Takedown Policy

To contact us about removal of material, please email our Digital Services team at ek13@soas.ac.uk, or write to us at the following address:

SOAS Digital Collections
Collections Care & Digitisation
Library
SOAS University of London
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
UNITED KINGDOM
email: ek13@soas.ac.uk

Takedown Procedures

In making material available online the SOAS, University of London acts in good faith.  However, despite these safeguards, we recognise that from time to time material published online may be in breach of copyright, contain sensitive personal data, or include content that is obscene or defamatory.  On receipt of a request to takedown material from our websites, SOAS will respond by immediately removing the material in question.  Requests will then be assessed by a review panel who will consider each request on its merits.

The panel will aim to respond definitively within four weeks, but may require additional time to seek external advice where appropriate. The panel may approve continued withdrawal of the material if one or more of the following criteria is met:

  • The material is in copyright, and the copyright-holder refuses permission for it to be made available online.
  • The material is personal information about someone who is still alive and continued online access would be unlawful or unfair to him under the Data Protection Act or would breach his or his family's right to a private and family life under the Human Rights Act 1998.
  • The material is personal information about a deceased individual that requires closure or restriction in accordance with SOAS Personal Data Policy.
  • The material is defamatory or obscene.
  • The material acquires sensitivity by virtue of being made available online.  All takedowns will be signalled openly on this website.

Where material is removed for reasons of Data Protection or sensitivity, its removal will be considered as temporary and will be restored at a date decided by the Panel once its sensitivity is deemed to have subsided. Where material is removed for reasons of copyright, its removal will be considered as lasting until such time as copyright in the material expires, or until the rights-holder agrees that the material can be reinstated.