(“Baobab”) is an online community of educators, mentors, and scholars interested in sharing ideas and information. Baobab is provided by Mastercard Foundation (“MCF”) as part of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program and hosted by Arizona State University (“Host”). As a member of the Baobab community, you are allowed to post comments and other material into interactive areas of Baobab, including the chat feature and discussion channels and boards (“Postings”).

This is a learning environment, and you have to follow the rules when you are on Baobab and be mindful that your Postings can be seen by the other members of the Baobab community. These are the rules all users of Baobab are expected to follow and by using Baobab you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set out in this Acceptable Use Policy.

We are committed to providing an environment free of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation for the Baobab Program, including all users and guests who may meet each other on the platform and interact with each other in places other than on the platform. Inappropriate conduct need not rise to the level of a violation of federal or international law to constitute a violation of this policy and to warrant disciplinary action/sanctions.

All individuals are responsible for participating in and assisting with creating and maintaining an environment with all interactions with other Baobab users, both on and off Baobab, free from all forms of prohibited discrimination, including harassment and retaliation. All individuals who engage in communications with persons they meet on the Baobab forum, whether on the forum or outside of the forum, do so pursuant to the Acceptable Use Policy. The Host and MCF are not responsible for any actions, activities or behavior that occur outside of the Baobab forum, and you agree to engage in such activities only at your own risk.

While we will not actively be monitoring every Posting, Mastercard Foundation and the Host- reserve the right to remove, edit, or otherwise modify any Postings that do not adhere to this Acceptable Use Policy (“Infringing Content”). MCF and/or the Host will determine whether content is Infringing Content and can be removed. In addition, users may report Infringing Content to us so we can maintain a respectful and positive environment on Baobab. At your discretion, you also have the option of blocking another User from sending you direct messages. However, postings from the blocked User will still appear in public channels and group message forums.

1. Remember, other users can see your posts. So do not post personal information that you do not wish to have others see.

2. You must maintain a polite, pleasant and respectful environment. Personal attacks are not appropriate.

3. Postings that are unlawful, or infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party, or content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationship are prohibited.

4. Postings that bully, harass, abuse, stalk or threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights of others are prohibited. You may not post the private or personal information of others. You must not contact anyone who has requested not to be contacted.

5. You must make sure that what you post is appropriate for all people visiting Baobab. Any Postings that are defamatory, discriminatory, derogatory, intimidating, indecent, pornographic, obscene, or otherwise objectionable are prohibited. Slurs or comments against any social, racial, religious, ethnic or sexual orientation group are prohibited.

6. Your Postings should relate to the subject that is being discussed.

7. You may post anything that you have written or recorded. If you did not write or record your Posting, you must have permission from the copyright owner to submit those Postings. You are solely responsible for getting permission to post other people’s materials, including notes, articles, videos and recordings, before you post them on Baobab.

8. You may not send any surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, chain letters, junk mail, unauthorized e-mails, or commercial solicitations, or otherwise engage in, facilitate or encourage any illegal activities through Baobab.

9. You may not collect information about other people using Baobab, including e-mail addresses.

10. Baobab is a learning environment. You may not advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any business purpose on Baobab or to contact anyone through Baobab for these purposes.

11. You may not download any file or any personal information, including photographs or videos, posted by another user without permission.

12. You may not upload Postings or other files that contain viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another user’s computer or property.

13. You may not take off a copyright notice (or put on a fake copyright notice), or take off author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels that show the origin or source of material you post on Baobab.

14. You may not interfere, restrict or inhibit another user’s use of Baobab or its features, such as by engaging in excessive usage, launching denial of service attacks, or uploading or transmitting viruses or other malicious code. You agree not to gain unauthorized access to Baobab computer systems, or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of Baobab.

15. You may not create a false identity or otherwise pretend to be someone else, or provide false information when creating an account, or create an account for anyone other than yourself.

16. You may not create more than one personal account and may not use Baobab if you are under the age of 16.

If you have any questions, complaints or comments on this Acceptable Use Policy, you should contact us at concerns@baobabplatform.org. Please do not direct questions, complaints or comments about this Acceptable Use Policy to other Users.

If you wish to report a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy, please email or write us at concerns@baobabplatform.org or Arizona State University, Attention: Concerns Baobab, 1365 N Scottsdale Rd, Skysong 200, Scottsdale, AZ 85257, U.S.A.

If there is a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy, we may immediately suspend or permanently remove a user’s access to Baobab or its features. The Host does not guarantee any user will receive a warning before we suspend or remove access to Baobab. The Host also keeps a historical record of all conduct violations and responds to Acceptable Use Policy violations in light of that history.