Terms and conditions of access

Users of EIDF need to agree to these Terms and Conditions of Access when they register. We anticipate that they will change rarely, if at all. Note that the Terms and Conditions include an undertaking to observe the Code of Conduct. It also includes an agreement to the Service processing the user’s personal data; in return, the Service undertakes to follow the Personal Data and Privacy Policy.

Access to EIDF

In addition to these terms, your access to EIDF is subject to you agreeing to abide by the University of Edinburgh Computing Regulations and Security Policy, and the UK-wide JANET Acceptable Use Policy.

JANET Acceptable Use Policy

University of Edinburgh Computing Regulations

University of Edinburgh Security Policy

You agree

only to use the service for the purposes for which you were given access, for example as specified in your research project’s grant award
not to disrupt the working of the service, for example by knowingly introducing malicious software into it, nor to try to breach its security or use resources which aren’t assigned to you
not to interfere with other users’ work, corrupt their data or invade their privacy
not to infringe copyright or other intellectual property rights
not to take data from any database or dataset without the explicit or implied permission of its owner
not to use another person’s account, nor to let other people use your accounts, except by agreement with us
to keep your SAFE and machine passwords confidential, and to inform us if someone else learns any of them or if you become aware that the security of our systems is compromised in any way
not to misuse the Internet, for example by sending spam or malicious software, by pretending to be someone else or by doing anything that might hinder or prevent someone else from using the Internet legitimately
not to use the service for illegal or immoral purposes, such as theft, fraud, drug-trafficking, money-laundering, terrorism, pornography, violence, cruelty, incitement to racial hatred, prostitution, paedophilia, or for offensive, obscene, abusive, menacing, defamatory or insulting behaviour
to observe the JANET Acceptable Use Policy (see link above)
to comply with any special conditions that may apply to particular software packages.

We agree

as far as we reasonably can, to provide a 24-hour service as described at our technical documentation pages at GitHub, it being understood that there will be times when the service is unavailable, for example as a result of unexpected failures, maintenance work or upgrades
to take reasonable steps to protect your data from being lost or corrupted
to protect the security and privacy of the data we hold about you, as described in our Personal Data and Privacy Policy
that we will acquire no intellectual property rights over your software and data
to respond promptly to any complaints or suggestions you make about the service.

You accept

that the service is provided “as is” and we can’t guarantee 100% perfection. In legal terms, this means that we are excluding all warranties and conditions applying to the service, including those implied by law. This means that we are not liable if things go wrong and you suffer damage as a result, although if our negligence results in anyone’s death or personal injury we do not limit or exclude our liability for that
that you are responsible for your use of any advice or information we may give you. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that it’s true and useful, but we can’t guarantee this. In legal terms, this means that we expressly disclaim any and all liability for all representations, statements, conditions or warranties to that or any other effect except to the extent that such liability may not be lawfully excluded
that we may make changes in the service
that we will use the personal details which you supply to us, together with records of your use of the service, as described in our Personal Dara and Privacy Policy
that we may suspend your access to the service and discuss this with your PI if it seems to us that you are breaking these Terms and Conditions; that if it is necessary to protect the service or other users’ work or data, we can halt the execution of any program which you start; and that we have the right to close your accounts
that you alone are responsible for what you do when using the service. If you break the law you alone must answer for it, and if you cause damage to anyone else, you alone are liable, not us
that you will acquire no intellectual property rights over the software or any information we provide
that the use of the service by nationals of certain countries is controlled by special regulations laid down by the UK Government in connection with the Wassenaar Arrangement
that we may make reasonable changes to these Terms and Conditions at any time, and, once we have posted those changes on our website, the new version will then apply to you.

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of Scotland and the Scottish courts.

If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, please mail to the EIDF Helpdesk using the "Contact us" button.

Further links

EIDF Personal Data and Privacy Policy

EIDF technical documentation at GitHub

Wassenaar Arrangement

This article was published on 2023-11-24