Site Use Policy

WEBSITE MEMBERSHIP

ELIGIBILITY. The ABCA Private Website is intended for use by members of the armed forces and departments/ ministries of defense of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

REGISTRATION. Eligible members applying for membership must submit a fully completed, on-line registration and must indicate their agreement to abide by this ABCA Website Use Policy.

APPROVAL. Memberships will be considered for approval by the applicant’s ABCA National Coordination Officer, on behalf of the applicant’s ABCA National Director. ABCA Program Office applications will be processed by the ABCA Webmaster on behalf of the ABCA Chief of Staff.

TERMINATION. Memberships may be terminated at any time without warning at the discretion of the member’s ABCA National Coordination Officer, the member’s ABCA National Director or the ABCA Chief of Staff.

WEBSITE ACCESS AND USE

OFFICIAL USE. Access to and use of the ABCA Private Website is intended for approved members to conduct official ABCA Program business and share knowledge in accordance with the aim, mission or goals of the ABCA Program.

NON-TRANSFERABILITY. Access to the ABCA Private Website will only be granted to members using an approved username and password. Members may only use the username and password that have been approved for their individual use. Aliases and group usernames are not authorized. Members may not lend their username and password to others to use.

USERNAME. Approved members will be assigned a single, unique username as part of their application process. The username will be automatically allocated based on the member’s last name, first name and nation. Usernames are not intended to change over time.

PASSWORD. Approved members will select a single password as part of their application process. The password must comprise 10 alphanumeric characters of which any two must be numbers, any two must be lower-case letters and any two must be upper-case letters. Passwords will be valid for a period of no more than six months. Prior to the end of the validity period, members will be notified to change their password. After the end of the validity period, members will be forced to change their password before further access is granted. Members may change their password often and at any time using the applicable on-line form.

COMPROMISE. Members who determine that their username and password have been compromised are required to change their password immediately and report the incident to the ABCA Webmaster as soon as possible.

WEBSITE CONTENT

LIABILITY. The ABCA Private Website is a forum for the sharing of Program-related information and for the collaborative development of ABCA Program Products. The ABCA Program makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy or completeness of the information on the website.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. The ABCA Program retains all intellectual property rights to approved ABCA Program Products and grants unlimited license for the public, non-commercial use of those products to the government departments/ministries and armed forces of the participating nations.

CLASSIFICATION. The ABCA Private Website is neither a classified information system nor a component therein. Its purpose is to hold and disseminate only information that is unclassified (UNCLAS) or that is sensitive but unclassified, which is sometimes referred to as “For Official Use Only” (FOUO). Members will not upload, correspond or transfer classified information on the website.

UPLOADING INFORMATION. Members who upload, correspond or transfer information on the ABCA Private Website are responsible for ensuring that the information is not classified, that they have the requisite authority for the information’s foreign disclosure and that they are not infringing on the intellectual property rights of the information.

DOWNLOADING INFORMATION. Members who download or receive information into hardcopy or electronic form from the ABCA Private Website are responsible for:

• According the information the same security classification, designation and safeguards given it by the originator.

• Protecting the information’s proprietary rights and ensuring no use will be made of the information that might endanger these rights without prior agreement of the originator.

• Obtaining the originator’s prior agreement before proprietary information is used for non-military purposes.

• Not disclosing the information to a non-member nation or dependency without the prior approval of the originating nation for single-sourced information (e.g., a report from one of the Armies) or of the ABCA Program Office for collectively developed information (e.g., an ABCA Publication).

• Not disclosing the information to industry or the general public without the prior approval of the originating nation for single-sourced information or of the ABCA Program Office for collectively developed information.

• Not modifying approved ABCA Products without prior approval of the ABCA Program Office.

INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY. Members should be aware that all information on the ABCA Private Website is and is intended to be accessible by all members of the website. Information not meant to be accessible to all members should not be loaded on the website.

PRIVACY

PERSONAL INFORMATION. Contact information is collected on members of the ABCA Private Website for the purposes of identifying them during the membership application process, providing continuing website service to them, conducting ABCA Program business, and facilitating their engagement and information sharing with other members.

DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION. Members’ contact information is stored in the ABCA Private Website’s Contact Database and is accessible by all members of the website. Members’ contact information will be protected and will not be disclosed to non-members or outside the ABCA community unless legally required by police investigation or other legal proceedings.

IDENTIFICATION OF MEMBERS. The identity of members downloading or transferring information on the ABCA Private Website or making comments on the website’s on-line discussion fora will be accessible by other members.

USAGE TRACKING

User activity on the ABCA websites may be monitored for all lawful purposes, including ensuring their use is authorized, managing the system, facilitating protection against unauthorized access and verifying security safeguards. During monitoring, information may be examined, recorded, copied and used for authorized and lawful purposes. All information, including personal information placed on or sent over this system, may be monitored. Use of the ABCA websites, whether authorized or unauthorized, constitutes consent to monitoring.

For management of the ABCA websites, user activity may be tracked as session data for the purpose of collecting usage statistics. These statistics will be used to improve the website’s functionality and quality of service. Session data may include such information as IP addresses, operating systems, browser types, webpages visited, activities conducted and visit durations.. Session data will be stored in an aggregate form and will not be re-associated with members’ identities or other personal information.

LINKS

The ABCA Public and Private Websites refer to and/or actively hyperlink to external websites as an information resource only. References and links to these websites do not constitute endorsement by the ABCA Program of the websites or of the information, products or services contained therein. The ABCA Program is not responsible for the information, products or services contained on these websites. This ABCA Website Use Policy does not extend to these websites.

INQUIRIES

Inquiries concerning the ABCA Private Website and its policies should be addressed to:

American, British, Canadian and Australian
Armies’ Program
1777 North Kent Street, Suite 8600
Rosslyn, Virginia, USA 22209

ABCA SO1 C41
Phone: 703-588-6565
Fax: 703-588-7528

Webmaster - ABCA Chief Clerk
psocc.abca@hqda.army.mil
Phone: 703-588-6555
Fax: 703-588-7528