displayed on the Ekhbar platform, including but not limited to text, graphics, logos, images, as well as the compilation thereof, and any software used on the platform, unless explicitly indicated otherwise. You may access these materials solely for your personal, non-commercial use. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, modification, or public display of these materials is strictly prohibited and may be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the lawUser Conduct and Copyright Infringement Claims Policy
We may remove or edit inappropriate content or activity identified by or reported to us. We may separately suspend, disable, or terminate a user's access to all or part of the Services.
You also aren't allowed to:
• Do anything that violates local, state, national, or international law or breaches any of your contractual obligations or fiduciary duties;
• Share your password, let anyone besides yourself access your account, or do anything that might put your account at risk;
• Attempt to access any other user's account;
• Break or circumvent our authentication or security measures or otherwise test the vulnerability of our systems or networks, unless specifically authorized to do so;
• Try to reverse engineer any portion of our Services;
• Try to interfere with any user, host, or network, for example by sending a virus, overloading, spamming, or mail-bombing;
• Use our Services to distribute malware;
• Impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
• Provide false or misleading information when submitting reports; you acknowledge that doing so is entirely your responsibility and may result in legal consequences;
• Encourage or help anyone do any of the things on this list.

We reserve the right to suspend, disable, or terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe or are repeatedly charged with infringing the copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights of others.
If you believe in good faith that materials on the platform infringe your copyright, you may send us a notice requesting that the material be removed or access to it blocked.

The notice must include the following information:
1. The physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or, if multiple copyrighted works located on the platform are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works);
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and information reasonably sufficient to allow EKhbar to locate the material on the platform;
4. The name, address, telephone number, and email address (if available) of the complaining party;
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Hypertext links
Setting up a hypertext link to the Https://ekhbar.org/ site or to one of the projects associated with Https://ekhbar.org/ requires prior written authorization from Https://ekhbar.org/
In any case, Https://ekhbar.org/ cannot be held responsible for the content as well as the products or services offered on the sites to which the Https://ekhbar.org/ site may be linked by hypertext links or any other type of links.

Privacy Statement
Ekhbar is committed to protecting your privacy online. If you report corruption or contact us, you do not need to identify yourself or use your real name. If you do choose to provide personal information we will deal with that information as described below.
While every effort is made to secure information transmitted to this Website over the internet, there is a possibility that this information could be accessed by a third party while in transit.
We aim to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure, and against other misuse. We also ensure that access to your personal information within our systems is only available to those of our staff who need to have access in order to do their work.
If a data breach occurs that affects your personal information, we will aim to provide timely advice to you to ensure you are able to manage any loss (financial or otherwise) that could result from the breach. We will act as soon as practicable to contain or reduce the effect of any loss or potential disclosure, ideally before it occurs.
If you would like to make a privacy complaint, or to correct personal information held by Ekhbar Platform, please contact us.

Rules for online conduct
You agree to use the Website in accordance with all applicable laws. Further, you agree that you will not use the Website for organized partisan political activities. You further agree that you will not e-mail or post any of the following content (“Prohibited Content”) anywhere on the Site, or on any other Ekhbar computing resources:
-Content that defames, harasses or threatens others;
-Content that discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit such activities, or encourages others to commit such activities;
-Content that infringes or misappropriates another's intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks or trade secrets;
-Content that you do not have the right to disclose under contractual confidentiality obligations or fiduciary duties;
-Material that contains obscene language or images;
-Advertising, promotional materials, or any form of commercial solicitation;
-Content that otherwise harms other users or visitors to the Sites;
-Content that is otherwise unlawful or that violates any applicable local, state, national or international law.

Design
Without prior approval and written permission, you may not create frames around our Webpages that alter in any way the visual presentation or appearance of our website.

Removal of links from our website
If you find any link on our website that is offensive for any reason, you are free to contact and inform us any moment. We will consider requests to remove links but we are not obligated to comply or to respond to you directly.
We do not ensure that the information on this Website is correct, we do not warrant its completeness or accuracy; nor do we promise to ensure that the website remains available or that the material on the website is kept up to date.

Changes to the Platform
TI-LB reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the platform (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that TI-LB shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the platform.

Limitation of Liability
Under no circumstances shall TI-LB be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses (even if TI-LB has been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from: (i) the use or the inability to use the platform; (ii) unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data; (iii) statements or conduct of any third party on the platform; or (iv) any other matter relating to the platform.

Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless TI-LB, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers, and any third-party information providers to the platform from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any violation of these Terms and Conditions by you or any other person accessing the platform using your account.

Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions, and any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the services provided by the EKHBAR platform, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Lebanon, without regard to its conflict of law principles. You agree that the courts of Lebanon shall have exclusive jurisdiction to resolve any disputes, claims, or controversies that may arise, and you hereby waive any jurisdictional, venue, or inconvenient forum objections to such courts.

Translation Interpretation
These Terms and Conditions may have been translated if we have made them available to you on our Service. You agree that the original English text shall prevail in the case of a dispute.

Changes to these Terms and conditions:
We reserve the right to modify or amend these Terms at any time at our sole discretion. If we make changes that materially affect your rights or obligations, we will notify you by posting an announcement on the website or by sending you an email. Your continued use of this platform after changes have been posted constitutes your acceptance of the amended terms.

Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Termination
We may terminate or suspend Your access immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if You breach these Terms and Conditions. Upon termination, your right to use the Service will cease immediately.

GDPR Compliance (for EU Users)
For users in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA), we adhere to the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In addition to the rights outlined in Section 7, EU/EEA users have the following rights:
• Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you. This includes details of the data categories, the purposes for which it is processed, and any third parties with whom your data has been shared.
• Right to Rectification: If you find that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that it be corrected or updated.
• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You can request the deletion of your personal data where it is no longer necessary for the purposes it was collected, or if you withdraw your consent, or if it was unlawfully processed. Exceptions may apply if we are legally required to retain the data.
• Right to Restrict Processing: In certain circumstances, you can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data. This could be in cases where you dispute the accuracy of the data or when the processing is unlawful, but you prefer to restrict the use of the data instead of deleting it.
• Right to Object: You can object to the processing of your personal data in specific situations, such as processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing purposes.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of the processing conducted prior to your withdrawal.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: If you believe we are not complying with the GDPR, you have the right to file a complaint with a supervisory authority in your country of residence.

Data Retention and Deletion
Your personal data will only be retained for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected or as required by applicable law. You can request the deletion of your data at any time, and we will comply with GDPR requirements when processing your request.

Data Transfer Outside the EU
If your personal data is transferred outside the EU to third countries that do not provide adequate protection, we ensure that the necessary safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), are in place to protect your information.

Data Breach Notification
In the event of a personal data breach, we will notify the appropriate supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms. If the breach poses a high risk, we will inform you without undue delay.
To exercise any of these rights or if you have any questions regarding your personal data, please contact us at [support@ekhbar.org].

CCPA Compliance (for California Users)
We are fully committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). As a California resident, you have the following rights with respect to your personal information:
• Right to Know: You have the right to request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal data we have collected about you. This includes details about the sources from which your data was collected, the purposes for which it was collected, and the third parties with whom your data has been shared.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request the deletion of personal data we hold about you, subject to certain exceptions. For example, we may retain your data if it is necessary to complete a transaction, detect security incidents, or comply with legal obligations.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale of Personal Data: Although we do not sell your personal data, CCPA grants you the right to opt out of the sale of your data, should we ever engage in such practices in the future.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of your CCPA rights. This means we will not deny you services, charge you different prices, or provide a different level or quality of services for exercising your rights under CCPA.

Data Retention and Deletion
We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Upon your request, we will delete your personal data, subject to certain legal exceptions.

Data Sharing and Third-Party Processing
We do not sell your personal data. If we share data with third parties (such as service providers), we ensure they are bound by agreements that prohibit them from using your data for any purpose other than providing services to us.

Data Breach Notification
In the event of a data breach involving your personal information, we will notify you promptly and provide you with the details of the breach and the steps we are taking to mitigate any potential harm.

To exercise any of these rights, or if you have any questions regarding your personal data under the CCPA, please contact us at [support@ekhbar.org].

For any additional questions, we suggest that you contact us by sending an email to the following support@ekhbar.org