Terms of Service for PubCaseFinder

PubCaseFinder service (referred to below as the "Service") is a database hosting service, offered by the Database Center for Life Science (referred to below as "DBCLS") and supported by the Life Science Database Integration Project funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. In order to use the Service, you must agree and acknowledge to be bound by the Terms of Service for PubCaseFinder (referred to below as the "Terms"). Any use of the Service shall be subject to the Terms.

ZebraSeek and accounts

Registering an account enables you to use ZebraSeek, a search feature of the Service. These Terms also apply to ZebraSeek. You must provide accurate registration information and update it when it changes. Protect your login credentials and do not share your account with others. Notify DBCLS promptly if you suspect unauthorized use.

Before submitting information about a patient or another person, you must have authority to handle that information and complete any legally required explanations and consent procedures for its processing through the Service and the external transmissions needed for that processing. For minors or others who require representation, obtain consent from an appropriate legal representative where required by law. Your acceptance of these Terms does not substitute for the consent of the patient or other person.

DBCLS may amend these Terms in accordance with applicable law. DBCLS will give advance notice of the changes and their effective date through the Service website or other appropriate means. Where user consent is required by law, DBCLS will obtain that consent.

For information about Copyright, please read the term "Copyright" in the Site Policies of the DBCLS website.

Accepting these Terms does not transfer rights in submitted information to DBCLS or grant blanket permission for research or AI training.

The PubCaseFinder is intended to be used by qualified and licensed physicians to assist in the research about rare and genetic diseases and for use as a teaching aid. The Service is a search program for consulting medical textbooks and other reference materials, intended to provide information, not to make medical decisions. It is not a medical device approved under Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act; consider this when using search results. The disease lists and related information cover only part of the information on rare and genetic diseases. You should not make medical decisions using the Service without the advice of a physician. The Service provides data in good faith as a search tool but does not verify their accuracy, clinical validity or utility. AI-generated outputs from ZebraSeek may also contain errors or omissions and do not replace medical judgment by a physician. For commercial use of data, consult the source licenses and confirm the permitted scope.

Warranties and liability

To the extent permitted by applicable law, DBCLS does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose or continuous availability of the Service or its outputs. Permanent retention or uninterrupted access to search history is not guaranteed.

If DBCLS's ordinary negligence causes a user loss in connection with the use, modification, interruption or termination of the Service, DBCLS's liability is limited to direct and ordinary loss reasonably attributable to that negligence. This limitation does not apply to loss caused by intentional misconduct or gross negligence by DBCLS, its representatives or persons engaged by it to provide the Service (including officers, employees and contractors), or to liability that cannot be limited by law. Regarding DBCLS's liability for the Service, this section prevails over conflicting provisions of the DBCLS Site Policies or other documents referred to in these Terms.

These Terms do not waive DBCLS's statutory duties, including security safeguards and breach reporting or notification, or restrict the rights of patients or other third parties.

The "Personal Information" section of the DBCLS Site Policies applies, supplemented by the following provisions for ZebraSeek.

Information handled and purposes of use

DBCLS uses account and profile information, such as your name, email address, affiliation, job title and other publicly available professional information, for registration, authentication, account management, Service-related communications and responses to inquiries. Publicly available information may still constitute personal information. DBCLS also handles necessary administrative information, access and authentication records, notification contents and delivery records for Service operation, security and troubleshooting.

ZebraSeek stores search titles, present and absent symptoms, sex, age at onset, comments, face-image filenames, search results and related information linked to your account to run searches and display and manage search history. You can delete your own search history using the Service. Original face-image data are not saved as search history. Clinical information and face images may constitute personal information or special care-required personal information even when they do not contain a name.

Analysis and processing by external services

If you submit a face image, it is analyzed by GestaltMatcher running on DBCLS servers. Information such as symptoms, sex and age at onset is also processed using cloud services such as Azure OpenAI for searches, title generation and related functions. Search terms based on symptoms and related information are transmitted to external search services.

Account closure and personal-information requests

Deleting search history and closing your account are separate operations. Within 90 days after account closure, DBCLS will delete your account information and associated search history, including copies in backups. Records that must be retained by law are retained only to the extent and for the period needed to meet that obligation. Requests for disclosure, correction, deletion, cessation of use and similar action concerning personal information may be submitted to the contact listed in the "Personal Information" section of the DBCLS Site Policies. DBCLS will verify the identity of the individual or the authority of their representative and respond in accordance with applicable law.

In addition to the prohibited acts listed under "Prohibited Uses" in the DBCLS Site Policies, the following acts are prohibited.

Do not enter patients' or other individuals' names, addresses, contact details, patient identifiers or other directly identifying information in search titles, comments, filenames, the free-text sex field or any other search-related free-text field. Before submitting a face image, remove unnecessary identifying details visible in it and embedded information such as location metadata. Submitting information without the required authority or consent, using another person's account and accessing another person's search history or other information without authorization are prohibited.