Retriever Stories Terms of Service

Retriever Stories celebrates the history (and the future) of our UMBC, which we have all worked to build and shape over the past 50 years. Retriever Stories creates an important forum for the sharing of memories and experiences at UMBC, as well as discussion of our shared history at UMBC. The discussions that appear on the site are almost always well-reasoned and respectful and make us very proud of our community.

Occasionally, comments on Retriever Stories remind us of the tension that can exist between two values of great importance to our campus and our society - freedom of speech and civility. As a campus, we encourage discussion of difficult issues and wish to protect the rights of individuals to express their views. At the same time, we place great value on, and strongly encourage, respect and civility as we communicate with each other. We encourage you to dismantle negative speech through argument rather than censorship.

By using Retriever Stories, you understand and agree to be bound by the following guidelines:

1. As a condition of using Retriever Stories, you may be required to create a myUMBC account (an "Account") and select a password and username. In doing so, you agree to provide UMBC with accurate, complete, and updated Account information, particularly your email address.
2. You are also responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your myUMBC Account password and for the security of your Account, and you will notify us immediately of any actual or suspected loss, theft, or unauthorized use of your Account or Account password.
3. If you opt to access Retriever Stories through a social media account, you certify that the account is yours and that any identifying information attached to it is accurate and complete.
4. You agree not to log in to Retriever Stories with multiple Accounts (i.e. myUMBC and Facebook) or to create multiple profiles.
5. UMBC is not responsible for any user-generated Content (defined as images, stories, profiles, and comments). Content is not subject to pre-approval or necessarily reviewed except upon request. We do not endorse, support, represent or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any Content or communications posted via Retriever Stories or endorse any opinions expressed via Retriever Stories. You understand that by using Retriever Stories, you may be exposed to Content that might be offensive, harmful, inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate, or in some cases, content that has been mislabeled or are otherwise deceptive. We encourage you to report content that is mislabeled or deceptive, or that violates these Terms of Service.
6. You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Retriever Stories. You understand that any Content you submit, post, or display on or through Retriever Stories is publicly viewable. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Retriever Stories, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed). We may modify or adapt your Content in order to transmit, display or distribute it over computer networks and in various media and/or make changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to any requirements or limitations of any networks, devices, services or media.
7. You will not post commercial communications (such as spam) on Retriever Stories.
8. You will not collect users' Content or information using automated means (such as harvesting bots, robots, spiders, or scrapers) or any other means.
9. You will not upload viruses or other malicious code. You will not do anything that could disable, overburden, or impair the proper working or appearance of Retriever Stories, such as a denial of service attack or interference with page rendering or other functionality.
10. You will not solicit login information or access an account belonging to someone else. You will not use Retriever Stories to deceptively obtain personal information. You will not post confidential information like credit card numbers, social security numbers, or unlisted contact information. We encourage you to respect other people’s privacy.
11. You will not bully, intimidate, threaten, or harass any user. You will not post Content that: is threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; violates law (including Maryland’s Hate Crime Law); or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.
12. You will not do things that would cause identity confusion between you and a person or company. You will not impersonate anyone.

If we conclude that you are violating these terms, you may receive a notice via email. If you don't explain or correct your behavior, we may take action against your account. We do our best to ensure fair outcomes, but in all cases we reserve the right to suspend accounts, hold Content for administrative review, or remove Content, without notice, for any reason, but particularly to protect Retriever Stories, our infrastructure, our users, and our community. We reserve the right to enforce, or not enforce, these Terms of Service in our sole discretion, and these Terms of Service do not create a duty or contractual obligation for us to act in any particular manner.

We also reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably believe is necessary to (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, (ii) enforce these Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations hereof, (iii) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, (iv) respond to user support requests, or (v) protect the rights, property or safety of Retriever Stories, its users and the public.

These Terms of Service are subject to change at any time without notice.