Terms of Use

Acceptance of the Terms of Use

Effective Date: September 20, 2022

Welcome to Empatico. Empatico enables educators to connect with classrooms and youth programs around the globe in order to empower students to form meaningful connections that foster a more empathetic world. Empatico is a service for teachers, principals, other educators or school personnel, and individuals working with children in educational, community, or youth-centered programs and settings (referred to as “Educators” or “you” and such children are referred to as “Child Users”). Empatico is not to be used by children, directly or unsupervised. This Acceptance of the Terms of Use (this “Terms of Use”), together with any documents expressly incorporated by reference, including the Privacy Policy, is entered into by and between you and Empatico, an initiative of the KIND Foundation (“Empatico”, “our,” “we” or “us”) and is a legally-binding document.

This Terms of Use applies to your access to and use of the following: (i) the Empatico Website found at https://empatico.org/ (the “Website”) and (ii) our products, services, online platforms, and other offerings that either ask for your acceptance to this Terms of Use or which include this Terms of Use. All of these are referred to in this Terms of Use as the “Empatico Services.”

Please read this Terms of Use carefully before using the Empatico Services. By accessing the Empatico Services or by clicking to accept or agree to this Terms of Use when the option is made available to you, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by this Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy, please do not access or use the Empatico Services.

Registration and Account Security

Certain of the Empatico Services may require you to register with us prior to access or use. Specifically, if you are an Educator age 22 or older who works with children and you wish to use an Empatico Service to connect to and communicate with other teachers and classrooms (our “Platform”), you must first register with us. When registering for the Platform, you will be asked to provide certain information, including your full name, email address, date of birth, time zone, and your school name and its location. We may also ask you to provide information about the class in which you intend to use the Platform. Please ensure that all such information is correct, current, and complete. You agree to notify us of any changes to such information by updating your account profile or using the contact information available in Section 11.

You will also be asked to provide additional information including preferred language(s), Child Users’ ages, class/program size, classroom/program interests, and your daily and hourly availability for a virtual exchange. We use this information to improve the quality of recommended classroom matches with which we provide you. As part of the classroom/program matching process, we may share your full name, location, time zone, classroom languages, and other information you provide with other registered Educators to facilitate matching.

Our Privacy Policy governs all information you provide when you register or otherwise provide to us and additional information which we may automatically collect from you.

Please keep your username and password confidential and do not share your password with anyone else. You agree to notify us immediately via the email address listed in Section 11 of any unauthorized use of your username or password or any other breach of security.

We have the right to disable your account if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of this Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy. We may modify, update, interrupt, suspend, or discontinue any or all of the Empatico Services at any time without notice or liability.

Using the Video Feature

The Platform offers an online meeting feature that is designed to provide the registered Educator a unique link (a “meeting link”) that enables matched classrooms/programs to connect through video exchange (“Video Feature”). Educators may also share the meeting link with Child Users to remotely access the Educator’s assigned classroom/program video exchange page hosted on the Platform, thereby allowing Child Users to participate in exchanges during distance learning times. It is the obligation of the Educator to use the Video Feature in a manner compliant with local law and to obtain any and all Child User and/or parental consents necessary for Child Users to participate in and use the Video Feature.

Proprietary Rights

The Empatico Services and their entire contents, features, and functionality are owned by Empatico, its licensors, or other providers of such material and are protected by intellectual property laws, including trademark and copyright laws. The Empatico name, the Empatico logo, and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks of Empatico or its affiliates or licensors. You may not make commercial use of the Empatico trademarks.

Subject to the restrictions below, you may use the Empatico Services and their contents and features (including the Video Feature) solely for your own, non-commercial use or to enable Child Users to utilize and participate in Empatico Services. Subject to the restrictions below, you may use the Video Feature solely for the purpose of creating meeting links, providing such meeting links to Child Users that you or your school system or program authorize, and to enable such Child Users to utilize the meeting links and participate in your Empatico video exchange page.

You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store, or transmit any of the material on the Empatico Services, except as follows:

  • You may store files that are automatically cached by your Web browser for display enhancement purposes.
  • You may print or download one copy of a reasonable number of pages of the Empatico Services for your own use and not for further reproduction, publication, or distribution.
  • If materials contained on the Empatico Services are downloadable as a file (in PDF or other non-editable text format) (“Downloadable Text Materials”), you may download, store, reproduce, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and publish, in whole, but not in part, the Downloadable Text Materials solely in connection with your planning for use of the Empatico Services by you or others. In addition, you must maintain copyright notices on the Downloadable Text Materials, and you must notify any other people with whom you share the Downloadable Text Materials of the foregoing restrictions.
  • If materials contained on the Empatico Services are designated as “Customizable Instructional Materials”, you may download, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works of, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, and publish the Customizable Instructional Materials solely in connection with planned or actual use of the Empatico Services by you or others. In addition, you must maintain copyright notices on the Customizable Instructional Materials, and you must notify any other people with whom you share the Customizable Instructional Materials of the foregoing restrictions.
  • If, in the future, we provide desktop, mobile, or other applications for download, you may download a single copy to your computer or mobile device solely for your own use, provided you agree to be bound by our end user license agreement for such applications.
  • If, in the future, we provide social media features with certain content, you may take such actions as are enabled by such features.

If you wish to make any use of material as contained on the Empatico Services other than that set out above, please address your request to: support@empatico.org.

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. Anyone who believes their work has been reproduced in a way that constitutes copyright infringement may notify us in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

Disclaimer and Liability

We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, feature or functionality of the Empatico Services. We disclaim all liability arising from any use of the Empatico Services and all warranties, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement of third parties’ rights. Empatico takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for your Content (as defined in Section 6) or your use of it or the use of it by another Educator or individual. Empatico further takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for the actions or omissions of other users.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, EMPATICO SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES, WHETHER INCURRED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, YOUR CONTENT, USE, GOOD-WILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM (A) YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE EMPATICO SERVICES; (B) ANY CONDUCT OR CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY USING THE EMPATICO SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR THIRD PARTIES; OR (C) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, USE OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, OR YOUR CONTENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL EMPATICO’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO EMPATICO SERVICES EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (U.S. $100.00).

The Empatico Services may include or make available to you content provided by third parties, including by other users of the Empatico Services. We are not responsible, or liable to you or to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any such content. The Empatico Services are provided on an ‘as is’ basis without any warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the Empatico Services will operate error-free or that the Empatico Services are free of computer viruses or other harmful mechanisms.

Restrictions on Use

You may use the Empatico Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with this Terms of Use. You agree not to use the Empatico Services:

  • In any way that violates any applicable United States federal, state, local, law or regulation or any law or regulation of any other country.
  • In a manner that exploits or harms minors in any way, including by exposing them to inappropriate content.
  • To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use, or re-use any material that does not comply with the Content Standards set forth in Section 7 of this Terms of Use.
  • To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits any other user’s enjoyment of the Empatico Services, or which, as determined by us, may harm Empatico or users of the Empatico Services or expose them or us to liability.

Additionally, you agree not to:

  • Register for an account for the Empatico Services if you are not an Educator who works with children.
  • Permit a Child User to access and use the meeting link provided by you unless the Child User (or the Child User’s parent or guardian, as applicable) has agreed to any requirements imposed by you or school or applicable law.
  • Use the Empatico Services in any manner that could disable or impair the Empatico Services or interfere with any other user’s use of the Empatico Services.
  • Use any process to use, monitor or copy any of the content on the Empatico Services or for any other unauthorized purpose without our prior written consent.
  • Use any device, software, or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Empatico Services.
  • Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Empatico Services.

Chat and Video Communications and File-Sharing

The Video Feature provides video communication functions for Child Users, and chat and video communication functions to Educators. The Platform also provides a separate chat communication function that is only available for use by and between Educators and includes a file-sharing component. When you use the chat and video communication functions of the Empatico Services (including file-sharing), you must ensure that all content and communications made through the functions (the “Content”) complies with all applicable laws and this Terms of Use.

Without limiting the foregoing, you understand and acknowledge that:

  • You have informed Child Users and their parents or guardians that their classroom or program will be using the Empatico Service, including, if applicable, the Video Feature and that such use will entail sharing Child Users’ personal information with the operators of the Empatico website (except in case of Video Feature) and other educators and classrooms or programs with whom you connect. That personal information may include names, still and video images, location data, and other information shared by you or the Child Users.
  • You are responsible for obtaining necessary parental consent under applicable law, including, in the U.S., the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, to participate in video communications and share Child Users’ personal information.

Content shared by or your or Child Users will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You represent and warrant that you own or control all rights in and to the Content you transmit and you hereby grant Empatico a nonexclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide license to use, store, display, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, perform, and distribute your Content for the purposes of operating, developing, providing, and using the Empatico Services. Nothing in this Terms of Use shall restrict other legal rights Empatico may have to your Content. We reserve the right to remove or modify your Content for any reason, including when we believe it violates this Terms of Use or our Privacy Policy. If you choose to submit comments, ideas or feedback to us, you agree that we are free to use them without any restriction or compensation to you. By accepting your submission, Empatico does not waive any rights to use similar or related feedback previously known to Empatico, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you.

Content Standards

When you use the chat and video communications functions of the Empatico Services (including file-sharing), you must make sure that your communications and all Content comply with all laws. Without limiting the foregoing, Content must not:

  • Contain any material that is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory, or otherwise objectionable.
  • Infringe any intellectual property rights of any other person.
  • Violate the rights of privacy and publicity of any other individual.

You acknowledge that the purpose of the chat and video communications functions, including the Video Feature, is to facilitate connection and communication between educators and child programs or classrooms. Accordingly, we ask that you respect the community nature of Empatico and not use the contents of such communications for other purposes.

Governing Law

This Terms of Use is governed by the laws of the State of New York, excluding any conflict of laws rules. Any claim or dispute by or against Empatico arising out of this Terms of Use, the Privacy Policy, or access to or use of the Empatico Services shall be brought solely in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York or in the courts of the State of New York in the Borough of Manhattan. You agree not to object to the exercise of personal jurisdiction by or to venue in any such court.

Miscellaneous

This Terms of Use, the Privacy Policy, and any supplemental terms and guidelines posted on or made available through the Empatico Services constitute the entire agreement between you and us and supersede all previous written or oral agreements. If any provision of this Terms of Use is deemed invalid, then that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions of this Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect.

We may update the content on the Website or modify the Empatico Services from time to time. We may revise and update this Terms of Use from time to time in our sole discretion. All changes are effective immediately when we post them, and apply to all access to and use of the Empatico Services thereafter. Your continued use of the Empatico Services following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and agree to the changes. Please check this page so that you are aware of any changes.

Terminating your Account

We may suspend or terminate your account or cease providing you with all or part of the Empatico Services at any time for any or no reason, including, but not limited to, if we reasonably believe you have violated our Terms of Use (for example, if we receive reports that you are being abusive or threatening) or if it appears that the account is a duplicate or not created by an Educator.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments about this Terms of Use, or if you would like us to update information we have about you or your preferences, please contact us by:

Email:support@empatico.org

Mail: The KIND Foundation
PO Box 705, Midtown Station
New York, NY 10018