eWitness
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This terms of use agreement (the "Agreement") governs your use of the database of the electronic data, communications, postings and materials scraped from certain selected platforms and other digital content (the "databases") available through the eWitness service “eWitness"). eWitness is a service of Unit 221B, a Delaware Limited Liability Corporation. Where the term “eWitness” is used herein, the parties understand it to mean the service offered by Unit 221B and any indemnifications of eWitness include indemnification of Unit 221B, its agents and employees. When accessing eWitness archived data, you will be presented with the terms of use agreement. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use eWitness’s databases or its cloud-based database portal (the "Site"). This agreement is a legally binding contract. By using this service you are agreeing to be bound by its terms and conditions.
Description of eWitness. eWitness is a moderated portal which collects, stores and analyzes data from certain selected platforms which is intended to preserve otherwise publicly posted information from these platforms for analysis by the computer security, research and threat intelligence community. The nature of the data collected, the platforms selected, and the channels retrieved are determined for the most part by the eWitness user community, although Unit 221B and other threat intelligence professionals may, in their sole discretion, add or remove channels or postings. Unit 221B is not a consumer reporting agency, and data from the eWitness database is not to be used for purposes prohibited by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S. Code § 1681a et seq. The channels and platforms selected are intended to reflect the concerns of the information security and threat intelligence community, and eWitness is intended to collect, store, and search for data related to specific malicious/abusive/criminal communities on chat platforms. We make no warranty or representation that the portal is complete, accurate or comprehensive. We do use forensic tools to copy data from the original source, and therefore, materials in the eWitness platform accurately reflect the content that was originally collected.
No Warranty of Accuracy or Fitness. eWitness, as a user generated database, makes no warranty or representation that the data scraped, stored or indexed is accurate, and is not responsible for the contents of any such data. eWitness and Unit 221B are not publishers or curators of such data and provide access to such data under the provisions of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Subscriber Selection of Channels or Platforms. eWitness subscribers identify communications and channels of interest on the applicable platforms like Discord and Telegram, or other platforms which may become part of the eWitness site in the future. These channels are selected based on their relevance to the cybersecurity and threat intelligence community at large, or based upon their specific interest to identified cybersecurity or threat intelligence personnel. This includes cybersecurity personnel, anti-abuse workers, law enforcement personnel, researchers, academics, journalists and others interested in collecting and reviewing relevant threat intelligence information (Subscribers). Once a Subscriber identifies a relevant channel or account, the Subscriber may enroll the account they have created on the applicable platform to the eWitness scrapers. Any such enrolled accounts will then become part of the overall database, unless it is designated to be part of a separate and private database. The information in the general database is searchable and indexable by any and all Subscribers, any of whom may add to the database.
Subscriber Compliance With Platform Policies. It is the obligation of the Subscriber to ensure that they comply with all terms of service and terms of use and privacy policies of the applicable platforms and the subscribers and/or their sponsoring agencies or employers agree to indemnify and hold eWitness, Unit 221B and its agents harmless against any claim, judgment or action (including advancement and payment of reasonable attorney’s fees) arising from a claim that Subscriber did not comply with the platforms’ Terms of Service, Terms of Use, Copyright Policies, or Privacy Policies.
Subscriber Access to eWitness and Authentication. eWitness, at its sole discretion, may provide you with a password to access certain databases, provided that you complete any required application process and provide accurate information in your application. You may use your password only to access the databases in ways consistent with this Agreement — no other access to or use of the Site, the databases, or eWitness's services is authorized. You agree not to interfere with the work of other users or eWitness personnel, servers, or resources. Further, you agree not to recirculate your password to other people or organizations. Please report any unauthorized use of your password promptly to ewitness-support@unit221b.com You acknowledge that you have read and understood eWitness’s Privacy Policy and agree that eWitness may collect, use, and distribute information pursuant to that policy. If you provide any content to eWitness, you grant eWitness a nonexclusive, royalty-free right to use that content.
Subscriber Compliance With Law and Non-Interference. Some of the content available through eWitness may be governed by local, national, and/or international laws and regulations, and your use of such content is solely at your own risk. You agree to abide by all applicable laws and regulations, including intellectual property and data privacy laws, in connection with your use of eWitness. In particular, you certify that your use of any part of eWitness's databases will be limited to noninfringing or fair use under copyright law. If a Creative Commons or other license has been declared for particular material on eWitness, to the extent you trust the declaration and declarer (which is rarely eWitness), you may use the content according to the terms and conditions of the applicable license. In using eWitness's site, databases, and/or services, you further agree (a) not to violate anyone's rights of privacy, (b) not to act in any way that might give rise to civil or criminal liability, (c) not to use or attempt to use another person's password, (d) not to collect or store personal data about anyone, (e) not to infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other proprietary rights of any person, (f) not to transmit or facilitate the transmission of unsolicited email ("spam"), (g) not to harass, threaten, or otherwise annoy anyone, and (h) not to act in any way that might be harmful to minors, including, without limitation, transmitting or facilitating the transmission of child pornography, obscene materials, or other prohibited materials which is prohibited by federal law and may be reported to the authorities should it be discovered by eWitness.
eWitness Improvement and Attribution. You agree that we may contact you from time to time with surveys or other questions regarding your opinions about and uses of eWitness, as well as with information we believe may be of interest to you. We encourage you to respond to these surveys because we value your input, which will assist us in improving eWitness. In addition, we request that, according to standard academic practice, if you use eWitness's databases for any research that results in an article, a book, or other publication, you list eWitness as a resource in your bibliography.
Removal of Data from eWitness Database. While we collect publicly available chat sessions, messages, or postings, sometimes authors and publishers express a desire for their documents not to be included in the databases (by tagging a file for robot exclusion or by contacting us or the original crawler group). If the author or publisher of some part of eWitness does not want his or her work in our databases, then we may remove that portion of the databases without notice. Indeed, we reserve the right to remove data from the database to comply with applicable data privacy, copyright, or other law or regulation, at the request of law enforcement of other agencies, or for any other purpose in our sole and exclusive discretion.
eWitness Agent Expert Witness Testimony. eWitness data is collected using API’s provided by and authorized by the relevant platforms together with proprietary software, code or processes developed by eWitness. These API’s and other code are designed to create a copy of the data and certain relevant metadata relating to what was originally posted on the applicable platforms. If eWitness agents or representatives are required to testify in any proceeding about the accuracy or completeness of the methodology of copying the data, or about the process of copying such data, you agree (1) to compensate such witnesses at a prevailing market rate for expert witness testimony and preparation; and (2) to take all legal steps necessary to protect eWitness intellectual property and trade secrets, including but not limited to seeking appropriate protective orders, quashing subpoenas or other legal process, and filing pleadings or other documents under seal and subject to the protection of applicable courts at your own expense, or to reimburse eWitness or its agents’ reasonable attorney’s fees associated with the protection of its trade secrets or intellectual property.
API Reliance. eWitness’ access to, and ability to download and analyze data is dependent upon the Application Program Interfaces (API’s) permitting such access provided by the platforms from which the data is obtained, as well as the applicable Terms of Use, Terms of Service and privacy policies of these platforms. You agree that you understand and agree to abide by these third party terms of use, service and privacy policies. You also understand that any changes to these policies or APIs may impact the ability of eWitness to provide the services described herein in the future.
Termination by Us. eWitness may immediately terminate this Agreement at its sole discretion at any time upon written notice (including via email) to you. Upon termination, you agree that eWitness may immediately deactivate any password it has issued to you and bar you from accessing the databases or the Site.
eWitness may modify this Agreement from time to time, and your continued use of the databases and/or the Site constitutes your acceptance of any and all modifications. eWitness will attempt to notify you of substantial modifications via the email address that you have registered with us, if any.
eWitness Not Responsible for Content. Because the content of the databases comes from around the world and from many different sectors, the databases may contain information that might be deemed offensive, disturbing, pornographic, racist, sexist, bizarre, misleading, fraudulent, or otherwise objectionable. Indeed, one of the purposes of the database is to collect and store precisely this kind of information to be appropriately used by researchers, anti-abuse workers, and threat intelligence specialists. eWitness does not endorse or sponsor any content in the database, nor does it guarantee or warrant that the content available in the database is accurate, complete, noninfringing, or legally accessible in your jurisdiction, and you agree that you are solely responsible for abiding by all laws and regulations that may be applicable to the viewing of the content. In addition, the databases are provided to you on an as-is and as-available basis. You agree that your use of the Site and the database is at your sole risk. You understand and agree that eWitness makes no warranty or representation regarding the accuracy, currency, completeness, reliability, or usefulness of the content in the database, that the Site or the database will meet your requirements, that access to the database will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free, or that defects, if any, will be corrected. We make no warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
Indemnification and Arbitration. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the eWitness and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, officers, directors, and employees (including but not limited to Unit 221B) from and against any and all liability, loss, claims, damages, costs, and/or actions (including attorneys’ fees) arising from your use of eWitness’s services, the site, or the database. You agree that this Agreement is governed by New York law and that any suit arising from this Agreement will be brought in New York County, New York, and you further agree that on the election and reasonable notice of either party any litigation shall be referred to arbitration pursuant to the NY CPLR §§7501 et seq. You agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the Court of the City, County and State of New York, as well as the federal courts in the Southern District of New York. In addition, you agree that should any provision in the Agreement be found invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, that provision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions.
Non-Liability of eWitness/Unit 221B. Under no circumstances, including, without limitation, negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct shall eWitness or its parents, affiliates, officers, employees, or agents be responsible for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from or in connection with the use of or the inability to use the Site or the databases, or any content contained on the Site or in the databases, or resulting from unauthorized access to the databases or your transmissions of data, including, without limitation, damages for loss of profits, use, data, or other intangibles, even if eWitness has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so some of the above may not apply to you.
Full Agreement. This Agreement, the Privacy Policy, Statements of Work and other policies posted on the Site constitute the full and complete agreement between you and eWitness and are not intended to insure to third-party beneficiaries.
We welcome your input. Please contact us with any comments or questions.