Charter of commitment to the proper use of
the Buddy System platform

1. Preamble

This charter defines the usage rights and limits on the Buddy System platform.
The website/platform allows users to access information and data related to the Buddy System, and the access to certain services such as the internal messaging system. Some data and services may be restricted to specific user categories.
A user is : any person using the platform, logged in or not, as an international student (mentee), as a local student (mentor), as a representative of a student association(Buddy Coordinator), as a representative of an Higher Education Institution (Institute Manager) or as an administrator.

2. Acceptance of the user charter

By using the Buddy System platform, the user agrees to respect the terms and conditions of navigating on the platform, as stated in this charter. This charter can be modified and updated without prior notice by the editor, it is the user’s responsibility to check it regularly. The user is expected to acknowledge and accept the charter at each connection and navigation on the platform. Every connection and navigation should abide by this charter.

3. User responsibility

Interacting on the platform

Nudity and sexual contents are banned from this platform.

Any user trying to obtain private information to commit fraud will see his/her account deleted. Any user exchanging financial information such as an account number or an online payment service will see his/her account deleted.

Promoting or advocating for commercial sexual services, human trafficking or other non-consensual sexual acts is strictly prohibited and will result in your account being banned from the platform.

Interaction with the technical team

When communicating with platform representatives, who can be reached at buddysystem@esnfrance.org, the user commits to being respectful and polite in the communication. If your behaviour is considered threatening, insulting, rude or disrespectful at any time, they may stop responding and/or delete your account.

Respect for laws

The users commits not to break the law or any rules. It is forbidden to do the following (criminal penalty is to be expected):

infringing the private life of any user. In this framework, sending unsolicited messages to the web platform users is forbidden;
libelling and insulting;
inciting to crimes and felonies, inciting to suicide, discrimination, racial hatred and/or violence;
advocating for crimes, among which murder, rape, war crimes and crimes against humanity, or historical negationism;
reproducing, representing or sharing a piece of work without any authorisation;
advertising or sharing messages with a commercial intent;
promoting discussions showing an intent of copying commercial softwares for a use other than safeguarding it in the condition stated in the intellectual property rules.

Promoting or advocating for commercial sexual services, human trafficking or other non-consensual sexual acts is strictly prohibited and will result in your account being banned from the platform.

It is forbidden to use personal data from students to any other end than ensuring a good pairing system implementation. It is also forbidden to transmit data to third parties without the users consent and the technical team consent.

Self-responsibility

Your profile details should not make it impersonal or anonymous: the information asked (hobbies, motivations, languages, etc) are required to provide a better compatibility with other buddies. This also includes fake profiles and inactive ones too.
Even if the Buddy System platform encourages a respectful experience when linking young people, it can not be held responsible for the behaviour of its users, while on the platform or during activities related to it.
You understand you need to be careful during your social interactions, and also when you decide to talk via other communication means than the platform, and when meeting your buddy or buddies once you have been matched.
We advise you not to give financial information (bank account, online paying systems) and also not to indicate right away your personal address and personal information until you feel confident to do so. If a request seems odd, ask your Buddy Coordinator for advice (either from the students association or your hosting school or university).
The Buddy System platform will bear no responsibility for any user’s behaviour on the platform or outside of it.
We strongly suggest you to inform us (buddysystem@esnfrance.org) of any behaviour that goes against this Users Chart policy, and to read carefully the pieces of advice given.

Activities outside the platform

The Buddy System platform will bear no responsibility for any user’s behaviour on the platform or outside of it.

Meetings responsibilities :

Each mentor and mentee has to make sure of each other’s identity before meeting one another. Physical meeting is under the mentor and mentee’s responsibility, even if encouraged by the platform and its pairing system.
The Buddy System platform and its administrators can not be held responsible for any event, meeting or activity organised by current or past buddies or their coordinators (associations or HEIs), nor their behaviour.
The following acts are not under the Buddy System platform responsibility nor the manager’s responsibility: activities and issues provoked or caused by members (current and previous) during events organised by mentors, mentees, managers. However, the responsibility is to be held by the structure organising the event, for the participants or the persons taking part in the organisation.

Buddies or coordinators commit to observe the following process

When meeting your Buddy for the first time, it is best to organise it in a public place. It is also advised to tell a friend or relative of your whereabouts.
only offer real and practicable gathering
let the other buddy or group know if the gathering is modified, delayed or canceled or if you can not attend.
only offer non-commercial activities (you should not have to pay to meet your buddy, but if you meet in a bar, you have to pay for what you consume), legal and safe gathering options.
only offer non-discriminating options.

4. Managers Responsibility

Make sure the buddies are maintaining good relationships on the platform, as much as possible, by being easily available and reachable by email, and even more so in case of reports to help quickly the students.

If you create talking spaces outside of the platform (Facebook or WhatsApp groups, etc), you are responsible of them. So make sure you provide training opportunities to raise awareness about interculturality, harassment and any other topic you deem essential in this Buddy System framework.

Keep a polite attitude on the platform: try and be as clear as possible, and patient as well, the students may not fully understand the language you are using.As a Coordinator or a Manager, mentors and mentees rely on you: it is important to be responsive when students need you, to fulfil your duties and monitor regularly the pairs.

Events

Finally, when you organise events and activities for the buddies, you are engaging your responsibility.

let the other buddy or group know if the gathering is modified, delayed or canceled or if you can not attend.
only offer non-commercial activities (or clearly state if there is a cost), legal and safe gathering options.
only offer non-discriminating options.

5. Responsibility of the platform

The Buddy System platform cannot operate any systematic criminal background check of its users, or any other checks.

The Managers, either from the students associations or Higher Education Institutions using the platform, can verify any information about the users they are matching, by using what is available on the platform. They can only access the information of the users they can match.

The platform cannot be held responsible for:

illegal activities and behaviours from any user on the platform or outside of it.
illegal contents from any user on the platform or outside of it.
physical meetings from any user or Buddy Coordinator outside of the platform

The technical team behind the Buddy System platform offers it and its functionalities as it is. It cannot grant any guarantee of any nature about the platform and its functionalities availability, or that they do not contain mistakes or bugs, or that the content is completely exact.

The Buddy System platform will bear no responsibility for any user’s behaviour on the platform or outside of it.

Compliance with the IT security and integrity

The user commits to abide by the law regarding digital fraud, and to refrain from engaging in any data breach or intrusion in an automated data management system, or from altering partly or completely the information that it contains. The user bears in mind that such acts can be sanctioned criminally by law. The user also commits to not transmitting any virus nor using the web platform for any malicious action such as hacking and similar acts.

One Person, One Account

Only create one account on the Buddy System, and if you do not want to use your own anymore, delete it in order not to use unnecessary memory and space.

Links towards other websites or services

Links bringing the user to external pages and/or websites are not under the responsibility of the Buddy System platform or its technical team, either with regard to their content or their availability conditions. Such links do not represent any endorsement or recommendation of the websites and their contents.

Charter of commitment to the proper use of the Buddy System platform