Terms of Service

These Terms govern use of the Arnold Health Research Gateway. They do not replace or modify the consent materials for a participating research study.

What this service is

The Arnold Health Research Gateway is a shared technical service operated by Information Services in the Office of Operations and Accreditation, Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. It provides a common connection between Google Health and participating public health research studies.

Information Services operates the Gateway but does not conduct the participating research studies. Each study is conducted by its own research team.

It is not a consumer product, and it is not open to general registration. It is used only by participants who have enrolled in a participating study and by that study's research staff.

Not medical advice

The Gateway moves measurements between systems. It does not interpret them, and nothing it displays is medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have a health concern, speak to a qualified clinician.

Your participation

You choose whether to authorize the Gateway to access Google Health data and may revoke that authorization later. Your study's consent materials explain whether use of the Gateway or Google Health data sharing is part of that study's participation requirements and what happens if you stop sharing.

You agree to connect only your own Google account, and only for a study you are enrolled in.

Stopping Gateway access stops future collection from Google. It does not automatically delete data already delivered to your study, nor data the Gateway had already collected and was holding for your study to retrieve before you stopped access; that data is deleted on the Gateway's normal retention schedule instead. The study's consent materials and study-specific requirements govern data already received by the study.

Availability

The Gateway depends on Google's APIs and on university infrastructure. It may be unavailable for maintenance or because an upstream service is unavailable. Research studies are expected to tolerate gaps in automated retrieval; a gap is not a loss of your data at Google.

Study responsibilities

Participating research teams are responsible for their study's consent process, applicable study-specific approvals and requirements, the security of their own systems, and the use, retention, withdrawal, and deletion rules that apply to data the study receives.

Information Services is responsible for operating and securing the Gateway as the shared technical connection.

Information Services may suspend a study's Gateway integration if its credentials are misused or if the integration no longer meets applicable technical, security, policy, or authorization requirements.

Changes

These Terms and the Privacy Policy may change as the Gateway or applicable requirements change. If a participating study changes the data it asks the Gateway to collect or changes how study data is used, the study team is responsible for addressing any updates required by its consent materials and study-specific requirements.

Contact

Questions about these terms or about the Gateway itself go to Information Services, Office of Operations and Accreditation:

Matt McGrievy, Ed.D., Director, Information Services
Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina
Phone 803-777-0999
Email MCGRIEVM@mailbox.sc.edu

Questions about study participation, study consent, or data already received by a study should be directed to that study's research team.