Archive access and privacy agreement

Who must follow this agreement

This agreement applies to every person who receives or uses data from the Scaling Neuro archive, including approved researchers, their collaborators, Scaling Neuro administrators, and project staff. An approved researcher is responsible for ensuring that anyone using data under their access follows these conditions. A requester accepts this agreement by checking the required agreement box and submitting the archive access request.

Authority to receive and use data

Before requesting access, you must have all institutional, ethical, legal, contractual, and other permissions required for you to receive and use the deidentified data for secondary research. Scaling Neuro approval does not replace your institution's review or authorize a use that your institution does not permit.

Relationship to the contribution policy and CC0

Prospective contributors also accept the separate data contribution and CC0 policy, which governs their authority to upload and the public-domain dedication made after the archive's seven-day beta staging period. Researcher access and CC0 dedication begin only after that period ends without cancellation. This agreement governs access through Scaling Neuro and the conduct of people receiving or using archive data.

Archives received under the current contribution policy are dedicated to the public domain under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal. CC0 permits unrestricted reuse of copyright and related rights, but does not make participants anonymous or waive privacy and publicity rights. These access conditions are a separate agreement for researchers who receive data through Scaling Neuro. They do not narrow CC0 or become conditions on the public-domain data.

No identification or reidentification

You must not attempt to identify or reidentify any participant represented in the archive. You must not link archive data with other information for the purpose of discovering a participant's identity, and you must not help anyone else do so.

No participant contact

You must not contact or attempt to contact a participant based on archive data. If a participant's identity becomes known or is suspected, do not use that information or contact the participant. Secure the affected data and promptly notify [email protected].

Personal access and collaborators

Your access token is personal and must not be shared. You may allow collaborators at your approved lab to work with downloaded data only after they understand and agree to these same conditions. You remain responsible for activity under your access and for promptly reporting loss or misuse of your token.

Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Scaling Neuro and Sophont Inc., and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, successors, and assigns (the “Indemnified Parties”) from any claim, loss, or liability (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your access to or use of archive data, including any attempt to identify or re-identify a participant, any participant contact, any sharing of your access, and any use in violation of this agreement or of the permissions you confirmed. This obligation survives termination of your access.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Indemnified Parties are not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for any harm arising from the data or from re-identification by any party. Their total aggregate liability arising from this agreement will not exceed one hundred ($100) U.S. dollars.

Warranty disclaimer

Archive data is provided on an as-is and as-available basis, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, or non-infringement. Scaling Neuro does not warrant that the data is anonymous or that re-identification of any participant is impossible.

Enforcement and agreement changes

Access may be denied or revoked for a violation, suspected violation, or failure to accept the current agreement. Material changes require a new, version-specific acceptance before access continues.

Deidentified does not mean anonymous. Scaling Neuro removes identifying DICOM metadata locally, but preserves the functional EPI Pixel Data. These access conditions are an additional privacy safeguard and do not guarantee that identification is impossible.