Terms of Use
Terms of Use
These terms of use explain what you can expect from us and what we expect from you when creating and operating software services that consume Charity Commission Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”) hosted on the Charity Commission’s Developer Hub (the “Developer Hub”). They should be read in conjunction with our Developer Hub and API Privacy Policy, which is below and available by clicking ‘Terms’ at the top of the page.
By accessing the Developer Hub and using the APIs you agree to comply with the terms of use set out below (the “Terms”).
In these Terms we may refer to "Charity Commission for England and Wales" as “Charity Commission”, “CCEW”, "we", "our", or "us". “You” or “User” means the individual registered for an account in the Developer Hub.
These Terms may change from time to time to reflect changes to the law or changes to our APIs. You should look at these Terms regularly. We'll post notice of any modifications to these Terms within the Developer Hub. Changes will not apply retrospectively. Changes addressing new functions for an API or changes made for legal reasons will be effective immediately.
For major changes you may need to re-accept these Terms, but for minor changes we will assume you agree to the changes unless we hear from you.
Section 1: Registration
To access the APIs, you are required to register for an account in the Developer Hub. As part of the registration process you will need to provide your name, email address and a password. Your email address will become your Username.
You will be able to request unique API Keys for each API from once signed into the Developer Hub.
Your Username, password and unique API keys should only be used by you and must be kept confidential.
Section 2: Termination
Termination by you:
You may stop using the Developer Hub or any API at any time without notice.
You can delete your account from within the Developer Hub. Your account together with any personal data you have provided will immediately be deleted. We will keep anonymous usage data in accordance with our Developer Hub and API Privacy Policy, which is below and available by clicking ‘Terms’ at the top of the page.
Termination by CCEW:
Account activity will be monitored for the purposes of identifying and removing inactive accounts or deactivating inactive API keys. An account or an API key may be deemed inactive 12 months after it was last accessed or used.
We reserve the right to remove your access to the Developer Hub or deactivate an API key temporarily or permanently without notice.
Section 3: Using the Developer Hub and the APIs
You will require the end users of your products and services to comply with (and not knowingly enable them to breach) all applicable laws, regulations, and these Terms.
You will comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and third-party rights (including without limitation laws regarding the import or export of data or software, privacy, and local laws).
You will not use the Developer Hub or the APIs, or any API response to encourage or promote illegal activity or breach third-party rights.
You will only access (or attempt to access) an API by the means described in the documentation of that API.
The Charity Commission may set and enforce rate and quota limits on your use of the APIs to ensure a high-quality service is provided to all users. Information about any rates and quota limits are specified in the Developer’s Hub.
We may contact you in connection with the administration of your account and use of the APIs using the email address provided by you. You agree to receiving these communications.
You may not misrepresent the source or ownership of data returned set out in an API response. You must acknowledge the source of the data set out in an API response in accordance with the terms of the Open Government Licence referred to in Section 5.
Section 4: Your API Keys
You must keep your API keys secure. This will prevent them from being discovered, your account from being compromised and your rate-limit quota from being exceeded.
You must not embed your API keys in your code or any open source software. Storing keys in your application code increases the risk that they will be discovered, particularly if any of your source code is made public or it can be viewed by people who should not have access to the key. Instead, you should store them inside environment variables or configuration.
You must not store your API Keys in your source tree. If you store API keys in files, for example, configuration or environment files, do not store them inside the application source tree. If all or part of the source is made public, the key may be compromised.
Where possible you must limit the use of an API key to a specific IP address or domain to reduce its usefulness if it becomes compromised.
You must regenerate your API keys regularly, including with each application release, to reduce the chance that a key will be discovered.
You must remove unused keys from your registered applications page to limit the number of entry points into your account.
Section 5: Crown Copyright
All material featured on the Developer Hub, including the content of each API response is subject to Crown Copyright and/or third-party copyright.
The API calls, API responses, and all other material on the Developer Hub website are subject to Crown Copyright and are made available to you subject to these Terms and the terms of the Open Government Licence. For the avoidance of any doubt, the Open Government Licence will remain in force in respect of any Crown Copyright material or data held by you on termination of these Terms by you or CCEW.
The names, images and logos identifying CCEW are proprietary marks. Copying our logos and/or any other third-party logos accessed through the Developer Hub is not permitted without prior approval from the relevant copyright owner.
Section 6: Personal Data
Any personal data you provide to us will be processed in accordance with our Developer Hub and API Privacy Policy, which is below and available by clicking ‘Terms’ at the top of the page.
You will be the data controller of any personal data provided to you by us.
You must ensure that you process all personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR (the “Data Protection Legislation”). You must:
• process the data lawfully, fairly, and transparently.
• ensure you have a lawful basis for processing the personal data.
• ensure you have complied with the data subject notification requirements set out in the Data Protection Legislation.
• have in place appropriate technical and organisational security measures to prevent unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and accidental loss or destruction of or damage to the personal data.
For the avoidance of doubt, you must not use or share any personal data for marketing purposes without obtaining the data subject’s prior consent.
We may be required by law to delete the personal data of an individual held on our Register. If we have shared that individual’s personal data with you we may notify you and require you to delete that individual’s data. You must delete that personal data on receipt of the notice.
Section 7: Prohibitions
When accessing the Developer Hub or using the APIs, you may not:
• Perform an action with the intent of introducing to CCEW services any viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses, malware, or any items of a destructive nature.
• Interfere with or disrupt the APIs or the servers or networks providing the APIs.
Remove, obscure, or alter any of these Terms or any links to or notices of these Terms.
Section 8: Virus protection
We make all reasonable attempts to check and test material at all stages of production, and to exclude viruses from the Developer Hub website. It is always wise for you to run an up to date anti-virus program on all the material downloaded from the Internet. We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system, which may occur while using material derived from the Developer Hub website.
Section 9: Liability for our APIs
The Developer Hub website and any products, services, or material provided (including any third party information, products and services) is provided 'as is' without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.
Once materials have been downloaded from Developer Hub website, it is your responsibility to keep them safe and up to date. To the extent permitted by law, we cannot accept any responsibility for any loss (direct or indirect), liability, claim, demand, or damages arising from the download and subsequent use of these materials.
We do not warrant that the Developer Hub website and any functions, services and products provided via the Developer Hub will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the servers that make it available are free of viruses or represent the full functionality, accuracy or reliability of the materials. To the extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any loss or damage (direct or indirect) including without limitation any loss or damages whatsoever arising from the use, or loss of use, of data, or profits or other financial loss arising out of or in connection with the use of this website.
Section 10: General Provisions
You will not make any statement regarding your use of the Developer Hub or an API which suggests partnership with, sponsorship by, or any endorsement by CCEW without CCEW's prior written approval.
The Developer Hub is not for use by children under the age of 16.
These Terms do not give rise to any right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of these Terms.
You agree that these Terms any dispute of claim arising out of or in connection with their subject matter or formation will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
You agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with these Terms, their subject matter or the formation of the contract between you and CCEW.
Version 1.0 March 2021
Developer Hub and API Privacy Policy
The Charity Commission will collect certain personal data about you and your usage of the developer hub and API. This will include:
· Your name and email address collected at account creation
· Usage statistics on how you use the developer hub
· The number / frequency of requests you make via the API
We collect your personal data for the following purposes:
· Administering your account in the developer hub such as sending service updates to notify you of system maintenance or updates to the APIs.
· We collect usage statistics for analytics and to monitor the performance of the developer hub and API to ensure a reliable and stable service for all users
· To inform you of any data subject rights requests received by the Commission which you may need to comply with
For these purposes your personal data is processed under Article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR and in accordance with the Terms of Use you agreed to when setting up your account in the Developer Hub. Article (1)(b) permits the processing of personal data where:
“processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract”
The Charity Commission uses cookies to collect information on how you are using our services. To find out more about how we use cookies and to manage your settings please see our Cookies Policy here.
We use a third-party data processor, Microsoft Corporation’s Azure, which provides technology and data services to us to enable us to provide this service to you. Although your personal data will be held by this third party, we have a contract in place which means that they and their subcontractors cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it.
Your data will be stored securely within the Microsoft Corporation’s Azure UK South Datacentre. Your personal data will not be shared with any other third parties.
All personal data collected for the purposes outlined will be deleted when your user account is deleted. We will keep anonymous usage data for analytical purposes for 2 years after this date.
Further information on how the Charity Commission processes personal data is available in our Personal Information Charter.
Your rights
You have a number of rights under the data protection laws, including the right to access your data and the right to restrict or object to further processing and the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
You can find out more about your rights as a data subject, and details of how to contact our Data Protection Officer and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), in our main privacy notice, the Personal Information Charter.
