BLAKSKILl TERMS OF USE

1. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the talent identification, incubation, acquisition, and verification platform ("Platform") provided by Blakskill Limited ("we," "us," or "our"). These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your use of the Platform as a Talent, Talent Seeker and Talent Trainer ("you"). 

By using our website , our mobile application, and/or services (altogether, the "Blakskill Platform"), you agree to the terms and conditions contained in this document ("Terms of Use"). You understand that your use of any of our services is also subject to Blakskill’s Privacy Policy, and any other legal agreements that apply to you as a Blakskill’s customer/user (collectively, the "Related Agreements"). You are advised not to use any of the services, if you have any objection to any of these terms.

BLAKSKILL LIMITED (the "Agency"), a company organized and existing under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with its head office located at 5 Idowu Taylor, Victoria Island Lagos [hereinafter referred to as "the Agency" which expression shall where the context so admits include its successors-in-title and assigns] of the other part.

If any conflict exists between the Terms and any Related Agreements, the specific terms of the Related Agreements shall apply with respect to the particular service being accessed by you to the extent of the conflict. We may amend these Terms at any time by posting a revised version on the Blakskill Platform. The revised version will be effective at the time we post it unless otherwise noted. We will post a notification on our website/application of any amendments or revisions to these Terms and your use of the Website and if our changes reduce your rights or increase your responsibilities, we will provide you with advance notice of 5 (five) days from the date of the publication.

You are advised to discontinue your registration, if you have any objection to any of these terms.

2. ABOUT US

BlakSkill is a talent identification, incubation, acquisition, and verification platform. It has been designed to match employer organisations ("Talent Seekers") with quality, competent & verified "Talents". We also provide opportunities for upskilling of Talents via training provided by "Talent Trainers".

We are an independent contractor for all purposes, providing the Blakskill platform and the Blakskill Services on an independent service provider basis. We do not have control or assume the liability or legality for the specific services ("Services") that are provided by the Talent Seeker and Talent Trainer through the Blakskill Platform. We do not guarantee that the Services will meet your expectations at any point.

3. Age Restriction for Talents

The Blakskill Platform and our services are not directed to people under the ages of 18. We do not knowingly transact or provide any services to people younger than the age of 18. As soon as we realise that a person is under the age of 18 years, we discontinue their access to the Blakskill Platform.

4. Account Registration

To access and use certain features of the Platform, you may be required to create an account. You agree to provide accurate and complete information during the registration process.

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account login information and all activities under your account. We require your email, first name, last name, home/work address, phone number, image, resume/curriculum vitae, and specific work experience information.

By submitting your resume to the Platform, you authorize Blakskill to create your talent profile.

You authorize us to verify the information you provide to us (either by ourselves or through third parties), after which we will approve your account or otherwise. You grant us the permission to do this, and we undertake to comply with the terms of our Privacy Policy in so doing.

5. Verification and Onboarding

You will provide every necessary information and/or documentation which Blakskill may require at the point of onboarding you. Such documentation and information may be used by Blakskill, and shared with any third party on a need-to-know basis in a manner necessary to verify your claims regarding your identity and professional qualification(s). Blakskill undertakes that any information and/or documentation received will be guarded with the utmost confidentiality and securely in accordance with our privacy policy and our Terms. You may contact support@blakskill.com for more information.

You understand that verification is an ongoing exercise and even after your full onboarding on the Blakskill Platform, Blakskill may require additional information and/or documentation from you, which failure to provide may warrant Blakskill to suspend/restrict your use of the User Account or any part or all of the Blakskill Platform. Cooperation with Blakskill during the verification exercise is non-negotiable.

You may only have access to your User Account upon completion of the verification exercise (or any subsequent verification exercise where your User Account is suspended or disabled due to lack of complete document or inaccurate information), your account will be activated, and you will be granted access to provide the Services through the account.

Talents understand that their information will be shared with Talent Seekers for the purpose of matching them with employment opportunities. Talents further understand that their professional qualifications, educations, police records, etc. shall be accessed for the purpose of verifying all information provided, Talents thereby grant Blakskill with the permission to utilize information and documentation provided for these purposes.

6. Account Security

Talents understand that their information will be shared with Talent Seekers for the purpose of matching them with employment opportunities. Talents further understand that their professional qualifications, educations, police records, etc. shall be accessed for the purpose of verifying all information provided, Talents thereby grant Blakskill with the permission to utilize information and documentation provided for these purposes.

You agree not to allow anyone else to have or use your password details. You agree to comply with all reasonable instructions we may issue regarding account access and security. In the event you share your password details, Blakskill will not be liable to you for losses or damages. You will also take all reasonable steps to protect the security of the personal electronic device through which you access the Blakskill Platform. You exclude Blakskill from, and indemnify us against, any liability which may arise as a result of your failure to ensure the security of your User Account. 

We will use reasonable care and skill to ensure the security of the Blakskill Platform and free from bugs, viruses and other defects. We accept no liability for any loss or damage resulting from any virus or any other software or material which is malicious or technologically harmful to your device, equipment, data or material resulting from the use of the Blakskill Platform.

7. Notification of Change

We reserve the right to modify or update these Terms of Use at any time. We may provide notice of any material changes to these Terms through the Platform or by other means. Your continued use of the Platform after any modifications to these Terms constitutes your acceptance of such modifications.

You are required to notify us of any changes to information provided to us during registration within 14 days  including your email, first name, last name, home/work address and phone number as changes to your information requires re-verification.

Talents are required to update their professional and academic records as required and to immediately notify of any changes in any information provided to us regarding their profession and academic records as failure to provide us with accurate and current information would lead to a ban on use of the Blakskill Platform. 

Talent Seekers are required to immediately notify us of any changes in job opportunities posted on the Blakskill Platform. 

We may be unable to respond to you if you contact us from an address, telephone number or email account that is not registered with us.

8. Acceptable Use

You undertake to comply with this Terms of Use at all times. In addition to your compliance with our Terms of use , you hereby undertake that you will not misuse the Blakskill Platform by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful and undertake not to attack the Blakskill Platform via a denial of service attack or a distributed denial of service attack. 

You agree to use the Platform solely for its intended purposes and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. You shall not use the Platform for any unlawful, fraudulent, or unauthorized purposes. You shall not engage in any activity that may interfere with the proper functioning of the Platform or compromise its security or integrity. 

You understand that breaching this provision, you may expose you to criminal liability as we may report you to the relevant law enforcement authority and we will cooperate with the appropriate authority to disclose the identity of the hacker. You agree to use the Platform solely for its intended purposes and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. You shall not use the Platform for any unlawful, fraudulent, or unauthorized purposes. You shall not attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the Platform or compromise its security or integrity.

You understand that we may monitor your use of, and activities on, the Blakskill Platform, including on your User Account, and we may immediately, without notice, suspend your use of or access to the Blakskill Platform or User Account, if we notice a breach of our Acceptable Use Policy, this  Terms or any other suspicious use of the Blakskill Platform. We will endeavour to notify you promptly upon such deactivation or suspension of the User Account. We shall not be liable for any claim arising out of our suspension or deactivation of your User Account.

9. Talent Identification and Verification

The Platform aims to provide Talent Seekers with quality, competent, and verified Talents and Talent with job opportunities. While we strive to ensure the accuracy and reliability of talent information and verification, we limit all liability for any wrong information provided to us by a Talent and solely rely on information provided to us through third party checks including a Talent"s educational institution, previous employer, police, adverse screenings, etc.

We further note that while Blakskill strives to ensure accuracy of information provided by Talent Seekers and Trainers,  we are not liable for wrong information provided to us by Talent Seekers and Talent Trainers. 

10. Talent Incubation and Upskilling

The Platform provides opportunities for Talents to enhance their skills through training provided by Talent Trainers. The availability and quality of training content may vary, and we do not endorse or guarantee the effectiveness, accuracy, or reliability of any training provided by Talent Trainers. 

11. Representation and Warranties

You represent and warrant to Blakskill that:

• 1. you understand the content of this Terms of Use and the responsibilities which you may be required to assume under it;
• 2. you will not do anything prejudicial to the effective functioning of the Blakskill Platform and or the services provider through it;
• 3. you will comply with every other policy referenced under this Terms of Use;
• 4. you are not a robot, and will not access the Blakskill Platform via any robot or other electronic devices.

12. Force Majure

We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations under this Terms of Use which is as a result of events outside our reasonable control. Such event would include any act, event, non-happening, omission or accident beyond our reasonable control and includes in particular (without limitation) the following:

• Strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action
• Civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war (whether declared or not) or threat or preparation for war.
• Fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster.
• The acts, decrees, legislation, regulations or restrictions of any government.

13. Data Compliance and Protection

Blakskill recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of those who visit and choose to use the Blakskill Platform. We remain compliant with all data protection regulation and security standard applicable. Please note that such requirements may be amended from time to time. With respect to all the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) belonging to, and/or processed in connection with the Services, Blakskill Services or the Blakskill Platform, we confirm that such PII are at all times in compliance with the NDPR.

Blaksill maintains a https://blakskill.com/privacy Privacy Policy which provides an overview of the PII we collect about you or that you provide to us and how we store and use the information provided by you in line with applicable data protection legislations. By using the Blakskill Platform, you consent to such processing and you commit to providing accurate information. Blakskill acknowledges that you own all your data. You hereby grant Blakskill your unequivocal consent to use, reproduce, electronically distribute, and display your data for the following purposes:

• 1. providing and improving our the Blakskill Services;
• 2. internal usage, including but not limited to, data analytics and metrics so long as individual customer data has been anonymized and aggregated with other customer data;
• 3. complying with applicable legal requirements and assisting law enforcement agencies by responding to requests for the disclosure of information in accordance with local laws; and
• 4. any other purpose for which consent has been provided by your customer.

14. Intellectual Property

You acknowledge that all rights, title and interest in the Blakskill Platform and Blakskill Services are owned by Blakskill and any third-party materials integrated in them are owned by Blakskill’s third-party service providers. Any proprietary document provided to you by the Partner is subject to the licence you agreed to with the Partner. You acknowledge that Blakskill does not own, control nor have any responsibility or liability for any such document provided in connection with the Services.

You understand and acknowledge that Blakskill may update or discontinue the Blakskill Platform upon notice to you. While Blakskill may have (i) integrated certain third-party materials and technology into any web or other application, including the Blakskill Platform, and/or (ii) accessed and used certain third-party materials and technology to facilitate providing you with the Blakskill Services, you have not been granted and do not otherwise retain any rights in or to any such third-party materials. You agree not to modify, alter, tamper with, repair, copy, reproduce, adapt, distribute, display, publish, reverse engineer, translate, disassemble, decompile or otherwise attempt to create any source code that is derived from the software or any third-party materials or technology, or otherwise create any derivative works from any of the software or third-party materials or technology. 

15. Trademarks

"Blakskill" and all logos related to the Blakskill Platform and the Services are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Blakskill or Blakskill"s licensors. You may not copy, imitate, modify or use them without Blakskill"s prior written consent. In addition, all page headers, custom graphics, button icons, and scripts are service marks, trademarks, and/or trade dress of Blakskill. You may not copy, imitate, modify or use them without our prior written consent. All right, title and interest in and to the Blakskill Platform, any content on it, the Blakskill Services, the technology related to the Blakskill Services, and any and all technology and any content created or derived from any of the foregoing is the exclusive property of Blakskill and its licensors.

You understand and acknowledge that Blakskill may update or discontinue the Blakskill Platform upon notice to you. While Blakskill may have (i) integrated certain third-party materials and technology into any web or other application, including the Blakskill Platform, and/or (ii) accessed and used certain third-party materials and technology to facilitate providing you with the Blakskill Services, you have not been granted and do not otherwise retain any rights in or to any such third-party materials. You agree not to modify, alter, tamper with, repair, copy, reproduce, adapt, distribute, display, publish, reverse engineer, translate, disassemble, decompile or otherwise attempt to create any source code that is derived from the software or any third-party materials or technology, or otherwise create any derivative works from any of the software or third-party materials or technology. 

16. Publicity

By using the Blakskill Platform, you understand that Blakskill may use your general information (including your name, sector/industry and/or country where you are incorporated) and photograph on the Blakskill Platform in furtherance of the services, and for promotional purposes. Your participation in Blakskill promotions shall be at no extra cost to Blakskill.

17. Restricted Activities

In connection with your use of the Website, any of our Services, or in the course of your interactions with Blakskill, other Blakskill customers, or third parties, you must not:

• 1. Breach these  Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, the Privacy Policy or any other agreement between you and Blakskill;
• 2. Violate any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation (for example, those governing recruitment services, consumer protections, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
• 3. Infringe Blakskill’s or any third party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy;
• 4. Operate under a false, expired or invalid licence;
• 5. Act in a manner that is defamatory, trade libelous, threatening or harassing;
• 6. Provide false, inaccurate or misleading information;
• 7. Refuse to cooperate in an investigation or provide confirmation of your identity or any information you provide to us;
• 8. Control an account that is linked to another account that has engaged in any of these restricted activities;
• 9. Conduct your business or use the Blakskill Platform in a manner that usually results in or may result in;
• 10. Cause any fines, penalties or other liability or losses to Blakskill, the Users or third parties;
• 11. Take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Blakskill Platform, our software or systems (including any networks and servers used to provide the Services) operated by us or on our behalf;
• 12. Facilitate any viruses, trojan horses, malware, worms or other computer programming routines that attempts to or may damage, disrupt, corrupt, misuse, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate, or gain unauthorized access to any system, data, information or the Blakskill Platform;
• 13. Use an anonymizing proxy; use any robot, spider, other automatic device, or manual process to monitor or copy our websites without our prior written permission; or use any device, software or routine to bypass our robot exclusion headers;
• 14. Interfere or disrupt or attempt to interfere with or disrupt the Blakskill Platform, our software, systems (including any networks and servers used to provide any of the Services) operated by us or on our behalf, any of the Services or other users’ use of any of the part of the Blakskill Platform;
• 15. Take any action that may cause us to lose any of the services from our internet service providers, payment processors, or other suppliers or service providers;
• 16. Harass and/or threaten our employees, agents, or other users.

18. Potential Actions we May Take Against You if you Engage for breach of this Terms of Use

If we believe, discover, or get information that you have engaged in any breach of these Terms of Use, we have the exclusive and unqualified prerogative to any action including but not limited to the ones underlisted, to protect , its customers and others at any time at our sole discretion.

• 1. Terminate these Terms, and limit, close and/or suspend your access to the Blakskill Platform, the User Account, the Blakskill Services, software, systems (including any networks and servers used to provide any of the Services) operated by us or on our behalf, immediately and without penalty to us;
• 2. Refuse to provide the Blakskill Services to you in the future;
• 3. Contact third parties, including the other Talents, Talent seekers and Talent Trainers who have had any dealings with you via the Blakskill Platform about your actions;
• 4. Update inaccurate information you provided us;
• 5. Take legal action against you; or
• 6. If you violated our Acceptable Use Policy, then you’re also responsible for damages to Blakskill caused by your violation of the AUP.

If we terminate your use of the Blakskill Platform for any reason, we’ll provide you with notice of our actions.

You are responsible for all claims, fees, actions, fines, penalties and other liability incurred by Blakskill, any other User, or a third party caused by or arising out of your breach of this agreement, and/or your use of the Blakskill Services.

19. Assignment

You may not transfer or assign any rights or obligations you have under these Terms of Use without Blakskill’s prior written consent. Blakskill may transfer or assign these Terms of Use or any right or obligation under these Terms of Use at any time.

20. Fraud Reporting

We are committed to maintaining adequate security controls and procedures to prevent and detect fraudulent or unauthorised activities/transactions on our platforms. Please report all incidents of fraud to [support@blakskill.comemail].

21. Termination and Modification

You may terminate this Agreement by closing your User Account.

We may suspend your User Account and your access to Blakskill Services and any funds, or terminate your access to the Blakskill Platform, if;

• 1. you do not comply with any of the provisions of this Agreement;
• 2. we are required to do so by a Law;
• 3. we are directed by the issuing financial institution; or
• 4. where a suspicious or fraudulent transaction occurs.

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Platform or any part thereof, at any time and without prior notice. 

22. Disclaimers

We try to keep the Blakskill Platform available at all times, bug-free and safe, however, you use it at your own risk. 

The Blakskill Platform and Blakskill Services are provided “as is” without any express, implied and/or statutory warranties (including, but not limited to, any implied or statutory warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular use or purpose, title, and non-infringement of intellectual property rights). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Blakskill makes no warranty that the Blakskill Platform and/or the Blakskill Services will meet your requirements or that the Blakskill Platform will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you through the Blakskill Platform , its parents, subsidiaries, or other affiliated companies, or its or their suppliers (or the respective officers, directors, employees, or agents of any such entities) (collectively the “Blakskill Parties”) shall create any warranty.

23. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall we be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages arising out of or in connection with your use of the Platform or any content or services provided therein. We shall not be responsible for any actions or omissions of Talent Seekers, Talents, or Talent Trainers, or any disputes or transactions that may arise between them.

24. Indemnification

You hereby indemnify Blakskill and undertake to keep Blakskill, its staff and affiliates indemnified against any losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including without limitation reasonable legal fees and expenses) arising out of any breach by you of any provision of these Terms of Use, or arising out of any claim that you have breached any provision of these Terms of Use. You will indemnify and hold Blakskill harmless from and against any claim, suit or proceedings brought against Blakskill arising from or in connection with violations of Intellectual Property or other rights of third parties in relation to your use of the Blakskill Platform.

25. Applicable Law 

These Terms of Use shall be interpreted and governed by the laws currently in force in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Nigeria for the resolution of any dispute.

26. Legal Disputes 

We shall make an effort to settle all disputes amicably. Any dispute arising out of these Terms which is not settled by mutual agreement/negotiation within 2 (two) weeks shall be referred to arbitration by a single arbitrator at the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (“LMDC”) and governed by the Lagos State Arbitration Law 2009 (as may be amended from time to time). The arbitrator shall be appointed by both of us (we and you), where both of us are unable to agree on the choice of an arbitrator, the choice of arbitrator shall also be referred to the LMDC. The findings of the arbitrator and subsequent award shall be binding on both of us. Each of us shall bear our respective costs in connection with the Arbitration. Venue for the arbitration shall be Lagos, Nigeria. 

27. Court Orders and Regulatory Requirements 

If we are notified of a court order or other legal process (including garnishment or any equivalent process) affecting you, or if we otherwise believe we are required to do so in order to comply with applicable law or regulatory requirements, we may be required to take certain actions, including holding payments to/from you, placing a reserve or limitation on your User Account, or releasing your funds. We will decide, in our sole discretion, which action is required of us. Unless the court order, applicable law, regulatory requirement or other legal process requires otherwise, we will notify you of these actions. We do not have an obligation to contest or appeal any court order or legal process involving you or your User Account. When we implement a hold, reserve or limitation as a result of a court order, applicable law, regulatory requirement or other legal process, the hold, reserve or limitation may remain in place longer than 180 days.

28. Severability

If any portion of these Terms of Use is held by any court or tribunal to be invalid or unenforceable, either in whole or in part, then that part shall be severed from these Terms of Use and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other part in these Terms of Use.

29. Contact Information 

If you have any questions about our Terms of Use, please contact us through any of the details provided below: support@blakskill.com

30. General Terms

You shall ensure throughout the duration of these Terms not to do or permit to be done, anything which is capable of conflicting with the interest of Blakskill.

You may not transfer or assign any rights or obligations you have under these  Terms without Blakskill’s prior written consent. Blakskill may, however, transfer or assign these Terms or any right or obligation under these  Terms at any time.

In no event will Blakskill, its affiliates, employees and agents, be liable for (a) any indirect, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages or (b) any damages whatsoever and those resulting from loss of revenues, lost profits, loss of goodwill, loss of use, business interruption, or other intangible losses), arising out of or in connection with the Blakskill Platform (including, without limitation, use, inability to use, or the results of use of the Blakskill Platform), whether such damages are based on warranty, contract, tort, statute, or any other legal theory.

In no event will Blakskill, its affiliates, employees and agents, be liable for (a) any indirect, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages or (b) any damages whatsoever and those resulting from loss of revenues, lost profits, loss of goodwill, loss of use, business interruption, or other intangible losses), arising out of or in connection with the Blakskill Platform (including, without limitation, use, inability to use, or the results of use of the Blakskill Platform), whether such damages are based on warranty, contract, tort, statute, or any other legal theory.

Blakskill tries to keep the Blakskill Platform available at all times, bug-free and safe, however, you use it at your own risk. 

The Blakskill Platform is provided “as is” without any express, implied and/or statutory warranties (including, but not limited to, any implied or statutory warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular use or purpose, title, and non-infringement of intellectual property rights). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Blakskill makes no warranty that the Blakskill Platform and/or the services provided through, or available on, it will meet the requirements of anyone or that the Blakskill Platform will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you through our website or from Blakskill, its parents, subsidiaries, or other affiliated companies, or its or their suppliers (or the respective officers, directors, employees, or agents of any such entities) shall create any warranty.

You hereby indemnify Blakskill and undertake to keep Blakskill, its staff and affiliates indemnified against any losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including without limitation reasonable legal fees and expenses) arising out of any breach by you of any provision of these  Terms, or arising out of any claim that you have breached any provision of these  Terms. You will indemnify and hold Blakskill harmless from and against any claim, suit or proceedings brought against Blakskill arising from or in connection with violations of Intellectual Property or other rights of third parties in relation to your use of the Services.

If any portion of these Terms is held by any court or tribunal to be invalid or unenforceable, either in whole or in part, then that part shall be severed from these Terms and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other part in these Terms.