Effective Jan-1-2019

1          Definitions

2          Overview and Purpose

SWITCHportfolio is a web-based software system that is suitable for managing Artefacts arising during learning, studying or training. Artefacts have a direct, personal connection to the relevant End User in that he/she created them himself/herself or required them for learning or for his/her learning organisation. Artefacts can be easily organised and annotated in SWITCHportfolio. In particular, it is possible to summarise Artefacts in Displays and to present them in a graphically attractive manner.

End Users can use SWITCHportfolio to create personal documentation and presentations of learning processes, the results of learning and proof of competences, manage them and, as desired, share them securely with others.

SWITCHportfolio is available to all members of Organisations that have subscribed to the service, i.e. students, lecturers and employees. The End Users of SWITCHportfolio can create their own account within which to independently manage and operate a personal e-Portfolio by uploading and organising Artefacts. They can prepare the Artefacts in Displays and collections for presentation to third parties and precisely regulate the ability to view them, so that they can be seen by the general public, by a particular group of people or by only individual persons. All End Users of the service are authenticated exclusively through SWITCHaai or SWITCH edu-ID.

SWITCHportfolio is described on the website at https://www.switch.ch/portfolio/. The service may be found at https://portfolio.switch.ch.

3          Functionality and Components of the Service

3.1    Setup and Access

SWITCHportfolio is made accessible to the End Users of an Organisation who have subscribed to the service. Registered End Users can create a SWITCHportfolio account and thereby access storage space on the technical infrastructure for the service. Registered End Users have full access to all of the functions available on SWITCHportfolio.

Third parties can also access the service if they e.g. receive a public link to a Display or collection and would like to view it in a browser.

3.2    User Administration and Billing

All members of an Organisation that has subscribed to SWITCHportfolio can use the service. If a member leaves the Organisation, he/she loses the authorisation to continue to use the service as an active End User of the Organisation. SWITCH may regularly erase the data of inactive or unauthorised End Users, but will contact the End Users of the service before erasing any data and provide them the opportunity to secure the stored data on another medium prior to erasure.

SWITCH is responsible for system administration and administration of the application as a whole. For each Organisation that has subscribed to SWITCHportfolio, a stand-alone Client is set up. The Client is independently administered by the Organisation through the local administrator. Client administration includes in particular the management of End Users and groups, the provision of information and documents specific to the university as well as making customisations. A Client can only be set up for one Organisation each.

SWITCH will report the overall usage of the service to the Organisation and will bill it for the costs according to the Scale of Charges (SWITCH Community) or the Service Agreement (Extended SWITCH Community).

3.3    Development and Integration

SWITCH is available to provide development and integration services as agreed with the Organisations and any such services will be invoiced separately. Additional components or features developed at the request of an Organisation may be made available to all subscriber Organisations. SWITCH endeavours where possible to keep SWITCHportfolio up to date with the most current version of the Mahara open source software.

SWITCH is responsible for the maintenance and further development of SWITCHportfolio. The central further development of the service will occur in consultation with the local contact persons and the SIG e-Portfolio.

4          Contact Information and SWITCHportfolio Helpdesk

4.1    Local Contact Person

If an Organisation subscribes to SWITCHportfolio, it is obligated to designate a local contact person and a substitute. The local contact person serves as the first point of contact for SWITCH for any administrative or technical questions as well as for planning further developments of SWITCHportfolio. Local contact persons can contact the SWITCHportfolio helpdesk with administrative questions or support requests.

4.2    First-level Support (Local Support Organisation)

If an Organisation subscribes to SWITCHportfolio, it is obliged to establish a local support organisation. This support organisation handles all first-level support requests from all SWITCHportfolio End Users from its Organisation. End Users whose Organisation has not subscribed to SWITCHportfolio cannot be offered first-level support.

4.3    Second-level and Third-level Support (SWITCHportfolio Helpdesk)

For second-level and third-level support requests, the Portfolio helpdesk is available by email at portfolio-support@switch.ch. Support requests may only be submitted by the local contact person, the local administrator or the persons responsible for first-level support.

5          Service Level / Support Services

The service is generally available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except in case of breakdowns that adversely affect the service. During its normal business hours, SWITCH undertakes to initiate or execute, as applicable, measures to remedy service disruptions and malfunctions.

Normal business hours are on weekdays (Monday to Friday) from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding federal, cantonal and municipal holidays in Zurich, as well as the days between 24 December and 2 January, inclusively.  Depending on the urgency of the matter, SWITCH may, at its own discretion, take measures to maintain good service quality outside these times as well, but is not obligated to do so.

6          Usage Data Collection

SWITCH collects data on the use of the service by the End Users, the Organisation or the Contract Partner. The data collected are imputed to the individual Organisations resp. Contract Partners and made available to them. In addition, SWITCH provides the Organisations upon request with statistics regarding the usage of SWITCHportfolio by their End Users.

7          Instructions for End Users and Administrators

7.1    End Users

The End Users' data are stored with multiple redundancy on the infrastructure of SWITCH in order to avoid the risk of data loss due to defective hardware. Further, SWITCH regularly generates backups of the entire system, which are used to restore the SWITCHportfolio service as a whole. These backups do not make it possible to restore individual Artefacts or Displays that have been inadvertently erased by the End User. The End Users are responsible for making backup copies of the files used by them and for storing them in a suitable location and form.

7.2    Administrators

Administrators at Organisations / Contract Partners can manage the End Users, grant them additional rights or block or entirely terminate their further usage. Administrators can also apply certain local settings to SWITCHportfolio (e.g. choice of a logo, change the sorting method, select a standard language upon initial registration as well as retrieve daily updated statistics concerning usage of the service).

8          Legal Terms of Use

8.1    Applicable Provisions

The following provisions, as amended from time to time, apply to the use of the service by the Organisations, the Contract Partners and the End Users:

• For Organisations in the SWITCH Community and for End Users who are members of an Organisation in the SWITCH Community:
  • the Regulations on the Purchase of SWITCH Services (hereinafter: Regulations);
  • the Scale of Charges in effect from time to time

In case of discrepancies, this Service Description shall take precedence over the Scale of Charges, which in turn shall take precedence over the Regulations.

• For Organisations in the Extended SWITCH Community and for End Users who are members of an Organisation in the Extended SWITCH Community:
  • the General Terms and Conditions on the Purchase of SWITCH Services (hereinafter: General Terms and Conditions)
  • the Service Agreement

In case of discrepancies, this Service Description shall take precedence over the Service Agreement, which in turn shall take precedence over the General Terms and Conditions.

SWITCH may modify this Service Description at any time. Any modification of the Service Description shall be duly reported to the Organisations, the Contract Partners and the End Users and, barring opposition, shall take effect within 30 days after the date of notice of the modification.

Opposition shall result in termination of the Service Agreement.

8.2    Copyright and other Intellectual Property Rights

Each End User and the Organisation of which he/she is a member must defend at their own cost any third party claims against SWITCH alleging infringement of copyrights or other intellectual property rights and/or any other applicable laws in connection with End User files, if so requested by SWITCH. The End User and the Organisation of which he/she is a member shall be jointly and severally liable for all costs, licence fees and/or compensation payments imposed on SWITCH by court order or under the terms of an out-of-court settlement, provided that they were informed by SWITCH in writing concerning the claim in question and were authorised by SWITCH to conduct and resolve such litigation in accordance with applicable procedural law, in particular through an in-court or out-of-court settlement.

8.3    Data Protection and Data Security

8.3.1       Data Processing by SWITCH

In terms of processing personal data, SWITCH shall abide by the Regulations or the General Terms and Conditions, as applicable and as amended from time to time.

All data stored on SWITCHportfolio are located on SWITCH servers and in a SWITCH data centre in Switzerland. From the networks of the Organisations that are connected to the SWITCHlan the servers can be accessed directly through SWITCHlan, which is also located in Switzerland. In all other cases, the service is accessed over the public internet.

In addition, SWITCH generates anonymised statistics for the Organisations and Contract Partners. The foregoing shall be without prejudice to cases of abuse.

8.3.2       Cooperation with Third Parties Domestically or Abroad

SWITCH may involve persons and companies from Switzerland or abroad in order to provide the service, in particular for support purposes, and grant them access to servers and data, subject to compliance with the Service Regulations or the General Terms and Conditions, as applicable, of SWITCH. SWITCH concludes contracts with all subcontractors that guarantee a level of data protection equivalent to this Service Description.

The company "Catalyst", which has branch offices in the U.K., New Zealand and Australia, is also involved in the provision of the service.

8.3.3       Access to Employee Data

As a rule, the Organisation / Contract Partner does not have access to the data that are uploaded, stored or exchanged by End Users through the service. However, in exceptional cases, SWITCH can provide access to specific data to the Organisation resp. the Contract Partner, provided that the Organisation resp. the Contract Partner can demonstrate an overriding interest.

In such cases, the Organisation / Contract Partner must provide detailed and comprehensible evidence that it is entitled to access the relevant data. Where such evidence is not clear and unambiguous, or where an unacceptable liability risk remains for SWITCH for any other reason, SWITCH may refuse to provide such access.

8.3.4       Data Security

SWITCH protects data against unauthorised processing through appropriate technical and organisational measures. These measures include inter alia:

• access restrictions on the servers
• structural measures and restrictions on access to the server infrastructure
• data encryption during data transfer (data are transferred in encrypted form between End Users and the SWITCHportfolio service)
• secure system configuration
• automated service monitoring
• regulations, directives and contracts
• the planning, creation and allocation of tasks, competences and resources

8.4    Permitted Use of the Service

Any use of the service is permitted only insofar as it does not result in any violation of these terms of use, the rights of third parties or any applicable laws.

8.5    Unauthorised Use of the Service

Any unauthorised use of the service is subject to the provisions of the Regulations resp. the General Terms and Conditions, as applicable and as amended from time to time.

The Organisations / Contract Partners of which the infringing End Users of the service are members may be held responsible or fully liable, as the case may be, together with the End Users, for all losses incurred by SWITCH or any third party as a result of the unauthorised use of the service by its End Users.

Upon first request by SWITCH, the Organisation / Contract Partner of which the infringing End User is a member shall, at its own expense, defend against any and all claims brought by third parties against SWITCH in connection with the unauthorised use of the service. The Organisation / Contract Partner of which the infringing End User is a member shall assume jointly and severally the costs, licence fees, and/or liability for damages imposed on SWITCH by court order or settlement, insofar as SWITCH has informed the affected Organisation / Contract Partner in writing as regards the claim brought and has authorised the Organisation / Contract Partner, in accordance with the applicable procedural law, to conduct and settle the legal dispute, including by way of an in-court or out-of-court settlement.

SWITCH reserves the right, in the event of a reasonable suspicion that the service has been used in a manner contrary to law or the contract, to immediately cancel the accounts concerned and/or to temporarily block or permanently exclude the registered End Users concerned, without prior notification to the affected End Users or Organisations / Contract Partners and without the respective End Users or Organisation / Contract Partners being entitled to any claims for compensation on account thereof.

In addition, in order to ensure orderly operation, SWITCH may request registered End Users at any time to create a new password for logging on to the service, even if there is no suspicion of unauthorised use.

End Users and their Organisations / Contract Partners are obligated to support SWITCH in investigating incidents of unauthorised use, the elements constituting the crime, and other loss events.

SWITCH further reserves the right, in all cases where SWITCH is required by law or otherwise deems it appropriate to do so, to collaborate with the responsible government authorities and to provide them with all information necessary to prosecute the legal offences in question.

8.6    Warranty

SWITCH's warranty is subject to the provisions of the Regulations or the General Terms and Conditions, as applicable and as amended from time to time, in connection with the service level warranted in Chapter 5.

8.7    Liability

SWITCH's liability to the Organisations in the SWITCH Community shall be governed by the provisions of the Regulations, as amended from time to time. SWITCH shall not be liable in any way for the lawful use of the service.

SWITCH's liability to the Organisations in the Extended SWITCH Community and to the Contract Partners shall be governed by the provisions of the General Terms and Conditions, as amended from time to time. SWITCH shall not be liable in any way for the lawful use of the service.

SWITCH's liability to End Users and third parties who use its service other than under contract with SWITCH but with the consent of the Organisation or the Contract Partner is hereby waived except where prohibited by law.

The Organisations, Contract Partners and End Users shall be jointly and severally liable to SWITCH to the extent permitted by law for losses incurred by SWITCH as a result of the unauthorised use of the service, as well as for other indirect losses.

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