Terms and Conditions

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions

The Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (“WFAA”) provides this website and associated services — including, the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s (“WAA”) Alumni Email and Badger Bridge services and any University of Wisconsin Foundation (“UWF”), WFAA, or WAA-branded social media pages – (collectively referred to as the “Services”) to you subject to these Terms and Conditions (“T&C”), as amended from time to time. You agree to use the Services only as permitted in the T&C. The Services are intended only for your personal non-commercial use. You acknowledge that WFAA may update the T&C from time to time without notice, and you accept sole responsibility for familiarizing yourself with, and abiding by, the T&C and any such updates. Your use of the Services constitutes your agreement to the terms of the T&C. If you do not agree to the T&C you must immediately discontinue use of the Services.

Account Registration and Security

To access the Services, you may be asked to provide certain registration details or other information.  Providing accurate information is a condition of your use of the Services.  You agree to provide correct, current, and complete information requested by WFAA. The information you provide is governed by WFAA’s Privacy Policy, and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Policy.

In the event that you receive any password or account information pertaining to your use of the Services, you agree to maintain the confidentiality of such password and account information and you agree that you shall be solely responsible for any use of such information, whether authorized or unauthorized and that WFAA shall not be responsible for any such use. You are responsible for all activities that occur in connection with your password and/or account information, including all electronic transmissions. WFAA shall not be under any duty to inquire as to the authority or propriety of any information given to the WFAA by you or via your password and/or account information and shall be entitled to act upon any such information, and WFAA will not be liable for any loss, cost, expense, or other liability arising out of any such instructions. You agree to notify WFAA promptly of any unauthorized use of your password and/or account information. You agree to cooperate with WFAA in any investigation and agree to take corrective measures to protect your account from further fraudulent activity.

As further set forth in the T&C, WFAA has the right to disable any username, password, or other identifier, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time in our sole discretion for any or no reason, including if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of the T&C.

Ownership and Use

The Services, and their entire contents, features, and functionality (including all information, software, text, displays, images, video, and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by WFAA or its licensors and are protected by United States and international copyright and trademark laws.

WFAA authorizes you to view and/or access the Services solely for your personal, non-commercial use and, if allowed through the Services, download onto your own personal device a copy of content that is made available on or through the Services, provided you do not remove and include any copyright and proprietary rights notices that are contained in the Services. You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, transmit, display, publish, broadcast, or frame the Services or any content (or any portion) on any third party website without prior written permission from WFAA. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright, or other notice from copies of the Services.

If you wish to make other use of the content other than that set out in this section, please address your request to legalaffairs@supportuw.org.

User Contributions

Portions of the Services may allow you to upload, post, or transmit content that will be publicly accessible on the Internet, including to WFAA, its affiliates, and other users of the Services. “Publicly accessible” areas of the Services are those areas of WFAA’s network of properties that are intended by WFAA to be available to the general public. Accordingly, except as stated in WFAA’s Privacy Policy, any content you submit, upload, transmit, or store on or through the Services is on a non-confidential basis.

You understand that all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, tags, or other materials available through or accessible via the Services (the “Content”) whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, is the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. This means that you, and not WFAA, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, transmit, or otherwise make available via the Services (the “User Contributions”).

WFAA does not claim ownership of User Contributions. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant WFAA perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license(s) to download, store, transmit, use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform, and publicly display such User Contributions on the Services. If any of your User Contributions contain images of you or any other recognizable person, you further grant to WFAA a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, transferable, sublicensable right and authority to use and publish you and/or the person’s image, picture, likeness, voice, name, and biographical information.

By uploading, posting, or transmitting Content on or through the Services, you represent and warrant that:

  • You own or control all rights in and to your User Contributions and have the right to grant the above license(s) to WFAA, its affiliates, and service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors, and assigns.
  • You are responsible for any Content you upload, post, or transmit to or through the Services and you hereby release (and hold WFAA harmless) from any and all responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy, and appropriateness.
  • All of your User Contributions do and will comply with the T&C.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Safe Harbor

If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide WFAA with the following information:

  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright allegedly infringed.
  • A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are the subject of a single notice, a representative list of such works.
  • An identification of the allegedly infringing material and a description of where that material is located on the Services.
  • Your address, telephone number, and email address.
  • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that use of the disputed material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner or the owner’s agent.
  • A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information you provide in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner of the allegedly infringed copyright, or that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

WFAA’s agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached as follows:

  • Mail:  Legal Affairs, University of Wisconsin Foundation, 1848 University Ave., Madison, WI 53726
  • Email: legalaffairs@supportuw.org

User Conduct

WFAA does not actively moderate, and shall have no duty to review, monitor, moderate, remove or otherwise control the Content uploaded, posted, or transmitted via the Services and, therefore, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of such User Contributions. You understand that by using the Services, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, or objectionable. Under no circumstances will WFAA be liable in any way for damages arising from exposure to or use of any Content, including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any Content, or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content uploaded, posted, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the Services.

You agree to not use the Services to:

  1. upload, post, transmit, or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;
  2. harm minors in any way;
  3. impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a WFAA employee; WAA chapter or affinity group leader, guide, or host; or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  4. forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted through the Services;
  5. upload, post, transmit, or otherwise make available any Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary, and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
  6. upload, post, transmit, or otherwise make available any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights (“Rights”) of any party;
  7. upload, post, transmit, or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” (as those terms are commonly understood) or any other form of solicitation, except in those areas (such as shopping) that are designated for such purpose;
  8. upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  9. disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, cause a screen to “scroll” faster than other users of the Services are able to type, or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects other users’ ability to use the Services;
  10. interfere with or disrupt the Services or servers or networks connected to the Services, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks connected to the Services;
  11. intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law, including, but not limited to, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law;
  12. provide material support or resources (or to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, or ownership of material support or resources) to any organization(s) designated by the United States government as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
  13. “stalk” or otherwise harass another; and/or
  14. collect or store personal data about other users in connection with the prohibited conduct and activities set forth above.

WFAA reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to screen, refuse, block access to, or remove Content but shall have no obligation to do so. Without limiting the foregoing, WFAA and its designees shall have the right to remove or block access to any Content for any reason or for no reason. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content, and that WFAA shall have no responsibility for any Content or User Contributions, regardless of whether WFAA has pre-screened such Content. You also acknowledge that using the Service may expose you to unsolicited Content since, as a practical matter, WFAA cannot pre-screen all Content. WFAA expressly disclaims any liability to you or to any third party arising out of or relating to the Content.

Investigations and Cooperation with Authorities

WFAA has the right to cooperate fully with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to retain, copy, store, or access (or provide access to) information provided by you, and to disclose your identity or other information or content you provide to WFAA and/or upload or transmit on or through the Services. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS WFAA AND ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSEES, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY THEM DURING, OR TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF, INVESTIGATIONS BY THEM OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

General Practices Regarding Use and Storage

You acknowledge that WFAA may establish general practices and limits concerning use of the Service, including without limitation the maximum number of days that messages (including email), message board postings, or other uploaded Content will be retained by the Services, the maximum number of messages (including email) that may be sent from or received by an account on the Service, the maximum size of any message (including email) and/or attachments that may be sent from or received by an account on the Services, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on WFAA’s servers on your behalf, and the maximum number of times (and the maximum duration for which) you may access the Services in a given period of time. You acknowledge that WFAA reserves the right to log off or terminate accounts that are inactive for an extended period of time and allow new users to register and use the same or similar username.

Beginning February 28, 2022, no additional email accounts will be opened. Starting May 31, 2022, all existing WAA Alumni Email accounts will be subject to a 5 GB storage cap, inclusive of all Google Drive storage affiliated with the account.

You agree that WFAA has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any messages and other communications or other Content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You further acknowledge that WFAA reserves the right to modify these general practices and limits from time to time.

Termination of Account(s)

You agree that WFAA may, in its sole and absolute discretion and without prior notice, immediately terminate any account(s) you might have through the Services (including any WAA Alumni Email and/or Badger Bridge account) and your access to the Services, including access to any Content and/or User Contributions stored in the Services. Cause for such termination shall include, but is not be limited to, (a) breaches or violations of the T&C or other incorporated agreements or guidelines, (b) requests by law enforcement or other government agencies, (c) a request by you, (d) discontinuation or material modification to the Services (or any part thereof), (e) unexpected technical or security issues or problems, (f) extended periods of inactivity, (g) engagement by you in fraudulent or illegal activities, and/or (h) nonpayment of any fees owed by you in connection with the Services. At WFAA’s discretion, we may provide time for you to migrate your information to another account or service not provided by WFAA. You agree that all terminations shall be made in WFAA’s sole and absolutely discretion and that WFAA shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your accounts or access to the Services.

Geographic Restrictions

WFAA provides the Services for use only by persons located in the United States. WFAA makes no claims that the Services or any of its content is accessible or appropriate outside of the United States. Access to the Services may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Services from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

Minors

The Services are not directed toward minors and WFAA does not knowingly solicit, collect, or disclose information from minors. We do not intentionally target interest-based advertising to minors.  If you are a parent and you wish to monitor your child’s online activities, we recommend exploring available parental control tools that can assist with ensuring children do not disclose personal information without parental consent.  If we become aware of any personal information we have received from minors, we will delete the personal information.

No Resale of Services

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell, or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Services, use of the Services, or access to the Services.

Modifications to Services

WFAA reserve the right to modify, cease operation of and otherwise and availability of the Services, or any portion of the Services.

WFAA reserves the right at any time and from time to time to control access to, modify, or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Services (or any part thereof) with or without notice for any reason or no reason without notice. You agree that WFAA shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the Services or any portion of the Services. WFAA will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Services become or remain unavailable at any time or for any period.

Disclaimer of Warranties

By using the Services, you expressly agree that you use the Services at your sole risk. WFAA provides the Services on an “as is” and “as available” basis. WFAA and its affiliates, officers, agents, and employees expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including without limitation implied warranties or merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. WFAA does not warrant that the functions on the Services will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrects, or that this website or the server that makes it and/or the Services available are free of viruses, destructive code, or other harmful components. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data. Neither WFAA nor anyone associated with it makes any representations regarding the use of or the result of the use of the Services in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or otherwise. The foregoing does not affect any warranties that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Limitation on Liability

To the fullest extent provided by law, WFAA and its affiliates, officers, agents, employees, service providers, and licensors shall not be liable to you for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including but not limited to damages for personal injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost revenue, lost profits, loss of business or anticipated savings, loss of goodwill and/or reputation, loss of data, loss of use, or other intangible losses, whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract, or otherwise, even if foreseeable. This limitation on liability does not apply to liability resulting from WFAA’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold WFAA and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, partners, and licensors harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your User Contributions; your use of the Services; your connection to the Services; your violation of the T&C; or your violation of any rights of another.

Entire Agreement

The T&C, as amended from time to time, and any associated WFAA policies (including WFAA’s Privacy Policy and Digital Community Guidelines), constitute the entire agreement between you and WFAA with respect to the Services.

Waiver

No waiver by WFAA shall be construed as a waiver of any proceeding or succeeding breach of any provision of the T&C.

Severability

Each provision of the T&C shall be construed as separately applying and surviving even if for any reason another provision is held to be inapplicable or unenforceable. These Terms and Conditions shall be severable and construed to the extent of their enforceability in light of the parties’ mutual intent if deemed at all unenforceable by the competent court.

Governing Law and Venue

The T&C shall be governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin, without regard to its choice of law rules, and you agree that all actions and proceedings arising out of or relating to the Services or the T&C will be heard and determined in any Wisconsin state or federal court sitting in Madison, Wisconsin. You agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of such courts.