Difference between revisions of "Acceptable use policy"

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= TESSERA Acceptable Use Policy =
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= TESSERA Terms of Use and Ethical Guidelines =
== Purpose ==
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TESSERA provides open access to global satellite-derived temporal embeddings to advance scientific research and support environmental monitoring, conservation, sustainable agriculture, and understanding of Earth systems. This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) outlines appropriate use of the TESSERA system and data.
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== License ==
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TESSERA data and embeddings are made available under the '''Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)'''. This means you are free to:
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* '''Share''' — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
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* '''Adapt''' — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially
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Under the following terms:
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* '''Attribution''' — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made
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The full license is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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== Purpose and Intended Uses ==
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TESSERA was developed to advance scientific research and support environmental monitoring, conservation, sustainable agriculture, and understanding of Earth systems. We designed this tool to enable:
  
== Permitted Uses ==
 
TESSERA is designed to support:
 
 
* Scientific research and education
 
* Scientific research and education
 
* Environmental monitoring and conservation
 
* Environmental monitoring and conservation
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* Public interest applications that benefit society and the environment
 
* Public interest applications that benefit society and the environment
  
== Prohibited Uses ==
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== Ethical Guidelines ==
Users may not use TESSERA or its data for:
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* Surveillance or privacy violations: Monitoring individuals, groups, or private activities without consent
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While the CC-BY 4.0 license permits broad use, we strongly encourage users to consider the ethical implications of their work. We request that users:
* Military targeting or offensive operations: Identifying targets for attacks or supporting hostile military actions
 
* Malicious activities: Supporting illegal activities, including unauthorized resource extraction, poaching, or environmental crimes
 
* Harassment or discrimination: Targeting communities or individuals based on protected characteristics
 
* Misleading applications: Misrepresenting data accuracy, resolution, or temporal characteristics
 
* Commercial surveillance: Unauthorized monitoring of competitors or private entities
 
* Any unlawful purpose: Activities that violate applicable local, national, or international laws
 
  
== Responsibilities ==
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'''Act Responsibly:'''
Users agree to:
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* Consider privacy implications when analyzing specific locations
* Use TESSERA data responsibly and ethically
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* Respect the rights and dignity of affected communities
* Properly cite TESSERA in any publications or presentations using the data
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* Be mindful of potential dual-use concerns
* Acknowledge the temporal (annual) and spatial (10m) resolution limitations
 
* Report any suspected misuse to the TESSERA team
 
* Respect the privacy and rights of affected communities when working with location-specific data
 
  
TESSERA team commits to:
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'''Be Transparent:'''
* Maintaining data quality and documentation
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* Accurately represent the data's characteristics (annual resolution, 10m spatial resolution)
* Responding to reports of misuse
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* Acknowledge limitations in your applications
* Updating this policy as needed based on community feedback
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* Do not misrepresent TESSERA's capabilities
* Supporting legitimate research and conservation applications
 
  
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'''Support Positive Impact:'''
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* Consider how your work contributes to societal benefit
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* Engage with affected communities when appropriate
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* Share findings that advance public knowledge
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== Data Characteristics ==
  
== Data Characteristics and Limitations ==
 
 
Users should understand that TESSERA provides:
 
Users should understand that TESSERA provides:
- Annual temporal resolution (not suitable for real-time monitoring)
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* '''Annual temporal resolution''' — data represents yearly summaries, not real-time or high-frequency monitoring
- 10-meter spatial resolution
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* '''10-meter spatial resolution''' — suitable for landscape-scale analysis
- Spectral-temporal embeddings (not raw imagery)
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* '''Spectral-temporal embeddings''' — compressed representations, not raw imagery
Users should not misrepresent these characteristics or the capabilities of the system.
 
  
== Enforcement ==
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Please accurately represent these characteristics in your work.
We reserve the right to:
 
* Investigate reports of policy violations
 
* Implement technical measures to prevent misuse if necessary
 
* Modify access arrangements in response to demonstrated misuse
 
* Update this policy to address emerging concerns
 
  
== Attribution ==
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== Attribution Requirement (CC-BY 4.0) ==
When using TESSERA, please cite our paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.20380
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When using TESSERA data, you must provide attribution by citing our paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.20380
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== Community Standards ==
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We encourage responsible use and welcome community feedback. If you have concerns about potential applications or suggestions for improving these guidelines, please contact us.
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We reserve the right to update these guidelines based on community input and emerging considerations, though such updates do not retroactively affect the CC-BY 4.0 license under which data is released.
  
 
== Contact ==
 
== Contact ==
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S. Keshav: sk818@cam.ac.uk
 
S. Keshav: sk818@cam.ac.uk
  
== Updates ==
 
This policy may be updated periodically. Continued use constitutes acceptance of the current policy.
 
 
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''Last updated: October 1, 2025''
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''TESSERA data is released under CC-BY 4.0. These ethical guidelines are advisory and do not impose legal restrictions beyond those in the CC-BY 4.0 license.''
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''Last updated: October 2, 2025''

Revision as of 09:47, 2 October 2025

TESSERA Terms of Use and Ethical Guidelines

License

TESSERA data and embeddings are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). This means you are free to:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially

Under the following terms:

  • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made

The full license is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Purpose and Intended Uses

TESSERA was developed to advance scientific research and support environmental monitoring, conservation, sustainable agriculture, and understanding of Earth systems. We designed this tool to enable:

  • Scientific research and education
  • Environmental monitoring and conservation
  • Agricultural and food security analysis
  • Climate change research and adaptation planning
  • Sustainable land use and resource management
  • Public interest applications that benefit society and the environment

Ethical Guidelines

While the CC-BY 4.0 license permits broad use, we strongly encourage users to consider the ethical implications of their work. We request that users:

Act Responsibly:

  • Consider privacy implications when analyzing specific locations
  • Respect the rights and dignity of affected communities
  • Be mindful of potential dual-use concerns

Be Transparent:

  • Accurately represent the data's characteristics (annual resolution, 10m spatial resolution)
  • Acknowledge limitations in your applications
  • Do not misrepresent TESSERA's capabilities

Support Positive Impact:

  • Consider how your work contributes to societal benefit
  • Engage with affected communities when appropriate
  • Share findings that advance public knowledge

Data Characteristics

Users should understand that TESSERA provides:

  • Annual temporal resolution — data represents yearly summaries, not real-time or high-frequency monitoring
  • 10-meter spatial resolution — suitable for landscape-scale analysis
  • Spectral-temporal embeddings — compressed representations, not raw imagery

Please accurately represent these characteristics in your work.

Attribution Requirement (CC-BY 4.0)

When using TESSERA data, you must provide attribution by citing our paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.20380

Community Standards

We encourage responsible use and welcome community feedback. If you have concerns about potential applications or suggestions for improving these guidelines, please contact us.

We reserve the right to update these guidelines based on community input and emerging considerations, though such updates do not retroactively affect the CC-BY 4.0 license under which data is released.

Contact

For questions about appropriate use or to report concerns: S. Keshav: sk818@cam.ac.uk



TESSERA data is released under CC-BY 4.0. These ethical guidelines are advisory and do not impose legal restrictions beyond those in the CC-BY 4.0 license.


Last updated: October 2, 2025