Website Terms of Use

Effective Date: September 2019

These website Terms of Use (“Terms of Use”) apply to the websites operated and controlled by Intersections Inc. doing business as Aura (“Aura” which may be herein referred to either as “we”; “us”; “Aura”; “Aura Company”; and/or “Intersections”; These Terms of Use set forth legally binding terms that govern and restrict your use of the Sites. NOTE THAT THESE TERMS OF USE APPLY ONLY TO YOUR USE OF THE SITES AND DO NOT PERTAIN TO ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OFFERED ON THE SITES OR OTHERWISE OFFERED BY AURA. The Service Terms of Use regarding your service is available here.

YOUR AFFIRMATIVE ACT OF USING AND/OR REGISTERING WITH THE SITES SIGNIFIES THAT YOU AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT USE AND/OR REGISTER WITH THE SITES.

You understand and agree that the Sites are semi-public and provided to you on an AS IS and AS AVAILABLE basis. We disclaim all responsibility and liability for the availability, timeliness, security or reliability of the Sites. The opinions expressed on the Sites are not necessarily the opinions of us and may or may not be totally accurate. We also reserve the right to modify, suspend or discontinue the Sites with or without notice at any time and without any liability to you.

Please note the arbitration provision set forth below, which may require you to arbitrate any claims you may have against Aura on an individual basis. EXCEPT WHERE AND TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, WHICH MAY INCLUDE THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC,  ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY.

1. Intellectual Property Ownership

The Sites contain copyrighted material, trademarks and other proprietary information, including comments, articles, information, catalogs, brochures, data, text, software, photos, video and graphics (“Content”). This Content is subject to copyrights owned by Aura and other individuals or entities and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. To make a complaint about a copyright violation on the Sites, email our Copyright Agent.

Additionally, the names, trademarks, service marks, and logos of Aura belong exclusively to Aura and are protected from reproduction, imitation, dilution or confusing or misleading uses under national and international trademark and copyright laws. All other trademarks, service marks, and logos (including third-party product names) are the property of their respective owners. The use or misuse of these trademarks is expressly prohibited, and nothing stated or implied on these Sites confers on you any license or right under any patent or trademark of Aura or any third party.

2. Use of Aura Content

You may only use the Sites and the Content offered on the Sites only for INTERNAL OR PERSONAL purposes, and not for any commercial purposes.  Aura authorizes you to view or download a single copy of the material on the Sites solely for your internal or personal use so long as you do not remove the copyright and other proprietary rights notices that were contained in the Content. You may not use the Sites to sell a product or service; however, you may use them to obtain information about potentially engaging in business with us. You may not modify, publish, transmit, display, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit the Content of the Sites or any portion of such Content. You may not use any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools on the Content, frame any portion of the Sites or Content, or reproduce, reprint, copy, store, publicly display, broadcast, transmit, modify, translate, port, publish, sublicense, assign, transfer, sell, loan, or otherwise distribute the Content without our prior written consent. You may not circumvent any mechanisms included in the Content for preventing the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the Content.  

Any use of the Content not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate U.S. or international copyright, trademark, and/or other laws.  You shall not use the Sites for any illegal purpose and you shall abide by all applicable local, state, provincial, territorial, national, and international laws and regulations.

If you violate these Terms of Use, your permission to use the Content automatically terminates and you must immediately destroy any copies you have made of any portion of the Content.

3. Contributor Disclosure

Certain contributors on the Sites are compensated to provide content on topics of interest to the Sites’ users. Contributions that contain endorsements of Aura products or services and are made by individuals with material connections to Aura will be identified as such. While such contributors may receive compensation, the content is editorial and based on their opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics, services, or products.

The views and opinions expressed within Aura blogs belong purely to the authors. Any product, claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party in question.

4. User Submissions, Forums and Public Areas

Certain places within the Sites, such as forums, blog pages or other public areas, may allow users to post comments or communications that are publicly accessible and non-confidential. The content and communications posted within these areas is largely controlled by our users. Aura, or the party hosting such a public area, has no control over such content and cannot guarantee the accuracy or reliability of any such content or communications. Thus, the responsibility for what is posted on these pages of the Sites lies with each user — you alone are responsible for material you post.

Neither Aura nor any third-party host of such a public area claims ownership of any of the information or material that you transmit, distribute, post, communicate, or store on, to, or through the Sites. Therefore, by submitting any such material or communication to the Sites, you warrant that you own or otherwise control all the rights to any content or communications submitted by you to the Sites and that you will not upload or transmit any communications or content of any type that infringes upon or violates any rights of any party. By submitting communications or content to any part of the Sites, you agree that such submission is non-confidential and is not otherwise protected by any other law, including privacy, publicity, copyright or trademark law.

By submitting communications or content to a public area of the Sites, you agree that such submission is non- confidential for all purposes. You agree to allow Aura and all other persons or organizations involved in the operation of the Sites the right to transmit, monitor, retrieve, store, and use your information in connection with the operation of the Sites. Aura and/or one of its agents or partners reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to investigate the Sites or your use of the Sites in order to (a) determine whether a violation of these Terms of Use has occurred, (b) comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to (c) remove any postings, profiles, and to terminate your ability to post to the service at any time without notice, in its sole discretion. Aura also reserves the right to disclose any information necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post, or to remove any information or materials in whole or in part.

Any use of the Content not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate U.S. or international copyright, trademark, and/or other laws.

5. License Grant

If you make any submission to or communications on the Sites, you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner of such content has expressly granted Aura, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, unlimited, nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display the communication or content material in any media or medium, or any form, format, or forum now known or hereafter developed. Aura may sublicense its rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses.

6. Rules for Posting Questions and Comments in Forums and Public Areas

Aura does not control the content or communications of any of the public areas on the Sites. However, Aura does have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor public areas to ensure the content and communications in such areas are within the spirit of the purpose of the Sites and do not otherwise violate these Terms of Use. Specifically, the following actions will constitute a material breach of these Terms of Use:

  • Posts that contain your full name(s), or any other confidential identifiable information of yourself or others;
  • Using a public area for any purpose in violation of local, state, federal, or international laws;
  • Posting material that infringes on the rights of others, including copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, publicity or privacy rights;
  • Posting material that is unlawful, obscene, derogatory, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, slanderous, hateful, or embarrassing to any other person or entity as determined by Aura in its sole discretion;
  • Posting advertisements, solicitations or spam links to other websites or individuals, without prior written permission from Aura;
  • Posting chain letters or pyramid schemes;
  • Impersonating another business, person or entity, including Aura, its related entities, employees and agents;
  • Registering under more than one name and/or e-mail address;
  • Distributing viruses or other harmful computer code;
  • Harvesting or otherwise collecting information about others, including email addresses, without their consent;
  • Allowing any other person or entity to use your identification for posting or viewing comments;
  • Posting any communications that victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or disability;
  • Engaging in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the public area or the Sites, or which, in the judgment of Aura, exposes Aura or any of its customers, partners or suppliers to any liability or detriment of any type; and/or
  • After receiving a warning, continuing to disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, or posting comments that are not related to the topic being discussed (unless it is clear the discussion is free-form).

Users who violate these provisions shall be liable for any claim, action, damage or harm caused to Aura, the user and any other injured party. Furthermore, Aura may terminate the account of any person who violates these Terms of Use and the rules provided above. Alternatively, we shall have the right in our sole discretion to edit or remove any material submitted to the Sites for any reason, including material that we, in our sole discretion, find to be in violation of the provisions hereof, or otherwise objectionable or stale.

Notwithstanding this right of ours, users shall remain solely responsible for the content of their messages. You acknowledge and agree that neither us nor any of our affiliates shall assume or have any liability for any action or inaction by us with respect to any conduct by users within the Sites or any communication or posting on the Sites.

7. Use of RSS and Comment Feeds

BY DOWNLOADING, USING, OR SUBSCRIBING TO AN RSS FEED OR COMMENT FEED (“FEEDS”) FROM THE SITES, YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE FEEDS WILL BE GOVERNED BY THESE TERMS OF USE. PLEASE REVIEW THIS SECTION BEFORE USING, DOWNLOADING, OR SUBSCRIBING TO A FEED.

Aura grants you a non-transferable, non-sublicensable, royalty free non-exclusive license to display on your website or in your newsreader platform the headlines, active links, and other information or materials that you specifically select to receive via the Feeds. The Feeds are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. All rights in and to these Feeds, including the content and technology, are reserved to Aura and/or Intersections Inc.

The Feeds may be used only with those platforms and newsreaders from which a functional link is made available that, when accessed, takes the viewer directly to the display of the full article on one of the Sites. You understand and agree that the Feeds that are provided may include footers to assure proper attribution for the content.

By using the Feeds, you agree not to:

  • Display the Feeds in a manner that does not permit successful linking to or direction to our Sites;
  • Insert any intermediate page or other content between the link displayed on your website and the landing page for the content on our Sites;
  • Edit, modify, alter, or create derivative works of the text, content or links supplied by us;
  • Use any robot, spider, other device or manual process to monitor or copy any content from the Feeds;
  • Sell, retransmit, or commercially exploit the Feeds, headlines or content in any manner except as expressly permitted by us in writing;
  • Incorporate advertising into the Feeds as displayed on your site; or Use the Feeds for any unlawful purpose or in violation of the rights of others.
  • By using the Feeds, you also agree not to use the Feeds on the following categories of websites:
  • Sites that incite hatred whether based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, or otherwise;
  • Sites that promote, encourage or facilitate violence;
  • Sites that discriminate against any specific social group;
  • Sites that promote, facilitate, or encourage illegal activity; or
  • Sites which are misleading, pornographic, defamatory or that contain illegal or otherwise actionable content under applicable law.

We may restrict, suspend, or terminate the Feeds, the license granted above, or your access to the Feeds at any time for any reason including, without limitation, your violation of any provision of these Terms of Use without liability. You agree to destroy all copies of the Feeds (including removing all content supplied by the Feeds from any website) upon receiving notice of termination from us.

8. Enforcement of these Terms of Use

In the event that any of the terms of these Terms of Use have been breached or any rule stated above violated, Aura reserves the right (but is not obligated) to do any or all of the following:

  • Record the dialogue in public areas on the Sites.
  • Investigate an allegation that a communication does not conform to these Terms of Use and determine in its sole discretion to remove or request the removal of the communication.
  • Remove communications that it determines, in its sole discretion, to be abusive, illegal, or disruptive, or that otherwise fail to conform to these Terms of Use.
  • Terminate a user’s access to any portions or pages of the Sites.
  • Monitor, edit, or disclose any communication made on or through the Sites.
  • Edit or delete any communication posted on the Sites, regardless of whether such communication violates these Terms of Use.
  • Aura reserves the right to take any other action it deems necessary to protect the personal safety of our guests, visitors, or the public.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

EXCEPT WHERE AND TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, WHICH MAY INCLUDE THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, THE SITES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS.” AURA MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE SITES, OR ANY WEBSITE OR THAT MAY BE ACCESSIBLE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY THROUGH THE SITES, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. AURA DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES THAT THE SITES ARE MERCHANTABLE, OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, ACCURATE, TIMELY, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NEED, OR NON-INFRINGING. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY AURA OR A REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY.

When using the Sites, information will be transmitted over a medium which is beyond the control and jurisdiction of Aura, its partners, advertisers, and sponsors. Accordingly, Aura assumes no liability for or relating to the delay, failure, interruption, or corruption of any data or other information transmitted in connection with use of the Sites. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE SITES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THEY ARE ERROR-FREE, RELIABLE, WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR AVAILABLE AT ALL TIMES. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS OR USE THE SITES (EITHER DIRECTLY OR THROUGH THIRD-PARTY NETWORKS) AT ALL TIMES OR LOCATIONS OF YOUR CHOOSING.

FURTHER, AURA DOES NOT ENDORSE AND MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY OPINION, INFORMATION, ADVICE OR STATEMENT ON THE SITES. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION, OPINION, ADVICE OR OTHER CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITES. PLEASE SEEK THE ADVICE OF PROFESSIONALS, AS APPROPRIATE, REGARDING THE EVALUATION OF ANY SPECIFIC INFORMATION, OPINION, ADVICE OR OTHER CONTENT ON THE SITES.

10. Limitation of Liability

Except where and to the extent prohibited by law, which may include the province of Quebec, in no event shall Aura, its partners, sponsors, advertisers, agents or licensors, or any third parties mentioned on the Sites be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, incidental, consequential or other indirect damages, personal injury/wrongful death, lost profits, or damages resulting from lost data or business interruption) resulting from the use or inability to use the Sites, whether based on warranty, contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not Aura is advised of the possibility of such damages. Except where and to the extent prohibited by law, which may include the province of Quebec, Aura is not liable for any personal injury, including death, caused by your use or misuse of the Sites or public areas.

YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY DISPUTE WITH AURA IS TO DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF THE SITES. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR LIABILITY, OR THE LIABILITY OF OUR AFFILIATES AND SUBSIDIARIES FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE USE OF THE SITES OR THE CONTENT, EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FEES THAT YOU PAID US DURING A ONE-YEAR PERIOD FOR THE SPECIFIC SERVICE AT ISSUE.

11. Passwords

Registration as a user or subscriber with the Sites may requires both a user name and a password, and certain portions of the Sites may require use of multiple one time or persistent passwords. You should consider your user names and passwords as confidential information. Anyone with knowledge of both your user name and password can gain access to the restricted portions of the Sites and to your account. You must keep your user name and password confidential. You shall immediately notify us if you become aware of any loss or theft of your password or any unauthorized use of your user name and password. WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE ARISING FROM YOUR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THESE OBLIGATIONS. We reserve the right to delete or change a user name or password at any time and for any reason.

12. Privacy

We collect personal information on the Sites, which is subject to the terms of our privacy statement.

13. Children and Teens

The Sites are not intended for use by children.  By submitting information to the Sites, you warrant that you are above the age of majority.  

14. Links to External Sites

The Sites may contain links to third party websites. We are not responsible for the availability of these external sites nor do we endorse the activities or services provided by these websites. Under no circumstances shall we be held responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused to a user in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services available on such external websites.

15. Procedure for Making a Claim of Copyright Infringement

We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on the Sites in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please follow the instructions below on how to contact us to report possible copyright infringement.

Please provide the following information to our Copyright Agent:

  • an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
  • a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
  • a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Sites;
  • your address, telephone number, and email address;
  • a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
  • a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

16. Choice of Law

These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA, exclusive of its choice of law principles.

PLEASE NOTE THAT BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU ARE: (1) WAIVING CLAIMS THAT YOU MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE AGAINST US BASED ON THE LAWS OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS, INCLUDING YOUR OWN; (2) IRREVOCABLY CONSENTING TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF, AND VENUE IN, STATE OR FEDERAL COURTS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA OVER ANY DISPUTES OR CLAIMS YOU HAVE WITH US; AND (3) SUBMITTING YOURSELF TO THE PERSONAL JURISDICTION OF COURTS LOCATED IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESOLVING ANY SUCH DISPUTES OR CLAIMS, ALL SUBJECT TO THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT SET FORTH BELOW.

17. AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE

Except where and to the extent prohibited by law, which may include the province of Quebec,  Aura and/or You may elect to resolve any and all claims and disputes relating in any way to the Sites and these Terms of Use or any of our dealings with one another (“Claims”), except for Claims concerning the validity, scope or enforceability of this Arbitration Agreement (“Arbitration Agreement”), through BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION.  This Arbitration Agreement involves interstate commerce and shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16 (“FAA”), and not by state law. If you or we elect to resolve a dispute by arbitration, neither you nor we will be able to have a court or jury trial or participate in a class action or class arbitration. Other rights that you and we would have if you or we went to court will not be available or will be more limited in arbitration, including discovery and appeal rights. You and we each understand and agree that by allowing each other to elect to resolve any dispute through individual arbitration, WE ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A COURT OR JURY TRIAL. IF ANY PARTY ELECTS ARBITRATION, THAT DISPUTE SHALL BE ARBITRATED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, AND NOT AS A CLASS ACTION, REPRESENTATIVE ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION OR ANY SIMILAR PROCEEDING. The arbitrator(s) may not consolidate the claims of multiple parties. Arbitrations shall be administered by the JAMS (“JAMS”) pursuant to the applicable JAMS rules in effect at the time the arbitration is initiated. You may obtain information about arbitration, arbitration procedures and fees from JAMS by calling 800-352-5267 or visiting http://www.jamsadr.com.   If JAMS is unable or unwilling to arbitrate a dispute, then the dispute may be referred to any other arbitration organization or arbitrator we both agree upon in writing or that is appointed pursuant to section 5 of the FAA. The arbitration shall take place at a location that is reasonably convenient for you. The arbitrator shall be authorized to award any relief that would have been available in court, provided that the arbitrator’s authority is limited to you and us alone, except as otherwise specifically stated herein. No arbitration decision will have any preclusive effect as to non-parties. The arbitrator’s decision shall be final and binding. You and we agree that this Arbitration Agreement extends to any other parties involved in any Claims, including but not limited to affiliated companies and vendors. This Arbitration Agreement shall take precedence over the rules of the arbitration organization or arbitrator in the event of any conflict. We will be responsible for paying all arbitration fees other than the lower amount of filing fees you would have incurred in a state or federal court. Notwithstanding any other provision herein, you or we may seek relief in a small claims court for Claims within its jurisdiction. In addition, you and we each may exercise any lawful rights to seek provisional remedies or self-help, without waiving the right to arbitrate by doing so. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, if the foregoing class action waiver and prohibition against class arbitration is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, then this entire Arbitration Agreement shall be void. If any portion of this Arbitration Agreement other than the class action waiver and prohibition against class arbitration is deemed invalid or unenforceable, it shall not invalidate the remaining portions of this Arbitration Agreement. This Arbitration Agreement will survive the termination of these Terms of Use, your fulfillment or default of your obligations under these Terms of Use, and/or your or our bankruptcy or insolvency (to the extent permitted by applicable law). YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REJECT THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, BUT YOU MUST EXERCISE THIS RIGHT PROMPTLY. If you do not wish to be bound by this agreement to arbitrate, you must notify us in writing within sixty (60) days after the date you agree to these Terms of Use, including this Agreement. You must send your request to: Customer Service, P.O. Box 222455, Chantilly, VA 20153-2455. The request must include your full name, address, account number, and the statement “I reject the Arbitration Agreement contained in the Website Terms of Use.” If you exercise your right to reject arbitration, the other terms of these Terms of Use shall remain in full force and effect as if you had not rejected arbitration.

18. Termination

We shall have the right to immediately terminate these Terms of Use with respect to any user which we, in our sole discretion, consider to be unacceptable, or in the event of any breach by you of these Terms of Use. The provisions of Sections 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, and 18 shall survive termination of this agreement.

19. CONTACT US

If you have any questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us at:

Customer Service P.O. Box 222455 Chantilly, VA 20153-2455 Or Email: Customer Service

2. Use of Aura Content