CANVAS BADGES TERMS OF SERVICE
Last Updated: 01 November 2024
Instructure, Inc.’s (and its affiliate(s), collectively “Instructure”) Canvas Badges Terms of Service (“Terms”) cover and govern each individual user’s (referenced herein with “you”, “your”, or “user(s)”) use and access to the Canvas Badges service (“Canvas Badges”).
BY USING OUR SERVICE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO USE CANVAS BADGES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE TERMS, AND THE DPA, AND TO REVIEW THE APPLICABLE CANVAS BADGES POLICIES. PLEASE REVIEW THE APPLICABLE PRIVACY POLICIES HERE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OR DISAGREE WITH THE INSTRUCTURE’S PRIVACY PRACTICES, YOU SHOULD AND MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE CANVAS BADGES. PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT THESE TERMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
1. The Canvas Badges Service.
1.1 Description. Canvas Badges is an online platform to create, curate, issue, receive, explore, and share digital badges and micro credentials (collectively “Badges”). Users of Canvas Badges can access tools to issue Badges to learners and other persons eligible to receive a Badge (each a “Badge Recipient”), as well as associated administrative tools and services. Badge Recipients can utilize Canvas Badges to receive, organize and display Badges. Canvas Badges also includes features that integrate with products and services offered by third parties to facilitate the micro-credentialing process and the sharing of Badges.
1.2 Open Badges.
a. Badges are based on the Open Badge Specification developed through the work of 1EdTech Consortium, Inc (“1EdTech”) and its members. Instructure expects all users to respect the Open Badge Specification. Instructure plays no role in determining the value or veracity of a Badge and Instructure does not endorse or vouch for the qualifications of any Badge Recipient. The issuer of a Badge is solely responsible for determining the value and veracity of each Badge and the qualifications of each prospective Badge Recipient.
b. In 2020 1EdTech launched the Badge Connect™ API open standard, an initiative that was developed in partnership with its members. As a supporter of the Badge Connect standard, Instructure allows third parties to send Badges between Canvas Badges and third-party services on behalf of Badge Recipients. The third party accessing Canvas Badges for such purposes is solely responsible for obtaining the Badge Recipient’s consent in advance of accessing Canvas Badges for such purposes and for ensuring it shares the respective Badges only with third-party services the Badge Recipient has expressly authorized.
c. When a Badge is issued to a Badge Recipient, pursuant to the Open Badge Specifications, Canvas Badges creates a publicly available web page for the Badge. This means the Badge and the associated Badge meta-data automatically becomes publicly available information upon issuance. In addition, once a Badge is issued, that Badge becomes sharable at the discretion of the Badge Recipient. Notwithstanding this change in status, an issuer of a Badge always has the ability to correct Badge information or delete a Badge.
1.3 Changes to Canvas Badges. We reserve the right to modify or discontinue Canvas Badges (or any part or feature thereof) with or without notice. You acknowledge that Instructure may establish general practices and limits concerning use of Canvas Badges, including, without limitation, the maximum period of time that data or other content will be retained on our servers. Instructure shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of Canvas Badges.
1.4 Prohibited Uses. Except for access to facilitate Badge sharing under the Badge Connect™ API open standard as described in Section 1.2.b. above or where you have otherwise received express permission from Instructure, you are at all times prohibited from accessing or otherwise using Canvas Badges: (a) to build a competitive product or service or (b) in conjunction with any other services that you sell or otherwise monetize. You are at all times prohibited from circumventing, or attempting to circumvent, any limitations that we impose on your account, User Content, or other services provided through Canvas Badges including without limitation the Canvas Badges APIs.
2. Account Management.
2.1 Registered Users. Some Canvas Badges features are only available if you register a user account. Individuals who register an account (each a “Registered User”) have access to additional features and functions of Canvas Badges, for example, only Registered Users can create, curate, and issue Badges.
2.2 Account Owner. The person registering for Canvas Badges is the owner of such Canvas Badges account (“Account Owner”), provided that if you are registering for Canvas Badges on behalf of an organization, such organization shall be the Account Owner of the Business Account (“Business Account Owner”). If you are registering for Canvas Badges on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind such organization to these Terms and in such case “you” and “your” as used in these Terms refers to that organization. A “Business Account” is a Canvas Badges account created on behalf of and maintained by an organization and which is used for non-personal reasons (i.e., not used solely for receiving Badges). Examples of the types of organizations that might have a Business Account are, a corporation or other for-profit business entity, a public institution, such as a university or state agency, a public charity, or a private foundation.
2.3 Registered User Types.
a. Badge Recipient. A Badge Recipient must become a Registered User before it can use Canvas Badges to share any Badges issued within Canvas Badges. To register, the following information is typically required: email address, first name, and surname.
b. Business Account User Types.
(1) Administrator. The Business Account Owner shall designate one or more administrators who shall have full access to, and administration rights over, all areas of the Canvas Badges available to the Business Account Owner (“Administrator”). The Business Account Owner may change the Administrators at any time through Canvas Badges. The Administrator must also be a Registered User.
(2) Editors and Staff Members. “Editors” are mid-level administrators who may create, edit, delete, and issue Badges. “Staff Members” are minimum-level administrators who can issue Badges that have been created by the Administrator or Editors. The Administrator may choose to designate one or more Editors and/or Staff Members. Editors and Staff Members must also be Registered Users.
2.4 Registration. If you choose to register for a user account, you agree to provide and maintain accurate, complete, and current information about yourself as prompted by the registration form. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and account information and are fully responsible for any and all activities that occur under your account. Registered Users agree to (a) immediately notify Instructure at security@instructure.com of any suspected or actual unauthorized use of their password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) ensure that they exit from their Registered User account at the end of each session when accessing Canvas Badges. Instructure will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from a Registered User’s failure to comply with this provision.
2.5 Third-Party Registration and Login. We may offer you the ability to register an account using Facebook, Google, or other third-party services. If you choose to register via a third-party service or connect an account from a third-party service to your Canvas Badges account, Instructure may have access to certain information made available by you through such third-party service. Instructure does not control, is not responsible for, does not endorse, and fully disclaims any and all liability associated with your use of such third-party services. Third-party products and services are subject to the terms and conditions and privacy policies of such third-party providers. You represent and warrant that you will comply with all terms and conditions associated with such third-party services, and agree to defend and hold Instructure, its subsidiaries and affiliates harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or relating to any such third-party services. Instructure is not responsible for any such third-party products or services.
2.6 Eligibility. Unless otherwise agreed to in writing between Instructure and the Business Account Owner, (a) you may only access and use Canvas Badges if you can form a binding contract with Instructure, and (b) only in compliance with these Terms and all applicable laws, and (c) you must be 13 years old or older to use Canvas Badges.
3. User Content.
3.1 User Content. All information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, tags and/or other materials shared through Canvas Badges, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“User Content”), are the responsibility of the Account Owner. You agree to not post any User Content that you did not create or that you do not possess the right, title or interest in and to, including, without limitation, all copyright and rights of publicity contained therein.
3.2 User Content License Grant. By posting User Content, you grant Instructure a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable, transferable license to use, copy, translate, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display User Content in connection with our legitimate business interests, including without limitation, Canvas Badges, the promotion, advertising, or marketing of Canvas Badges, and other uses supported by or related to the Open Badge Specification. You understand that the technical processing and transmission of data associated with Canvas Badges, including User Content, may require: (a) transmissions over various networks; and (b) changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. You acknowledge and agree that Instructure may preserve User Content and may also disclose User Content if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (w) comply with legal process, applicable laws or government requests; (x) enforce these Terms; (y) respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; or (z) protect the rights of Instructure, its users, or the public.
3.3 Feedback. You acknowledge and agree that any suggestions, comments, ideas, improvements or other feedback concerning Canvas Badges (collectively “Feedback”), you provide to Instructure is non-confidential and Instructure is hereby granted a non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, sublicensable, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide right and license to use, disclose, reproduce, modify, license, transfer, and otherwise utilize or distribute your Feedback in connection with Canvas Badges or other products and services offered by Instructure, without credit or compensation to you.
4. Our Rights.
4.1 Ownership and Content License Grant. Canvas Badges contain content (“Canvas Badges Content”) that may be protected by trademark, patent, copyright, trade secret, or other proprietary rights and laws. Instructure grants you a limited license to access and use Canvas Badges and Canvas Badges Content, provided that you keep all copyright or other proprietary notices intact. Using Canvas Badges does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in Canvas Badges or the Canvas Badges Content you access. The foregoing license is subject to these Terms and does not permit use of any data mining, robots, scraping or similar data gathering or extraction methods. Any use of Canvas Badges or the Canvas Badges Content other than as specifically authorized herein is strictly prohibited and will terminate your license. The technology and software, including source code, underlying Canvas Badges is the property of Instructure (“Software”). Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved by Instructure.
4.2 Restrictions. You may not (a) copy, modify, create a derivative work from, decompile, decode, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise attempt to discover any source code in the Software; (b) sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the Software or any portion or component thereof; (c) attempt to access or derive the source code or architecture of any part of Software; or (d) access Canvas Badges by any means other than through the interfaces provided by Instructure and as expressly authorized under the Terms.
4.3 Our Trademarks. The name and logo of Instructure and Canvas Badges, and other names and logos we use in connection with Canvas Badges are trademarks and service marks of Instructure (collectively the “Marks”). Other company, product, and service names and logos used and displayed via Canvas Badges may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners who may or may not endorse or be affiliated with or connected to Instructure. Nothing in these Terms shall be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any of Marks, without our prior written permission in each instance. All goodwill generated from the use of Marks will inure to our exclusive benefit.
5. Third Party Content.
Under no circumstances will Instructure be liable in any way for any content posted or otherwise shared in Canvas Badges by third parties or links to websites and services maintained by third parties. We cannot guarantee that any such third-party content will be free from any errors or omissions, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via Canvas Badges. Instructure disclaims any responsibility or liability related to your access or use of such third-party content. You acknowledge that Instructure does not pre-screen content, but that Instructure and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or remove any content that is available via Canvas Badges. Without limiting the foregoing, Instructure and its designees shall have the right to remove any content, including User Content, which violates these Terms or is deemed by Instructure, in its sole discretion, to be otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such content.
6. Your Responsibilities.
6.1 Legal Compliance. You represent and warrant that you will comply with all laws and regulations applicable to your use of Canvas Badges.
6.2 Personal Data. If you provide us with personal data about a third-party, or if a third-party gives us your personal data, you represent and warrant that you have valid consent to provide us with such personal data and you acknowledge and agree that we can process such personal data.
6.3 Your Conduct. When using Canvas Badges you are responsible for your conduct, User Content, and communications. You agree to not:
a. Interfere with or disrupt Canvas Badges or servers or networks connected to Canvas Badges, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to Canvas Badges;
b. Stalk or otherwise harass another person or organization;
c. Impersonate any person or organization, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or organization;
d. Create serial accounts for disruptive or abusive purposes or squat on accounts to prevent legitimate use by others;
e. Forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any content transmitted through Canvas Badges;
f. Issue mass unsolicited Badges or continue to issue Badges to any Badge Recipient after such Badge Recipient has requested that you stop issuing Badges to them;
g. Upload, post, e-mail, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses, or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
h. Use spiders, crawlers, robots, or any other means to access Canvas Badges or substantially download, reproduce or archive any portion of Canvas Badges;
I. Remove or destroy any copyright notices or other proprietary markings contained on or in Canvas Badges;
j. Modify, damage, disrupt, disable, overburden, impair, alter or interfere with the use, features, functions, operation, security or maintenance of Canvas Badges or the rights or use and enjoyment of Canvas Badges by any other person or organization in any manner; or
k. Post, email or otherwise transmit any Badge or other content that:
(1) is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, pornographic, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, or hateful racially or ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
(2) you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships;
(3) infringes any intellectual property or other proprietary rights of Instructure or any third-party;
(4) constitutes unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, or any other form of solicitation, or use any distribution lists including any person who has not given specific permission to be included in such a process (commercial or otherwise);
(5) contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; or
(6) in the sole judgment of Instructure, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying Canvas Badges, or which may expose Instructure or its users to any harm or liability of any type.
7. Indemnification.
To the extent not prohibited by law, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless, Instructure, its employees, officers, directors, agents, suppliers and licensors from and against any and all damages, losses, liabilities and costs, including without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising from your access and use of Canvas Badges, your user account, your violation of these Terms, your User Content, and the account for which you are the Account Owner, including the activities of any Administrator, Editor, or Staff Member affiliated with such account.
9. Termination.
You agree that Instructure, in its sole discretion, may suspend or terminate your account (or any part thereof) or use of Canvas Badges and remove and discard any content within Canvas Badges, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if we believe that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms. Cause for such termination shall include, but not be limited to: (a) any violation of these Terms; (b) any request or order issued by a court or a law enforcement or other government official; (c) a request by you (for example, self-initiated account deletions); (d) discontinuance or material modification of Canvas Badges; (e) unexpected technical or security issues or problems; (f) extended periods of inactivity; and (g) your engagement in fraudulent or illegal activities. Instructure shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your account.
If you are a Business Account Owner, we can, upon request, delete the data in your Business Account; provided that prior to making such request, you have deleted all Badge classes and revoked all issued Badges. Please note, however, that revocation of issued Badges will result in the Badges becoming unverifiable which is contrary to the intended purpose of the Open Badge Specification. As a reminder, issued Badges and their associated meta-data remain viewable in Canvas Badges until such time as the Badge Recipient requests deletion of the Badge or the issuer of the Badge affirmatively deletes the Badge.
10. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.
YOUR USE OF CANVAS BADGES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. CANVAS BADGES IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITH ALL FAULTS. INSTRUCTURE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT, NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE, TO THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT PERMITTED BY LAW. INSTRUCTURE MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT: (A) CANVAS BADGES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (B) CANVAS BADGES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE; (C) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF CANVAS BADGES WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; (D) THE CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH CANVAS BADGES IS OF A PARTICULAR QUALITY, IS ACCURATE, CURRENT OR COMPLETE; OR (E) THAT ANY ERRORS IN CANVAS BADGES WILL BE CORRECTED. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM OR OTHERWISE ACCESSED THROUGH CANVAS BADGES IS ACCESSED AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND YOU SHALL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR PROPERTY OR PERSON, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM AND ANY DEVICE YOU USE TO ACCESS CANVAS BADGES, OR ANY OTHER LOSS THAT RESULTS FROM ACCESSING SUCH MATERIALS.
11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
YOU EXPRESSLY ABSOLVE AND RELEASE INSTRUCTURE FROM ANY CLAIM OF HARM RESULTING FROM A CAUSE BEYOND INSTRUCTURE’S CONTROL. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL INSTRUCTURE AND ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OTHER THAN DIRECT DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF USE, DATA BUSINESS, OR PROFITS. THIS WILL BE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT INSTRUCTURE OR ANY OF ITS PARTNERS OR SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN WARNED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. ADDITIONALLY, INSTRUCTURE AND ITS SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR MORE THAN ANY AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY INSTRUCTURE FROM YOU AS A RESULT OF YOUR PERSONAL USE OF CANVAS BADGES IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING YOUR CLAIM. IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID INDIVIDUALLY ANY AMOUNTS IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING YOUR CLAIM, INSTRUCTURE’S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE LIABILITY SHALL BE NO MORE THAN $50. MOREOVER, INSTRUCTURE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE LOSS OR FAILURE TO STORE YOUR CONTENT, AND YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BY USING CANVAS BADGES, YOU AGREE TO WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY AND THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION RELATED TO USE OF CANVAS BADGES OR BREACH OF THESE TERMS.
12. INFRINGEMENT.
We respect the intellectual property of others and ask that you do too. We respond to notices of alleged infringement after receipt of a proper notice that complies with the law and is received by our designated agent. We reserve the right to delete or disable content alleged to be infringing and terminate accounts of repeat infringers. If you believe that any content in Canvas Badges in a way that constitutes infringement, please provide our designated agent with the following information: (a) an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner; (b) a description of the content you claim is being infringed; (c) a description or link to the location of the material claim is infringing; (d) your physical address, telephone number and e-mail address; (e) a statement that you have a good faith belief that the content is not authorized by the rights owner, its agent or the law;and (f) a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner.
Contact information for our designated agent for notice of claims of infringement is as follows: Instructure, Inc. General Counsel; 6330 South 3000 East, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, UT 84121; legal@instructure.com. Instructure may also take any appropriate action in the event it receives a proper counter-notice under the law.
13. Miscellaneous.
13.1 Entire Agreement. These Terms, including documents incorporated by reference, set forth terms governing your use of Canvas Badges, and supersede and replace any other prior or contemporaneous agreements applicable to the subject matter of these Terms. These Terms create no third-party beneficiary rights. These Terms shall inure to the benefit of Instructure and its respective legal representatives, successors, and assigns.
13.3 Waiver, Severability & Assignment. Instructure’s failure to enforce a provision of these Terms is not a waiver of its right to do so later. You may not assign any of your rights under these Terms, and any such attempt will be void. Instructure may assign its rights to any of its affiliates or subsidiaries, or to any successor in interest of any business associated with Canvas Badges. If any provision of these Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, such provision shall be changed and interpreted so as to best accomplish the objectives of the original provision to the fullest extent allowed by law and the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect.
13.4 Controlling Law. These Terms and your use of Canvas Badges will be interpreted, governed and construed by the laws of Delaware law except for its conflicts of laws principles, unless otherwise agreed in a separate written agreement with Instructure or as required by a mandatory law of a competent jurisdiction.
13.5 Modifications. Instructure may revise these Terms from time to time. If a revision meaningfully reduces your rights, we will provide notice to you (by, for example, sending a message to the email address associated with your account). By continuing to use or access Canvas Badges after the revisions come into effect, you agree to be bound by and subject to the revised Terms.
13.6 Notices. For any notices relating to these Terms, you may contact Instructure by sending an email to legal@instructure.com
13.7 Section Headings; Summaries. Throughout these Terms, each section includes titles and brief summaries. These section titles and brief summaries are not legally binding.