Terms Written in Human Language

The following page contains terms and conditions written in easy to read and understandable language. The Interaction Design Foundation (hereinafter referred to as “IxDF”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) decided to sit down with our lawyers and re-write our Terms of Use from scratch in order to make them easier to understand, to be able to include examples, and to be more precise. We hope you will appreciate our efforts. The requirement of the rewrite of the Terms of Use was that they should be understandable by actual humans like yourself and be enjoyable to read.

Happy reading from the whole team behind IxDF.

This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) governs how The Interaction Design Foundation (hereinafter referred to as “IxDF”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses and shares Personal Data (defined below) about:

• about each individual, entity, user or visitor (collectively “you” or “your”); and/or
• you provide to IxDF when (i) accessing our website located at www.interaction-design.org  (hereinafter referred to as the “Site”); and/or (ii) using the Services (as defined under Section 2 of IxDF’s Terms of Use).

IxDF is committed to maintaining robust privacy protections for its users. Our Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how we collect, use and safeguard the information you provide to us and to assist you in making informed decisions when using the Services on the Site.

1. Definition of Personal Data and Non-Personal Data

The term “Personal Information” shall refer to data, whether true or not, about an individual who is the subject of any information and can be identified (i) from that data, or (ii) from that data in combination with other information to which IxDF may have access to or is likely to have access.

“Non-Personal Information” includes information that cannot be used to personally identify you, such as general demographic information we may collect, referring/exit pages and URLs, platform types, device types, preferences you submit and preferences that are generated based on the data you submit.

2. Scope of Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy governs your access of IxDF’s Site and Services, regardless of how you access the Site and Services, and explains what data we collect when you use the Site and/or Services, why we collect the data, how data is used, and your rights and choices. This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Data and Non-Personal Data collected by us from or about visitors to, or users of, our Site.

By accessing and using our Site and Services, you accept the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and consent to IxDF’s collection, storage, use, disclosure and processing of your Personal Data as described under this Privacy Policy. To make your reading experience more pleasant for you we have inserted so-called ‘road blocks’ where we ask you to expressly agree to our Privacy Policy before signing up for our Services on the Site. For example, when you sign up for our newsletter, we send you an email where we not only ask you to confirm your subscription but also include a link to this Privacy Policy to give you as much transparency as possible.

You acknowledge that it is in your best interest to read this Privacy Policy carefully and to ensure that you understand the terms and conditions contained herein. Your acceptance of IxDF’s Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of the Site. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, please refrain from using and/or accessing the Site and Services immediately.

3. Personal Data IxDF Collects from You

IxDF may collect, process, use, and disclose the following Personal Data and Non-Personal Data obtained from you:

1. Identity data includes your first name, surname, date of birth, email address, and contact information when you register a User Account (as defined under Section 4 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) on IxDF’s Site; 
2. Contact data which includes data such as email address, and any other data you have provided to us in order for us to be able to provide you with the Services on the Site;
3. Transaction data which includes details about communications to and from you;
4. Technical data which includes your Internet protocol address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access the Site;
5. Profile data includes your username and password; and
6. Usage data includes information about how you use our Site and Services.

In the context of the law and this Privacy Policy, the term “process” means collect, store, transfer, use or otherwise act on information.

4. Your Rights regarding the General Data Protection Regulation

We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”), which is a European Union (“EU”) regulation on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the EU. The GDPR aims primarily to give control to citizens and residents over their Personal Data and to simplify the regulatory environment for businesses. We collect and handle your Personal Data in accordance with the GDPR regardless of whether you are from the EU or not.

We have listed below, the principal rights you have under the GDPR:

1. the right to access - you can ask for copies of your Personal Data;
2. the right to rectification - you can ask us to rectify inaccurate Personal Data and to complete incomplete Personal Data;
3. the right to erasure - you can ask us to erase your Personal Data from our systems;
4. the right to restrict processing - you can ask use to restrict the processing of your Personal Data;
5. the right to object to processing - you can object to the processing of your Personal Data;
6. the right to data portability - you can ask us to transfer your Personal Data to another organization or to you;
7. the right to complain to a supervisory authority - you can complain about our processing of your Personal Data to the applicable authorities; and
8. the right to withdraw consent – you can request that we withdraw your consent to store and process your Personal Data except to the extent that the basis of our processing your Personal Data is required by law.

5. Your Rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act

To the extent that the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), California, USA is applicable to either IxDF or you: both parties agree to comply with all of its obligations under the CCPA; and in relation to any communication of ‘personal information’ as defined by the CCPA, the parties agree that no monetary or other valuable consideration is being provided for such personal information and therefore neither party is ‘selling’ (as defined by the CCPA) personal information to the other party.

The principal rights you have under the CCPA include but are not limited to:

1. the right to know the Personal Data we collect form you;
2. the right to request the deletion of your Personal Data;
3. the right not to be discriminated against for having exercised your rights under the CCPA;
4. the right to opt out from the collection/sale of your Personal Data; and
5. the right to access your Personal Data.

Both parties agree to notify the other immediately if it receives any complaint, notice, or communication that directly or indirectly relates to either party’s compliance with the CCPA. Specifically, IxDF shall notify you within ten (10) business days if IxDF receives a verifiable consumer request under the CCPA.

6. Your Rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

It is IxDF’s policy to respond to any infringement notices and to take the appropriate actions as provided under the United States Federal copyright law, namely the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 1998 (“DMCA”). Should you believe that material available on the Site infringes on your copyright(s) or that of a third-party, please notify IxDF by submitting a written notice to hello@interaction-design.org and include the following information:

1. your full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address;
2. a description of the copyrighted work that is claimed to be infringed;
3. a description of where the allegedly infringing material is located on the Site;
4. a statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the alleged infringing use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
5. a signed (either physical or electronic) statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

Upon receipt of such notice, IxDF shall investigate and/or remove the infringing material.

7. Data Protection Officer

In order to meet the requirements of the GDPR we have appointed Rikke Friis Dam as our Data Protection Officer and he can be reached at rikke.friis.dam@interaction-design.org if you have any issues or questions relating to data protection and privacy matters.

8. What Personal Data is being Collected?

The general operation of our Services requires us to collect certain Personal Data that can be divided into two groups, as per the GDPR. These groups are Personal Data and sensitive personal data. IxDF will ONLY collect Personal Data, we will NEVER collect sensitive Personal Data, such as your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-unions, data concerning health or sex life and financial data like credit card or bank information.

For example, we never store your credit card information. Such information is submitted directly to our Payment Gateway (as defined under Section 5 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) so that the applicable Payment Gateway stores it for us. We only hold what’s called a ‘token’ and the last 4 digits of your credit card number. That way, we don’t have to worry about storing extremely sensitive information about you, which would admittedly make us very, very nervous.

The Personal Data IxDF collects is as follows:

1. personal information that could identify you, which includes your name, surname, and email address, when you register a User Account (as defined under Section 4 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) on our Site; 
2. contact information which includes data such as billing address, email address, telephone numbers and any other data you have provided to us in order for us to be able to provide you with the Services on the Site;
3. transaction data which includes communications to and from you; and
4. technical data which includes your Internet protocol address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access the Site.

9. Use of Non-Personal Data

Generally, IxDF uses Non-Personal Information to help us improve the Services and customize your user experience. We also aggregate Non-Personal Information in order to track trends and analyze use patterns on the Site. This Privacy Policy does not limit in any way our use or disclosure of Non-Personal Information and we reserve the right to use and disclose such Non-Personal Information to our partners, advertisers and other third parties in IxDF’s sole discretion.

10. Automatic Collection of Information

When you visit the Site, IxDF’s servers automatically record information about your computer hardware and software (such as domain names and IP addresses). No Personal Data is collected or revealed by this process. The information is collected automatically and is used only to identify potential cases of abuse, resolve technical issues, optimize the performance of the Site for a better user experience, and establish statistical information regarding your use of the Site and Services. This statistical information is not otherwise aggregated in such a way that would identify any particular user of the system.

11. Where Personal Data is Stored

We store your Personal Data in the following locations:

• in our database;
• in cookies on your device; and
• with our third-party vendors (as listed under Section 12 of this Privacy Policy).

12. Third Parties Collecting Your Data

IxDF may collect or receive information that third-party service providers may provide about you when using the Site and/or Services. Or IxDF may obtain information from other sources and combine that with information IxDF collects through your use of the Services. For example, the following information is collected and/or obtained from third parties:

1. Google Analytics: We use this analytical tool to help IxDF analyze (i) how users use the Site and/or Services by noting when you use the Site and the Services, and (ii) usage data and performance data. The information collected will be disclosed to or collected directly by the applicable analytical tool IxDF is using.  Such information is collected as a means to provide, improve, and develop the Site and the Services so as to create a safer and trusted environment when you use the Site and Services;
2. Stripe: We use these tools as a payment gateway provider. Stripe may collect information you provide to us as a means of processing payments you make on the Site for the Services; and
3. such other third party service provider IxDF may use (in the future) to obtain information on your use of the Services.

13. Why Is Personal Data Being Collected?

IxDF collects Personal Data about you during the normal course of our activities. The Personal Data and any information you provide us with - or that we collect about you - will be used, among other purposes, to:

• maintain a register of our members and visitors accessing the Site.
• send transactional email, e.g., send you an email when you have successfully earned a course certificate with a copy of your certificate.
• supply you with any goods and/or services you may request from us from time to time via our Site, e.g., send you a copy of the book you bought.
• create browsing and consumption preference profiles of you in order to make recommendations and a better user experience (UX). For example, we may serve you recommendations on which course to take on our Site or we may send you ads on a third-party website (what’s known as remarketing) based on the courses you have visited.
• create databases to be used to send you emails with newsletters, promotions, advertising and information about our Site in accordance with your wishes and permissions. We of course never send you anything without your explicit consent and conscious opt-in and we make the cancellation of a subscription from a given service/mailing/newsletter/etc. as easy and hassle-free as possible (usually as a one-click action).

Furthermore, to provide you with the Services, we must collect Personal Data and Non-Personal Data from you. This information is essential for the provision and quality of our Services. For example, it would be very difficult for us to send you a newsletter if we did not have your email address. Similarly, it would not be possible for us to create a course certificate for you if we did not know your name. IxDF collects data for the following purposes:

• the general operation of our Services including but not limited to the ability to log in, take courses, generate certificates, receive emails, receive grading comments, and post in our forum.
• the ability to send you our newsletters and other mailings.
• hosting, e.g. figuring out which country you are from so we can serve you faster through one of our thousands of servers in our CDN (Content Delivery Network). A CDN is a fancy word for us having a server placed geographically near you to serve our video content to you much faster and avoid poor video quality.
• collecting and processing your payment (if you’ve decided to purchase a paid Service from us).
• marketing thorough retargeting/remarketing, so that we can remind you of our great courses through ads even after you have left our Site.
• conversion tracking, so that we can learn exactly how you became our members. It also allows us to pay commission to our partners since we can attribute certain conversions to a given partner.
• statistical and analytical purposes, e.g., for purposes of user research and to make our Site easier to use.

14. Disclosure of Personal Data

We may only disclose or release collected Personal Data under the following circumstances:

• as required by applicable law (e.g. in response to a valid request from a law enforcement agency);
• to designated third parties, in order to resolve or investigate abuse complaints;
• when the information is related to spiders, bots, and other technical issues;
• when attempting to block abusive users or to complain to such Internet service provider;
• to defend ourselves or our affiliates from legal claims by third parties;
• when deemed necessary to protect the rights of our user community or our Site; and
• when requested under the Right to Access and Right to Portability provision of the GDPR, in which case Data Protection Officer Rikke Friis Dam can be contacted at rikke.friis.dam@interaction-design.org.

15. Security Measures for Keeping Personal Data Safe

We have set up physical, technical and administrative security measures for the protection of your Personal Data. By way of example, we use or implement the following physical, technical and administrative security measures:

• IxDF does not store passwords at all but use the Bcrypt cryptographic algorithm to one-way encrypt passwords instead. Therefore, we only store the so-called ‘hash’ of your password, which allows us to know if you are entering the correct or incorrect password - but without storing the actual password on our servers.
• security measures around the actual physical servers holding IxDF’s data.
• to ensure extreme uptimes and uninterrupted service, we have 24/7/365 continuous server health monitoring. Encrypted and incremental off-server backups for complete data security
• SSL-encrypted traffic between your browser and IxDF’s Site. This encryption makes it impossible for an ISP, government, or hacker to make sense of the data being transmitted
• redundant fire suppression and detection systems.
• IxDF is PCI (Payment Card Industry) Compliant. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a proprietary information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes such as: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, etc.
• rigorous permission system for IxDF’s personnel. Even our own personnel cannot access certain data unless given explicit permission.
• security precautions on the devices that IxDF personnel use in their day-to-day responsibilities, such as password protection of devices, encryption of data, firewalls and password procedures.
• server replication and redundant geographically dispersed data centers across two geo-politically stable continents in case of terror attacks, nuclear explosions, wars or force majeure.
• versioned codebase and staging servers for rigorous testing before deployment of new features.

16. Breach Notification

In the extremely unlikely event of a data breach, our Data Protection Officer will notify you, as well as the applicable authorities and third parties of any risk to Personal Data within a seventy-two (72)-hour period.

17. No Transfer of Information

We will not share your email addresses, nor will we disclose any identifying Personal Data, to any third-party, without your clear and unambiguous consent. Personal data collected by us through the Site (e.g., originating IP, referral data, browser and platform type, traffic flows, geographical area of request) is only used in an aggregated, anonymous form, which means we will not make any further effort to personally identify you. We only use such data for server administration, fault finding, Site improvement and other legitimate purposes.

Aggregate (and thus non-identifying) statistics generated from our Site may be reported as part of research results or may be published on our Site.

18. Data Collection for Visitors, i.e., Non-Registered Users Accessing the Site

For non-registered Site users, as opposed to fully registered members, IxDF collects data similar to most websites e.g., through Google Analytics or other products for website analytics.

Any time you visit a page on the internet, you send information to a remote server. The servers that host our Site maintain access logs with the information that you send. This information is used to provide and generate statistics and analytics and to provide us with marketing and traffic data regarding our Site and other websites that link back to our Site.

The data we log and store may also be used by us to solve technical problems with our Site and, in cases of abuse, to conduct any investigate therefrom.

We may also use web analytics services to understand the type of traffic received by our Site and our other websites, in order to provide better services and to set benchmarks for our goals. For example, through Google Analytics, we record things like IP address, browsing time, length and date, sections visited, websites you accessed prior to our Site and type of browser.

If you are concerned about attempts to match your IP address to your identity anywhere else on the Internet, you may wish to use an anonymous browsing service or attempt other means to obfuscate your real IP address. Browsing our Site does not reveal your identity publicly.

19. Data Collection for Registered Users

Data collection for registered users/members is – by necessity – more extensive in order to allow our Site to function.

Please be advised that part of this information will be shown on your ‘public profile page’ as a means of identification by other members of the Site and in order to generate engagement and participation by our community. We only publicly disclose Personal Data which is commonly and publicly available for most people through the Internet, such as name, profile picture, country and city of residence, and links to personal social media pages and the website of each registered user/member. The disclosure of this information on your public profile page can be controlled by you at any moment. If you do not want to disclose it, please do not add it and select the necessary privacy settings on our Site and/or your social media pages. If you elect to delete part or all of your information by selecting the appropriate settings on our Site, such information will not be publicly shown through our Site.

If you choose to cancel your Membership Plan (as defined under Section 3 of IxDF’s Terms of Use), or if we terminate your Membership Plan (as defined under Section 3 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) on the Site, we will employ what is commonly referred to as a ‘soft delete’ on our database, which means that data will still be stored physically in our database but marked as deleted. We do so for the technical requirements of our relational databases and for dependent functionality such as the local group rank and publications on The Interaction Design Foundation Daily to continue to work. These functionalities depend on this data being available. For example, if you have published an article in our articles section, we want to keep showing your name as the author - regardless of if you cancel your Membership Plan (as defined under Section 3 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) in accordance with Section 23 of IxDF’s Terms of Use.

If you forget to renew your Membership Plan (as defined under Section 3 of IxDF’s Terms of Use), and hence it is auto cancelled, the data marked as previously deleted (i.e., soft deleted) will be used to restore your course answers, local group affiliations, course certificates and other data if you elect to renew your Membership Plan (as defined under Section 3 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) at a later point. This will prevent a permanent loss of data for you.

IxDF Membership Plan (as defined under Section 3 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) (i.e. group Membership Plan (as defined under Section 3 of IxDF’s Terms of Use) also require the aforementioned data collection by us, so that it can be displayed to the pertinent company administrator (i.e. for evaluating employee compliance).

20. Cookies And Other Web Beacons

With the purpose of providing a better experience for you, we may use cookies or other kind of web beacons. We do this to make it convenient for you to use certain of our Site’s features. For example, if you have made a choice in a drop-down menu, we may place a cookie on your computer so that we can auto-select that menu item in the drop-down menu for you in the future. If we did not do that, the user-friendliness of our Site would be poor.

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, the term:

1. “cookies” shall mean text files of information sent by a website in your computer in order to store some records and preferences; and
2. “web beacons” shall mean computer code inserted into a website or e-mail that can be used to monitor the behavior of a user (e.g. IP address, browsing time, length and date, sections visited, websites you accessed prior to our Site and type of browser).

The Site may allow advertising or third-party functions that place cookies on your computer. For example, when we use Google Analytics on our Site, the Google Analytics service also places a cookie on your computer.

You may change your options through your computer equipment and/or browsers to stop accepting cookies and/or web beacons or confirm whether or not to accept them.

You may also wish to clear these cookies and the browser cache if you want to refrain from revealing any identifying information, especially if you are using a public or shared computer. You may also prevent your browser from accepting cookies by disabling such functionality as mentioned above.

21. Opt-Out and Right to Be Forgotten

IxDF will fulfill any request to permanently delete your Personal Data. We will erase all Personal Data (i.e., hard-delete), with the exception of financial transactions and data related to financial transactions (like your name, address, invoice data, etc), since we are required by law to keep records of payment information in the case of an audit. Please contact our Data Protection Officer Rikke Friis Dam using the email address rikke.friis.dam@interaction-design.org if you wish to exercise your right to be forgotten. Such requests may take up to three (3) weeks to process since it is a manual, time-consuming and expensive process.

22. Advertising Opt Out

IxDF may use Google Analytics and other tools (like remarketing codes) from time to time to gather information. This allows us to provide targeted, customized advertising to users. Thus, third-party vendors (such as Google, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook) may show you our ads on certain websites across the Internet, even after you leave our Site. Such third-party vendors may use cookies and other web beacons to track your Internet browsing in order to serve ads based on your past visits to our Site.

We use the Google Ads remarketing service to advertise on third-party websites (including www.google.com) to previous users of our Site. If you do not wish to receive this type of advertising from us, now or in the future, you may opt-out by using the DoubleClick opt-out page or the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page. For Google-specific advertisement, you can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Preferences page, and if you want to, you can opt out of interest-based advertising entirely by cookie settings or permanently using a browser plugin.

23. Email Communication Opt Out

IxDF may use email as the preferred way of communicating with you.

On the ‘manage notification preferences’ page on the Site, registered users/members can choose to opt in or out of the different kind of emails that we send.

Furthermore, emails that we send contain an unsubscribe link at the bottom, enabling you to opt out at any time.

24. Social Media Communication Opt Out

IxDF engages in active communications through major social media such as Facebook, X/Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram. If you have previously chosen to follow or like us on a particular social media, you can log into your social media account and unfollow or remove your like of us in order to stop receiving communications on that particular social media platform.

25. Personal Data Owners Rights and Revocation of Consent

You can make a request to us in order exercise your rights to:

• access your Personal Data.
• rectify your Personal Data when inaccurate or incomplete.
• delete your Personal Data.
• object with legitimate reason the process of your Personal Data.
• revoke your consent for the process of your Personal Data at any moment, in order to stop the use of the same.

The exercise of rights to access, rectify or delete Personal Data and/or object or revoke consent can be done by the following means:

• by registered users/members logging into their User Accounts and accessing the ‘edit profile’ page as well as the page on ‘notification preferences’.
• by registered users/members clicking the ‘manage notification preferences’ link in our emails (we always provide a means for super-fast management of how we email you).
• by users/visitors clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in the footer of a given email (we always provide a link for one-click unsubscription).

Information and procedures not covered by the abovementioned should be requested in writing by registered users/members through our Data Protection Officer, Rikke Friis Dam, with the email address rikke.friis.dam@interaction-design.org and must include at least the following details:

• The data owner’s name, address, and email address to notify him/her of the response to his request.
• documents establishing the identity or, where appropriate, legal representation of the data owner. We need to know that we’re dealing with you, and not someone pretending to be you, so we need documents to verify your identity.
• a clear and precise description of the Personal Data with regard to which the data owner seeks to exercise any of the abovementioned rights (when rectification is requested, modifications that should be made should be specified and provide documentation to back up its request).

26. Author Identification

When making contributions on our Site (e.g., posting a comment, commentaries, editing a page in the wiki), the minimum amount of information required is a name and email address. You do not have to use your real name, instead opting to use a pseudonym. This is just a recommendation if you’re concerned about privacy but still want to publicly contribute to our community.

Your activity on our Site may be identified by your IP address. These numbers could potentially be traceable to identifying information about you, whether it is your home ISP or the university or work account where the IP address is registered.

27. Disclaimer

Our Site may include hyperlinks or hypertexts that, when used by you, may forward to other portals or Internet websites that may be property of third parties. When those websites collect and handle data about you, you are (of course) not covered by this Privacy Policy and are (of course) not our responsibility or liability. We encourage you to verify the privacy notices displayed and applicable in those portals or Internet websites.

In addition, you may also find that we use social media functionalities and other services within our Site from third parties that may collect your Personal Data (hereinafter the “Third Parties’ Sites”). Any information related to your Personal Data provided through the Third Parties’ Sites will be subject to the corresponding privacy notices contained in each one of them, unless we indicate otherwise. For example, if we embed a functionality or service made by Facebook and if you choose to use that functionality or service, it means that you then need to understand Facebook’s privacy terms.

In relation to liability, we are not liable for the use, publication, or disclosures made from Personal Data collected, handled, used, published, disclosed and/or revealed through the means outlined in this document.

In addition, the content provided on our Site, including content posted by you, is for general information, discussion and entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or guarantees about any aspect of any content on our Site and do not endorse any opinions expressed by anyone. All content on our Site is posted “as is” and your use or reliance on any content is at your own risk. We hereby disclaim all liability to you for the consequences of using or relying on any content in or within the Site. For example, this means that you cannot base a business decision on content you find on our Site and then blame us if that business decision turned out to be incorrect. We do not warrant or guarantee that any information available using the Site or Services is accurate or reliable or your use of the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, or free from error. We, our vendors and affiliates give no express warranties or guarantees nor implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, workmanlike effort, and non-infringement.

We recommend that you are careful and responsible with the Personal Data you provide through such means.

28. Retention Period for Personal Information

Except as otherwise mentioned in this Privacy Policy, IxDF shall endeavor to keep your Personal Data for as long as is required (i) for IxDF to be able to provide you with the Services, (ii) to comply with the law, including for the period demanded by our tax authorities, and (iii) to support a claim or defense in court.

29. Changes/Modifications to The Privacy Policy

IxDF may update this Privacy Policy (available at https://www.interaction-design.org/about/terms-of-use) from time to time in IxDF’s sole discretion. When changes are made, IxDF will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. Any updated version of this Privacy Policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Privacy Policy unless otherwise specified. Therefore, please check this Privacy Policy periodically to ensure that you agree with any changes we make. Your continued use of the Site and Services after the effective date of the revised Privacy Policy will constitute your consent to those changes. However, IxDF will not, without your consent, use your Personal Data in a manner materially different than what was stated at the time your Personal Data was collected.

30. Contact Information

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding privacy while using the Site, and the Services, please send us a detailed message to hello@interaction-design.org and IxDF will use its best endeavors to resolve your concerns.

Date of last revision is March 12th, 2024.

These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) is a legally binding agreement between IxDF and each individual, entity, user or visitor (collectively “you” or “your”), (i) accessing IxDF’s website located at www.interaction-design.org (hereinafter referred to as the “Site”); and/or (ii) using the Services (as defined under Section 2 of these Terms) via the Site.

Please read these Terms carefully, as your access to the Site and use of the Services (defined below) are conditioned upon your acceptance and compliance with these Terms. These Terms address your legal rights and obligations and include important disclaimers.

1. Acceptance and Modifications to the Terms

By accessing or using any part of the Site and Services, you agree that you have read, understand, and agree to be bound by these Terms and to comply with all applicable laws. If you do not agree to be so bound, please do not access or use the Site and Services. Please take note that your continued use of the Site and Services will be taken as your acceptance of these Terms.

Internet technology, publishing technology, and the applicable laws, rules, and regulations change frequently. Accordingly, IxDF reserves their right to update, modify, change and alter the Site, and Terms, at any time. All such updates, modifications, changes and alterations are binding on all users of the Site. Therefore, please check these Terms periodically to ensure that you agree with any changes we make. Your continued access to the Site and use of the Services after we have posted any changes to the Terms, will be subject to the newly modified Terms.

2. Services

Through the Site, IxDF offers you:

1. access to free design-specific content;
2. paid online design courses
3. student memberships,
4. professional memberships,
5. company memberships,
6. design league memberships,
7. mentoring services,
8. newsletters,
9. template download services,
10. master classes,
11. and other paid or unpaid services.

(collectively the “Service(s)”)

IxDF may, in its sole discretion, change, modify, suspend, make improvements to, or discontinue any aspect, functionality, content, or Service, on the Site, temporarily or permanently, at any time without notice to you, and IxDF will not be liable for doing so.

You agree to use the Site and access the Services only for lawful purposes, as such you will not:

1. use any material, image, photograph or information, which are available via the Services in any manner that infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any party;
2. download, copy, sell or give away any of the Services provided by IxDF;
3. falsify or delete any copyright information, such as author attributions, legal notices or other materials contained on the Site and Services we make available to you;
4. violate any applicable laws or regulations;
5. use the Services and Site for any commercial use or for the benefit of any third party.

You are responsible for obtaining, at your own expense, all equipment and services needed to access the Site and Services. If you are accessing the Site through a mobile device, your wireless carrier may charge you fees for data, text messaging, and other wireless access or communication services. We do not guarantee that the Site can be accessed through all wireless devices, service plans or are available in all geographical locations.

3. Membership Plans

IxDF currently offers four categories of paid membership plans to our users (“Membership Plan(s)”), namely, student, professional, company and design league. Such Membership Plan options are available when you register on the Site.

Your IxDF Membership Plan will begin on the day you complete the registration process and payment is processed through one of our payment gateways, whichever comes later. Membership Plans will continue on a (i) year-to-year basis (for student, professional, and company memberships), or (ii) month-to-month basis (for design league memberships), unless you cancel your selected Membership Plan, or we terminate it according to these Terms.

IxDF will bill your monthly or annual Membership Plan fee to your current payment method. You must cancel your Membership Plan before it automatically renews each month or year in order to avoid being charges for the following month’s or year’s Membership Plan fees.

Any additional terms relating to the Membership Plan you select will be communicated to you by IxDF via email (or such other communication channel) when you create and sign-up to your Membership Plan account. IxDF hereby reserves the right to modify, terminate or otherwise amend its offered Membership Plans at any time and for any reason.

4. Free Trial

You can access IxDF’s free trial offering by registering on the Site, via the applicable link. The free trial period shall only be available to users who sign up for the professional Membership Plan for the first time. Should you meet the aforementioned requirement, you may register for the free trial offering.

Additional terms and conditions may apply when you register for a free trial offering. You acknowledge and agree that any such additional terms and conditions are incorporated into these Terms by reference and are legally binding.

IxDF will make the free trial offering available to you on a trial basis, free of charge until the earlier of the following occurrences: (i) the expiry of the free trial period; (ii) the start date of any paid professional Membership Plan you have selected on the Site; (iii) your termination of the free trial offering during the trial period; or (iv) termination of the free trial offering by IxDF in its sole discretion.

Upon the expiry of the trial period, you acknowledge and understand that your credit card will automatically be charged for the professional Membership Plan, and the free trial offering will be upgraded to the full professional Membership Plan, unless terminated earlier. You further acknowledge that you may also manually upgrade your free trial offering to the paid professional Membership Plan at any time during the free trial period.

You acknowledge and understand that the trial offering will be for your personal use only.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANY WARRANTIES IN THESE TERMS, THE FREE TRIAL OFFERING PROVIDED BY IXDF TO YOU, IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER. ANY DATA ENTERED, UPLOADED OR SUBMITTED TO IXDF’S SERVICES DURING THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD MAY BE PERMANENTLY LOST OR DELETED FROM IXDF’S SERVICES WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD HAS ENDED UNLESS YOU PURCHASE A PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP PLAN BEFORE THE EXPIRY OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. UPON EXPIRATION OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD, YOUR DATA WILL NO LONGER BE ACCESSIBLE, AND IXDF IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF YOUR DATA/INFORMATION.

5. Registration, Password and Security

To be able to use the Services, you must register on the Site by providing all required information which shall include but not be limited to your name, email, and contact information. Thereafter, IxDF shall, in its sole discretion, open an account for you on the Site (“User Account”).

Each User Account is personal, cannot be transferred to another person, and may only be registered and used by one (1) single individual. You may not access any third party’s account or authorize any third party to access your User Account and use the Services on your behalf. You acknowledge and agree that IxDF may, in its sole discretion, deny you access to its Site and/or Services for any reason.

You agree to (i) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by our registration process on the Site; and (ii) promptly update the information provided during registration to keep it true, accurate, current, and complete at all times. If you provide any information to IxDF that is untrue, inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete, or if we have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, outdated, or incomplete, we may close your User Account on the Website and deny you the ability to access and use the Services, in our sole discretion.

You may indicate, during the registration process, your choice of username and password to be used as login credentials to access your User Account (“Login Credentials”). You shall be solely responsible for (i) maintaining the confidentiality of your Login Credentials; and (ii) any and all activities which occur under your User Account. You agree to notify IxDF immediately of any unauthorized use of your User Account or any other breach of security. IxDF shall not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of any third party using your Login Credentials and/or accessing/using your User Account either with or without your knowledge.

You acknowledge and agree that you may not (i) use the User Account of another user registered on the Site, User Accounts are for use by one user only, and (ii) impersonate any individual or entity, or falsely state or misrepresent any affiliation with an individual or entity when accessing the Site and when using the Services.

6. Fees, Payments, and Refunds

Fees.By completing the required registration on the Site for your selected Membership Plan and providing your preferred payment method (e.g. credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, Paytm, or any other payment methods introduced by us in the future), you hereby authorize IxDF and/or our third party payment processors (including Stripe) to charge your respective payment method on a recurring monthly or annual basis, at the then-indicated current fee/rate, and any other charges you may incur in connection with your use of IxDF’s Services. In simpler terms, you authorize IxDF to collect payment from your chosen payment method for your Membership Plan fees without further consent from you, until you cancel such Membership Plan or until the termination/suspension of these Terms as further provided below.

IxDF does not guarantee that the Membership Plan offered on the Site will be offered indefinitely and reserves the right to adjust the pricing for our Services or any components/features thereof in any manner and at any time, as determined by IxDF in our sole and exclusive decision. Except as otherwise expressly provided under these Terms, any changes in the pricing of the Membership Plan fees shall come into force following IxDF’s e-mail notice to you.

The fee for the Services will be billed at the beginning of the paying term of your Membership Plan and each month or year thereafter (depending on whether the given Membership Plan is billed monthly or annually). IxDF reserves the right to modify or otherwise change billing dates. In the event your Membership Plan begins on a day which is not contained in a given month, IxDF may bill your payment method on the next day in the following month or such other day as IxDF deems appropriate.

Payments.Payments for the Services are processed via PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, Paytm, Stripe, or any other payment methods introduced by us in the future (collectively referred to as Payment Gateway(s)). All Payment Gateways are external third-party payment processing vendors and as such the Payment Gateways’ services are subject to their respective terms and conditions. IxDF does NOT directly or indirectly, receive, retain, store or use your credit card information - in fact such information never touches the IxDF servers. Your credit card data constitutes sensitive personal information which will be processed by the third-party payment processing vendors only and not directly by IxDF.

If a payment for the Services is not successfully charged, due to credit card expiration, insufficient funds, or otherwise, and you do not edit your payment method information or cancel your User Account, you shall remain responsible for any uncollected amounts and authorize IxDF to continue billing your selected payment method, as it becomes available and/or updated. For certain payment methods, the issuer of your credit card or other payment method may charge you transaction fees or other charges. IxDF is not responsible for such fees or charges. Please contact your payment method service provider for additional details.

Refunds.IxDF currently offers a money-back guarantee to users making first-time payments of its Membership Plans and Services, provided there is no material issue such as fraudulent or mischievous behavior by you. Such material issues shall be jointly discussed and considered by both you and IxDF, and you accept that IxDF’s decision will be final. All other payments made by you to IxDF are, as a general rule, not refundable. Please note that this money-back guarantee does not apply to users who are on a free trial. To be eligible for a refund, you must request it within the free trial period. No refunds will be issued upon the expiry of the free trial. However, IxDF may, in its sole discretion and only on a case-by-case basis, provide you with a refund or other consideration. Any effectuated refund does not entitle you to further refunds or other considerations in the future for similar instances, nor does it obligate IxDF to provide such refunds to you in the future under any circumstance(s). To qualify for the 14-day money-back guarantee, you must submit a written notice to IxDF within fourteen (14) calendar days of the start date of the purchase of the Service OR commencement of the specific course (whichever is applicable) you have enrolled for on the Site.

7. Installment Payment Plans

By enrolling for certain Services on the Site and opting to pay the amounts due for such products via IxDF’s installment payment plan, you hereby accept these Terms and authorize IxDF to collect all amounts due by automatically charging your respective card as your payment method stored in your account on the Site. You understand and agree that you are obliged to pay the fees associated with the Service you have selected with your installment payment plan on time and in full, until the total amount for the Service has been paid by you to IxDF.

If the Service you purchased through an installment payment plan includes a 14-day money-back guarantee and you have submitted an official notice to cancel the purchase of the Service before or up to the end of the initial 14-day money-back guarantee period, we shall refund you 100% of the amount paid. If you cancel the purchase of the Service beyond the 14-day money-back guarantee period, you shall be obliged to make payment of the total fee of the Services in monthly installments, as per the agreed installment payment plan, and understand that no fee will be refunded by IxDF to you. To qualify for the 14-day money-back guarantee, you must submit a written notice to IxDF within fourteen (14) calendar days of the start date of the purchase of the Service OR commencement of the specific course (whichever is applicable) you have enrolled for on the Site.

In the event of your failure to make full payment for the purchased Service when such payments are due and payable, you understand and agree that you will be subject to one or more of the following actions:

1. termination of access to your IxDF User Account and learning materials.
2. withholding of pending program deliverables and certificates, without any liability to IxDF.
3. payment of penalty fees to cover additional administrative costs, including legal fees and expenses.
4. mediation through an IxDF-appointed lawyer to find a viable payment plan and payment method, chargeable through the penalty fees.

8. Taxes and Value Added Tax (VAT)

Under these Terms, the term “Taxes” shall mean taxes, VAT, charges, duties, fees, levies, and other charges of a governmental authority, including income, withholding, social security, social contribution, transfer, sales, use, value-added and all other taxes of any kind for which a Party may have any liability imposed by any governmental authority, whether disputed or not, any related charges, interest or penalties imposed by any governmental authority, and any liability for any other person as a transferee or successor by Law, contract or otherwise.  

All fees for the Membership Plans and Services as illustrated on IxDF’s Site are inclusive of any and all Taxes.

1. You shall be responsible for the payment of all Taxes associated with the purchase of the Services via the Site and you shall not deduct from the payments due to IxDF, any Taxes, except as is required by applicable law.
2. You shall be solely and exclusively responsible for all such matters, including, without limitation, withholding, filing, and reporting all Taxes, VAT, duties and other governmental assessments associated with your activity in connection with the Services. 

You acknowledge that the fees for the Services shall always include taxes like VAT, sales tax, credit card processing fees, administrative fees and any other related expenses when applicable.

9. User Content

You hereby understand and acknowledge that additions to the Wiki Bibliography (https://www.interaction-design.org/literature) (including article abstracts), additions the Conference Calendar (including conference descriptions), user-contributed notes on each page (including text, photographs, graphics), or other materials posted by users on the Site (hereinafter referred to as “User Content”) are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such User Content originated. This means that you, and not IxDF, are entirely responsible for all User Content that you upload, post or otherwise make available to other users of the Site.

You represent and warrant that:

1. the User Content belongs to you (i.e. you own it) or that you have the right to use it (e.g. as licensee) and grant IxDF the rights and license as granted by you under this Section 8 of these Terms, and 
2. the posting or sharing of User Content on or through the Site does not violate (a) IxDF’s Intellectual Property Rights (defined below) or any third party’s intellectual property rights, (b) privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of IxDF or of any third party.

By posting User Content on the Site you hereby grant IxDF the non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable right/license to fully exploit, use, modify, perform, display, reproduce, and distribute such User Content on and through the Site. You will retain any and all of your rights to any User Content you submit, post or display on or through the Site and you will be solely responsible for protecting those rights. 

You acknowledge that IxDF shall have the right to immediately remove any User Content that violates these Terms or is otherwise objectionable, at IxDF’s discretion.

10. Acceptable Use of the Site

When you access the Site, you may not use the Site to transmit, distribute, store or destroy any material or information (i) in violation of any applicable law or regulation; (ii) in a manner that infringes IxDF’s Intellectual Property Rights (defined below) or any third party’s intellectual property rights; (iii) in a manner that violates the privacy or other personal rights of third parties; (iv)  that is defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive or hateful, and/or (v) in order to upload, post, email, transmit, or otherwise make available any content that shall be deemed unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, vulgar, obscene, libelous, or invasive of another’s privacy or which is hateful, and/or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable. 

When accessing the Site, you will be prohibited from:

1. using any device, software or the like to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the Site;
2. taking any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large data load on the Site’s infrastructure;
3. copying, reproducing, altering, modifying, creating derivative works, or publicly displaying any content from the Site without our prior written consent;
4. accessing, tampering with, or use non-public areas of the Site and/or Services, or IxDF’s computer systems and/or of our third-party providers’ technical delivery systems; 
5. probing, scanning, or testing the vulnerability of any of our systems or network, or breach or circumvent any of our security or authentication measures; 
6. accessing, searching or attempting to access or search the Site and/or Services by any means other than through IxDF’s currently available, unless you have been specifically allowed to do so in a separate agreement with us; 
7. reverse-assembling, reverse-engineering, decompiling or otherwise attempting to discover any source code relating to the Site and/or Services or any tool therein, except to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law;
8. attempting to access any area of the Site to which access is not authorized;
9. using any robot, spider, other automatic device or manual process to monitor or copy any part of the Site;
10. conducting any systematic or automated data collection activities on or in relation to the Site, including but not limited to data scraping, mining, extraction, harvesting, framing and article spinning, without IxDF’s prior written consent;
11. using manual or automated software, devices, or other processes to “crawl,” “scrape,” or “spider” any page of the Site;
12. using the Site to transmit or send unsolicited commercial and marketing communications for any purpose, without IxDF’s prior written consent;
13. disrupting or interfering with the access of any user, host or network, including, without limitation, sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming, mail-bombing the Site;
14. creating or maintaining any third-party link on the Site, without our prior written consent;
15. running or displaying the Site, or pages, information or material obtained from the Website on a third-party website or application without our prior written consent;
16. disrupting the normal flow of communication, or otherwise acting in any manner that would negatively affect other users’ ability to participate in any interactions on the Site;
17. intentionally or unintentionally violating any local, state, federal, national or international law;
18. impersonating any other person or entity, selling your profile, provide false or misleading identification, payment or address information, or invade the privacy, or violate the personal or proprietary right, of any person or entity; and/or,
19. collecting or storing of any personal data relating to any other user.

You agree to (a) immediately notify IxDF if you learn of a security breach or other illegal activity on the Site, and (b) protect your username and password and not lease, transfer pledge or sell it.

11. Representations and Warranties

You hereby represent and warrant that your access to the Site and your use of the Services will:

1. be in accordance with these Terms;
2. comply with all applicable laws, regulations and rules (including, without limitation, all applicable laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content, privacy, data protection, and the transmission of technical data);
3. not be for any unlawful purposes;
4. not entail, imply or give rise to the publication of any illegal content;
5. not further any illegal activities;
6. not infringe upon or misappropriate any IxDF’s Intellectual Property Rights (defined below)  or any third party’s intellectual property rights;
7. will not involve uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting or otherwise offering any content that may infringe upon any patent, copyright, trademark, or any other proprietary or intellectual rights of any third party; and
8. not be used to create, distribute, facilitate or operate in conjunction with malware, spyware, adware, or other malicious programs or code.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

Unless otherwise provided under these Terms, the Site and Services shall be provided by IxDF to you “as is,” and “as available” with all faults, defects, bugs, and errors.

Your use of and browsing of the Site is at your own risk. IxDF does not warrant that the software used for the Site, and the information, material, and content on the Site, or Services are error-free, or that the use of the Site and Services will be uninterrupted, timely or secure. IxDF expressly disclaims all warranties related to the above-mentioned subject matter, including, without limitation, those of accuracy, condition, merchantability and fitness for particular purpose.

IxDF make no representations or guarantees about any aspect of the content on the Site and does not endorse any opinions expressed by any users. ALL CONTENT IS POSTED “AS IS” AND YOUR USE OR RELIANCE ON ANY CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE HAVE NO LIABILITY TO YOU FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF USING OR RELYING ON ANY CONTENT, ADVICE OR OPINION DISPLAYED IN THE SITE.

IxDF and its authors make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information, material, or content on the Site.

THE MATERIAL AND CONTENT POSTED ON THE SITE AND ANY CONTENT PRODUCED BY OR PUBLISHED BY IxDF ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS WARRANTY OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Neither IxDF nor its licensors and third-party payment processing vendors make any representation, warranty or guarantee that the information that may be available on the Site and Services is free of infection from any viruses or other code or computer programming routines that contain contaminating or destructive elements or that are intended to damage, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate your computer system, data or personal information.

IxDF provides you with the Services on the Site in good faith and makes no warranty that (i) the Services will meet your requirements or expectations, (ii) any defects in the Site and /or Services will be corrected, or (iv) the Site and/or Services or any server through which you access the Services are free from viruses or other harmful components.

13. Intellectual Property Rights

All content, trademarks, data, or information contained in any materials, or documents used by IxDF in relation to the Site and Services, including but not limited to any and all copyrighted works, databases, text, algorithms, graphics, icons, designs, graphics, hyperlinks, domain names, codes, information and agreements (“Materials”), are the sole and exclusive property of or are licensed to IxDF. You may not reproduce, distribute or copy the Materials by any means, whether electronically or not, without IxDF’ prior written permission.

Any and all intellectual property rights in the Materials, Website and Services, including all patents, rights in inventions, rights in designs, trademarks, trade and business names and all associated goodwill, rights to sue for passing off or for unlawful competition, copyright, moral rights and related rights, rights in databases, topography rights, domain names, rights in information (including know how and trade secrets) and all other similar or equivalent rights existing in the Materials and Services, now or in the future in any part of the world, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications for, and renewals or extensions of, such rights for their full term (“IxDF’ Intellectual Property Right(s)”), vests solely and exclusively in IxDF, licensors or vendors, as the case may be. All rights not expressly granted by IxDF to you are reserved by IxDF. Save as expressly set out herein, you shall not acquire any right, title or interest in IxDF’ Intellectual Property Rights.

14. Change in Attribution of Copyrighted Materials

If you are the rightful copyright holder of any image/material/content posted on the Site and you wish to change the attribution of such copyrighted image/material/content, please contact us at hello@interaction-design.org. We will request that you submit proof of your ownership of the copyright on this material but will act immediately on any reasonable request.

15. Notice and Procedure for Claims of Copyright Infringement

IxDF has made every reasonable effort to communicate with the Site’s individual contributing authors as well as copyright holders of artwork/illustrations/content used on the Site. To the extent that a copyright holder could not be found, or an inadvertent permission or copyright error was made, IxDF shall remove such content upon written notice and request by a copyright holder. In the case that you believe that any content or other material provided through the Site allegedly infringes upon your copyright, please notify IxDF immediately of your infringement claim in accordance with the procedure set forth below.

We will process each written notice of alleged infringement and take the appropriate action in accordance with applicable intellectual property laws. A notification of claimed copyright infringement should be emailed to hello@interaction-design.org (with the subject matter stated as: ‘Takedown Request’).

Your written notification must contain the following information: 

1. An electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest.
2. A description of the copyrighted work that you allegedly claim has been infringed.
3. A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site that is reasonably sufficient to enable us to identify and locate the material.
4. Means for IxDF to contact you, such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
5. A written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. If you represent a publisher, a written statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the material has not been placed in the public domain, or licensed under another license, before you acquired the copyright as this would possibly invalidate your copyright.
7. A statement by you indicating that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

16. Trademarks and Other Rights

All trademarks, logos, service marks, collective marks, design rights, personality rights or similar rights that are used or cited by IxDF and its authors on the Site are the property of the respective owners/licensors. As such, the use of any trademark on our Site shall not vest in IxDF or our authors, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation with or endorsement by, or of, IxDF and its authors of said owners/licensors. IxDF cannot grant any rights to use any protected materials. Your use of any trademarks or similar incorporeal property is at your own risk.

Content which in IxDF’s reasonable opinion are believed to constitute trademarks may or may not have been labelled as such on the Site. However, neither the presence nor absence of such labels on the Site should be regarded as affecting the legal status of any trademarks. If you, or your organization/company, signs up for a company Membership Plan with IxDF we may use your logo - for example - on your company-specific sign-up page. In rare cases, we may show your logo on public pages where we list examples of companies that have taken up company memberships with us. If you would prefer that IxDF does not use/post/display your logo on the Site, please contact us via email to hello@interaction-design.org (with the subject matter as: ‘Takedown Request’) and we will endeavour to remove your logo on the next update of the Site.

17. Screenshots

Screenshots of copyrighted computer software, for which the copyright is held by the author(s) or the company that created the software, is believed to fall under the legal doctrine known as ’Fair Use’ in the USA (and similar laws in other jurisdictions). It is believed that reproduction for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, or research does not constitute copyright infringement. If you reuse screenshots, as well as any other information provided by IxDF, you do so at your own risk and under the applicable copyright laws of your country.

18. Copyright of Abstracts

Abstracts in the Wiki Bibliography (https://www.interaction-design.org/literature) are submitted by their authors who use wiki to make their research as accessible as possible to IxDF’s user community. When a webpage on the Site references, cites or lists a work from the bibliography, its abstract is included. Abstracts entail varying copyrights, depending on which publisher the work is published through. You should assume that abstracts posted/displayed/used on the Site fall under the copyright - with all rights reserved - of its publisher and/or author, and therefore must always use/cite abstracts according to the Fair Use doctrine. You may visit the publisher’s website to learn more about the specific copyright terms (e.g., ACM, IEEE, or Springer) or contact the author directly. You understand that you must cite/use abstracts according to the principles of Fair Use as it may otherwise be construed as a copyright infringement and subject to legal action.

19. Limitation of Liability

IXDF, ITS LICENSORS, THIRD PARTY PAYMENT PROCESSING VENDORS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL IN NO EVENT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, LIQUIDATED OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE OR BUSINESS, ARISING IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM YOUR ACCESS TO THE SITE AND/OR FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF IXDF HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

WHILE IXDF TAKES PRECAUTIONS AGAINST SECURITY BREACHES, NO SITE OR INTERNET TRANSMISSION IS COMPLETELY SECURE, AND AS SUCH, IXDF AND ITS LICENSORS, AND THIRD-PARTY PAYMENT PROCESSING VENDORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT MAY RESULT FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, HACKING, DATA LOSS, OR OTHER BREACHES THAT MAY OCCUR ON THE SITE AND/OR THROUGH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE RISKS INHERENT IN INTERNET CONNECTIVITY THAT COULD RESULT IN THE LOSS OF PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND PROPERTY. IXDF SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, ORAL OR IN WRITING, CONCERNING THE VIABILITY OR COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS OF THE SERVICES IN A PARTICULAR COUNTRY, TERRITORY, OR REGION.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN THESE TERMS, IXDF, ITS LICENSORS, THIRD PARTY PAYMENT PROCESSING VENDORS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS) LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP PLAN IN THE LAST SIX (6) MONTHS PRIOR TO YOUR INSTITUTING CLAIM.

Because some jurisdictions prohibit the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential and or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you. Furthermore, IxDF does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of information of links or other items contained within these materials that have been provided by third parties.

20. Third-Party Websites

If IxDF provides links or pointers to other third-party websites, no inference or assumption should be made that IxDF operates, controls, or is otherwise connected with these websites. When you click on a link within the Site, we will not warn you that you have left the Site and are subject to the terms and conditions (including privacy policies) of the destination website. Please be careful to read the terms of use/services and privacy policy of any third-party website before you provide any confidential information, engage in any transactions or interact with such third party. You should not rely on these Terms when accessing the third-party website.

IxDF is not responsible for the content or practices of any third-party website. By using the Site and Services, you acknowledge and agree that IxDF is not responsible or liable to you for any content or other materials hosted and served from any third-party website.

21. Privacy Policy

IxDF’s Privacy Policy, available at https://www.interaction-design.org/about/terms-of-use governs the use, storage and processing of the personal information you may provide to IxDF through your access to the Site and/or through your use of the Services. Your election to use the Services shall be deemed to constitute your acceptance of the terms of IxDF’s Privacy Policy.

22. Email Communication from IxDF to You

Email messages (including emails generated from the use of the Site) and physical postcard messages sent via our third-party service provider Lob (www.lob.com) which are sent from IxDF to you are proprietary to IxDF and are intended solely for the use of the person to whom they are addressed. Such messages may contain privileged or confidential information and should not be circulated or used for any purpose other than for what they are intended. If you receive a message from a team member of IxDF in error, please notify the sender immediately. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from using, copying, altering, or disclosing the contents of the message to a third party. IxDF accepts no responsibility for loss or damage (including virus) arising from the use of the information transmitted via email or post/courier to you.

You may not use or allow others to use your Login Credential to your User Account and IxDF email address to e-mail, instant message, voice mail, fax, chat, send ‘spam’ and ‘spim’ (instant messages), or send any other unsolicited bulk communication to users of the Site or any third party. You may not access the Site to harvest or collect any information about our users for any purpose without our express written authorization. You may not create multiple usernames for sending unsolicited bulk communications or posting advertising or other notice on the Site. Any violation of these provisions may result in immediate suspension or termination of your Membership Plan and User Account by IxDF.

23. Use of Information Available on Site and Services

Please make sure that you understand that some or all of the information provided by IxDF via the Site is being provided freely, and that no agreement is created between you and the owners, partners, users, authors, server owners, individual contributors, any project administrators, sysops or anyone else who is in any way connected with the Site and Services.

24. Cancellation and Termination

Cancellation. You may cancel your Membership Plan at any time. Cancellation can be carried out in two ways:

1. You can request to delete your payment method by emailing us at hello@interaction-design.org and simply let your Membership Plan expire without adding a new payment method. We will send you a series of emails urging you to renew but if you do not respond, we will cancel your User Account. If you choose to cancel this way, you will continue to access your User Account until the end of your monthly or annually billing cycle.
2. You can go to your User Account homepage and cancel your account immediately. If you manually cancel your Membership Plan, your User Account will close immediately - as opposed to closing at the end of your current billing period. You understand that this will lead to your future membership credit being forfeited (i.e., no refund).

Termination. IxDF will have the right to terminate your access to the Site and Services if we reasonably believe you have breached any of the terms and conditions of these Terms. Following termination, you will not be permitted to use the Site and Services. If your access to the Site and Services is terminated, IxDF reserves the right to exercise whatever means it deems necessary to prevent unauthorized access to the Site, including, but not limited to, technological barriers, IP mapping, and direct contact with your Internet service provider. These Terms will survive indefinitely unless and until IxDF chooses to terminate them, regardless of whether any User Account you open is terminated by you or IxDF or if you have the right to access or use the Site and Services. You acknowledge and understand upon the expiry or termination of the free trial period, IxDF reserves its right to remove your content from the Site and/or any Services.

25. Force Majeure

IxDF will not be liable for failing to perform the Services under these Terms due to any event beyond our reasonable control, including, without limitation, epidemic and pandemic, a labor disturbance, an Internet outage or interruption of service, a communications outage, failure by a service provider to perform, fire, terrorism, natural disaster, or war.

26. Limitation of Actions

You acknowledge and agree that, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action you may have arising out of, relating to, or connected with your use of the Site and services, must be filed within one (1) calendar year after such claim or cause of action arises, or forever be barred/waived.

27. Politically Exposed Persons and Sanctioned Countries

Politically Exposed Persons. If you use any of our Services, you confirm that you are not a current or former Politically Exposed Person (“PEP”) as further defined below, or a Close Associate (defined below) of a current or former PEP, or a Family Member (defined below) of a current or former PEP. Please immediately inform IxDF if this is the case as we will not be able to offer you any of our Services in such a case. We are under strict restrictions from our banks, Payment Gateways and various laws in several jurisdictions whereby we will unfortunately not be able to provide our Services to you. It would incur costs and risks to IxDF and thus to the millions of users we are serving, as well as to the global design community.

A PEP means a person who is currently or was formerly entrusted with a prominent public function in any country. This includes currently serving as or was formerly a head of state, head of government, government minister (including Second Minister and Minister of State), senior civil or public servant, senior judicial or military official, senior executive of state-owned corporations, senior political party official, member of the legislature, or senior management of an international organization. This includes directors, deputy directors and members of the board or equivalent functions of entities established by formal political agreements between countries that have the status of international treaties and whose existence are recognized by law in member countries.

A “Close Associate” is a person who is closely connected to a PEP, either socially or professionally. Examples include partners outside the family unit (e.g., girlfriends, boyfriends, and mistresses); prominent members of the same political party, civil organization, labor union as the PEP; business partners or associates, especially those that share ownership of legal entities with the PEP, or who are otherwise connected (e.g., through joint membership of a company board).

A “Family Member” means a parent, stepparent, child, step-child, adopted child, spouse, sibling, step-sibling and adopted sibling.

Sanctioned Countries. You confirm that you are not a current resident of the countries of Belarus, Central African Republic, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Nicargua, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, the Crimea region, Venezuela, Yemen and Zimbabwe. IxDF will unfortunately not be able to provide our Services to you if you reside in these countries, as well as any other  country(ies) listed by the United States Treasury located at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/sanctions-programs-and-country-information.

28. No Guarantee of Results or Financial Outcomes

IxDF makes no promises or guarantees of career advancement: IxDF’s Services are designed to foster learning and personal growth. Despite the potential to enhance skills and career prospects, IxDF does not guarantee career advancement, salary increases, or immediate job placements through participation in our Services.

IxDF makes no promises regarding specific outcomes from our Services. Success depends on individual efforts, circumstances, and external factors beyond our control. Therefore, no consistent or guaranteed results should be expected by you.

IxDF makes no promises or guarantees of financial outcomes or earnings by using its services. All financial figures presented on the Site are illustrative and not indicative of guaranteed future earnings. These estimates are subject to variables and conditions unique to each individual and do not constitute promises for actual or potential earnings.

29. Governing Law

In the event of any disagreement between the Parties with respect to the interpretation and implementation of any aspect of these Terms, the Parties agree to discuss in good faith to reach an amicable resolution prior to starting any litigation/legal proceedings against each other.

These Terms shall be construed, governed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the local jurisdiction of IxDF’s operating address, which is defined as the physical address where the shareholders and directors of the business make their business decisions. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts, tribunals, agencies and other dispute resolution organizations in the aforementioned local jurisdiction in all disputes:

1. arising out of, relating to, or concerning the Site, IxDF, Services and/or these Terms;
2. where the Site, Services, IxDF, and/or these Terms present a material issue; and/or
3. where the Site, Services, IxDF, and/or these Terms are referenced in a paper filed in a court, tribunal, agency or other dispute resolution organization.

IxDF has endeavored to comply with all legal requirements known to us in creating and maintaining the Site and Services but makes no representation that any materials and/or content on the Site, through the Services or produced by IxDF, are appropriate or available for use in any particular jurisdiction. Therefore, you are solely responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations in your jurisdiction.

30. General Provisions

These Terms contain the entire understanding between you and IxDF regarding the use of the Site and the Services provided by IxDF and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings between you and IxDF relating thereto. These Terms will be binding upon each party hereto and its successors and permitted assigns. These Terms and all of your rights and obligations under them may not be assignable or transferable by you without the prior written consent of IxDF. No failure or delay by a party in exercising any right, power, or privilege under these Terms will operate as a waiver thereof. You and IxDF are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer relationship is intended or created by these Terms. If a court of law finds that any provision of these Terms is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to be valid and enforceable.

30. Contact Information

Should you have any questions concerning these Terms and/or any issues or concerns about the Site and/or Services you may contact IxDF at hello@interaction-design.org.

Date of last revision of Terms: August 12th, 2023.