Terms and Conditions

This Higher Logic Community is provided by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). APHL accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted on this site by participants. Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact membership@aphl.org. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violates these rules.

The Rules

  • Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer guests and members; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
  • Respect the purpose of the community. Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of products or services that you provide. If you’ve found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the group in a respectful way.
  • Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all who are members of the community to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.
  • All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. 
  • Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.
  • When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It’s also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.
  • Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."

Discussion Group Etiquette

  • State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
  • Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings to remove yourself from a list or email your community manager directly. 

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL).  The Association of Public Health Laboratories is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by Association of Public Health Laboratories or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall Association of Public Health Laboratories be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.  Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants the Association of Public Health Laboratories and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

The Association of Public Health Laboratories does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, we will take all appropriate action.

The Association of Public Health Laboratories reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

Privacy Policy

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) is a national non-profit organization, which recognizes the importance of protecting personal information and the individual's right to privacy. Thus, we are dedicated to maintaining high standards of confidentiality regarding the information provided to us. This Privacy Policy has been prepared to affirm our commitment to maintaining the privacy of our members, partners and customers.

PROTECTION OF INFORMATION
We have put in place reasonable commercial standards of technology security and operations to protect all information provided by the companies against unauthorized access, disclosure, modification or unauthorized destruction.

HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?
Subject to the provision of applicable laws, any information you submit to APHL will not be used in any manner to which you have not consented. APHL collects a limited amount of personally identifiable information voluntarily provided by users of this site and is used for providing products and services to you, operating the association, meeting legal and contractual obligations and running meetings and conferences. APHL does not sell, lease or otherwise distribute its members’, partners’ or customers’ email or private information to third parties. However, information collected through the site may be shared with third parties that provide services on behalf of the site, such as credit card processors. Third parties may use the data only for the purpose for which it was intended. The site collects cookies when visitors register as an authorized user or sign up for training or other programs.

Subscribers to APHL electronic publications are always free to opt-out of receiving e-publications or to opt-in to add new publications. You can always unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe button on a publication or by contacting us at info@aphl.org.

If you would rather be removed from our database, please contact us at info@aphl.org. Please note, if a financial transaction exists between you and APHL (meeting registration, membership dues, etc.) certain information related to any transactions must be retained.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY STATEMENT
Subject to the provision of applicable laws, we may amend this privacy statement from time to time. If we make changes to this statement, we will amend the revision date on the bottom of the page.

DISCLAIMER
The APHL websites link to other sites in order to connect users with related programs, events, publications and other services. APHL cannot warrant, nor does it assume responsibility for, the privacy practices of other websites. When registering for programs or other services where APHL is not the sole sponsor and provider, visitors should check the partner’s privacy practices. By using APHL's websites, you consent to this Privacy Policy.

QUESTIONS
If you have questions or concerns about this policy, please contact admin.sp@aphl.org. We will treat all privacy concerns seriously within a reasonable timeframe and get back to you as soon as possible.