NIMS Alumni Network Website Terms of Use

Article 1   General Provisions

1. These Terms of Use shall stipulate the necessary matters in relation to the use of the NIMS Alumni Network Website (hereinafter referred to as the “Site”), which the Global Program Office of the Global Networking Division of the National Institute for Materials Science (hereinafter referred to as the “Institute”) operates for the purposes of the promotion of exchanges and the strengthening of collaboration between the Institute and the people who belong to the Institute.
2. The Institute shall be able to change the matters stated in these Terms of Use at any time and without obtaining members’ consent in advance.

Article 2   Definitions

In these Terms of Use, the definitions of the terms stated in each item below will be according to the stipulations of the relevant item.

(1) This refers to the website (https://alumni.nims.go.jp/) that is named the NIMS Alumni Network and that is operated by the Institute.

(2) The Services: These refer to all of the services provided on the Site.

(3) Member: This refers to an individual for whom member registration has been allowed for using the Services.

(4) Posting: This refers to an action of a Member for whom registration has been allowed by uploading information in the Services.

Article 3   Member Registration Application

1. An individual who can apply for the Services will be a person who has resigned and who was given an employee ID by the Institute at the time of employment, or an employed person who has been given an employee ID.
2. A person who wants to use the Services will apply for member registration on the Site.
3. For an individual who applied for registration, the Institute shall confirm the record of employment at the Institute and then approve registration.
4. Even if it is an individual of Article 3.3 who applied for member registration, in a case in which the Institute judges that it is not appropriate to approve the person as a Member, in some cases registration may not be allowed.

Article 4   Member’s Agreement

Based on member registration for the Services, it will be deemed that the Member agreed to the fact that the Institute will use the employee ID at the time of employment for the purpose of identity authentication, and to the matters stated in these Terms of Use, “About Handling of Personal Information Based on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),” and the content stated in the “About NIMS’ Personal Information Protection System,” the “Site Policy,” and the “Privacy Policy” that are posted on the Institute’s official homepage.

Article 5   Content of the Site’s Activities

The Site shall be able to provide the services stated in each of the items below to Members.

(1) Provision of the Institute’s news, events, hiring information, and other information to Members

(2) Provision of opportunities for mutual exchanges among Members, including member information search functions and functions for Members to mutually send and receive e-mail

Article 6   Protection of Personal Information

1. The Institute shall possess a Member’s personal information (name, birthdate, gender, nationality, email address, and information about academic and employment background) that the Member registered on the Site, and personal information that was subsequently added or revised, and the Institute shall appropriately handle such information based on the Institute’s Regulation for Protection of Personal Information and appropriately use such information in compliance with the Institute’s Site Policy and Privacy Policy.
2. Excluding the content of messages that are sent or received between Members, the Institute shall be able to access the content of a Member’s personal information that has been registered on the Site, irrespective of whether that information has been made public or kept private.
3. Excluding the cases below, the Institute shall not disclose to third parties any information by which an individual can be identified and that was learned through the Services.

・Cases in which the relevant Member has agreed to information disclosure

・Cases based on a law or ordinance

・Cases in which disclosure is urgently necessary in order to protect a person’s life, body, or assets

Article 7   Handling of Member Information

1. The Institute will use member information within the scope of the purposes below.

・Verification of the identity of the registration applicant

・Provision of various forms of information and services (including provision by e-mail, postal mail, and other means of communication)

・Requests for cooperation with the Institute’s various forms of business that are judged as contributing to promotion of exchanges or strengthening of collaboration between the Institute and Members or between Members

・Provision of member information to the NIMS Alumni Association

・Creation and management of lists of names related to member information search functions and functions for Members to mutually send and receive e-mail

・Other work related to the Institute’s various surveys, analysis, and business plans

2. In some cases, the Institute may manage member information in the Site’s activities and then consign handling of that information to a party outside the Institute within the scope of the purposes of use of Article 7.1.
3. In relation to member information that has been registered on the Site, the Institute shall be able to revise or delete, without the Member’s consent, matters that have a possibility of falling under something below.

・Cases in which it is judged that information that has been registered clearly differs from facts

・Cases in which there is no use of the Services or updating of information in a certain period after registration

・Other cases that the Institute judges as inappropriate

Article 8   Matters for caution at times of member registration and use

1. The Institute will provide the services stipulated in Article 5 to the Member based on the content of the information that the Member personally registered.
2. In principle, the Institute will not be involved in communication or activities between Members. Problems between Members shall be resolved between the relevant Members, and the Institute shall not bear any liability whatsoever.
3. The Institute shall not bear any liability whatsoever for damage or disadvantages that arise in cases in which a member ID or password is improperly used by a third party.
4. The Member shall personally strive to post, register, confirm, or update accurate information, and when accessing information, the Member shall make judgments about reliability and conduct use at the Member’s own liability.
5. The Member shall individually take appropriate measures for storage and handling of the member ID and password and may not conduct such actions as allowing third parties to use them or transferring or loaning them.

Article 9   Prohibited Matters

1. In order to have the Member use the Site beneficially, the actions below are prohibited on the Site.

・Actions that violate a law or ordinance, and actions of soliciting or fostering such actions

・Actions that go against public order and morals or common sense

・Actions that cause disadvantages to other Members, third parties, or the Institute

・Actions that place a burden on the server, and actions that hinder other Members’ access or operation

・Actions that hinder the Site’s operation or a network or system

・Actions that infringe another person’s honor, reputation, privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, or other rights

・Posting expressions that will lead to discrimination because of ethnicity, race, gender, or age

・Actions of pretending to be a person other than oneself, and actions of permitting use by an individual or group other than the registered Member

・Actions of collecting or accumulating other Members’ personal information

・Actions of doing things such as duplicating, uploading, posting, or distributing statements within the Site without permission

・Actions of sending information to another Member for the purpose of solicitation, such as content for the purpose of commercial advertisement or publicity, spam mail, or chain mails

・Other actions that the Institute has judged as inappropriate

2. In a case in which an action stipulated in Article 9.1 has been confirmed, the Institute may implement measures, including change or deletion of registration information or cancellation of member registration, without notifying the Member in advance.

Article 10   Interruption, Change, or Ending of the Services

1. The Institute can interrupt, change, or end all or a portion of the Services’ content without notifying the Member and without obtaining the Member’s advance consent.
2. In a case in which a disadvantage or damage has arisen for the Member because of interruption, change, or ending of content based on Article 10.1, the Institute shall not bear any liability whatsoever.

These Terms will go into effect on April 1st, 2022.

＜For EEA* and UK Residents Only>

                                           (*EEA: EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)

Handling of Personal Information based on GDPR

The National Institute for Materials Science (hereinafter referred to as “NIMS”) will collect personal data for the purpose mentioned in the following section 1 “Purpose and Use of Collected Data.” The collected data will be strictly managed in compliance with the Country’s relevant law and NIMS’s Rules and Regulations. Furthermore, if the data is transferred from the European Economic Area member states (EEA; EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) and the United Kingdom (UK), it will be handled in accordance with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter referred to as “GDPR”). Following the GDPR, EEA and UK residents are requested to read the notice below and indicate your consent by checking the box showed in the registration page.

1. Purpose and Use of Collected Data

The collected personal data will be used by NIMS only for the following purposes:

(1) Identification of the applicant for registration

(2) Provision of various information and services, including provision by email, postal mail, and other communication means

(3) Requests for cooperation in various projects of NIMS that contribute to the promotion of exchange and strengthening of cooperation between NIMS and the members or between members.

(4) Provision of member information to the NIMS Alumni association

(5) Creation and management of a list of members for member search function and the mail function between members

(6) Other purposes related to surveys, analysis, and business planning of NIMS

2. Data Controller

For your personal data, you may at any time contact the following Data Controller’s address:

General Affairs Office, Administration Division

National Institute for Materials Science

1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba

Ibaraki 3050047 JAPAN

E-mail: soumu@nims.go.jp

3. Personal Data Management

The collected personal data will be transferred and stored on a server in Japan, where the personal data of registered individuals will be strictly managed in an appropriate manner based on Regulations for Protection of Personal Information of NIMS. However, if you agreed to the Terms of Use of NIMS Alumni Network web site, some of your personal data that you registered on the website will be shared with other registered members on the site based on your consent.

4. Rights of Data Subjects

The GDPR provides the rights, including the following for individuals.

(1) Withdrawal of consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

(2) Access to personal data: You have the right to be provided full information about your personal data that NIMS holds.

(3) Data correction: You have the right to require NIMS to correct any incorrect information it holds about you.

(4) Data deletion: You may also have the right to ask NIMS to delete your personal data when certain conditions apply.

(5) Restriction on processing of personal data: You may have the right to ask NIMS to restrict the use of your personal data when certain conditions apply.

(6) Object to processing of personal data: You may have the right to object to the use of your personal data by NIMS when certain conditions apply.

(7) Portability of personal data: You may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured and commonly used format when certain conditions apply.

To exercise your rights, or if you require further information about how your personal data is used by NIMS, then contact the Data Controller.

5. Complaint with the Supervisory Authority

You are entitled to file a complaint with the supervisory organization of a member country of EEA or UK, if you consider that processing of personal data relating to them infringes GDPR.