Terms and Conditions of Use for Helex Group Websites
Α. DEFINITIONS - GENERAL TERMS
1. Sites, Information and Services
The Helex Group of companies - Athens Stock Exchange (hereafter referred to as "Helex Group", or simply "the Group") makes available via its website "www.athexgroup.gr" and other websites with domain names "ase.gr", "athex.gr" and "helex.gr", hereafter collectively referred to as Websites, information regarding its activities and its products. This includes, without being limited to, financial markets that the Helex Group operates, financial instruments traded in these markets, trading sessions and instrument trading prices occurring in these sessions, listed companies, as well as information about the Group's own operations and the regulatory framework of financial markets in general and especially its own markets. Also made available are flows of information originating from listed companies, as well as from the Group's own Administration, its Boards and its Committees. Finally, the Group also disseminates special-purpose information targeted to its member companies, its listed companies, the investor community, its shareholders and media/press. All the above are hereafter collectively referred to as "Information".
Besides all the above, the Group also makes available information and data services and products, namely real-time or delayed intraday diagrams and historic diagrams of its financial instruments, RSS/Atom feeds containing announcements from the Group, RSS/Atom feeds containing listed companies announcements or any other information, files containing financial instruments closing prices, files to be used for updating its member companies IT systems, etc. All these are hereafter collectively referred to as "Services".
2. Provided Information and Services
Information made available through the Group's Websites constitutes a superset of the information whose public nature is mandated by the current regulatory framework. The overall set of Information and Services made available through the Websites is defined by the Group, taking into account the requirements of the legal and regulatory framework, and aiming at guaranteeing transparency, public dissemination of information, and smooth market operation. Information and Services available from the Group's Websites are targeted either to the general public, or to specific groups and categories of Website visitors, on the basis of special agreements that the Group establishes with these visitors.
3. Right to modify Information and Services
The Group reserves the right to modify the Information and Services provided to the public through its Websites as to their nature, their timing parameters, their scope, their correlation with other Information, their response speed, and other characteristics, ensuring that the result, after the modification, remains within the provisions of the current regulatory framework. The Group can proceed in such modifications without prior notice, written or otherwise. For Information or Services provided to the Website users on the basis of special agreements or contracts, the terms and conditions of these agreements or contracts shall apply.
Β. TERMS OF USE FOR WEBSITES, PUBLIC INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND SERVICES
4. Website availability and response time
The Group and its personnel tak all necessary measures and make every possible effort to ensure the continuous 24x7 availability and adequate response time of the Group's Websites and the Information and Services provided through these Websites. However, due to the nature of the Internet and the World Wide Web technology, the Group's Websites may at times become unavailable, totally or in part, or respond intermittently, or take an inadequate time to respond. In such cases, the Group and its personnel will make every possible effort to reinstate the correct operation and restore the service of its Websites. Beyond that, the Group cannot be held responsible, legally or otherwise, for the non-availability or the inadequate response time of its Websites.
5. Completeness and Correctness of Information and Services
Information and Services are provided on the Group's Websites with the belief that they are complete and correct, and after every possible effort has been made to this end. However, due to the nature of the applications that feed the Websites' applications with data, it is possible in rare cases that incomplete Information is shown, or that Information is shown containing logical or arithmetic errors. Similarly, in rare cases the Websites may present incomplete Information, or Information with logical or arithmetic errors. Similarly, malfunctions related to files containing Information may occur (for instance, missing data files, older versions of files appearing instead of the correct ones, empty data files, etc.). Similarly, Services like the real-time or delayed intraday diagrams, RSS/Atom feeds, files with closing prices, etc. may, in rare cases, contain invalid data, or become totally unresponsive. In such cases, the Group and its personnel will make every possible effort to reinstate the correctness and the completeness of the affected Information or Services, as well as the correct response of these Services. Beyond that, the Group cannot be held responsible, legally or otherwise, for the availability, the correctness and the response of Information and Services on its Websites.
6. Appropriate use of Information and Services
Information and Services offered to the public through the Group's Websites are made available for disseminating and informing the public. Visitors of the Websites may use the Information and Services for their personal use, namely for their own information and for keeping their own files, for updating data files and information systems that do not include information retransmission to third parties, for assistance in authoring and editing articles and reports, and in general, for any legal use that does not include the redistribution or retransmission of information to third parties.
7. Intellectual property rights
The Group reserves exclusively the intellectual property rights of ownership, continuous use and exploitation of all the Information presented on its Websites, as set by the regulation governing the protection of intellectual property rights. Permission is hereby given for the reproduction of Information from the Group's Websites for inclusion in Press and Media articles, broadcasts, etc., provided that the respective Website is referenced as the source of the Information. The intellectual property rights for Information that is sourced from third parties may belong to these third parties.
8. Conditions of use for Websites
The Group's Websites are primarily built for being visited using Internet browsers. The Websites can be accessed from computers (desktop or laptop), as well as from mobile devices (smart phones and tablets).
The Websites use extensively technologies such as JavaScript and Cookies, in order to offer to visitors an improved experience. De-activating JavaScript or de-activating or otherwise disabling Cookes on the user's Internet browser may can impair severely the useability of the Websites.
9. Internet browsers
It is suggested to use the latest versions of Internet browser software in order to visit the Group's Websites. The last versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari browser software are supported. Internet Explorer versions older than 7 are not supported, whereas version 7 is supported, though with limited functionality and a lesser look-and-feel than with other browsers.
10. Charges
The Group offers basic access to its Websites free of charge and without any other obligations on the part of visitors, besides complying to the Terms and Conditions set herein. Access of additional Services offered through the Websites may incur charges, and will be governed on a per-case basis by the special terms or contracts for these Services.
11. Acceptable use of Websites
The suggested use of the Group's Websites is their access and navigation using the suggested herein Internet browser software. Accessing the websites using automated software (robots) for purposes other than indexing is discouraged, with the exception of data files offered especially for this purpose (for instance, data files containing closing prices).
12. Automated navigation and indexing software (web robots)
Software performing automated navigation and indexing of the Group's websites must use limited bandwidth, e.g. by pausing between requests or by means of other network-level techniques). They must also offer a correct User-Agent HTTP header that refers to their true identity, as well as obey the instructions on the /robots.txt files. The Group reserves the right at its own judgment to limit the access of Web robots to specific Websites, Web pages or data, to limit the effective bandwidth available to Web robots, or to disable totally their access to some or all of its Websites.
13. Page refresh
Pages of the Group's Websites are not auto-refreshed. Specific Services may provide for automatic refresh of the respective pages or specific subsets of these pages that contain specific Information. Beyond this, excessively frequent and continuous requests for refreshing pages may cause delays or even disruption in the response of the Websites for the specific Internet address from which such such requests originate.
14. Acceptable use of RSS/Atom feeds
RSS/Atom feeds are offered for facilitating the use of specialized automated personal information software (RSS readers). Such automated software must not access RSS/Atom feeds more often than a time interval defined in a special terms and conditions text for RSS/Atom feeds.
C. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND PUBLISHING OF INFORMATION FROM THIRD PARTIES
15. Information from third parties
The Group's Websites publish Information that may have been authored by the Group's personnel, but also from thrid-party sources. The role of the Websites as governed in part from the regulatory framework (market regulations, etc.) and includes publishing of third-party Information without editing from part of the Group's personnel. Thus, the layout, the content, the available languages (Greek, English), the correctness and the fitness to a particular purpose of such Information orignating from third-party sources is not under the control or the responsibility of the Group, and the Group cannot be held responsible, legally or otherwise, for the layout, the characteristics or the content of such Information originating from third parties.
16. Linking to third-party websites
Visitors of the Group's Websites can be referred to or redirected to third-party websites, via specialized links, hyperlinks, banners, etc. The content of such third-party websites is the responsibility of their owners. The Group cannot guarantee the availability of, and does not hold any responsibility on the content, the correctness, the legal status, the completeness, the accuracy, or the up-to-dateness of third-party websites, nor for the quality and the properties of products or services that may be offered from such websites. Linking to third-party websites is done for the ease and facilitation of the Group's Websites visitors, and under no circumstances does it constitute or imply any legal binding, warranty, appraisal or recommendation from the part of the Group as to the quality of the third-party websites' content and services.
D. TERMS OF USE FOR INDIVIDUALIZED ACCESS TO WEBSITES
17. Access to subscriber services - Login - Identity - Password
The Group's Websites, in order to provide access to Information or Services on the basis of individual or collective agreements or contracts (hereafter referred to as Subscriber Services), support a login capability (hereafter referred to as Login). The credentials used for Login are the user's email address or username and a password (hereafter collectively referred to as Identity, whereas the password part of the Identity is hereafter referred to as Password). An Identity can be granted to a user exclusively by the Group, on the basis of an agreement. A user's Identity is connected to that user's Subscriber Services.
18. Identity properties
A user's Identity constitutes a personal datum of this user, and identifies that user uniquely. For the purposes of accessing the Group's website, use of a user's Identity is equivalent to this user's signature. Identities are only granted to human users. In the case of non-human users, such as bodies, companies, etc., these bodies must delegate human users who will be granted an Identity for the Group's Websites on these bodies' behalf.
Login to the Group's Websites is only allowed if the user has obtained an Identity via legal means and following the procedures that the Group has defined to that purpose. The user is responsible for the actions that are performed on the Group's Websites after performing a Login with the user's Identity..
19. Administering Passwords
It is a user's responsibility to keep the Passwords obtaining as part of that user's Identity confidential. The user must keep such Passwords secret, not disclose them to any third party and make sure that they will not leak to third parties. In case that a Password is leaked to a third party for any reason, the user is responsible to change that password, either by contacting the Group, or via automated procedures offered through the Website. In case Passwords are leaked because of actions or omissions of the Group's personnel, the Group's responsibility is limited to notifying the affected users over email.
20. Password Policies
In order to ensure the strength of the Passwords and to avoid their disclosure to third parties attempting brute-force attacks, the Group may enforce Password policies. Namely, the following policies may be enforced: (a) enforcement of strong passwords using technical means (password strength checkers), (b) expiration of Passwords after a given time interval from their creation or last modification, (c) prohibition of use the same Password when a Password must be changed and (d) locking of a user account after a limited number of failed Login attempts.
21. Password renewal, unlocking, reminding and reset
Users with expired Passwords shall have the capability of accessing the Websites in order to change their Password using the expired Password for a limited number of attempts. Users with locked accounts must address the appropriate support teams of the Group in order to have their accounts unlocked. Users who have forgotten or lost their Password may be able to make use of appropriate password resminder or password reset mechanisms, wherever these mechanisms are available on the Group's Websites, otherwise they shall have to contact the appropriate support teams of the Group in order to be issued a new Password.
22. "HERMES" system responsibilities
The Group, acting as the administrator of the "HERMES" system ("Hellenic Exchanges Remote MEssaging Services") and that system's Website, does not hold any responsibility, contractual or otherwise, other than for deceit or severe negligence.
The Group takes every possible measure for the appropriate maintenance and operation of its information systems, including the Webpage of HERMES, and takes every possible action for restoring services and fixing problems on an as-soon-as-possible basis.
The Group is the sole responsible for the maintenance, the upgrade and the updating of the HERMES system and its Webpage.
Ε. PRIVACY - PERSONAL DATA
23. Personal Data - Privacy of anonymous users
The Group does not collect or process personal data of anonymous visitors of its Websites.
24. Personal Data - Privacy of users having an Identity
The user maintains files with personal information, according to the Law for the users who posses an Identity on its Websites.
The Group uses the personal data of users with an Identity in order to (a) get into contact with these users, when these users request such contact; (b) notify them, in case of a problem with the security of their Password; (c) categorize them into groups who have access to specific subsets of Information or Services, as set by agreements or contracts between these users or their employers and the Group.
Personal data of users with an Identity on the Group's Websites are not used to cross-check any other activity of these users within the Group, including but not limited to these users' trading or investor activities.
Personal data of users recorded or maintained on the Group's information systems on the basis of these users' Identity are kept confidential and are not disclosed to any third parties.
25. Privacy of communications
The Identity data of users are considered confidential. Every communication between the user's browser and the Group's Websites that contains or is based on Passwords is encrypted using the SSLv3/TLSv1.1/TLSv1.2 protocols.
26. Digital certificates
Digital certificates used by the Group's Websites are issued by the PKI Certification Authority that the Group operates according to the law (PKI-CA; see further http://www.helex.gr/el/web/guest/digital-certificates). If the user's browser does not have the root certificate of this PKI-CA pre-installed, the user may have to install them according to the "Instructions for Installing Digital Certificates on Web Browsers (available only in Greek). The installation procedure differs among browsers and operating systems, and is covered in the aforementioned instructions document for several types of browsers. The Group cannot be held responsible for the limitations of capabilities occurring from the inability of some devices, browsers, or operating systems, to install the above certificate.
ΣΤ. INACCEPTABLE - ILLEGAL USE
27. Abuse
Failing in any way to abide to the terms and conditions contained herein constitutes an abuse and may be subject to legal prosecution. Among others, it is not permitted to:
- publish, via the Group's Websites and the Services thereof, of discrediting, derrogatory, obscene, insulting or pornographic material.
- re-publish or re-transmit in any manner data from the Websites, except as explicitly permitted herein.
- display pages or parts thereof from the Groups Websites on third-party websites.
- store data from the Group's Webpages for the purpose of sale or for any other commercial use.
- modify or alter in any manner data, images, trademarks, copyrights or any other contents from the Group's Websites.
28. Illegal activities
The following, non-exhaustive list of activities are illegal and are subject to legal prosecution, regardless of whether they accomplish their actual illegal purpose:
- attempt to steal, wiretap, discover, brute-force attack or otherwise obtain or impersonate the Identity of other users.
- attempt to use the Websites in order to achieve communications with third systems, sucha as for example for sending unsolicited emails.
- attempt to gain unauthorized access via the Groups Websites to systems or networks under the administration of the Group or other third parties.
- attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Group's Websites in order to post or modify or alter or affect in anyway the Websites' contents.
- attempt to install any kind of software on the systems or the networks of the Group, or via these systems or networks, to systems or networks of third parties.
- attempt to execute code via scripting or injection or other similar techniques.
- attempt to negatively affect the smooth operation of the Websites, as for example by submitting invalid requests to them, or by sending requests in an excessive rate or number.
The Group shall proceed at its sole judgment to all suitable legal actions for locating and legally prosecuting individuals or groups involved in activities such as the ones listed above, and for the restoration of any damage incurred as a result of these activities.
29. Logging of communication data
The interaction of users with the Group's Websites and the systems and networks hosting these Websites is logged in special-purpose log files. These files are retained for a time interval as provided for by the law, in order to identify, to prevent and to avoid malevolent actions against the Web sites and the Group's infrastructures, and to take all legal actions against such actions. These log files do not constitute personal data of users and are not correlated with the Identity of the users on the Websites, except after requests for investigation of possibly illegal or abusive actions.
Ζ. MODIFICATION
30. Modifications of the present terms and conditions
The Group reserves the right to modify without prior notice, written or otherwise, the present Terms and Conditions, in order to improve them, supplement them or bring them in line with changes in the provided Information and Services, the operational details and the overall technology advances.
Η. ACCEPTANCE
31. Acceptance of the present terms and conditions from visitors of the Websites
The present Terms and Conditions document shall be posted on a visible location of the Group's Website www.helex.gr. This location shall be reachable from all pages of this Website. Anonymous visitors of Websites are considered to have adequate ability to access this document, and as a consequence, they accept it. Users who do not accept this Terms and Conditions document must cease immediately to use the group Websites and address the Group in writing for further information.
Users who obtain an Identity on the Group's Websites accept explicitly the present Terms and Conditions document during their first Login, and at each subsequent Login whenever this Terms and Conditions document is updated or modified.