Terms of Use
Last updated: May 17, 2026
1. Acceptance of terms
By using GeoData Registry, users agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform.
2. Nature of the platform
GeoData Registry is an informational platform for coordinating planned geodata collection and documenting geospatial datasets through structured geodata cards. The platform is not a raw data repository and does not store raw geodata such as GPS traces, sensor readings, imagery files, participant coordinates, health records, or confidential field documents.
3. No legal claim or exclusivity
Submission of a planned collection record does not create any legal ownership claim, intellectual property protection, priority claim over a place, time, attribute, instrument, method, or topic, exclusivity, monopoly of research interest, or guarantee of being first.
4. Not a formal preregistration
GeoData Registry is not a formal preregistration platform. It does not require hypotheses, sampling frames, analysis plans, or theoretical predictions.
5. Not ethics approval
GeoData Registry does not provide, evaluate, or substitute for institutional ethics review or any other form of human-subjects or environmental-research approval.
6. Not peer review
GeoData Registry does not provide peer review, scientific endorsement, certification, or quality assurance of submitted content.
7. User responsibility
Users are responsible for ensuring that submitted information is accurate to the best of their knowledge, does not include sensitive personal information, exact private locations, confidential field sites, or content they do not have the right to publish, and complies with their institutional, legal, ethical, and contractual obligations.
8. No verification guarantee
GeoData Registry may review content periodically or in response to reports, but it does not guarantee that every record is accurate, complete, current, ethical, lawful, or scientifically valid. The presence of a record does not imply endorsement by GeoData Registry.
9. Absence of records
The absence of a planned collection record for a place, period, method, or data type does not mean that no data collection is planned or occurring. GeoData Registry is a coordination aid, not an authoritative census of all planned geodata collection.
10. Reports and moderation
Any public record may be reported. Reported records may be hidden automatically and immediately pending review. GeoData Registry may restore, edit status, hide, remove, or reject content at its discretion. GeoData Registry is not obligated to publish, maintain, or restore any submission.
11. Contact relay
GeoData Registry may provide a contact relay that allows visitors to send messages to contributors without exposing private email addresses. GeoData Registry does not guarantee that messages will be delivered, read, answered, or acted upon.
12. External links
Records may contain links to external websites, repositories, protocols, publications, or documentation. GeoData Registry is not responsible for external content, external availability, external claims, or external data use.
13. No professional advice
Content on GeoData Registry does not constitute legal, ethical, technical, scientific, data protection, or professional advice. Users should consult appropriate institutional, legal, ethical, or technical experts when needed.
14. Service availability
GeoData Registry is provided on an as-is and as-available basis. The platform may be changed, interrupted, suspended, or discontinued without notice.
15. Limitation of responsibility
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, GeoData Registry and its operators are not responsible for disputes, damages, losses, misuse, failed collaborations, inaccurate records, harmful submissions, external links, or decisions made based on user-submitted content.
16. Changes to these terms
GeoData Registry may update these Terms of Use. Continued use of the platform after changes means that users accept the updated terms.
17. Contact
For questions, corrections, removal requests, or moderation concerns, please use the contact page.