ICF MEMBERS WEBSITES TERMS OF USE
The ICF Member Websites Platform (available at https://www.icf-coaching.org/) is owned and operated by The International Coaching Federation on behalf of its affiliates and subsidiaries. The International Coaching Federation is incorporated in the State of Nevada, United States (EIN: 83-3632519) and its registered and principal business office is 2365 Harrodsburg Rd, Suite A325, Lexington, Kentucky, KY 40504, United States.
The “ICF member websites” service is offered by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) to all its members in good standing.
The following terms and conditions apply to the use of the “ICF member websites”. In using it, you implicitly agree to said terms and conditions.
Any deviations from these terms and conditions of use are only binding if accepted in writing in advance by ICF. Acceptance of any deviations shall be at the sole discretion of the ICF.
Read our “ICF Member Website Privacy Statement”
Article 1. Use of the service
1.1. With ICF, you can create and publish your own “free website”. The service allows you to independently edit your website’s design and create your own content through a simplified back office.
1.2 Registration is required to use the free website for members using the same ID and password linked with your ICF membership. Once registration is complete and the terms of use have been accepted by you, you can immediately access your account and start using the service.
1.3 You must avoid sharing your username and password to prevent unauthorized access to your account. Passwords in particular must be kept strictly confidential. “ICF member websites” operates based on the assumption that all account activity after registration is under the direction and supervision of the account holder. You are therefore solely liable for all said activity, unless you have reported third-party knowledge of your password to ICF.
1.4. This service is limited to one (1) free website creation per active ICF membership and cannot be transferred nor sold to any other third party.
Article 2. Terms of use of the service
2.1 Using “ICF member websites” for actions that contravene U.S or international law or any other local applicable laws and regulations is strictly forbidden. This includes, among other things, using the service to store and distribute information that is unlawful, threatening, insulting, hateful, harassing, abusive, pornographic, vulgar, libelous, defamatory, religious, political, racist or otherwise constitutes or encourages criminal or other unlawful conduct
2.2. It is also prohibited to use ICF member websites to share or distribute Materials that:
• violate copyright, or include hyperlinks to such information
• violate or assist others in violating the legal rights of third parties, such as by linking to hacking tools or explaining computer crimes in such a way that it facilitates the reader engaging in the criminal behavior described rather than defending themselves against it
• violate the privacy of third parties, for example by distributing personal data of third parties without reason or permission or by repeatedly harassing third parties with unwanted communication
• engage in libelous, defamatory, insulting, racist, threatening, harassing, or discriminatory behavior, or hate speech
• contain unsolicited commercial communication, including but not limited to websites that are clearly intended to promote other websites
• contain malicious content such as viruses or spyware
• violate trademark or other intellectual property rights of third parties
• make use of the ICF member websites for any illegal or unlawful purpose
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and any other conduct reasonably deemed by ICF to be contrary to netiquette.
2.4 If ICF finds that a user has violated the above conditions or receives a complaint alleging such, it may intervene to curb said violation or suspend or terminate the user’s continued use of the “ICF member website” feature as provided by ICF. Any documented costs reasonably incurred by ICF in curbing, suspending or termination such use shall be reimbursed by the user to ICF.
2.5 If ICF believes that the continued functioning of the computer systems or network operated by ICF or third parties is actually or under threat of being damaged or jeopardized, for example due to excessive transmission of data, leaks of personal data or virus activity, ICF may take any and all steps it deems reasonably necessary to stop or avert such damage or jeopardy.
2.6 ICF reserves the right to file a civil and/or criminal complaint for any offenses committed through or using its service.
2.7 All ICF member websites will display a “report this site” button to enable people to alert us if any content is in breach of any of these terms and conditions of use. If the reporting is deemed by ICF to be justified, ICF will contact the member who created the website reported to reach a suitable arrangement. If no arrangement acceptable to ICF is found within a period of 7 calendar days, ICF will have the right to deactivate the website without any further notice to the member nor any liability or responsibility for compensation or damages
2.8 ICF reserves the right to recover any documented damages, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred as a result of a violation of these terms of use. You hereby warrant that you shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless ICF, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and contractors from and against any and all third party claims, actions, judgments, liabilities, losses, injuries or damages to persons or property, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred or to be incurred by ICF and which arise out of or result from you shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless ICF, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and contractors from a violation of these terms and conditions of use. This warranty of indemnification shall survive the conclusion, expiration or termination of your use of the “ICF member websites” feature.
2.9 A maximum of 180 Megabytes apply to content, storage space, or data traffic on each member website. As soon as the users hit the maximum storage capacity, he will get a notification from ICF to free some space. If the User engages in frequent excessive use, ICF may contact the User to reach a suitable arrangement.
2.10 Hiding or blocking advertisements placed on free websites by ICF is strictly prohibited and may result in ICF deactivating your website.
Article 3. Availability and maintenance
3.1 ICF will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide high-quality and uninterrupted availability of the ICF member websites platform. However, ICF makes no guarantees or warranties, express or implied, regarding quality or availability of these member websites, especially if storage capacity has been exceeded.
3.2 ICF actively maintains the ICF member websites platform. If maintenance is expected to result in a limitation of availability, ICF will try to carry out said maintenance when use of the service is low. Maintenance will be announced in advance when possible. Maintenance in connection with emergencies may be carried out at any time without prior notice.
3.3 ICF may on occasion adjust Free website for members’ functionalities. While user feedback and suggestions are welcome, ICF retains sole and ultimate authority to determine which changes will be made and which will not. It is possible that said changes may affect the functioning of your website and ICF disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the same
3.4 In some cases, ICF may process your customers’ personal data. To further regulate the division of roles and associated obligations, provisions are laid out in Appendix 1 of these terms and conditions.
Article 4. Intellectual property
4.1 The ICF member website platform and associated software, as well as all information and images stored on the website are protected by all applicable legal and intellectual property rights of ICF and may not be copied, sharedor used in any way without separate and prior written permission from ICF, except when and to the extent permitted by mandatory law.
4.2 Information stored or processed by you via the service is and remains your property (or that of your suppliers). ICF reserves a limited right to use this information to improve and enhance member services only. You may revoke this right of use by removing the relevant information from the website and/or terminating the agreement.
4.3 If you send information to ICF, e.g. a bug report or suggestion for improvement, you grant ICF a perpetual, royalty free, irrevocable and unlimited license to use this information for its service. This does not apply to information you explicitly mark as proprietary or confidential.
4.4 ICF shall refrain from accessing data you store and/or distribute via your free website, unless this is necessary for adequate provision of the service or ICF is compelled to do so by law or court order. In these cases, ICF shall endeavor to limit access to the information as much as possible, insofar as this is within its control.
Article 5. Cost and conditions
5.1 There are no costs associated with using the “ICF member websites” platform apart from becoming or remaining a member of ICF in good standing.
5.2. In order to continue to offer this service for free, ICF reserves the right to display banner advertisements on the Customer’s website and to place some hyperlinks to ICF Global website and social media accounts, with pre-set sentences to help the overall Search Engine Optimization of ICF
5.3. Your ICF member website will remain online and active as long as you are a member in good standing of the ICF, adhere to these terms and conditions of use, and ICF decides to keep on offering this membership benefit to all its members.
5.4. If the using member is not renewing his/her/its ICF annual membership at its expiration date, ICF reserves the right to deactivate the free website until the ICF membership is fully renewed by the member. ICF will however keep the website information stored for a maximum of 6 months from the date of expiration of membership to enable the member to reinstate his/her/its membership and reactivate the website.
5.5. After a period of 6 months when the membership has expired, ICF will fully delete the free website created by the member and all data it contains. Even if reinstating his/her/its membership at a later stage, there will be no possibility for the member to recover the previous data and a new website will have to be created.
Article 6. Branding, languages and Use of ICF logo
6.1. “ICF member websites platform” offers a simplified back office to its user including some pre-set color templates and fonts to use. All templates have been developed by professional designers to offer a professional look and feel to all websites created by our members using this free ICF feature. ICF may at any time change and/or add any templates or fonts. Templates can be switched by the users anytime without changing the content created.
6.2 the ICF member websites platform is compatible with Google translate, also for the simplified back office. ICF is not responsible for the quality of these translations.
6.3 Users can add up to 4 languages in their simplified back office to display on their free website. They will be solely responsible for the translations of the initial content in each of these languages. ICF will not provide or be responsible for any translations selected by users.
6.4 Users do not have the right to use the ICF logo next to their personal details on the homepage of their free website. They will have an opportunity to upload their own personal business logo as well as a link to their ICF membership and credentialing badge(s) which will display on the top right corner of the homepage, if activated. Please refer to the terms and conditions for the use of ICF Member logo according to our ICF brand guidelines available at https://coachingfederation.org/profile/member-toolkit. A violation of the terms and conditions for limited use of the ICF Member logo and other marks in the ICF family of marks shall be grounds for termination of the user’s access to or use of the “ICF member websites” feature.
6.5 “ICF member websites” are designed for the sole use of ICF individual coach members and ICF credentialed members to promote their coaching business in a professional way. They are not intended to be used by coach training programmes which have not been accredited/approved by ICF. If any non-ICF approved training program uses our individual website solution to promote their coaching education program, ICF reserves the rights to immediately deactivate the created website without any further notice, explanation or liability to the violating coaching education program.
Article 7. Limitation of liability
7.1 ICF shall in no event be liable for indirect damages, consequential damages, punitive or exemplary damages, lost profits, lost savings, loss of business or other damages due to an interruption of business operations or access to the free ICF member websites feature.
7.2 In case of the occurrence of a force majeure event or condition, ICF shall not be responsible for or obligated to pay compensation in any formto the Customer for damages alleged to have been incurred by the Customer resulting from the interruption of service due to the force majeure event. Force majeure events or conditions include, but are not limited to, disruptions or failures of the internet or telecommunications infrastructure, power failures, internal riots, mobilization, war, transport blockages, strikes, exclusions, business disruptions, supply interruptions, fires, and flooding.
Article 8. Domain and extension name
8.1 All free websites will all have a unique extension linked with the main domain icf-coaching.org. The unique extension can be changed by the member directly from their personal back office and is explained in the detailed user guide.
8.2 ICF reserves the right to make an extension name inaccessible or unusable if the member user demonstrably fails to comply with these terms and conditions of use , but only for the duration the member user remains in default and exclusively after the expiration of a reasonable cure period set forth in an ICF issued written note of default.
Article 9. Duration and termination
9.1 These terms and conditions of use take effect as soon as you use the service for the first time and will remain in effect so long as the User remains a member of ICF in good standing, complies with these terms and conditions, or if ICF makes a determination, in its sole discretion, to terminate or cancel this member benefit upon six (6)months prior written notice to members.
9.2 If members wish to delete their websites, they can do so anytime, at no cost, by notifying ICF in writing of this request. Deletion of a website by ICF cannot be reversed and the loss of any data, documents or information as a result of the deletion will be the sole responsibility of the User member.
Article 10. Amendments
10.1 ICF reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions whenever suitable as well as its pricing policy should this member benefit not remain free forever.
10.2 Except where otherwise commercially impractical or if an emergency prohibits, ICF will announce any changes or additions to its service at least thirty (30) days before said changes take effect.
10.3 If you do not wish to accept a change or addition you are free to terminate your use of the free “ICF member websites” service/feature up until the date said change or addition is to take effect. . Use of the service after the effective date implies acceptance of the amended or supplemented terms and conditions. Under no circumstance should you make use of the ICF member websites service/feature unless you agree to be bound by each of these terms and conditions.
Article 11. Miscellaneous
11.1 These terms and conditions of use are subject to applicable U.S law.
11.2 Insofar as mandatory law does not require otherwise, all disputes regarding ICF are subject to the jurisdiction of the appropriate state or federal courts of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
11.3 The current version of any communication or information stored by ICF is assumed to be correct unless and until you provide proof to the contrary.
11.4 If a provision in these terms and conditions of use proves to be invalid, this will not affect the validity of the remaining terms and conditions of use. The parties will in this case add (a) new provision(s) which will shape the intention of the original provision as far as legally possible.
11.5 ICF reserves the right to transfer its rights and obligations under the agreement to a third party taking over the ICF free website for member platform or the relevant business operations belonging to or associated with it.
Article 12. Definitions and interpretations
The following definitions apply in these terms and conditions:
Services : the products and/or services ICF will provide to its members as described in these terms and conditions of use. .
Materials : all works, such as websites and (web) applications, software, house styles, logos, folders, brochures, leaflets, lettering, advertisements, marketing and/or communication plans, concepts, images, texts, sketches, documentation, advice, reports, and other products of the mind, as well as preparatory material thereof and (whether encoded or not) files or data carriers on which said Materials are located.
Appendix 1. Data Processing Agreement
This Processor Agreement applies to all forms of processing of personal data that ICF, (hereinafter: Processor) performs for the benefit of a counterparty to whom it provides services (hereinafter: User) and forms an integral part of the Terms and Conditions of Use that apply when the services are used.
Article 1. Processing objectives
1.1 The Processor undertakes to process personal data on behalf of the User in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Processing Agreement. The processing will be executed exclusively within the framework of the services provided by the Processor to the User, via ICF’s free website, where the User uses the Processor’s platform for website hosting and management.
1.2 The User will inform the Processor of the processing objectives insofar as these have not already been communicated in this Agreement. The Processor may use the personal data for quality control purposes, such as conducting scientific or statistical research into the quality of its services. The International Coaching Federation has a variety of policies with regards to privacy, research, spam, endorsement and political statements. Each can be found at https://coachingfederation.org/policies
1.3 All personal data processed on behalf of the User shall remain the property of the User and/or the relevant data subjects.
Article 2. Processor’s obligations
2.1. With regard to the processing operations referred to in Article 1, the Processor shall ensure compliance with the applicable laws and regulations, including at least laws and regulations governing the protection of personal data, such as the GDPR.
2.2. The Processor shall furnish the User promptly on request with details regarding the measures it has taken to comply with its obligations under this Data Processing Agreement.
2.3. The Processor’s obligations arising under the terms of this Data Processing Agreement apply also to whomsoever processes personal data under the Processor’s authority, including but not limited to employees, in the broadest sense of the word.
2.4 The Processor will immediately inform the User if the Processor believes that the User’s instructions conflict with the legislation referred to in clause 2.1.
Article 3. Transmission of personal data
3.1. The Processor may process personal data in countries within the European Union. In addition, the Processor may also transfer personal data to a country outside the European Union, provided that country guarantees an adequate level of protection and that it meets the other obligations imposed on it under this Agreement and the General Personal Data Protection Act.
Article 4. Allocation of responsibility
4.1 The Processor is solely responsible for processing personal data under this Agreement, in accordance with the User’s instructions and under the (ultimate) responsibility of the User. The Processor is explicitly not responsible for other processing of personal data, including but not limited to collection of the personal data by the User, processing for purposes that are not reported by the User to the Processor, and processing by third parties and/or for other purposes.
4.2 The User guarantees that the content, use, and instructions to process personal data as referred to in this Agreement are not unlawful and do not infringe on the rights of any third parties.
Article 5. Engaging of third parties or subcontractors
5.1 The User hereby permits the Processor to engage third parties in the processing of personal data based on this Agreement, provided due observance of applicable privacy legislation. An overview of any third party or third parties engaged shall be provided at the User’s request and within a reasonable period of time.
5.2 The Processor shall in any event ensure that said third parties are obliged to agree to the same duties that are agreed between the User and the Processor.
5.3 The Processor is responsible for any third party’s full compliance with the obligations covered by this Agreement and is liable for any damages arising from errors made by said third parties as if the Processor had made such errors themselves.
Article 6. Security
6.1 The Processor will endeavor to take adequate technical and organizational measures against loss or any form of unlawful processing (such as unauthorized disclosure, deterioration, alteration or disclosure of personal data) in connection with the processing of personal data under this Agreement.
6.2 The Processor does not guarantee that said security measures will be effective under all circumstances. The Processor will endeavor to ensure that any security measures are of a reasonable level, having regard to the state of the art, the sensitivity of the personal data and any costs related to said security measures.
6.3 The User will only make personal data available to the Processor if they are assured that the necessary security measures have been taken. The User is responsible for ensuring compliance with the measures agreed on between the Parties.
Article 7. Duty to report
7.1 The User is responsible at all times for reporting security and/or data breaches (i.e. a breach of security of personal data that leads to a risk of adverse consequences or has adverse effects for the protection of personal data) to the ICF. To facilitate the User’s compliance with this legal obligation, the Processor must inform the User of a security and/or data breach within a reasonable period of time.
7.2 Only breaches which have already occurred, and which have a significant impact, must be reported.
7.3 The duty to report includes in any event the duty to report the fact that a leak or breach has occurred, including details regarding:
• the nature of the personal data breach, where possible specifying the categories of data subjects and personal data concerned and, approximately, the number of data subjects and personal data records involved;
• the name and contact information of the contact person from whom more information can be obtained;
• the likely consequences of the personal data breach;
• the measures proposed or taken by the Processor to address the personal data breach, including, where appropriate, the measures to limit any adverse effects thereof.
7.4 The Processor shall document data breaches in accordance with Article 33.5 of the GDPR, including facts concerning the personal data breach, the consequences thereof, and any corrective measures taken.
Article 8. Handling requests from involved parties
8.1 In the event a data subject submits a request to the Processor to exercise their legal rights according to Articles 15-22 of the GDPR, the Processor shall process said request themselves and inform the User of such.
8.2 The Processor may charge the cost of processing the request to the User.
Article 9. Non-disclosure and confidentiality
9.1 All personal data received by the Processor from the User and/or compiled by the Processor within the framework of this Agreement is subject to a duty of confidentiality vis-à-vis third parties. The Processor shall not use this information for any purpose other than that for which it was obtained, even if said information is formed in such a way that it is not traceable to data subjects.
9.2 This duty of confidentiality will not apply in the event that the User has expressly authorized the provision of such information to third parties, where said provision of the information to third parties is reasonably necessary in view of the nature of the instructions and the implementation of this Agreement, or if there is a legal obligation to make the information available to a third party.
Article 10. Audit
10.1 The User reserves the right to have audits carried out by an independent third party who is bound by confidentiality to ensure compliance with the general rules regarding the processing of personal data, misuse of personal data by employees of the Processor, and everything directly related to this.
10.2 The audit may only be undertaken when there are specific grounds for suspecting the misuse of personal data which grounds have been disclosed in writing to the Processor prior to the audit request.
10.3. The Processor shall cooperate with the audit and make all information reasonably relevant to the audit, including supporting data such as system logs, and staff available as soon as possible.
10.4. The findings as a result of the audit will be assessed by the Processor and may, at the Processor’s sole discretion, be processed by the Processor in any way the Processor sees fit.
10.5. The User shall bear the costs of the audit.
Article 11. Allocation of responsibility
11.1 In the event of liability of the Parties for damages as a result of an attributable shortcoming in the fulfillment of the Agreement, or as a result of an unlawful act or otherwise, the liability provision included in the Processor’s Terms and Conditions is applicable.
Article 12. Duration and termination
12.1 This Agreement is established upon the User’s acceptance and will continue for the duration of the Processor’s processing of the User’s personal data.
12.2 Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason and in any way, the Processor will destroy all personal data received from the User within six (6) months.
12.3 The Processor reserves the right to revise this Agreement at any time and agrees to inform the User in writing of any changes made. The User may immediately terminate the Agreement if it disagrees with said changes.