Terms of Service

1. Introduction

Welcome to AqtaBio. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the AqtaBio platform, a pre-spillover zoonotic disease early warning system. By accessing or using AqtaBio, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

AqtaBio is a product of Aqta Technologies Limited, a company incorporated in Ireland. References to "AqtaBio" in these Terms mean the platform and services operated by Aqta Technologies Limited.

AqtaBio is governed, anticipatory population-sensing infrastructure designed for public health agencies, epidemiologists, and researchers.

2. Service Description

AqtaBio provides predictive analytics for zoonotic spillover risk using ecological, environmental, and climate data. The platform:

• Generates monthly risk predictions at 25km grid resolution with 12-month forecast horizons
• Covers five pathogen systems: Ebola, H5N1, CCHFV, West Nile virus, and SARS-related coronaviruses
• Processes population-level ecological signals only, no individual-level health data
• Provides SHAP-based explainability, confidence bands, and comparable tile analysis
• Operates under an 8-layer governance framework ensuring responsible AI deployment

3. Partnership Terms

Access to AqtaBio is provided to selected public health organisations and research institutions. Partners agree to:

• Use the platform solely for public health surveillance, research, and preparedness activities
• Provide feedback on platform usability, accuracy, and operational integration
• Acknowledge that predictions are probabilistic and require expert interpretation
• Not redistribute, resell, or sublicence access to the platform without prior written consent
• Comply with all applicable data protection and public health regulations in their jurisdiction

4. Acceptable Use

You agree to use AqtaBio responsibly and in accordance with its intended purpose. You must not:

• Use the platform to make decisions without appropriate expert review and validation
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract proprietary algorithms or models
• Circumvent security measures, access controls, or governance safeguards
• Use predictions to stigmatise communities, restrict movement, or justify discriminatory policies
• Overload or interfere with platform infrastructure or other users' access
• Misrepresent the source, accuracy, or confidence level of AqtaBio predictions

5. Intellectual Property

AqtaBio and its underlying technology, including models, algorithms, user interface, and documentation, are protected by intellectual property rights. Unless otherwise specified:

• All platform code and models remain the property of AqtaBio and its contributors
• Risk predictions and SHAP explanations generated for your organisation may be used for internal public health purposes
• You may cite AqtaBio in publications and reports with appropriate attribution
• Derivative works based on AqtaBio outputs must acknowledge the source and limitations

Certain components may be released under open-source licences (e.g., MIT Licence). Where applicable, those licences govern use of the specific components.

6. Governance Framework

AqtaBio operates under an 8-layer governance framework designed to ensure responsible, transparent, and accountable AI deployment:

1. Audit Logging: Every prediction is logged with model version, feature hash, tile coordinates, risk score, confidence interval, and user identity
2. Model SHA Verification: All deployed models are cryptographically verified against the MLflow registry
3. Circuit Breakers: Tiles with data older than 90 days are flagged "Data Stale, do not use for decisions"
4. Human-in-the-Loop: Top 1% highest-risk tiles require epidemiologist sign-off before external alerts
5. Confidence Quantification: XGBoost quantile regression provides 10th and 90th percentile bounds
6. Role-Based Access Control: Researcher (read), Public Health Officer (read + export), Administrator (retrain)
7. SHAP Explainability: Top 3 drivers displayed for every tile with human-readable labels
8. Bias Monitoring: Quarterly recall audits across LIC/LMIC/HIC groups flag disparities exceeding 15 percentage points

Users are expected to respect these governance mechanisms and not attempt to bypass safeguards.

7. Disclaimers and Limitations

Predictive Nature: AqtaBio provides probabilistic risk forecasts based on ecological and environmental data. Predictions are not guarantees and must be interpreted by qualified public health professionals.

No Medical Advice: AqtaBio is a population-level surveillance tool and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations for individuals.

Data Limitations: Some data sources may be synthetic or historical. Live integration with WHO GOARN, CIFOR, NASA LP DAAC, FAO EMPRES-i, and ECDC feeds is planned subject to funding and partnership agreements.

Service Availability: We strive for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. Maintenance windows and updates will be communicated in advance where possible. During the pilot and prototype phase, no specific uptime or SLA target is offered; formal SLAs may be introduced upon commercial launch.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, AqtaBio and its contributors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the platform, including but not limited to:

• Decisions made based on risk predictions without appropriate expert validation
• Delays, inaccuracies, or omissions in data or predictions
• Service interruptions, data loss, or security incidents
• Third-party actions or failures in upstream data sources

Your use of AqtaBio is at your own risk. The platform is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, express or implied.

9. Data Protection and Privacy

AqtaBio is designed with privacy by design principles. We process only population-level ecological and environmental data, no individual-level health information. For details on data collection, processing, and your rights, please see our Privacy Policy.

We comply with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and applicable data protection laws in jurisdictions where we operate.

10. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or platform capabilities. Material changes will be communicated via email to registered users at least 30 days before taking effect. Continued use of AqtaBio after changes constitute acceptance of the updated Terms.

11. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Ireland. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of AqtaBio shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ireland.

12. Contact Information

For questions about these Terms, partnership enquiries, or technical support, please contact: