HERPETOLOGICAL EDUCATIONAL & RESEARCH PROJECT (HERP)
The naherp.com database will operate under the following terms of service. Changes to the terms and conditions, can be enacted by the HERP Trustees with a 2/3 majority vote.
The HERP database is owned and managed by the Trustees of the HERP association. Ownership of data submitted to the database is retained by the contributor, or can be relinquished to the HERP association. Management of these data (editing, deleting, etc.), excluding data voluntarily relinquished to the HERP association, is retained by the contributor (See DATA ENTRY). HERP has no right to change ownership of individual records, block access to individual records by the contributor, or eliminate the option of the contributor to manage his or her own records, except with the express prior consent of the contributor.
Submission of data to the database is open to the public upon agreeing to the following terms and conditions of use. By submitting data, each data contributor specifically acknowledges that they do so at their own risk.
DATA
Data (including photos and audio files) will be designated by the submitting Data Owner as either Non-Sensitive (NS), Sensitive (S), or Closed (C).
- Non-Sensitive (NS) - Non-Sensitive data are those records which do not require the submitting Data Owner's permission to be released to persons or parties within and outside of the HERP membership.
- Sensitive (S) - Sensitive data are those records which require the Data Owner's permission to be released to persons or parties within and outside of the HERP membership.
- Closed (C) - Closed data are highly sensitive records owned by the contributor which may only be released as approved by the Data Owner and this security status can never be changed or removed by HERP without the data owner’s approval.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, each member agrees and acknowledges that neither HERP, its officers, the officers of a chapter nor any other member shall be liable for the release of any data that is inconsistent with the terms set forth above. By submitting data, each member specifically acknowledges that they do so at their own risk.
Data status can be designated upon submission when adding a record, or after submission by editing a record. An option in the member's profile allows a Data Owner to choose how his/her records are treated in the data release process for all projects that are not voted upon by the submitting member.
Specific locality of data including Lat/Lon coordinates is always hidden from public view. Data can be further restricted from public view when adding or editing a record by choosing the option 'Restrict public access to this record'.
DATA RELEASE
Data will be released by HERP for those projects that undergo the following procedure: A project description will be submitted to the HERP Trustees that details the scope of the data being requested, the intended use of the data, and information regarding any known risks of releasing data.
The project description and known risks will be detailed on the HERP website and open to Data Owner comments for a minimum 10 day period.
After the 10 day review period, the Board of Trustees will review Data Owner comments and vote to approve or reject the project. Any project which is not unanimously rejected will proceed to a Data Owner vote in accordance with the below.
The project will be put to vote by the Data Owners whose data is considered within the scope of the project's request.
Voting members will be notified which of their records are being requested, and given the following options:
Yes - I approve this project. Release ALL of my data (SENSITIVE, NON-SENSITIVE, and CLOSED)
Yes - I approve this project. Release ONLY my SENSITIVE AND NON-SENSITIVE data.
Yes - I approve this project. Release ONLY my NON-SENSITIVE data.
No - I do not approve this project. DO NOT release any of my data.
No - I do not approve this project. However, please release ALL of my data (BOTH SENSITIVE AND NON-SENSITIVE) if the majority of the voting members approve the project.
No - I do not approve this project. However, please release only my NON-SENSITIVE data if the majority of the voting members approve the project.
Voting Data Owners will be shown which of their data they have selected to release, and will be required to confirm their decision.
Votes will be tallied. If the number of voting Data Owners who have approved the project exceeds the number of voting Data Owners who have rejected the project, then the data of the approving Data Owners will be released, as will the data of Data Owners who did not approve the project but nonetheless authorized the release of their data. In addition, the data of Data Owners who did not vote will be released (unless they have indicated otherwise).
If the number of voting Data Owners who have rejected the project exceeds the number of voting Data Owners who have approved the project, then only the data of approving Data Owners will be released, to the degree that the release was authorized. The data of Data Owners who did not vote will NOT be released.
Released records will be made available to the requesting party via a password protected portion of the website, and/or a CSV file, according to the requesting party's preference.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as stated above, each member agrees and acknowledges that neither HERP, its officers, the officers of a chapter nor any other member shall be liable for the release of any data that is inconsistent with the terms set forth above. By submitting data, each Data Owner specifically acknowledges that it does so at its own risk, and that all such data may become completely public.